The Colored Inventor | Page 4

to acknowledge that their inventions are in any way identified

with the colored race, on the ground, presumably, that the publication
of that fact might adversely affect the commercial value of their
invention; and in view of the prevailing sentiment in many sections of
our country, it cannot be denied that much reason lies at the bottom of
such conclusion.
Notwithstanding the difficulties above mentioned as standing in the
way of getting at the whole truth, something over 1,200 instances have
been gathered as representing patents granted to colored inventors, but
so far only about 800 of these have been verified as definitely
belonging to that class.
These 800 patents tell a wonderful story of the progress of the race in
the mastery of the science of mechanics. They cover inventions of more
or less importance in all the branches of mechanics, in chemical
compounds, in surgical instruments, in electrical utilities, and in the
fine arts as well.
From the numerous statements made by various attorneys to the effect
that they have had several colored clients whose names they could not
recall, and whose inventions they could not identify on their books, it is
practically certain that the nearly 800 verified patents do not represent
more than one-half of those that have been actually granted to colored
inventors, and that the credit for these must perhaps forever lie hidden
in the unbreakable silence of official records.
But before directing attention specifically to some of the very
interesting details disclosed by this latest investigation into the subject,
let us consider for a brief moment a few of the inventions which
colored men have made, but for which no patents appear to be of
record.
I should place foremost among these that wonderful clock constructed
by our first astronomer, Benjamin Banneker, of Maryland. Banneker's
span of earthly existence covered the 75 years from 1731 to 1806. His
parentage was of African and English origin, and his mental equipment
was far above the average of his day and locality in either race. Aside
from his agricultural pursuits, on which he relied for a livelihood, he

devoted his time mainly to scientific and mechanical studies, producing
two things by which he will be long remembered: An almanac and a
clock. The latter he constructed with crude tools, and with no
knowledge of any other timepiece except a watch and a sundial; yet the
clock he made was so perfect in every detail of its mechanical
construction, so accurate in the mathematical calculations involved,
that it struck the hours with faultless precision for twenty years, and
was the mechanical wonder of his day and locality.
Another instance is that of Mr. James Forten, of Philadelphia, who is
credited with the invention of an apparatus for managing sails. He lived
from 1766 to 1842, and his biographer says he amassed a competence
from his invention and lived in leisurely comfort as a consequence.
Still another instance is that of Robert Benjamin Lewis, who was born
in Gardiner, Me., in 1802. He invented a machine for picking oakum,
which machine is said to be in use to-day in all the essential particulars
of its original form by the shipbuilding interests of Maine, especially at
Bath.
It is of common knowledge that in the South, prior to the War of the
Rebellion, the burden of her industries, mechanical as well as
agricultural, fell upon the colored population. They formed the great
majority of her mechanics and skilled artisans as well as of her ordinary
laborers, and from this class of workmen came a great variety of the
ordinary mechanical appliances, the invention of which grew directly
out of the problems presented by their daily employment.
There has been a somewhat persistent rumor that a slave either invented
the cotton gin or gave to Eli Whitney, who obtained a patent for it,
valuable suggestions to aid in the completion of that invention. I have
not been able to find any substantial proof to sustain that rumor. Mr.
Daniel Murray, of the Library of Congress, contributed a very
informing article on that subject to the Voice of the Negro, in 1905, but
Mr. Murray did not reach conclusions favorable to the contention on
behalf of the colored man.
It is said that the zigzag fence, so commonly used by farmers and

others, was originally introduced into this country by African slaves.
We come now to consider the list of more modern inventions, those
inventions from which the element of uncertainty is wholly eliminated,
and which are represented in the patent records of our government.
In this verified list of nearly 800 patents granted by our government to
the inventors of our race we find that they have applied their inventive
talent to the whole range of inventive subjects; that in agricultural
implements, in