28 October 1818

Marshall, John, 1755-1835

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Bushrod Washington

Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, writes to Associate Justice Washington regarding the case of Oliver Evans, who claimed one of his patents had been violated. States that to his knowledge, the court "meant to decide that the specification was sufficient & enabled O. E. to prove under it at the trial that his improvement had been violated."

GLC02815

1862-1864

Oakes, Cyrus, fl. 1862-1864

Header Record

Title: [Collection of Cyrus Oakes, C company, 84th regiment, Indiana, infantry] [Decimalized .001- .122]

Collection includes 92 letters to and from Oakes written while he served in the 84th Regiment Indiana Volunteers as a sergeant and later lieutenant. 83 wartime letters. Also included are a variety of personal papers, patent related files, two daguerrotypes and a copy of Noah Webster's "Pocket Dictionary of the English Language" inscribed by Cyrus Oakes.

GLC03136

30 March 1845

Ericsson, John, 1803-1889

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Bennett

A private letter in which Ericsson defends the merits of his screw propeller over Steven's Scull. Claims that reports that the scull beat his ship are misleading. Accompanied by a two page manuscript autographed by Ericsson that details his invention. John Ericsson invented the screw propeller, which replaced the paddle wheel and remains the most common form of marine propulsion to this day. James Bennett was editor of the New York Herald.

GLC03513

12 May 1854

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to E.H. Sanford

States that Amos Kendall is his agent for the management of his telegraphic business and he cannot answer Sanford's inquiry about the sale of telegraph patent rights in Oregon and California until consulting with Kendall. Comments that he believes that no definite sale has been made yet but advises on Kendall's whereabouts and states he will send Sanford's letter to him.

GLC04236

13 December 1813

Clinton, DeWitt, 1769-1828

Document signed

Title: [Depositions of Andrew Bartholomew & Arthur H. Roorbach]

Clinton's written summary of the depositions of Andrew Bartholomew & Arthur Roorbach, both steamboat captains employed by Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston. Also includes a statement by Clinton certifying that the depositions are true. The depositions relate to the length of service of these two men and the kind of work they have been doing. Both men state they have captained steamboats for Fulton for almost three years and claim they have towed many boats during this time. These depositions seem to be part of an attempt by Fulton to establish that he was the first to employ…

GLC04332

25 December 1814

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Fulton

Adams states that Levett Harris, then handling U.S. affairs in Russia, has learned from the Russian Minister of the Interior that Fulton is in danger of losing his "patent of exclusive privilege for his Steam-Boat invention" in Russia because he has failed to provide the required drawing and description. Adams reports that he has asked Harris to assure the Russian Minister of the Interior that Fulton was not guilty of neglect, but most likely never received Adams's letters on the subject due to "the extreme difficulty of the communications" in the war-torn winter of 1813-1814. He urges Fulton…

GLC04334

February 13, 1793

Fitch, John, 1743-1798

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Nicholson

Fitch, an inventor, suggests that Nicholson pay Mr. Stokes for use of Stokes' unspecified model. Instructs Nicholson, Comptroller-General of Pennsylvania, to take a receipt for this payment, which "may appear to a jury as a purchase" in case Stokes attempts to claim exclusive rights to the model. Includes a fragment possibly removed from this document with the notation "fragment text does not match document text."

GLC04647

November 26, 1818

Header Record

Title: [Patent for Jacob Bromwell's improvement of the wheat fan, or winnowing machine and J.Q. Adams and Engraving of James Monroe and James Monroe]

Document signed by John Quincy Adams and James Monroe, 1 engraving of John Quincy Adams, and 3 engravings of James Monroe.

GLC04823

circa 1861-1865

Photograph

Title: East Gallery Patent Office in Washington D.C.

A view down a long column-lined corridor at the patent office. Inscription on verso: "Interior East Gallery Patent Office Wash." Numeric notation on verso: "180."

GLC05111.01.0870

circa 1861-1865

Photograph

Title: East Gallery Patent Office in Washington D.C. (Copy 1)

Image identical to #870

GLC05111.01.0871

circa 1861-1865

Photograph

Title: East Gallery Patent Office in Washington D.C. (Copy 2)

Image identical to #870 and #871

GLC05111.01.0872

circa 1861-1865

Photograph

Title: East Gallery Patent Office in Washington D.C. (Copy 3)

Image identical to #870 - #872.

GLC05111.01.0873

31 January 1814

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Pamphlet

Title: Letter from the Secretary of State

One pamphlet entitled Letter from the Secretary of State Transmitting a list of the Names of Persons to Whom Patents Have Been Issued For any New or Useful Art, Machine, Manufacture, or Composition of Matter, Or any Improvement Theron from January 1st 1813 to January 1st 1814 published January 31, 1814. This list includes approximately 175 patents in a chat that includes the name of the invention, date it was patented, name and residence of the inventor.

GLC09991

31 July 1827

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Document signed

Title: [Patent for Simeon Brown's invention for moving brick, stone, or wooden buildings with the chimneys, furniture, and families therein]

Signed by Adams as President. Countersigned by Henry Clay as Secretary of State and William Wirt as Attorney General. Contains a seal and faded red ribbon.

GLC06237

6 July 1802

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Document signed

Title: [Patent for Edward West's improvement, being a machine for cutting and heading nails]

Signed by Thomas Jefferson as President. Countersigned by James Madison as Secretary of State and Levi Lincoln as Attorney General. West's written description of his invention is signed by Andrew Holmes and Lewis Sanders as witnesses. Contains a paper seal and faded white ribbon. Several unattached ribbon scraps accompany this document.

GLC06238

18 March 1818

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Document signed

Title: [Patent for John Babcock's improvement in printer's ball stocks]

Signed by Monroe as President. Countersigned by John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State and William Wirt as Attorney General. Babcock's description (page two) countersigned by R. J. Ingersoll and William Scott as witnesses. Contains a covered seal and faded white ribbon.

GLC06239

5 April 1821

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Document signed

Title: [Patent for James Morgan's improvement in warping, dressing, and weaving cotton goods by water or other power]

Signed by Monroe as President. Countersigned by John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State and William Wirt as Attorney General. Contains a seal and red ribbon.

GLC06240

10 July 1830

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Document signed

Title: [Patent for Enoch Honeywell's improvement, entitled the Water Elevator]

Signed by Jackson as President. Countersigned by Martin Van Buren as Secretary of State and John MacPherson Berrien as Attorney General. Honeywell's description of his invention is signed by F. R. Mudge and Marcellus Weston as witnesses. Contains a seal and blue ribbon.

GLC06279

13 August 1805

Thornton, William, 1759-1828

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Document acknowledging William Eaton]

Written in a flowerly, religious tone by William Thornton, the architect who designed the U.S. Capitol building who was running the U.S. Patent Office in 1805. Given to William Eaton, former American commander of naval vessels sent to the Barbary states in 1804 and 1805. Presented to Eaton after his adventures with Prince Sidi Hamet, the Sultan of Tripoli who was disposed by his younger brother Yusuf Karamanli in 1804. Eaton had proposed to help Hamet regain power, but after a series of sensational battles a diplomatic payment was made to preserve the peace and Hamet retired to Syracuse on…

GLC06304.01

24 April 1841

Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852

Document signed

Title: [Patent for Ansel Thayer's improvement in the manner of manufacturing boots and shoes by substituting a metallic shank for that portion of the outsole which answers to the hollow of the instep and heel]

Signed by Webster as Secretary of State. Countersigned by Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, Commissioner of Patents. Thayer's written description of his improvement is signed by Thomas P. Jones and George West as witnesses. Includes a one page diagram of Thayer's invention. Sealed and bound with light blue ribbon.

GLC06362

6 May 1833

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Document signed

Title: [Patent for Stephen H. Long's improvement in the construction of boilers or steam generators, and of wheels for locomotive steam engines]

Signed by Jackson as President. Countersigned by Edward Livingston as Secretary of State and Roger Brooke Taney as Attorney General. Contains a seal and yellow ribbon.

GLC06367

12 December 1796

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Document signed

Title: [Patent for George Chandler's improvement in making nails]

Signed by Washington as President. Countersigned by Timothy Pickering as Secretary of State and Charles Lee as Attorney General. Chandler's written description of his improvement is signed by J. Churchman and Peter Barker as witnesses. Includes a paper seal and light blue ribbon.

GLC06040

15 April 1790

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Letter signed

Title: to Samuel Huntington

Jefferson, Secretary of State, transmits two copies (not included) of the first Patent Act of the United States to Huntington, Governor of Connecticut. The U.S. Constitution empowered the Federal Government to issue patents by providing, in article 1, section 8, that Congress shall have the power "to promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." The first act of Congress under that authority was passed April 10, 1790, giving complete power to grant patents to a…

GLC06036

20 August 1791

Gardiner, John, fl. 1791-1792

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Mentions that the mechanic Joseph Pope, who invented the orrery purchased by the legislature for Harvard, "brought with him on his return from England, a great Variety of Drawings of many of the most useful and late invented machines, mills, &c. which he is too [sic] disinterested to make money by; but which he means for the benefit of America." Is making models with considerable improvements on existing inventions, which he means to send to Philadelphia to be deposited with the United States "for the use of all our fellow citizens." Notes he was asked to write to Knox to see if he will…

GLC02437.05129

circa 1763-1783

Manuscript

Title: List of deeds, surveys, patents, etc. pertinent to the Livingston Family (1713-1796)

List of various surveys, patents, deeds, and rent accounts made from the years 1713-1796.

GLC03107.04773