Born to a poor family on July 9, 1802, at Williamstown, Vermont, Thomas Davenport was the fourth of eleven children. He received only three years of schooling and was apprenticed to a blacksmith when he was fourteen. The hard work was agreeable to the boy, and seven years later, he set up his own blacksmith business in Brandon, Vermont.

In 1831 Davenport went to the Penfield Iron Works, where Joseph Henry had installed the first commercial electromagnet. Davenport watched as the electromagnet lifted 750 lbs. (340 kg) of iron. Amazed and intrigued, he decided to acquire an electromagnet of his own and experiment. In order to raise money for the purchase, Davenport sold his brother's horse. Once he had the magnet in hand to study, he was able to build a larger version on his own, using his wife's silk wedding dress to insulate the wires.

Davenport eventually ended up with four electromagnets...