Bedstead Brace. (open access)

Bedstead Brace.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead brace. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the side rails, the end rails, and posts, of the hooks secured to the inner faces of said posts, the eyes on the inner sides of the side rails and located a slight distance apart, the wires secured to the hooks and passing through the eyes, the plates having openings, through which the wires pass and the screw bolt and nut connecting said plates" (lines 60-68).
Date: December 29, 1885
Creator: Durham, John William & Alexander, Winston Buchanan
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn and Cotton Planter (open access)

Corn and Cotton Planter

Patent for improvements to corn and cotton planters, including illustrations.
Date: May 8, 1888
Creator: Tedder, Louis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Whiffletree. (open access)

Whiffletree.

Patent for a new and improved whiffletree. This design "compris[es] a front rod and a back rod or spring united together by welding, said whiffletree having its ends rounded to form shoulders and provided with hooks fitting upon the rounded ends and prevented from slipping inward by the shoulders, and disks placed upon said rounded ends and attained thereon by swaging the latter" (lines 6-13).
Date: May 28, 1889
Creator: Black, William Jackson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Whiffletree. (open access)

Whiffletree.

Patent for a new and improved whiffletree. This design "compris[es] a front bar, a back rod or spring united to the front bar by welding, the ends of both said bar and rod being bent upon themselves and the parts welded together to construct an eye or opening, whereby both bar and rod are bent around the latter . . . a strengthening-piece placed between the front bar and the back rod or spring, and a casing secured to the back rod and adapted to hold the strengthening-piece in place" (lines 8-18).
Date: May 28, 1889
Creator: Black, William Jackson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bedstead. (open access)

Bedstead.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead. This design consists of a frame with tension wires "extending diagonally across the bed-frame to the side pieces thereof at points intermediate between the corner posts, and independent tension devices to which the ends of the wire are connected, whereby a longitudinal and lateral strain is exerted upon the bed-frame when the wires are adjusted" (lines 1-7).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Clowers, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for an improved car coupling that is automatic and safer than regular couplings.
Date: June 29, 1884
Creator: Myers, Newton J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Colter Attachment. (open access)

Colter Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved colter attachment for plows. This design "consists of a slicing colter or knife attachments to the mold-board, the object of which is to slit or cut the furrow-slice into narrow strips at the same time that it is turned up by the mold-board" (lines 7-11).
Date: December 19, 1882
Creator: Mann, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Gin. (open access)

Cotton Gin.

Patent for a new and improved cotton gin. This design consists of an "endless wire-gauze band or apron, bound at its sides with strips of flexible material, such as leather . . . and provided on its inner side with slats, in combination with the saw-shaft, the condenser-roller, and the upper roller, around which the band passes, provided with longitudinal channels . . . in [a] cylinder and [a] wiper" (lines 81-92).
Date: June 14, 1881
Creator: Edgar, Valentine K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design "consists in a frame which is adapted to be placed over the ant-hill, so as to surround the entrance thereto, and provided with parallel surrounding flanges or sides which converge to each other and lead to an exit-spout . . . [and] is to provide an ant-trap which is adapted to catch the ants both on their attempt to leave the hill or to return to it, whereby the entire colony may be exterminated" (lines 9-21).
Date: January 4, 1887
Creator: Wise, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Axle. (open access)

Wagon Axle.

Patent for a new and improved axle. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with an axle having a seat at its outer end and a seat located in from said outer end, of the spindle having its shank provided with a threaded inner end, and nuts turned on said inner end on opposite sides of the inner seat, by which the spindle may be adjusted to and held in any desired position" (lines 79-85).
Date: May 1, 1888
Creator: Blevens, Nathan W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lifting Device. (open access)

Lifting Device.

Patent for a new and improved jack. This design "relates to devices for raising fence-corners in repairing the same, and for lifting weights generally; and the object of [the] invention is to produce a simple and powerful device whereby a single operator can greatly increase his [or her] capacity for lifting heavy objects" (lines 8-14).
Date: November 30, 1886
Creator: McNabb, James M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Stretching and Removing Fence Wires. (open access)

Machine for Stretching and Removing Fence Wires.

Patent for a new and improved machine for stretching and removing fence wires. This design "is to provide a simple, effective, and inexpensive machine for stretching the wires of fences along the fence-posts, and straining the wires taut while they are being fastened to the posts, and also for removing the wires from the posts when required, as in removing or resetting a fence" (lines 8-14).
Date: January 8, 1884
Creator: Killough, John N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Wheel. (open access)

Locomotive Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved train wheel. This design "relates to locomotive drive-wheels; and it has for its object to so construct the same so as to avoid all slipping of the wheel upon the rail, as is usually the case when the locomotive is first started. A further object of the invention is to provide a wheel which shall be simple in its construction and durable in use" (lines 9-16).
Date: May 6, 1884
Creator: Mann, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Tightener. (open access)

Wire Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved wire tightener. This design consists in "the combination of the disks or sections connected by the central bar, the oppositely-pointing lever-arms, the transverse pin fitting into corresponding openings in the disks or sections on one side of the central bar, the locking-pin adapted to fit into any two corresponding openings of the concentric series of openings made in the disks, and a rope or similar device connecting the wire to be stretched with the disks and their connections" (lines 93-103).
Date: April 26, 1887
Creator: Boyd, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design consists in "a stalk and weed cutter, the combination, with the oblique side knives, of the transverse slotted bars, springs, and the guide and pressure bars having vertical arms passing through the slots of the transverse bars, and connected to said springs . . . [and] the runner-frame, having oblique wings and front and side knives, the standards and bar, cross-bars, cross-springs, and adjustable pressure and guide bars" (lines 80-92).
Date: July 17, 1883
Creator: Cook, Emmanuel Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Power. (open access)

Mechanical Power.

Patent for motors “designed for running light machinery – such as well-pumps, churns, sewing-machines, washing-machines, &c.; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts, as will hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims” (lines 10-15) including instructions and illustrations. “These motors are simple, durable, and efficient, and are not likely to get out of order” (lines 72-73).
Date: June 17, 1884
Creator: Wise, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed Planter. (open access)

Seed Planter.

Patent for a new and improved seed planter. This design "relates to machines for dropping or planting cotton, corn, or other seed, and has for its object to provide a device embodying simplicity, convenience, cheapness, and efficiency. To this end it consists in certain improvements in construction and operation of the same" (lines 12-18).
Date: March 13, 1883
Creator: Lowder, John Ellis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Planter. (open access)

Seed-Planter.

Patent for a seed planter, with illustrations. "The object of this invention is to facilitate the planting of seeds, and also to promote convenience in adjusting and operating the planter" (lines 22-24).
Date: May 8, 1883
Creator: Wise, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash Fastener (open access)

Sash Fastener

Patent for Sash-Fastener. "My invention relates to sash-fasteners for holding and locking a window-sash either in an open or closed position." (lines7-9). With illustrations.
Date: March 27, 1888
Creator: Williams, Harry I.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash Fastener. (open access)

Sash Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved sash-fastener. This design consists "[t]he combination, [of] an angle-bracket having an opening produced in its horizontal member wider at its top than at its bottom, and an essentially yoke-shaped bar passed through the said opening, [and] a thumb-lever hinged in the vertical member of the bracket, extending over and parallel with the horizontal member of said bracket, and a lip integral with the under edge of the lever, concavo-convex in cross-section, and capable of entering the opening in the bracket and contacting with . . . the yoke-like bar" (lines 7-19).
Date: August 13, 1889
Creator: Miller, Charles H. & McDonald, Samuel A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment for Plows. (open access)

Attachment for Plows.

Patent for a new and improved attachment for plows. This design "has relation to devices for guiding or directing shovel-plows, sweeps, or cultivator-plows, and thus release in a great measure the strain upon the arms of the plow[person] consequent upon directing the plow in its proper course; and it consists in the detailed construction of a device or attachment of that class" (lines 12-19).
Date: August 29, 1882
Creator: Welborn, Wisp J. N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Remedy For Chicken-Cholera. (open access)

Remedy For Chicken-Cholera.

Patent for “medicines for the treatment of chicken-cholera” (lines 12-13) which includes ingredients, instructions and dosage. Ingredients include Cayenne pepper, May-apple root, and blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). The medicine may be used as a preventative or as a cure.
Date: March 17, 1885
Creator: Ross, George Washington & Ross, James Dewitt
System: The Portal to Texas History
Riding Saddle. (open access)

Riding Saddle.

Patent for a new and improved saddle. This design "relates especially to devices intended for use in coupling or connecting girths to saddles in stock countries or elsewhere where it is desirable to quickly adjust the saddle onto a horse . . . in drawing [a] strap to tighten the girth the inner portion, by reason of the friction of the parts passing through the rings, becomes rolled or creased up and straightened out, and loosens the girth in a short time . . . [the] invention seeks to overcome [these] objections" (lines 12-36).
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Newman, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Planter and Fertilizer-Distributor (open access)

Seed-Planter and Fertilizer-Distributor

Patent for "a machine of this class which may be used interchangeably for planting different kinds of seeds-such as corn, peas, cotton, or other seeds-or fertilizing material, and which shall be simple in construction, durable, and easily manipulated" (lines 10-15).
Date: December 31, 1889
Creator: Gallaway, John Tyler
System: The Portal to Texas History