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New York state native Josephus Requa moved with his family to Rochester in 1849, when he was 14. He established a successful dentistry practice in that city by the 1850s. In addition to inventing a forerunner to the machine gun, Requa also served for three months in the 84th New York National Guard at the Elmira prison camp as a guard. He returned to dentistry after the war, retiring in 1908 and dying in 1910. (Geni)