[Abilene City Ordinances: 1883-1902] (open access)

[Abilene City Ordinances: 1883-1902]

Ledger containing ordinances/resolutions passed by the city of Abilene, Texas from 1883 to 1902.
Date: 1883/1902
Creator: Abilene (Tex.)
Object Type: Legal Document
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Portrait of Minnie Alice Nichols]

Portrait of young Minnie Alice Nichols in a light-colored dress. Appears to be about four years of age. Text on the back says: "...born May 21, 1879 Coryell Co. died Jan. 28, 1970 McLennan Co."
Date: October 1883
Creator: Academy of Art
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bag Holder and Filler. (open access)

Bag Holder and Filler.

Patent for a new and improved bag holder and filler. This design "consists of an expansible bag holding and filling funnel composed of a metallic strip having overlapping edges and provided with attached spring-wires, such funnel being capable of contraction to enter a bag, and of expanding therein for the purpose of holding and filling the bag" (lines 13-19).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Adkisson, Duncan Rudolph
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "consists in the combination, with a draw-head, of an L-shaped lever pivoted in the same and provided at its angle with a lug, which L-shaped lever has a coupling-pin suspended from the end of the long arm, and has its short arm passed into an aperture in the inner end of a bar sliding in the bottom of the draw-head, whereby when the lug is depressed the coupling-pin will be raised and the bar in the draw-head will push the link out from the end of the draw-head" (lines 7-17).
Date: June 12, 1883
Creator: Appell, Charles E.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 17, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 7, 1883 (open access)

The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 17, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 7, 1883

Weekly newspaper from Goliad, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: July 7, 1883
Creator: Appleby, A. W.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 18, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 14, 1883 (open access)

The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 18, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 14, 1883

Weekly newspaper from Goliad, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: July 14, 1883
Creator: Appleby, A. W.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 19, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 21, 1883 (open access)

The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 19, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 21, 1883

Weekly newspaper from Goliad, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: July 21, 1883
Creator: Appleby, A. W.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 20, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 28, 1883 (open access)

The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 20, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 28, 1883

Weekly newspaper from Goliad, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: July 28, 1883
Creator: Appleby, A. W.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 21, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 4, 1883 (open access)

The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 21, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 4, 1883

Weekly newspaper from Goliad, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: August 4, 1883
Creator: Appleby, A. W.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 22, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 11, 1883 (open access)

The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 22, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 11, 1883

Weekly newspaper from Goliad, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: August 11, 1883
Creator: Appleby, A. W.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 32, Ed. 1 Saturday, October 20, 1883 (open access)

The Goliad Guard. (Goliad, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 32, Ed. 1 Saturday, October 20, 1883

Weekly newspaper from Goliad, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: October 20, 1883
Creator: Appleby, A. W.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Chair for Railroad Rails. (open access)

Chair for Railroad Rails.

Patent for a new and improved chair for railroad rails. This design utilizes a metal key and wrought-iron straps so that "the rails are held firmly both laterally and vertically, so that they are kept level at the joint and any sagging is prevented. At the same time endwise movement by expansion or contraction is not hindered, and the chairs being fastened to the ties, the expansion and contraction will take place entirely between the several chairs" (lines 49-57).
Date: February 20, 1883
Creator: Armstrong, Charles & Abbott, George
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 short thin plate of metal having two tongues . . . fronting each other, said plate being pivoted at one end to the bale-hoop . . . the other end of the bale-hoop being passed under the tongues and drawn tightly around the bale, the expansion of the bale on the hoop causes the respective ends to pull on the respective ends of the tie-plate . . . so as to grip the edges of the end passed between the tongues and hold it firmly" (lines 7-19).
Date: July 24, 1883
Creator: Arnold, Abbott
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from B.A.C. to Milton Parks, June 29 1883] (open access)

[Letter from B.A.C. to Milton Parks, June 29 1883]

Letter from B.A.C. to Milton Parks. The letter is dated June 29, 1883.
Date: June 29, 1883
Creator: B.A.C.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Rotary Harrow and Stalk Cutter or Roller. (open access)

Combined Rotary Harrow and Stalk Cutter or Roller.

Patent for a new and improved harrow combine. This design "provide[s] a rotary harrow, to be used in combination with a stalk-cutter or roller, for the purpose of harrowing ground and at the same time cutting off the stalks of the preceding crop, or for harrowing in and rolling seed. [The] invention consists in a [novel] combination and arrangement of parts" (lines 11-18).
Date: February 27, 1883
Creator: Barker, James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Engine, &c. (open access)

Steam Engine, &c.

Patent for a new and improved engine. This design "connect[s] the piston-rod of the steam-cylinder with the disk or crank that is attached to the fly-wheel shaft by means of a lever, or a disk acting as such, in a manner that enables the piston-rod to operate upon its connecting-bar in a longitudinal direction . . . thereby [avoiding] angular vibration of the connecting-rod and reduc[ing] friction of sliding surfaces" (lines 15-25).
Date: December 11, 1883
Creator: Barton, Alexander M. & Davis, Philip Z.
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
Quilting Frame. (open access)

Quilting Frame.

Patent for a new and improved quilting frame. This design "consists of an improved arrangement of apparatus for suspending the quilting-frame from overhead rods, on which it is made to traverse for passing the quilt along the sewing-machine to be quilted, the essential object being to contrive a simple means of shifting the frame with relation to the machine and for placing it diagonally and for turning it around from side to side, so that when the quilt is very heavy one half can be quilted, and then the quilt turned and the other half quilted on the other side" (lines 7-18).
Date: July 17, 1883
Creator: Bledsoe, Robert B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Quilting Frame. (open access)

Quilting Frame.

Patent for a new and improved quilting frame. This design "is to improve the means for suspending a quilting-frame, so that a sewing-machine may be more conveniently used in the quilting operation" (lines 7-10).
Date: July 24, 1883
Creator: Bledsoe, Robert B.
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
Wheeled Vehicle. (open access)

Wheeled Vehicle.

Patent for a new and improved wheeled vehicle. This design consists in "[a] one-wheeled sulky in which are combined the single wheel, the frame, the thills, the seat, the standards, and the rods or braces" (lines 54-57).
Date: June 19, 1883
Creator: Boyd, William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

High School, Coleman, Texas

Postcard featuring a tinted image of Coleman High School. The brick building has three floors and a central belfry. The top two floors are tinted pink.
Date: 1883~
Creator: Bradford & Co.
Object Type: Postcard
System: The Portal to Texas History

Court House and Jail, Coleman, Texas

Postcard of the courthouse and jail of Coleman, Texas. The image has been colorized, with the roof of the courthouse building tinted pink.
Date: 1883~
Creator: Bradford and Co.
Object Type: Postcard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Clothes Washer and Churn. (open access)

Combined Clothes Washer and Churn.

Patent for a new and improved combined clothes washer and churn. This design "is to facilitate the operations of washing clothes and churning, and also to avoid the necessity of having a separate mechanism for each use. The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts" (lines 16-21).
Date: March 6, 1883
Creator: Bridges, Mary Jane
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History