His life stands out in strong contrast to that of so many of
our educated colored men who have come to Washington,
obtained positions in the government service, and shriveled
up so far as public usefulness is concerned. He is an active
member of the Berean Baptist Church, being its treasurer, an
office he has held for several years. For ten years he has
been secretary, the executive officer of the Industrial
Building and Savings Company, and a director of the Capital
Savings Bank. His most notable characteristic is his public
spirit, having been connected with almost every
well-directed movement in this city for the last fifteen
years, looking to the betterment of the condition of his
race, especially in the matter of opening up business
opportunities for them. The estimation in which he is held
by those who know him best is attested by the fact that he
is almost invariably called to the position of treasurer in
every organization of which he is a member. Born just before
the War in Columbus, Miss., he attended the public school of
his home and also the Columbus Union Academy. He passed the
entrance examination at Annapolis, and was admitted into the
Naval Academy as cadet midshipman in 1875, where he remained
nearly two years. In 1877, he was appointed "copyist" in the
United States Patent Office, where he is at present
employed, and where he was promoted, through the several
intervening grades, to the position of Second Assistant
Examiner at $1,600 per annum. He attended the Ben-Hyde
Benton School of Technology in this city from 1877 to 1879;
entered the law department of Howard University in 1879,
graduating in 1881, at the head of his class, and from the
post-graduate course in 1883.
He was married in May, 1893, at Lexington, Ky., to Miss
Violetta K. Clark, of Detroit, Mich., who graces a cozy home
at 2348 Sixth Street, N. W.
It is quite within the mark to say that no class of men of modern
times has made so distinct a contribution to what is popularly called
"modern civilization" as have the inventors of the world, and it is
equally within bounds to say that the American inventor has led all
the rest in the practical utility as well as in the scientific
perfection of his inventive skill. Within the century just past the
inventors of America have done more than was done in all the preceding
centuries to multiply the comforts and minimize the burdens of
domestic life. What Washington and Grant, Sherman and Sheridan did for
the glory of America was done, and more, by Whitney, Morse, Thompson,
Howe, Ericsson, Colt, Bell, Corliss, Edison, McCormick, and a host of
other Americans, native and naturalized, to promote the progress of
American inventive skill, and thus firmly to establish this country in
the front rank of the enlightened nations of the world.
The true measure of a nation's worth in the great family of nations is
proportionate to that nation's contribution to the welfare and
happiness of the whole; and similarly, an individual is measured by
the contribution he makes to the well being of the community in which
he lives. If inventions therefore have played the important part here
assigned to them in the gradual development of our complex national
life, it becomes important to know what contribution the American
Negro has made to the inventive skill of this country.
Unfortunately for the seeker after this particular information the
public records of the United States government offer practically no
assistance, since the public records distinguish only as to nations
and not as to races. The Englishman and the American may instantly
find out how each stands in the list of patentees, but the Irishman
and the Negro are kept in the dark--especially the latter.
The official records of the United States Patent Office, with a single
exception, give no hint whatever that of the thousands of mechanical
inventions for which patents are granted annually by the government,
any patent has ever been granted to a Negro. The single exception was
the name of Henry Blair of Maryland, to whom the public records refer
as "a colored man," stating that he was granted a patent for a corn
harvester in 1834 and another patent for a similar invention in 1836.
It is altogether safe to assume that this Henry Blair was a "free
person of color," as the language of those days would have phrased it;
for the government seemed committed to the theory that "a slave could
not take out a patent for his invention." And this dictum gave rise to
some rather embarrassing situations on more occasions than one. For
instance, in 1857, a Negro slave, living with his master in the state
of Mississippi, perfected a valuable invention which his master sought
to have protected by a patent. Now, in law, a patent is a contract
between the government and the inventor or his assignees. The slave,
although the inventor, could not under the law be a party to a
contract, and therefore could not secure the patent himself. His
master applied for the patent, but was refused on the ground that
inasmuch as he was not the inventor and could not be the assignee of a
slave, he could not properly make the required oath. The master was
not satisfied with this interpretation of the law by the Commissioner
of Patents, and at once appealed from the latter's decision to the
Secretary of the Interior, who, in 1858, referred the case to the
Attorney-General of the United States. This latter official, who was
Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, confirmed the decision of the
Commissioner of Patent, and neither master nor slave was ever able to
get a patent for the slave's invention. This case reported on page 171
of volume 9, of "Opinions of Attorneys-General, United States."
Another instance of a similar character occurred a few years later, in
1862, when a slave belonging to Jefferson Davis, President of the
Confederacy, invented a propeller for vessels. He constructed an
excellent model of his invention, displaying remarkable mechanical
skill in wood and metal working. He was not able to get his invention
patented, but the merits of his invention were commented upon
approvingly by a number of influential Southern newspapers, and his
propeller was finally put in use by the Confederate navy. With the
barrier of slavery cast aside, a new opportunity was opened to the
Negro inventor, and the purpose of this article is to show what use he
has made of that opportunity.
It must still be borne in mind that the records of the United States
Patent Office do not show whether a patentee is a Negro or a
Caucasian, and that to ascertain what the Negro has accomplished in
the field of invention other sources of information had to be
utilized; and finally, that the very omission from the public records
of all data calculated to identify a given invention with the Negro
race completely destroys the possibility of arriving at any definite
conclusion as to the exact number and character of negro inventions.
Judging from what has been duly authenticated as Negro inventions
patented by the United States, it is entirely reasonable to assume
that many hundreds of valuable inventions have been patented by Negro
inventors for which the race will never receive due credit. This is
the more unfortunate since the race now, perhaps, more than ever
before, needs the help of every fact in its favor to offset as far as
possible the many discreditable things that the daily papers are all
too eager to publish against it.
It appears that no systematic effort was ever made by the government
to collect information as to the number of inventions by Negroes until
January, 1900, when the then Commissioner of Patents, Hon. Charles H.
Duell, undertook the task. Previous to that time the United States
Patent Office had received numerous requests from all parts of the
country for information on that point, and the uniform reply was that
the official records of the Patent Office did not show whether an
inventor was colored or white, and that the office had no way of
obtaining such information.
Notwithstanding this fact, however, an employee of the Patent Office
had undertaken to collect a list of such patents, and this list was
used in selecting a small exhibit of Negro inventions. First, for the
Cotton Centennial at New Orleans, in 1884; again for the World's Fair
at Chicago, in 1893; and, lastly, for the Southern Exposition at
Atlanta in 1895. But it was reserved for the United States Commission
to the Paris Exposition of 1900 to make the first definite effort to
obtain this information, and at its request the following letter by
the Commissioner of Patents was addressed to hundreds of patent
lawyers throughout the country, to large manufacturing establishments,
to the various newspapers edited by colored men, and to prominent men
of the race:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
United States Patent Office.
Washington, D. C., Jan. 26, 1900.
Dear Sir:
This Office is endeavoring to obtain information concerning
patents issued to colored inventors, in accordance with a
request from the United States Commission to the Paris
Exposition of 1900, to be used in preparing the "Negro
Exhibit."
To aid in this work, you are requested to send to this
Office, in the enclosed envelope, which will not require a
postage stamp, the names of any colored inventors you can
furnish, together with the date of grant, title of
invention, and patent number, so that a list without errors
can be prepared.
You will confer a special favor by aiding in the preparation
of this list by filling in the blank form below, and sending
in any replies as promptly as possible. Should you be unable
to furnish any data, will you kindly inform us of that fact?
Very respectfully,
C. H. Duell,
_Commissioner of Patents._
========================================================================
NAME. | NUMBER. | DATE. | INVENTION.
---------------+------------------+----------------+--------------------
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
---------------+------------------+----------------+--------------------
The replies to this letter showed that the correspondents personally
knew of and could identify by name, date and number more than four
hundred patents granted by the United States to colored inventors. The
letters also showed that nearly as many more colored inventors had
completed their inventions, and had applied to patent lawyers
throughout the country for assistance in obtaining patents for their
inventions, but finally abandoned the effort through lack of means to
prosecute their applications. The list of the patented inventions as
furnished mainly by the letters above named is printed below, and
shows that, beginning first with agricultural implements and culinary
utensils, which circumscribed the character of his earlier employment,
the Negro inventor gradually widened the field of his inventive effort
until he had well nigh covered the whole range of patentable subjects.
A study of the list will disclose the fact that the Negro inventor has
very often, like his white brother, caught the spirit of invention,
and not being contented with a single success, has frequently been led
to exert his energies along many different lines of inventions.
Elijah McCoy, of Detroit, Mich., heads the list with twenty-eight
patents, relating particularly to lubricating appliances for engines
both stationary and locomotive, but covering also a large variety of
other subjects. The next is Granville T. Woods, of Cincinnati, whose
inventions are confined almost exclusively to electricity, and cover a
very wide range of devices for the utilitarian application of this
wonderful force. Mr. W. B. Purvis, of Philadelphia, comes next with
sixteen patents relating especially to paper bag machinery, but
including a few other subjects as well. Mr. F. J. Ferrell, of New
York, has ten patents on valves adapted for a variety of uses. Then
comes ex-Congressman Geo. W. Murray of South Carolina, with eight
patents on agricultural implements. Mr. Henry Creamer has seven
patents on steam traps, and more than a dozen among the number have
patented as many as five different inventions.
Time and space will not admit of any extended notice of many
individual patentees, but mention should be made of a few of them.
Granville T. Woods is called the "Black Edison" because of his
persistent and successful investigations into the mystery of
electricity. Among his inventions may be found valuable improvements
in telegraphy, important telephone instruments, a system for
telegraphing from moving trains, an electric railway, a phonograph,
and an automatic cut-off for an electric circuit. One of his telephone
inventions was sold to the American Bell Telephone Company, who is
said to have paid Mr. Woods handsomely for his patent. Mr. Ferrell's
inventions of valves laid the foundation for a large and highly
successful manufacturing and commercial enterprise which he now
conducts in the city of New York.
Mr. Elijah McCoy succeeded in placing his lubricators on many of the
steam car and steamboat engines in the northwest and also on some of
the ocean steamers, and from these he receives a valuable annual
royalty.
Mr. Matzeliger, of Massachusetts, is credited with being the pioneer
in the art of attaching soles to shoes by machinery; and Mr. Joseph
Lee, of Boston, is said to have placed his kneading machine in many of
the first-class bakeries and hotels in Boston and New York, from which
he receives a substantial royalty.
So far as is known to the writer Miss Miriam E. Benjamin, of
Massachusetts, is the only colored woman who has received a patent for
an invention, and the principle of her invention, that of a gong
signal, has just been adopted in the United States House of
Representatives in signalling for the pages to attend upon members who
want them for errands. Formerly the pages were signalled by members
clapping their hands, and the noise incident to this method was
frequently a great disturbance of the House proceedings. The new
system just adopted involves merely the pressing of a button on the
member's chair, and this rings a small gong while displaying a signal
on the back of the chair.
Another invention by a young colored man which has attracted
considerable attention is the rapid-fire gun by Mr. Eugene Burkins, of
Chicago. This gun has been examined by officers of the War and Navy
Departments, and has been pronounced a valuable contribution to the
scientific equipments for military and naval warfare.
The following description of Mr. Burkins' gun appeared in Howard's
American Magazine some months ago:
"A brief description of the gun is not exactly out of place,
although the Scientific American and other technical
journals have long since given it to the world. It is an
improvement upon all that has yet been done in the way of
ordnance, and the principles involved in its construction
can be applied to any size of gun, from a one-inch barker to
a thirty-six-inch thunderer. The model as it now stands
weighs 475 pounds, measures four inches at breech, and is
constructed of the finest of gun brass at a cost of $3,500.
There is a magazine at the breech in which a large number of
heavy shells can be held in reserve, and in the action of
the gun these slip down to their places and are fired at the
rate of fourteen a minute, an improvement on the Maxim gun
of four shots. The gun is elevated upon a revolving turret
with electrical connections, enabling the gunner to direct
the action of the machine with a touch of his finger.
Firing, reloading and ejection of shells are all effected by
electricity, and a child could conduct the work of manning
the gun as easily as anyone."
These inventions show how completely in error are those who constantly
assert that the Negro has made no lasting contribution to the
civilization of the age, and they prove conclusively that under
favorable environment he is capable of performing his whole duty in
the work of mankind whether it be tilling the earth with his hoe or
advancing the world by his thought.
LIST OF COLORED INVENTORS IN THE UNITED STATES AS FURNISHED FOR THE
PARIS EXPOSITION, 1900.
Inventor. Invention. Date. Number.