Daniel Treadwell (1791-1872) was an American inventor, born at Ipswich, Mass. Amongst his most important inventions are a hemp-spinning machine for the production of cordage, and a method of constructing cannon from wrought iron and steel.
In 1822, in conjunction with Dr. John Ware, he founded the Boston Journal of Philosophy and the Arts. From 1834 to 1845, he occupied the chair of Rumford professor at Harvard. Also, theology was one of his interests.
He was one of Longfellow's circle of friends, and is the theologian of the Tales of a Wayside Inn. Daniel Treadwell published: The Relations of Science to the Useful arts (1855); On the Practicability of Constructing a Cannon of Great Calibre (1856); On the Construction of Hasped Cannon (1864).