Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I, Part 12

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 650


USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I > Part 12


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95


To applying the torture .. 4


To applying the thumbscrew 2


To applying the buskins. 4


To administering the Gehenna torture. .10


To putting a person in the pillory. 2


To flogging


To branding with a hot iron. 10


4


To cutting off the nose, the ears or the tongue .. . 10


A livre was 19.I cents in our money.


LEGAL HOLIDAYS IN THE VARIOUS STATES


The United States has no national legal holidays.


January 1, New Year's Day: In all the States (including the District of Columbia) except Massachusetts, Mississippi and New Hampshire.


February 12. Lincoln's Birthday: In Con- necticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Washing- ton (State) and Wyoming.


February 22, Washington's Birthday : In all the States (including the District of Columbia) except Mississippi, where it is observed by exercises in the public schools only.


Good Friday: In Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee.


May 30, Decoration Day: In all the States and Territories (and District of Columbia) except Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho. Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South " Carolina, Texas. In Virginia, known as "Con- federate Memorial Day."


September, First Monday, Labor Day: In all the States and Territories ( and District of Columbia), except Arizona. Mississippi, Nev- ada and North Dakota. In Louisiana, ob- served in Orleans Parish.


November -, General Election Day: In Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana,


JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


lowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland. Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon (vote for presidential elections only), Pennsylvania. Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, in the years when elections are held therein.


November -. Thanksgiving Day (usually the last Thursday in November) : Is observed in all the States and in the District of Colum- bia, though in some States it is not a statutory holiday.


December 25, Christmas Day: In all the States and in the District of Columbia.


Sundays and Fast Days are legal holidays in all the States which designate them as such.


There is no national holiday, not even the Fourth of July ; Congress has at various times appointed special holidays. In the second session of the Fifty-third Congress it passed an act making Labor Day a public holiday in the District of Columbia, and it has recognized the existence of certain days as holidays for commercial purposes, but, with the exception named, there is no general statute on the sub- ject. The proclamation of the president designating a day of Thanksgiving only makes it a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the Territories, and in those States which provide by law for it.


Every Saturday after twelve o'clock noon is a legal holiday in New York, New Jersey. Pennsylvania, Maryland. Tennessee, Virginia and the city of New Orleans, and in Newcastle county, Del., except in St. George's Hundred; in Louisiana and Missouri in cities of one hundred thousand or more inhabitants: in Ohio, in cities of fifty thousand or more in- habitants ; and June i to August 31 in Denver. Colo. In the District of Columbia for all pur- poses respecting the presentation for payment or acceptance or the protesting of all com- mercial paper whatsoever. In Connecticut. Maine and West Virginia banks close at twelve noon on Saturday.


Pennsylvania Holidays


Pennsylvania has about fourteen legal holi- clays. From the act of Assembly approved June 23, 1807, we quote the following :


"Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., That the following days and half days, namely, the first day of January, commonly called New Year's day; the twelfth day of February, known as Lincoln's birthday; third Tuesday of Feb-


ruary, election day ; the twenty-second day of February, known as Washington's birthday ; Good Friday ; the thirtieth day of May, known as Memorial day; the Fourth of July, called Independence day : the first Monday of Sep- tember, known as Labor day; the first Tues- day after the the first Monday of November, election day ; the twenty-fifty day of Decem- ber, known as Christmas day; and every Saturday after twelve o'clock noon until twelve o'clock midnight, each of which Saturdays is hereby designated a half holiday, and any day appointed or recommended by the governor of this State or of the president of the United States as a day of thanksgiving or other religious observance shall, for all purposes whatever as regards the presenting for pay- ment or acceptance, and as regards the protesting and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, checks, drafts and promis- sory notes, made after the passage of this act. be treated and considered as the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and as public holidays and half holidays ; and all such bills, checks, drafts and notes otherwise presentable for acceptance or payment on any of the said days shall be deemed to be payable and be presentable for acceptance or payment on the secular or business day next succeeding such holiday or half holiday, except checks, drafts, bills of exchange and promissory notes, pay- able at sight or on demand, which would otherwise be payable on any half holiday Saturday, shall be deemed to be payable at or before twelve o'clock noon of such half holi- day: Provided, however, That for the pur- pose of protesting or otherwise holding liable any party to any bill of exchange, check, draft or promissory note, and which shall not have been paid before twelve o'clock noon of any Saturday designated a half holiday, as afore- said, a demand for acceptance or payment thereof shall not be made and notice of protest or dishonor thereof shall not be given until the next succeeding secular or business day : And provided further, That when any person, firm, corporation or company. shall, on any Satur- day designated a half holiday, receive for col- lection any check, bill or exchange, draft or promissory note, such person, firm, corporation or company shall not be deemed guilty of any neglect or omission of duty, nor incur any liability in not presenting for payment or acceptance or collection such check, bill of exchange, draft or promissory note on that day : And provided further. That in construing this section every Saturday designated a half holiday shall, until twelve o'clock noon, be


49


JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


deemed a secular or business day ; and the days and half days aforesaid, so designated as holi- days and half holidays, shall be considered as public holidays and half holidays for all pur- poses whatsoever as regards the transaction of business: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent or invalidate the entry, issuance, service or execution of any writ, summons, confession of judgment, or other legal process whatever on any of the holidays or half holi- days herein designated as holidays, nor to prevent any bank from keeping its doors open or transacting business on any of the said Saturday afternoons, if, by a vote of its directors, it shall elect to do so.


"Section 2. Whenever the first day of January, the twelfth day of February, the twenty-second day of February, the thirtieth day of May, the Fourth of July, or the twenty- fifth day of December, shall any of them occur on Sunday, the following day, Monday, shall be deemed and declared a public holiday. All bills of exchange, checks, drafts or promissory notes falling due on any of the Mondays so observed as holidays, shall be due and payable on the next succeeding secular or business day. and all Mondays so observed as holidays, shall. for all purposes whatever as regards the presenting for payment or acceptance, and as regards the protesting and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, checks, drafts and promissory notes made after the passage of this act, be treated and considered as if the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday.


"Section 3. All bills of exchange. checks. drafts and promissory notes made after the passage of this act, which by the terms there- of shall be payable on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, shall be deemed to be and shall be payable on the next succeeding secular or business day.


"Section 4. That all the days and half days herein designated as legal holidays shall be regarded as secular or business days for all other purposes than those mentioned in this act."


Origin of Memorial Day


In 1867 Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Kimball, of West Philadelphia, Pa., had been on a visit in the South, where they noticed Southern ladies scattering flowers on the graves of the Con- federate dead. Mrs. Kimball was acquainted with and a friend of General Logan, then the Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of 4


the Republic, and she kindly wrote to him suggesting the scattering of flowers over the graves of dead Union soldiers as an appropri- ate recognition. General Logan was greatly pleased with this suggestion, and after mature reflection issued "Order No. 11," appointing May 30, 1868, to be observed by the members of the Grand Army of the Republic as "Dec- oration Day." This day was so observed then and has been regularly ever since. Thus it was left to a patriotic Pennsylvania woman to originate Memorial Day and suggest floral decorations for the Union dead.


Mother's Day


Miss Anna Jarvis, of Philadelphia, Pa., started Mother's Day on Sunday in May, 1907. "In planning it," she says, "I think I had grown people more in mind than the chil- dren. The little ones are always close to their mother, but the grownup sons and daughters drift away from her. They forget the years in which she gave them so much love and care. Originally, I wanted every one to wear a white carnation as a tribute and to make a visit to the mother. I wanted it to be a day when all the children would either be with the loved one or send her a message. For those whose mothers have left this earth, there was the opportunity to live for that one day just the way she would have them live, and to do some generous and some fine deed as a memorial to her.'


It does not fall to the lot of many women to see the tiny seed of an idea springing out of the love they bore their own mother grow to a vast movement over the entire world, in which railroads, telegraph companies, State officials, churches, schools, shops and the gen- eral public join. That, however, has been the reward of Miss Jarvis, whose Mother's Day Association is now the most widely known woman's association in the world. It is now (in 1916) the greatest world celebration.


Pioncer Thanksgiving Days


The first recorded Thanksgiving was the llebrew feast of the Tabernacles.


The New England Thanksgiving dates from 1633. when the Massachusetts Bay Colony set apart a day for thanksgiving.


The first national Thanksgiving proclama- tions were by Congress during the Revolution .- ary war.


The first great American Thanksgiving day was in 1784, for the declaration of peace. There was one more national Thanksgiving in 1789, and no other till 1862, when President


50


JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


Lincoln issued a national proclamation for a day of thanksgiving.


The pioneer Thanksgiving day in north- western Pennsylvania was on the last Thurs- day of November, 1819, by proclamation of Governor Findlay.


FEMALE SUFFRAGE IN THE UNITED STATES


In 1800 women could not hold office or vote in any State of the Union. The following table will exhibit the progress in that direction :


Time Place Kind of Suffrage


1838 Kentucky School suffrage to widows


with children of school age


1861 Kansas


School suffrage


1875 Michigan


School suffrage


Minnesota


School suffrage


1876 Colorado


School suffrage


1877 New Zealand School suffrage


1878 New Hampshire School suffrage


Oregon School suffrage


1879 Massachusetts School suffrage


1880 New York


School suffrage


Vermont School suffrage


1883 Nebraska


School suffrage


1887 Kansas School suffrage


North Dakota


School suffrage


South Dakota


School suffrage


Montana


School suffrage


Arizona School suffrage


New Jersey


School suffrage


Montana


Tax-paying suffrage


1891 Illinois


School suffrage


1893 Connecticut


School suffrage


1894 Ohio


School suffrage


Iowa


Bond suffrage


Kansas


Sunflower State


Kentucky Blue Grass State


Maryland Old Line State


Massachusetts


. Bay State


Michigan .Wolverine State


Minnesota North Star State


Missouri Bullion State


Nebraska


Antelope State


New Jersey


Garden State


New York Empire State


North Carolina Old North State


Ohio Buckeye State


Oregon


Webfoot State


Pennsylvania


Keystone State


South Carolina


Palmetto State


Texas . Lone Star State


Virginia


Old Dominion


Wisconsin


Badger State


Origin of Names of Days


It may not be generally known that the English names of the days of the week are derived from the titles of pagan deities, viz. : Sunday Sun's day.


Monday Moon's day.


Tuesday Tyr's (Tin's) day.


Wednesday


Woden's day.


Thursday Thor's day.


Friday Frigga's day.


Saturday


educated, and shall appropriate at least one million dollars each year for that purpose.


"Section 2. No money raised for the sup- port of the public schools of the Common- wealth, shall be appropriated to, or used for, the support of any sectarian school.


"Section 3. Women twenty-one years of age and upwards shall be eligible to any office of control or management under the school laws of this State."


The first female elected to office in Jefferson county was Mrs. J. P. Wilson, of Punxsutaw ney, and Carrie Jenks, of Brookville, was the second.


I advocated with my voice and pen female suffrage in 1852.


The first effort in that direction made by a national organization was the adoption at Cincinnati, Ohio, May 16, 1888, by the National Union Labor party, of this plank. The right to vote is inherent in citizenship, irrespective of sex, and is properly within the province of State legislation.


Nicknames of States


Alabama Plantation State


California Golden State


Colorado .Centennial State


Delaware


Diamond State


Illinois Prairie State


Iowa Hawkeye State


Indiana .Hoosier State


1808 Minnesota


Library trustees


Delaware


School suffrage to tax-paying women


Louisiana


Tax-paying suffrage


1000 Wisconsin


School suffrage


1860 Wyoming


Full suffrage


1803 Colorado Full suffrage


1896 Utah


Full suffrage


Idalio Full suffrage


In 1915 women are in full enjoyment of the elective franchise in the following States and countries : Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington, California, Arizona, Kansas, Oregon, Illinois (except certain offices men- tioned in the State constitution), New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, South Ans- tralia, Tasmania, Victoria, West Australia, Norway, Iceland and Finland.


Article X of the fourth ( present ) Constitu- tion of Pennsylvania (ratified in 1873, went into operation January 1. 1874). under the heading Education has the following para- graphs :


"Section I. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public schools, wherein all the children of this Com- monwealth, above the age of six years, may be


Saturn's day.


51


JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


The names of some of our religious festivi- ties are also derived from the same source. The Easter which is used to express the season of the great paschal solemnities comes from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess, whose festivities were celebrated at the vernal equinox.


It thus seems that the names of some of the idols of our ancestors will be perpetuated as long as the English language shall endure.


Liberty Bell


This bell was cast in London, received at Philadelphia in August, 1752, and hung in the tower of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. This bell was


LIBERTY BELL, PHILADELPHIA,PA.


broken up and recast in April, and again in June, 1753. It announced the Declaration of Independence, ratified July 4, 1776. It was cracked July 8, 1835, while being tolled in memory of Chief Justice Marshall.


PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES


Inaugu- rated


Name and Residence


Year Age Potitics


I George Washington. Va.


1780


57


Fed.


2 John Adams, Mass.


1797


62 Fed.


3 Thomas Jefferson, Va. 1801


58 Rep.


4 James Madison, Va.


1800


58 Rep.


5 James Monroe, Va ..


1817


59


Rep.


6 John Quincy Adams, Mass


1825


58


Rep.


7 Andrew Jackson, Tenn.


1829


62 .


Dem.


8 Martin Van Buren, N. Y


1837


55


Dem.


Beniamin Harrison


Presbyterian


10 John Tyler. Va ...


1841


51 Dem.


Theodore Roosevelt


Reformed Dutch


II James K. Polk. Tenn.


1845


50 Dem.


William H. Taft


. Unitarian


12 Zachary Taylor, La


1849


65 Whig


Inaugu- rated


Name and Residence


Year Age Politics


13 Miliard Fillmore, N. Y


1850


50 Whig


14 Franklin Pierce, N. H.


1853


49


Dem.


15 James Buchanan, Pa.


1857


66


Dem.


16 Abraham Lincoln, I11


1861


52


17 Andrew Johnson, Tenn.


1865


57


Rep.


18 Ulysses S. Grant, D. C.


I869


1877


54 Rep.


20 James A. Garfield, Ohio. 1881


49


Rep.


21 Chester A. Arthur, N. Y 1881


51


Rep.


22 Grover Cleveland, N. Y. 1885


48


Dem.


23 Benjamin Harrison, Ind. 1889


55


Rep.


24 Grover Cleveland, N. Y. 1893


56


Dem.


25 William McKinley, Ohio.


1897


54 Rep.


26 Theodore Roosevelt, N. Y 1901


42 Rep.


27 Wm. H. Taft, Ohio. 1909


51 Rep.


28 Woodrow Wilson, N. J .. 1913


56


Dem.


Fortunes of Presidents


Washington left $800,000; John Adams, $75,000; Jefferson, $20,000; Madison left about $150,000; Monroe died poor-he was buried at the expense of his relatives: John Quincy Adams left $55,000; Jackson died worth $80,000; Van Buren left $400,000; Polk, $15,000; Taylor, $150,000; Tyler mar- ried rich. Fillmore also; Pierce left $50,000; Buchanan left $200,000; Lincoln became wealthy, but his fortune was lost in the Grant & Ward failure ; Hayes added to his fortune, while Garfield was only moderately well off ; Harrison died worth $250,000: Cleveland's fortune was large; McKinley and Taft were not well off ; Roosevelt had a substantial com- petence ; Wilson has royalties from his books.


The religious affiliations of the presidents of the United States up to 1916 have been :


George Washington


Episcopalian


John Adams Unitarian


Jefferson Liberal


Madison


Episcopalian


James Monroe Episcopalian


Unitarian


Andrew Jackson Presbyterian


Martin Van Buren.


Reformed Dutch


William Henry Harrison . Episcopalian


James K. Polk Presbyterian


Zachary Taylor


Episcopalian


Millard Fillmore


. Unitarian


Franklin Pierce


Episcopalian


James Buchanan


Presbyterian


Abraham Lincoln


Presbyterian


Andrew Johnson


Methodist


U. S. Grant.


Afethodist


R. B. Hayes.


Methodist


James A. Garfield


. Disciples


Chester A. Arthur


Episcopalian


Grover Cleveland.


Presbyterian


9 William H. Harrison, Ohio 18.41


68 Whig


William McKinley


.Methodist


Woodrow Wilson


Presbyterian


Rep.


19 Rutherford B. Hayes, Ohio


47 Rep.


John Quincy Adams


52


JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


Presidents' .Iges and Causes of Death


Washington's death, at the age of sixty- seven, was caused by oedematous affection of the windpipe ; John Adams died of debility at the age of ninety ; Jefferson, aged eighty-three, of chronic diarrhea; Madison, aged eighty- five, of debility ; Monroe, aged seventy-three. from the same cause; John Q. Adams, aged eighty, of paralysis; Jackson, aged seventy- eight, of consumption; Van Buren, aged seventy-nine, of asthma ; Harrison, aged sixty- eight. of pleurisy ; Tyler, aged seventy-one, of indigestion: Polk, aged fifty-six. of chronic diarrhea: Taylor, aged sixty-five, of cholera morbus ; Fillmore, aged seventy-four, of debil- ity; Pierce, aged sixty-four, of dropsy ; Bu- chanan, aged seventy-seven, of rheumatism : Lincoln, aged fifty-six, assassinated; Garfield. aged forty-nine, assassinated : Mckinley, aged fifty-eight, assassinated; Grant, aged sixty- three, of cancer of the tongue ; Johnson, aged sixty-six, of paralysis; Hayes, aged seventy. of paralysis; Arthur, aged seventy-one, of Bright's disease; Cleveland, aged sixty-seven, of debility ; Harrison, aged fifty-eight, of pneumonia.


Odd Presidential Facts


Here are a lot of "facts" about Presidents of the United States: Grant was christened lliram Ulysses; Cleveland, Stephen Grover ; and Wilson, Thomas Woodrow, the first name being dropped in early college life. W. H. Harrison was the oldest man elected to the presidency and Roosevelt the youngest, Grant being the next youngest by six months. Cleve- land was the only president married in the White House, and his second daughter was the only president's child born therein. Mon- roe's daughter (Mrs. Gouverneur), Grant's daughter ( Mrs. Sartoris) and Roosevelt's daughter ( Mrs. Longworth) were the only children of presidents married therein, till the recent weddings of Jessie and Eleanor Wilson. The wives of Tyler, Benjamin Harrison and Wilson died in the White House. W. 11. Harrison was father of the largest family, six sons and four daughters. Eight presidents -Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe. W. Il. Harrison, Tyler, Taylor and Wilson- were Virginians by birth. Five presidents- Grant, Hayes, B. Harrison, Mckinley and Taft-were Ohioans by birth.


SALARIES OF UNITED STATES SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES


RATES OF COMPENSATION FIXED BY VARIOUS LAWS, AND THE CASES IN WHICH THE SAME WERE RETROACTIVE, AND FOR WIIAT LENGTHI OF TIME.


I. By the act of September 22, 1789, the compensation of Senators and Representatives in Congress was fixed at six dollars a day, and thirty cents a mile for traveling to and from the seat of government. This rate was to con- tinue until March 4. 1795. The same act fixed the compensation from March 4, 1795. to March 4, 1796 (at which last-named date, by its terms, it expired), at seven dollars a day. and thirty-five cents a mile for travel.


This aet was retroactive, extending back six months and eighteen days, viz., to March 4. 1789.


2. The act of March 10, 1796, fixed the compensation at six dollars a day, and thirty cents a mile for travel (this act extended back over six days only ).


3. The act of March 19, 1816, fixed the compensation at fifteen hundred dollars a year, "instead of the daily compensation," and left the mileage unchanged.


This act was retroactive, extending back one year and fifteen days, viz., to March 4, 1815. It was repealed by the act of February 6, 1817, but it was expressly declared that no former act was thereby revived.


4. The act of January 22, 1818, fixed the compensation at eight dollars a day, and forty cents a mile for travel.


This act was retroactive, extending back fifty-three days, viz., to the assembling of Congress December 1, 1817.


5. The act of August 16, 1856, fixed the compensation at three thousand dollars a year, and left the mileage unchanged.


This act was retroactive, extending back one year, five months and twelve days, viz., to March 4, 1855.


6. The act of July 28, 1866, fixed the con- pensation at five thousand dollars a year, and twenty cents a mile for travel-not to affect mileage accounts already accrued.


This act was retroactive, extending back one year, four months and twenty-four days. viz., to March 4, 1865.


7. The act of March 3, 1873, fixed the compensation at seven thousand, five hundred dollars a year, and actual traveling expenses- the mileage already paid for the Forty-second


53


JEFFERSON COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA


Congress to be deducted from the pay of those who had received it.


This act was retroactive, extending back two years, viz., to March 4, 1871.


NOTE .- Stationery was allowed to senators and representatives, without any special limit, until March 3. 1868, when the amount for stationery and newspapers for each senator and member was limited to one hundred and twenty-five dollars a session. This was changed by a subsequent act, taking effect July 1, 1869, to one hundred and twenty-five dollars a year. The act of 1873 abolished all allowance for stationery and newspapers.


On and after March 4, 1907, the compensa- tion of the speaker of the House of Represen- tatives, the vice president of the United States, and the heads of the executive departments who are members of the President's cabinet, shall be at the rate of twelve thousand dollars per annum each, and the compensation of senators, representatives in Congress, dele- gates from Territories, and resident commis- sioner from Porto Rico shall be at the rate of seven thousand, five hundred dollars per annum each.


SEC. 5. That all laws or parts of laws in- consistent with this act are repealed. Approved February 26, 1907.


PATENTS, INVENTIONS, ETC.


PATENTS-LIST OF INVENTIONS, ANCIENT AND) MODERN-ALMANACS


PATENTS


Before April 10, 1790, the Colonies had issued patents, Connecticut in particular. The late Senator Wadleigh, of New Hampshire, believed that the first patent ever issued to an inventor in America was granted in 1646, by the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, to Joseph Jencks, for an improvement in scythes ; but under the constitution our patent system was founded and really began in 1790. In that year only three patents were issued; thirty- three were issued in 1791; eleven in 1792 : and prior to February 24. 1793 (when a new law was enacted), twenty more, making in all sixty-seven patents issued under our first patent law. The government fees on each patent amounted to $4.70; under the new act of 1793. the fee was raised to $30, in all cases, and among the total of eleven thousand, three hundred and forty-eight patents granted under it were some of the most important inventions of the age.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.