Resource Type

Plaiting Apparatus. (open access)

Plaiting Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved plaiting machine. This design consists in "[t]he combination, of a plaiting apparatus, of a fixed transverse bar, a second transverse bar adapted to be adjusted relative thereto, and means for securing the said adjustment, each of said bars being provided with a transverse metallic strip bent to form inclined ribs" (lines 98-103).
Date: June 23, 1885
Creator: Raney, Ollie T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Producing Ammoniacal Gas. (open access)

Apparatus for Producing Ammoniacal Gas.

Patent for a new and improved refrigerator and ice machine. This design "consists in an improved construction, whereby the gas is relieved of its moisture before entering the condenser, a better apparatus is obtained, and repairs are facilitated and cheapened" (lines 12-16).
Date: July 21, 1885
Creator: Lee, Charles B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Brake. (open access)

Car-Brake.

Patent for improvement to train brakes by using a car brake apparatus.
Date: July 21, 1885
Creator: Sledge, Clarence Linden
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Air Motor. (open access)

Air Motor.

Patent for a new and improved air-motor. This design is of an "air-motor, consisting of an engine, single-acting air-pump, air-receiver, and the double-acting exhaust-pump, with the valves and connections . . . [and] the levers and segments" (lines 81-87).
Date: July 21, 1885
Creator: Koniakowsky, Alois M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn Planter. (open access)

Corn Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the frame and the hopper having the closed bottom and the openings in one side, with the driving-wheel, having the tappet-pins, the seed-slides having the openings or cups, the fulcrumed levers actuated by the tappet-pins, and connected to the lower ends of the seed-slides, and the cord or strap passing over the sheave, and secured to the free ends of the levers, whereby the seed-slides are reciprocated alternately in opposite directions" (lines 74-84).
Date: September 1, 1885
Creator: Easley, Levi
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Seed Planter and Guano Distributer. (open access)

Combined Seed Planter and Guano Distributer.

Patent for a new and improved planter and fertilizer distributor. This design "consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, whereby the machine can be readily attached to and removed from a cultivator of any suitable description and used for planting seeds of different kinds and distributing guano at the same time that the seeds are being planted" (lines 15-22).
Date: September 22, 1885
Creator: Hood, Calvine B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clock Striking Mechanism. (open access)

Clock Striking Mechanism.

Patent for a new and improved clock-chimes. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the chime of bells in the clock case, of the wheel having the lateral pins, the rock-shaft, a lever extending from the rock-shaft and engaging the said pins, and the hammer arms respectively connected with the rock-shaft by the short arm" (lines 21-26).
Date: September 22, 1885
Creator: Witherspoon, Frank.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Irrigating Land. (open access)

Apparatus for Irrigating Land.

Patent for a new and improved irrigation machine. This design "consists in an irrigating-pipe having lapped side joints and notches in the inner edges of the lapped joints. The invention also consists in the combination, with a tank, of a trough below it, tubes projecting from the trough, and irrigating-pipes connected with the said tubes" (lines 12-18).
Date: November 17, 1885
Creator: Briggs, Elias
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bailing-Press. (open access)

Bailing-Press.

Patent for Bailing Press including illustrations. The purpose of the bailing press was to improve "the bailing-press especially adapted for bailing cotton, which press is simple in construction, strong and durable, and operates rapidly" ( lines 9-12).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Clark, Frank
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists "[i]n an ant-trap, the combination, with a trough formed with a top [that is] flanged . . . of a box connected thereto by a tube terminating in a disk . . . [and] of the connecting-tubes, box, and fence" (lines 62-68).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Thompson, William Henderson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus For Emptying Barrels Or Other Receptacles Containing Liquids. (open access)

Apparatus For Emptying Barrels Or Other Receptacles Containing Liquids.

Patent for a device to empty barrels and other receptacles containing liquids, including illustrations.
Date: March 3, 1885
Creator: Hudson, Benjamin Franklin
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for an improved baling press for hay, cotton, and similar materials granted to Charles M. Stone.
Date: March 10, 1885
Creator: Stone, Charles M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Land Roller and Plow (open access)

Combined Land Roller and Plow

Patent for combined land roller and plow. This tool is meant to be used to prepare the ground for planting. The illustrations have the labeled components and the text describes their uses.
Date: March 10, 1885
Creator: Weddle, Henry, of Sherman, Texas
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bustle. (open access)

Bustle.

Patent for a new and improved bustle. This design "consist[s] of a single piece of wire bent in spiral form, said bustle being larger in diameter at its center than at its ends, and eyes or loops formed in said ends, in combination with a spiral spring located within said bustle, the ends of said spring being formed with eyes or loops, and cords or tapes secured to the eyes of the bustle and spring" (lines 52-59).
Date: March 31, 1885
Creator: Davis, Charles Robert
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale Tie. (open access)

Bale Tie.

Patent for a new and improved bale tie. This design "consists of a buckle or tie consisting of a base-plate having one or more projections or hooks on its face, to one of which is permanently secured one end of the wire or band, while the other end is passed around the bale and secured to the opposite hook or projection" (lines 21-27).
Date: March 31, 1885
Creator: Tippit, James A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band Cutter and Feeder for Thrashers. (open access)

Band Cutter and Feeder for Thrashers.

Patent for a new and improved feeder and band cutter for thrashers. This design consists "[i]n a band-cutter for a thrasher, the combination with the main frame, main shaft, platforms, and mechanism adapted and arranged to cut the bands, of the crank, rod, oscillating shaft provided with the crank arms . . . reciprocating rod, and depending rod" (lines 38-44).
Date: March 31, 1885
Creator: Cook, Emmanuel Thomas
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for improvements to press for making bales of hay.
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Chidester, John E.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Buncher. (open access)

Cotton-Buncher.

Patent for an implement to thin and bunch young cotton plants, including illustrations.
Date: April 28, 1885
Creator: Tynes, Samuel
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Hoisting Bales on Wagons. (open access)

Apparatus for Hoisting Bales on Wagons.

Patent for a new and improved bale hoister. This design "relates to apparatus for loading and unloading wagons, and it has for its object to provide an apparatus of this character which shall be cheap and simple in its construction, effective in its operation, strong and durable, an apparatus by the use of which a wagon may be quickly loaded and unloaded" (lines 9-15).
Date: May 12, 1885
Creator: Lamb, George Washington
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pitman Rod. (open access)

Pitman Rod.

Patent for a new and improved pitman-rod. This design "consists in the combination of the flywheel, made heaviest upon one side, with the wrist-pin, connecting-rod, and the part which is to be attached to the reaper or mower knife" (lines 14-18).
Date: May 12, 1885
Creator: Brooks, Ambrous Adam & Brooks, Andrew Jackson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

Bastrop Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1885
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History

Taylor Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1885
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History

San Saba Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1885
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History
Kettle Attachment. (open access)

Kettle Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved kettle attachment. This design "provides an attachment to be used with the kettle, whereby the "boiling over" of the material and the consequent running of the same down the sides of the said kettle are prevented. The material that would ordinarily flow over the sides of the kettle and waste is by the use of [a] device . . . saved, and any and all danger of fire from the overflowing sugar in candy manufacture is prevented" (lines 11-20).
Date: February 17, 1885
Creator: Lamme, William W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History