Resource Type

Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design has "the combination of the A-shaped frame, consisting of side pieces hinged together at their forward ends, and provided with lateral projecting knives or cutters and horizontal slots, in which work set-screws for adjusting the cross-braces, tongue or pole, hinged at its rear-end to a bracket, vertically adjustable on the front side of [the] cross-brace, and the seat-bar hinged or otherwise secured to the underside of [the] cross-brace" (lines 76-85).
Date: April 26, 1881
Creator: Horn, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Putty Trowel (open access)

Putty Trowel

Patent for a putty trowel. Illustration included.
Date: August 16, 1910
Creator: Wright, Sam F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Putty-Trowel. (open access)

Putty-Trowel.

Patent for a putty trowel for use in installing windows.
Date: March 5, 1912
Creator: Wright, Sam F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a plow, of the landside share attachment, provided with the horizontal blade, sloping outward from the point of the plow, made sharp on the said sloping-edge, and having the flange projecting upward from the horizontal blade, and the bolts for securing the said flange and plow together, and the removable landside attachment" (lines 81-89).
Date: September 1, 1885
Creator: Cummins, John Randolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Towel-Holder (open access)

Towel-Holder

Patent for improvement of towel holders. "Constructed to provide a fresh, clean portion of toweling for each successive user." (lines 12-14)
Date: February 12, 1918
Creator: Hudson, Richard E. & Bickley, William P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Universal Vise and Carpenter's Tool. (open access)

Universal Vise and Carpenter's Tool.

Patent for a universal vise and carpenters tool designed for the use of clamping and holding a door or window frame open.
Date: December 17, 1918
Creator: Minnis, Henry M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Umbrella-Stand. (open access)

Umbrella-Stand.

Patent for an umbrella-stand. It is meant to display umbrellas, parasols, walking-canes, etc. The frame is made from tubing secured by wire, a channeled plate along the sides of the frame, and the base is adapted to support umbrella tips.
Date: November 26, 1895
Creator: Perry, Thomas C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine (open access)

Washing-Machine

Patent for "a new and improved washing-machine arranged for use on any kind of tub and adapted to insure a perfect uniform washing of all the clothes in the tub by the use of yieldingly-mounted pounders, which intermittently change their position relatively to the clothes under treatment" (lines 9-16).
Date: May 28, 1901
Creator: Staggs, Henry F. & Staggs, Robert H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Swimming Device (open access)

Swimming Device

Patent for a device to be attached to a person's feet and/or hands so that the person can swim faster and further as well as dive deeper.
Date: May 30, 1911
Creator: Wells, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch (open access)

Gate Latch

Patent for a new and useful improvements in gate latches.
Date: December 7, 1897
Creator: Turley, John Breckinridge
System: The Portal to Texas History
Storm-Cellar (open access)

Storm-Cellar

Patent for a storm cellar. Illustrations included.
Date: February 21, 1911
Creator: Leddy, Herbert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hand-Car. (open access)

Hand-Car.

Patent for "a hand-car with an auxiliary spring-actuated mechanism which can be used with or without the lever mechanism to propel at a rapid rate of speed." (Lines 12-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 15, 1897
Creator: Rousey, William N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press. (open access)

Hay-Press.

Patent for "a novel form of baling-press which will be readily transportable and owing to its peculiar construction can be manipulated by hand, a still further object being to provide such an improved baling-press that the wire ties can be wrapped around the bale after its formation easily and quickly and the bale can be readily removed from the press after it has been wired." (Lines 16-24) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 27, 1897
Creator: Hawk, Nathaniel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Car Door (open access)

Grain-Car Door

Patent for a grain-car door.
Date: May 19, 1903
Creator: Church, Josiah W. & O'Gorman, M. J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse Collar (open access)

Horse Collar

Patent for a horse collar. Illustration included.
Date: August 15, 1905
Creator: Cooper, Joseph P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Door For Freight-Cars. (open access)

Grain-Door For Freight-Cars.

Patent for a new and improved grain door for freight cars, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 19, 1899
Creator: Morten, Edward W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gin Attachment for Bolly Cotton (open access)

Gin Attachment for Bolly Cotton

Patent for gin attachment for bolly cotton. This seeks to make the gin stands have automatic control and for disposing of hulls and waste products from the gin.
Date: October 9, 1917
Creator: Becknell, George T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gin Saw Gumming Machine. (open access)

Gin Saw Gumming Machine.

Patent for an improved variation of a gin saw gumming machine with "an adjustable means for clamping the machine to varying diameters of space blocks on gin saws of varying diameters." (Lines 11-14), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 2, 1917
Creator: Taylor, James E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hollow Auger. (open access)

Hollow Auger.

Patent for a new and improved hollow auger. This design "consists in an adjustable hollow auger and an adjustable fore-auger, which are combined together for use with an ordinary brace, and constructed in such a manner that when applied to use the end of the spoke or other article is first beveled by the fore-auger, and the tenon then formed by the hollow auger. The cutters of the fore-auger are formed upon pivoted arms, which are automatically released, and then thrown open by a spring when the spoke is pointed, in order to give opportunity for the hollow auger to act" (lines 16-28).
Date: October 16, 1883
Creator: Rodman, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harrow or Rake Attachment for Plows and Cultivators. (open access)

Harrow or Rake Attachment for Plows and Cultivators.

Patent for a new and improved harrow and rake attachment for plows and cultivators. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a rake or harrow attachment for plows, of a clamp provided with a curved perforated shoe, and adapted to be secured to the standard of one beam, a rake or harrow secured at one end to said shoe, a bar, means for connecting the same to a second beam, the lower end of said bar being connected to the other end of the rake or harrow" (lines 94-102).
Date: November 3, 1885
Creator: Jarrett, Elisha T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harvester-Truck. (open access)

Harvester-Truck.

Patent for "new and useful Improvements in Trucks for Harvesters"(lines 5-7)
Date: January 6, 1886
Creator: Willcoxson, Coulmon W. & Hamilton, Samuel R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch. (open access)

Gate Latch.

Patent for a new and improved gate-latch. This design consists "[i]n a latch, the combination of the case having at its lower end a guide ledge or flange with its bearing face arranged laterally in from the inner face of the side plate of the case, a loosely suspended ring held and movable against the said ledge or flange, and means whereby the said ring may be operated" (lines 5-11).
Date: August 7, 1888
Creator: Charleville, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Scale. (open access)

Grain-Scale.

Patent for “improvements in grain-scales, especially adapted for location at the rear end of a trashing-machine and for receiving therefrom the thrashed grain, weighing and subsequently bagging the same in predetermined quantities” (lines 7-12), includes illustration.
Date: March 17, 1891
Creator: Butts, Alexander W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire-Escape. (open access)

Fire-Escape.

Patent for a simple and reliable folding ladder that is meant to assist someone in escaping a fire. It folds compactly and conveniently, and is adjustable. It sits away from the wall and another ladder can be attached to it when it is in use.
Date: June 13, 1893
Creator: Dobbs, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History