Virginia Patents, William and Mary College Quarterly, 2nd Series, Vol. 2, No. 3 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Virginia Patents A. J. Morrison William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, 2nd Ser., Vol. 2, No. 3 (Jul., 1922), pp. 149-156. Page 149. WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY HISTORICAL MAGAZINE VOL. II Second Series JULY, 1922 NO.3 VIRGINIA PATENTS. A. J. MORRISON The genealogy of our industrial works in Virginia is worth notice. It has been a good deal forgotten that John Heavin, of Montgomery County; James Barron, of Hampton, D. M. Randolph, of Henrico, and others were considerable inventors before 1825. We know hardly anything of the famous McCormick plough of 1826 or of Durham and Pleasant's "machine for cuttting grain by horse power," of 1827. The Ruffner salt apparatus of 1817 and later was very important. We have to be reminded that Loudoun County produced washing machines in the old times, that Dumfries was a place of invention, that the distillery business of the State was regularly patented, and that Peter Laporte, of Richmond and elsewhere, was a very capable man. For that matter, who knows anything worth mentioning about the old Gallego Mills, or the book trade and publishing business of Richmond "before the war?" Who was J. W. Randolph? The items given in this list through 1824 (and a few beyond) are drawn from the printed statements issued from the Patent Office, at first in 1805 for the period since 1790, and then annually. The Patent Office was in the State Department at first and Secretary Madison in 1805 neglected to order the lists complete so as to show the residence of the inventor. Later he was more careful, and Secretary Monroe was careful to have the inventor's place of residence appear. These ex- tracts therefore begin with 1805, and it must be said that through 1824 the Patent Office seems now Page 150. and then to have thrown the lists together in a hurry. Some on could render a service by working out this matter of early Virginia patents. 1805. John Houston, Williamsburg. Metallic Hone. Daniel Atherton, Richmond. Physiognotrace. John Heavin, Montgomery Co. In propelling boats. " " " " Machine for cutting straw. William Hodgson, Richmond. Tile and Brick apparatus. William Harwood, Richmond. In making pantiles. 1806. William Tullock, Orange Co. Grain screens. James deneale, Dumfries. Perpetual oven. 1807. Benjamin B. Bernard, ----- In thrashing machines. 1808. Caleb Johnson, New Glasgow. Double lever tobacco press. John Thomas Ricketts, Fairfax Co. Rice huller &c. John West, Stafford Co. In ovens. 1809. John Robinson, Charlotte Co. In curing tobacco. James Deneale, Dumfries. Wheat rubber machine. Robert Robinson, Leesburgh. Washing machine. 1810. George Easterly, Richmond. Mf'g barilla from tobacco stems, corn stalks &c. Michael Garber, Sr., Staunton In distilling. 1810. William Armistead, Price William Co. Weevil prevention. 1811. David Dungan, Loudoun Co. Washing machine. John Staples, Richmond. Pendulum steam engine. William Harper, Richmond. Hemp and flax breaker &c. Wm. Presley Claiborne, King William Co. For cutting wheat. 1812. William richards, Culpeper Co. Threshing machine. John Heavin, Montgomery Co. Shingle dresser. Geo. McAdam Brown, Northumberland Co. Grain separator. Ambrose Dudley, King William Co. In mf'g salt. William Stanton, Lynchburg. Washing machine. William Mayo, Henrico Co. For grinding Corn in cobb. Amos Bolton, Fauquier Co. Mill water-gate. Ethan Owen, Prince George Co. Saw mill to be worked by animal power. John Heavin, Montgomery Co. In the loom. Page 151. Robert Christy, Jefferson Co. Elevator for grain or fluids. Robert Smether, Orange Co. In bridles. 1813. David Cramm, Clarksburg. Machine for cutting timber. John J. Cabell, Lynchburg. Apparatus for mf'g salt. John Heavin, Montgomery C.H. Rope and twine machine. Daniel Harrington, Fairfax Co. A warm bathing vessel. James Wheatley, Farquier Co. Still and condensing tub. John Humes, Richmond. Machine for cutting screws. 1814. Samuel K. Jennings, Lynchburg. A warm and portable bath. John Heavin, Montgomery Co. In looms Ezra Talmage, Richmond. In stills. Brightberry Brown, Albemarle Co. Water loom. William M. Hawkins, King & Queen Co. Salt water evaporator. Jacob Sprinkel, Wythe Co. In the loom. Benj. James Harris, Richmond. Fireproof ceiling. Joseph Tuley, Frederick Co. A family stove. Thomas K. Beale, Alexandria. Method for brick cornices. 1814. John J. Cabell, Lynchburg. In mf'g salt. Charles Hill, Essex Co. A machine for weeding corn and other crops. Henry Spickard, Fincastle. Clover seed cleaner. Thomas Shurley, Madison Co. Heater for mf'g spiritous liquors. William Cornwell, Accomac Co. Horizontal water wheel for mills. 1815. Samuel Arnold, Botetourt co. Clover seed cleaner. Frederick Oswan, Harper's Ferry. In guns and rifles. John Smith, Fredericksburg. For gathering clover seed. David M. Randolph, Richmond. In making candles. " " " " In ship building. Matthew Cluff, Norfolk. In steam engines. John Russell, Brooke Co. Saw tooth setter. 1816. George Tabb, Martinsburg. Frame bridges. William Adams, -------- Wheat fan. Page 152. John Green, Sr. ------- Overshot water wheel. Jacob Fuller, Rockbridge Co. Machine for shelling Indian corn. 1816. William Mitchell, Henrico Co. Making bricks. James Barron, Elizabeth City. Windmill improvement. Jacob Sprinkel, Wythe Co. Cotton and wool spinner. William Cornwell, Accomac Co. Improvement in the horse mill. 1817. David and Joseph Ruffin, Kanawha. Mode of obtaining salt water. Webb Hart, Accomac Co. Mode of applying draught horse to machinery. [And 1825, of Petersburg. A mode of packing cotton.] William Mitchell, Richmond. Brickmaking and clay grinding machine. John Jordan, Rockbridge Co. Window and door frames. 1818. [Name not given], Mathews Co. Thrashing machine. Samuel Nixon, Prince George Co. Dough kneading machine. John Ecoff, Wheeling. Mode of consuming smoke. Sylvester Nash, Harper's Ferry. Machine for turning gut barrels. James Clarke, Powhatan Co. Odometer to ascertain the distance. 1818. Tobias Ruffner, Kenawha. Sinking wells. George D. Avery, Wood Co. Plough. 1819. James Barron, Hampton. Machine for making bottle corks. William J. Lewis, ----- Mode of propelling boats or vessels. James Rudder, Norfolk. Anti-friction bush for sheaves in blocks. James Barron, Hampton. Pump for air or water. Obadiah Stith, Brunswick Co. ("Quarrelstown"). Improvement in the gun or rifle. Edmund Brown, Richmond. Tobacco press. Page 153. James Cooper, Augusta Co. Improvement in the Archimedian screw. 1820. Charles Williams, Richmond. Improvement in railways and carriages. Thomas Dakin, Harper's Ferry. Machine for draw griding gun barrels. James Deneale, Dumfries. Instrument for mapping lands. John Ballthrop, Loudoun Co. Double shovel plough. David Evans, Alexandria. Knapping hats with rabbit's fur. David Beauchamp, Wood Co. Improved water wheel. Geo. P. Digges, Albemarle Co. Application of the oil of cotton seed for all the purposes of linseed oil. 1821. Peter Laporte, Louisa Co. Bridle for stopping horses when running away. Thomas Oxley, Norfolk. Land Clearing machine. N.C. Dawson & A. Rucker(1), Amherst Co. Improvement in boats for rivers. __________ (1) JAMES RIVER NAVIGATION. The Lynchburg Press (John Hampden Pleasants), August 17, 1821, in dis- cussing Anthony Rucker's patent, mentioned the objections of the paper to the patent laws as those laws were often made to work, but added that in this case it would seem that a patent was quite warranted. "Anthony Rucker was un- questionably," said The Press, "the inventor and original constructor of the James River Batteaux, a species of boat essentially different from any before that time used on the waters of America. Mr. Jefferson, we understand, in pre- pared to give his testimony in favor of the ancestor (Anthony Rucker, Sr.) of the pantentees, and it is said was a spectator of the launch of the first boart of the kind ever used on James River, and which occurred somewhere in Albelarle." That is to say, the patent to N.C. Dawson and A. Rucker, of Pedlar's Mills, Amherst County, April 3, 1821, was possibly [like so many patents] in litigation very soon after issuance. It may be that Anthony Rucker, Jr., and N.C. Dawson thought it well in 1821 to patent the device of Anthony Rucker, Sr. And it may be that the elder Rucker's boats were those that Isaac Weld [Travels Through the Unites States of North America, &c] saw at Lynchburg in 1796 -- "boats in which produce is conveyed down the river are from forty- Page 154. David M. Randolph, Richmond. Improvement in drawing liquor. James Humes, Richmond. Machine for digging canals. James Barron, Norfolk. Washing machine. 1822. Andrew Woods, Jefferson Co. Improvement in the nursing and other chairs. Sameul Dew, Romney. Improvement in the universal compass. James Barron, Norfolk. Angle lever. " " " Stove. _______________ eight to fifty-four feet long, but very narrow in proportion to their length. Three men are sufficient to navigate one of these boats, and they can go to Richmond and back in ten days. They fall down with the stream, but work their way back again with poles." At any rate, it seems likely that the Rose and Rucker methods were the improved methods of getting down James River from Albemarle before the coming of the canal. James Maury, Thomas Jefferson's teacher, explained the Rose method in 1756, and registered the name of the inventor, that remarkable man Robert Rose, minister of St. Anne's Parish, Albemarle, who died in 1751. Mr. Maury, minister of Fredericksville Parish, Louisa, was no less remarkable, as the whole of his letter, treating of the navigation of our western waters, gives proof. Mr. Maury said, writing from the Louisa January 10, 1756 (see Memoirs of a Heguenot Family): "Although one single canoe will carry but a small weight, yet nothing is more common than to see two of these tottering vehicles, when lashed to- gether side by side with cords, or any other strong bandages, carrying down our upland streams eight or nine heavy hogsheads of tobacco at a time to the warehouse, rolled on their gunwales crossways, and secured against moving fore or aft by a small piece of wood drove under the bilge of the two extreme hogsheads; an almost incredible weight for such slender embarkations. But as they will bear such a burden, their slender contexture is an advantage; they draw but few inches of water, move down a current with great velocity, and leave the waterman nothing but Palinurus's task to perform when going downwards, and when they return two men will shove the canoes with poles as far against stream in one day as four brisk watermen with oars can a boat that will carry the same burden, in two days. For this great improvement of inland navigation we mountaineers are indebted to the late Reverend and ingenious Mr. Rose." (See also Brown, Cabells and Their Kin," 51, 215.) Page 155. [And 1826 - Carrying and lifting truck dock - Capt. U. S. Navy.] Peter Laponte, Richmond. Bridle (improvement). Charles W. Skinner, Norfolk. Method of ventilating vessels. Thomas Williams, Pittsylvania Co. Improvement in machine for covering corn. 1823. John Maze, Greenbrier Co. Vertical water wheel. Peter Harry, Harrisonburg. Elastic spring girth and saddle tree. Littleberry Mosby, Powhatan Co. Raising water by successive pumps. Ryland Rhodes, Albemarle Co. Plough. Simon C. Williams, Shenandoah Co. Bee hive. James Cooper, Augusta Co. Wheel to prevent chain from slipping. [and 1826. Machine to supersede the use of cogs.] John T. Sharrock, Winchester. Improvement in mf'g cotton. 1824. Robert Crutchfield, Botetourt Co. Burning bricks. Peter Laporte, Richmond. Mail bags. [1828 of Augusta Co. Cloth for boots of stages.] Andrew Glendening, Loudoun Co. Apple cutter. " " " " Fly killer. " " " " Washing machine. " " " " Sausage machine. William Dabney, Richmond. Machine for raising water. The first McCormick plough (Stephen McCormick of Fauquier County) was patented in 1826. In 1828 Moncure Robinson, of Richmond, was granted patent on this "method of transporting carriges on inclined planes." We come to modern times with 1830, in which year Robert McCormick, of Rockbridge County (father of Cyrus McCormick) received patent on his flax and hemp machine. Around 1830 Virginia patentees were in number about twenty-five a year. In this connection, it is well to note a letter on the "Manufacutres of Richmond," written by Francis B. Deane, Jr., in 1845. (See Redwood Fisher's National Magazine and Industrial Record, Page 156. New York, Dec., 1845, Vol. II, 631-633). Mr. Deane began his letter comment on the unused opportunities at Richmond -- the coal fields and the water power there. He spoke of the cotton factory established in 1826; of the Tredegar Iron Works [which he had been greatly instrumental in getting started about 1836]; and of the Gallego and Haxall Mills, "the largest in the United States, and the best flour in the United States." That flour was then going almost exclusively to South America. Mr. Deane said to Redwood Fisher. "I cannot withhold my acknowledgements for so enlightened and patriotic effort [as yours] to teach the mechanic and manufacture properly to appreciate the important position they occupy, and how much of true national greatness is dependent upon their moral and intellectual culture. We of the South, who have ventured to become pioneers in manufacturing, require in an especial manner such support and teachings as are to be found in your work."