Alva J. Fisher

... was the designer of the Thor – the first electric clothes washer sold commercially in the United States. First produced in 1907 by the Chicago–based Hurley Electric Laundry Equipment Company, the Thor is believed to be the world's first electrically–powered washer ever manufactured. According to Wikipedia, this makes Hurley (the company) "the inventor of the first automatic washing machine"; in which case you would have to say that Fisher would deserve the personal credit.

However, on Wikipedia's Washing machine page, we read that "The US Patent Office shows at least one patent issued before Fisher's US patent number 966677 (e.g. Woodrow's US patent number 921195). The 'inventor' of the electric washing machine remains unknown."

© Haydn Thompson 2020