The entire 19th century - starting in the 18th century, actually - was a time of innovation and technology improvements. There's little question the Civil War used many of those technology advances - the telegraph! the railroad! mass produced guns! - and certainly many Americans' lives would never be the same after the war. However, in my opinion, the "let's figure out a better way" drive toward invention defined the American character as much as the blood shed on any battlefield. From agricultural tools to the mill industry to the railroad, our battlefield families had a front-row seat. I thought I'd talk about one of those inventions today:
On 29 April 1862, patent number US000035098 was issued to Ross Johnson of Frederick, Maryland, for what he called an "Improvement in Plows."1 If you attended the Thomas Farm open house a few weekends ago, the Johnson name may be vaguely familiar to you. I believe that Ross Johnson is a son of Worthington Johnson2, who purchased the Thomas House from the McPherson family in 1844 and then sold it a few years later in 18473.
 |
| Diagram submitted with Ross Johnson's patent application |
So what does this fancy improvement look like? Please see the diagram to the left for an idea. I'm not going to go into all the technical details of Johnson's invention (you're welcome), but his patent application promised that a plow with his invention would be lighter to handle, wouldn't clog as often, would be more steady, and would create little "channels or small drains for the running off of surplus water after heavy rains."
Those all sound to me like things that would be good to have in a plough, but would other farmers see value in his invention? Since he wanted hard-working folks to find room in their budget for his invention, he realized he needed to market and prove its benefits. Mr. Johnson arranged to have a handful of local farmers run a trial of a plow with his invention against a plow that didn't have his invention, and then ran a series of advertisements announcing the results and having those farmers certify to those results.
The first advertisement appeared on 14 Jan 18624, while the plow improvement was going through the patent office. The advertisement refers to the improvement as a "Dynamo'er," and says the trial ran on Wednesday the 14th inst., which typically means the 14th of the current month. I have some questions about that date, but it's clear is that a member of the Johnson family created this technology improvement, and a member of the Worthington family was part of the certifying committee.
This particular advertisement ran in the local newspaper until his patent was granted, and beyond:
Improvement in Ploughs.The subscriber is prepared to furnish Farmers and any in want of PLOUGHS WITH JOHNSON'S IMPROVEMENT. It's superiority will be seen by a glance at the annexed certificate.
JOHNSON'S
PATENT PLOUGH.
Those who desire, can have the Improvement put on old Ploughs at a moderate cost, by McCLINTOCK YOUNG, Jr.,
"Vulcan Works,"
E. Patrick Street, Frederick, Md.
CERTIFICATE.The undersigned, appointed a committee to examine and report the trail of R. Johnson's Improved Plough do hereby certify that said Improvement was thoroughly and fairly tested, in our presence on Wednesday the 14th inst., up on the farm of J. I. Jamison, Esq., with the following result: The "Dynamo'er" being attached for the purpose of ascertaining accurately the exact difference in draft up in the same Plough with and without the Roller - indicated that the average draft in a two horse Plough.
Without Mr. Johnson's Invention was 675 lbs.
With do. do. do. 515 lbs.
160 lbs
Showing a clear and undoubted reduction, by virtue of the Improvement, of one hundred and sixty pounds.
The implement was first drawn through a heavy Clover, and Blue Grass sode - afterwards diagonally across the fresh ploughed ground to as to test perfectly the working efficiency of the Rollers - the latter revolving freely in both kinds of earth.
JOHN T. WORTHINGTON,
SEBASTIAN G. COCKEY,
HOWARD SIMMONS,
IGNATIUS FITZSIMMONS.
May 30, 1862 - 1y.
NEW PATENT--IMPORTANT TO FARMERS.--Letters Patent have lately been issued to Ross Johnson, of this county, for certain Improvements in Ploughs--which we understand from competent judges will prove of great interest to the farming community throughout the country. The Invention consists in part as follows:--One or more Case Iron Friction Rollers--with chilled journals--are inserted into the face of the 'Mould Boards'--working in close chilled Boxes which are firmly bolted onto the under side of the latter, and so disposed and secured centrally and longitudinally as that their working surface shall be in the direct line of the impact and present flush contact with the bottom of the furrow slice as it rises upon--passes over, and is thrown off from the face of the Mould Board--thus of necessity relieving the same from the severe pressure now incident to the employment of the ordinary Mould.
The effect of the Rollers arranged as aboved described is obvious, and we will here merely state that the Invention has for its object:
1st and chiefly.--The dimunition of the Draft or labour otherwise inseparably connected with the operation of Ploughing.
2nd. The speedy and effectual clearing of the Mould Board without the necessity of halting the team--when it has "filled"--whilst passing through certain kinds of earth.
3rd. The increased durability of the Mould Board--it being estimated by machinists that the implement constructed after Mr. J's. improvement will last much longer than those now in use.
There are other features of the invention which we have no space to enumerate and explain in detail, but which persons interested in the matter can witness by calling upon the Inventor.
We understand that M. Johnson has just associated with him--J. I. Jamison, Esq.,--a gentleman of long experience and standing in Agricultural matters--who has, during the present spring ploughing, thoroughly tested and proved the practical value of Mr. Johnson's discovery--and we further learn it to be the intention of these gentlemen to manufacture immediately in this city their Improved Implement, so that farmers may at an early day avail themselves of its use--the additional cost being trifling, whilst the saving in the item of feed alone in a single season, it is thought by farmers, will be far more than double this amount.
A trial of the above was made on the 13th inst,. at the farm of J. Lewis, Esq, in the presence of Col. John McPherson, Michael Keefer, B. G. Fizhugh, C. Thomas, J. Staley and other gentlemen, who all concur in pronouncing the Invention a highly valuable Improvement upon the old mode of ploughing.
We cordially invite the attention of our readers to it--being of opinion, so far as we can judge, that in point of utility it is entirely unequaled by any of the numerous Improvements heretofore made, in this first and decidedly most important Implement upon the farm.
The following tests were made since the above and speak for themselves:
Certificate.--The undersigned, appointed a committee to examine and report the trial of R. Johnson's Improved Plough do hereby certify that said Improvement was thoroughly and fairly tested, in our presence on Wednesday the 14th inst., upon the farm of J. I. Jamison, Esq., with the following result: The "Dynanometer" being attached for the purpose of ascertaining acurately the exact difference in draft upon the same Plough with and without the Roller--indicated that the average Draft in a two-horse Plough.
Without Mr. Johnson's Invention was 675 lbs.
With do. do. do. 515 lbs.
160
Showing a clear and undoubted reduction, by virtue of the Improvement, of one hundred and sixty pounds.
The implement was first drawn through a heavy Clover, and Blue Grass sod--afterwards diagonally across the fresh ploughed ground so as to test perfectly the working efficiency of the Rollers--the latter revolving freely in both kinds of earth.
JOHN T. WORTHINGTON,
SEBASTIAN G. COCKEY,
HOWARD SIMMONS,
IGNATIUS FITZSIMMONS.
Now we have a second trial, this time in the presence of Col. John McPherson, Michael Keefer, B. G. Fitzhugh, C. Thomas, and J. Staley. These are all pretty prominent families in the county, so this advertisement is a slick way of implying their endorsement without actually getting it. (Think how much a t-shirt store's sales are going to go up when someone like Beyonce shops there.) More importantly for my purposes, a number of these families are connected to our battlefield, even if they didn't live on the land within our park boundaries.
- The McPherson family owned the Thomas Farm (plus the Worthington Farm, the Gambrill Mill tract, the Lewis Farm, the Baker Farm, and more) before the Johnson family.6
- Michael Keefer owned (and would have recently sold) the near-by Arcadia, which neighbored the Best Farm. 7
- C. Thomas is not our Christian Keefer Thomas, although he may or may not be related.
- I haven't done nearly enough research into the Staley family to know the connection with J. Staley, specifically, but James H. Gambrill married Antoinette Staley8, and Alice Thomas named "my old friend" Charles M. Staley as the executor of her will9.
1 "USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database," digital images, United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov : accessed 02 May 2016), Ross Johnson of Frederick, plow moldboard, patent file no. 35098 (1862); original file location not cited. Photograph used according to permissions and restrictions on this page of the USPTO website.↩
2 Because the Johnson family name is fairly common, tracing the Worthington Johnson family is a complex undertaking requiring more than one artifact to prove and disprove a number of theoretical connections. I hope to do a blog post - or several - outlining this family at some point in the future.↩
3 Joy Beasley, editor, Archeological Overview, Assessment, Identification, and Evaluation Study of the Thomas Farm(Report submitted to the National Park Service, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 2010), p. 31.↩
4 "Improvement in Ploughs. Johnson's Patent Plough," image article, The (Frederick, Maryland) Examiner, 14 Jan 1862, p 1, col 6, ad 2.↩
5 "New Patent-Important to Farmers," article image, The (Frederick, MD) Examiner, 21 May 1862, p 2.↩
6 Joy Beasley, editor, Archeological Overview, Assessment, Identification, and Evaluation Study of the Thomas Farm(Report submitted to the National Park Service, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 2010), p. 31.↩
7 “Valuable Real Estate at Trustee Sale,” advertisement image, The (Frederick, MD) Examiner, 15 Sep 1858, p3, col 3, ad 1.↩
8 Identifying an accurate family tree for the Staley family requires more than a single artifact. I hope to do a blog post - or several - in the future that will more fully outline this family tree.↩
9 "Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999," images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 December 2015), Frederick > Wills 1904-1910 vol 25-26 > image 440 of 467, entry for Alice Thomas Anderson; Hall of Records, Annapolis.↩
No comments:
Post a Comment