history-computer.com
Thomas T. Strode was an heir 6th generation of the early settler George Strode from Millbrook, Hampshire, England. George Strode moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania, about 1682 with his family.
Thomas Strode worked as a storekeeper and farmer around Coatesville (in some of the patents, he was specified as living in Nortonville, a hamlet near Coatesville).
The adding machine was a mechanical calculator invented by Thomas Strode to help in accounting. It is believed his early life as a Storekeeper could be the reason for his invention.
Thomas strode last patent (US74170 from 1868) was for the circular stylus-operated adding device, and the patent model still exists today.