Book Adjuster. (open access)

Book Adjuster.

Patent for a new and improved book-adjuster. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the holder having the horizontal longitudinal recess and the vertical screw-threaded aperture, of the base-piece, the adjusting-screw swiveled at its lower end in the said base-piece, and the spring-catch" (lines 3-8).
Date: February 8, 1887
Creator: Adair, Irvine James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Copy Holder. (open access)

Copy Holder.

Patent for a new and improved copy-holder. This design "is [for] an improved copy-holder intended especially for holding deeds when being transcribed to the records, and seeks to provide a simple, inexpensive construction by which the deed may be held and to and from which the deed or other paper may be adjusted without difficulty, such construction serving also to mark or indicate the particular line of the paper being copied" (lines 7-15).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Adair, Irvine James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee and Spice Mill. (open access)

Coffee and Spice Mill.

Patent for a new and improved mill for coffee and spices. This design "consists in constructing a coffee and spice mill with a hopper having arms for attaching the mill to a wall and for supporting the gear-wheel formed upon it, an inner cone-burr formed solid with the hopper, an outer shell-burr suspended from and swiveled to the inner burr by a cross-bar, rod, and hand-nut, and the gear-wheels and crank for rotating the outer-burr" (lines 22-30).
Date: March 28, 1882
Creator: Andrews, Thomas A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit Picker. (open access)

Fruit Picker.

Patent for a new and improved fruit picker. This design consists in "two bags or receptacles [which] are secured upon an endless chain or cord, which passes over a pulley at the top of the pole of the picker and under a pulley near the lower end of the pole, so that the weight of one fruit picked and received in the bag will draw the other bag upward ready to receive another fruit, while the fruit in the descended bag may be removed from the said bag, which will thus be ready to ascend, when another fruit is picked" (lines 24-34).
Date: November 23, 1886
Creator: Arnold, Hudson H. C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window Screen Holder. (open access)

Window Screen Holder.

Patent for a new and improved window-screen holder. This design "consists in the combination, with a window-frame and a window-screen held in the same, of wires secured on the casing of the frame and having bends near their upper ends, and of hook-eyes held on the sides of the screen-frame and surrounding the wires. The invention also consists in a plate pivoted to the under side of the bottom rail of the screen-frame for covering a recess formed in the under edge and inner side of the said rail or piece" (lines 13-23).
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Barlow, Henry C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Printing Device (open access)

Automatic Printing Device

Patent for "improvements in automatic printing devices. . .whereby the printing is effected b the movement of the paper or fabric on which the printing is done" (lines 10-16).
Date: July 23, 1889
Creator: Barradall, Norborne D. & Bradley, Andrew Jackson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wood Pavement. (open access)

Wood Pavement.

Patent for a new and improved wood pavement. This design "is to furnish an improved pavement which shall be strong, durable, and cheap, not being liable to decay nor become uneven, with perfectly water-tight concrete joints laid on a perfectly solid and compact foundation of gravel, which can be easily cut through and readily reunited should it become necessary to cut through it to lay sewer or gas pipes or water-mains, or make connections with same" (lines 10-19).
Date: July 17, 1883
Creator: Bell, Bushrod W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drag Saw. (open access)

Drag Saw.

Patent for a new and improved drag saw. This design "is to provide a simple, inexpensive, durable, and easily-operated machine for cross-cutting timber for railway-ties and material, or for cord-wood, stove-wood, or other uses" (lines 7-11).
Date: January 1, 1884
Creator: Bennett, William A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Kitchen Cabinet (open access)

Kitchen Cabinet

Patent for a knock-down kitchen cabinet.
Date: August 7, 1882
Creator: Billington, Theophilus
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drawers and Pantaloons. (open access)

Drawers and Pantaloons.

Patent for new and improved pants. This design consists in "[a] pair of pantaloons, each leg of which is composed of a single piece, having the two edges and extended from the crotch to the foot of the leg, said extended portions being lapped one upon the other and united by the double lines of stitching, one in front and the other in rear of the usual line of the inside seam, whereby the leg is given a double thickness on the inside, and a smooth unbroken surface, adapting them to be worn in the saddle with comfort" (lines 16-26).
Date: July 7, 1885
Creator: Blake, Samuel Diggs
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pantaloons and Overalls. (open access)

Pantaloons and Overalls.

Patent for new and improved overalls and pants. This design "consists in a garment cut in four pieces of peculiar form united in a peculiar manner, whereby the seat and crotch and the inner sides of the legs are made of double thickness and the leg and crotch both rendered seamless, in order that they may be worn without the discomfort attending the use of garments in which heavy seams or welts exist in the middle" (lines 10-18).
Date: June 2, 1885
Creator: Blake, Samuel Diggs
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

Dallas County

Map of the Prairies and Lakes region covering Dallas County, Texas. Scale ca. 1:133,334 (4000 varas per inch).
Date: March 1886
Creator: Blau, F. G.
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark-Extinguisher. (open access)

Spark-Extinguisher.

Patent for a spark extinguisher "to prevent the burning of buildings and other combustible matter by steam engines" (lines 15-17).
Date: March 9, 1880
Creator: Blewett, George L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding Table. (open access)

Folding Table.

Patent for a new and improved folding table. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a table having a triangular top plate, of the hinged triangular leaf, the sliding strip, the leg, and the brace-rod, secured on the inner end of the strip and on the leg" (lines 60-64).
Date: November 4, 1884
Creator: Bolles, Charles Morris
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Miter and Framing Square. (open access)

Miter and Framing Square.

Patent for a new and improved miter and framing square. This design "consists in the improved arrangement and construction of graduated scales, whereby I attain superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability, inexpensiveness, and general efficiency" (lines 11-15).
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Bolles, James H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Running Gear. (open access)

Running Gear.

Patent for a new and improved running gear. This design consists "[i]n an adjustable axle, the combination of the squarely grooved or axle-tree, having [a] central square block, the spindles having inner square portions, having horizontal slots and vertical slots, vertical nutted bolts and horizontal nutted bolts, [and] having hooks adapted to have the draft-chains attached to them" (lines 74-81).
Date: January 9, 1883
Creator: Brosius, John M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Crib (open access)

Child's Crib

Patent for new "suspended cribs or cradles for the use of children" (lines 17-18) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 8, 1880
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
History of Dallas County, Texas : from 1837 to 1887 (open access)

History of Dallas County, Texas : from 1837 to 1887

A history of the settlement and political organization of Dallas County as well as altercations between Anglo-American settlers and the indigenous American Indians of the region.
Date: 1887
Creator: Brown, John Henry
Object Type: Book
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hand Rest. (open access)

Hand Rest.

Patent for a new and improved hand rest. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the standard, the lever supported thereby and provided with a guide wire or rail, and the hand support comprising a roller mounted on said rail, an elastic strap depending from the roller, and a finger-receiver secured to the lower end of the strap" (lines 62-68).
Date: September 4, 1888
Creator: Brown, Martin Luther
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Recording Ballot-Box. (open access)

Recording Ballot-Box.

Patent for a recording ballot box to "indicate accurately and instantly the result of an election" (line 10-12).
Date: February 10, 1880
Creator: Buck, James G. H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 1, 1888 (open access)

Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 1, 1888

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes news and information on Christian topics along with advertising.
Date: February 1, 1888
Creator: Burnett, Thomas R. & Wilmeth, C. M.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 4, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 8, 1888 (open access)

Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 4, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 8, 1888

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes news and information on Christian topics along with advertising.
Date: February 8, 1888
Creator: Burnett, Thomas R. & Wilmeth, C. M.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 5, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 15, 1888 (open access)

Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 5, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 15, 1888

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes news and information on Christian topics along with advertising.
Date: February 15, 1888
Creator: Burnett, Thomas R. & Wilmeth, C. M.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 22, 1888 (open access)

Christian Messenger. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 22, 1888

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes news and information on Christian topics along with advertising.
Date: February 22, 1888
Creator: Burnett, Thomas R. & Wilmeth, C. M.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History