Henry Blair (inventor)
American inventor (1807 – 1860)
Henry Blair
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The drawing of the Seed-Planter by Blair used on the patent application in 1836.
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Born |
Henry Blaire
1807
Glen Ross, Maryland
, United States
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Died | 1860 |
Nationality | African American |
Occupation(s) |
Inventor
Farmers |
Known for | The second black man to obtain a patent |
Henry Blair (1807–1860) was the second African American inventor to receive a US patent . [1]
He was born in Glen Ross, Maryland , United States in 1807. His first invention was the Seed-Planter, [2] patented October 14, 1834, which allowed farmers to plant more corn using less labor and in a shorter time. On August 31, 1836 he obtained a second patent for a cotton planter. [3] This invention worked by splitting the ground with two shovel-like blades which were pulled along by a horse. A wheel-driven cylinder followed behind which dropped the seed into the newly plowed ground. [1] Blair had been a successful farmer for years and developed the inventions as a means of increasing efficiency in farming. [4]
In the patent records, Blair is listed as a "colored man," making this identification the only one of its kind in early patent records. Blair was illiterate, therefore he signed his patents with an "x". [5] It is said that Blair was a freedman . At the time that his patents were granted, United States patent law allowed both freed and enslaved people to obtain patents. In 1857, this law was challenged by a slave-owner who claimed that he owned "all the fruits of the slave's labor," including his slave's inventions. This resulted in a change of the law in 1858 which stated that slaves were not citizens, and therefore could not hold patents. Blair died in 1860. [3] In 1871, six years after the American Civil War ended, the law was changed to grant all men patent rights.
References
- 1 2 "Henry Blair" . Inventors . The Black Inventor On-Line Museum. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013 . Retrieved 13 November 2011 .
- ↑ The Mechanics' magazine, museum, register, journal, and gazette . M. Salmon. 1836. pp. 320 – . Retrieved 13 November 2011 .
- 1 2 Ray Spangenburg; Diane Moser (March 2003). African Americans in science, math, and invention . Infobase Publishing. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-8160-4806-9 . Retrieved 13 November 2011 .
- ↑ "The Black Inventor On-line Museum." Accessed December 4, 2012. http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/henry-blair.html Archived 2013-08-18 at the Wayback Machine .
- ↑ "Henry Blair" . Projects by Students for Students . Many of Maryland's Distinguished African Americans. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011 . Retrieved 13 November 2011 .
External links
- The patent text and drawings for the Seed-Planter from Today in Science.
- The patent text for the Cotton-Planter from Today in Science.