Degree Department

Boiler Washing Machine. (open access)

Boiler Washing Machine.

Patent for "Improved Washing Machine" in combination with a boiler, "and with a furnace on which the boiler rests".
Date: June 28, 1870
Creator: Cottingham, Gideon W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah. With Maps. (open access)

Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah. With Maps.

A report on the lands of the Arid Region of the United States, including their agricultural and grazing potential as well as a statement of the rainfall of the western portion of the United States.
Date: 1879
Creator: Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Improvement in Corn and Cotton Planters. (open access)

Improvement in Corn and Cotton Planters.

Patent for improvement in corn and cotton planting machinery, including illustrations.
Date: August 20, 1872
Creator: Svenson, Bengt Johan
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65): Part 1, Volume 2. Surgical History (open access)

The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65): Part 1, Volume 2. Surgical History

Volume of records for the U.S. Civil War documenting statistics related to surgical patients with information about various kinds of injuries and treatments (including illustrations of many injuries before and after treatment).
Date: 1870
Creator: Otis, George A. (George Alexander), 1830-1881
Object Type: Book
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65): Part 1, Volume 1. Medical History (open access)

The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65): Part 1, Volume 1. Medical History

Documentation related to medical records from the U.S. Civil War. From introduction: "[This volume] consists of a series of statistical tables presenting a summary view of the facts embodied in the monthly reports made to the Surgeon General with regard to the Sickness of the Army, the Deaths, and the Discharges from service on surgeon's certificate of disability. These tables have been arranged in two groups; Part I referring to White Troops, Part II to Colored Troops. Each of these parts again, is subdivided into two sections; the first referring to Sickness and mortality, the second to Discharges on surgeon's certificate of disability" (p. xiii).
Date: 1870
Creator: Woodward, Joseph Janvier, 1833-1884
Object Type: Book
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Wheel-Plows (open access)

Improvement in Wheel-Plows

Patent for a wheel plow designed to be simple, durable, easily controlled, and of light draft.
Date: June 19, 1877
Creator: Amonett, Ammon A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Water-Wheels. (open access)

Improvement in Water-Wheels.

Patent for improvements in the construction of water-wheels, including illustrations.
Date: January 8, 1878
Creator: Cross, David L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Whiffletree-Fastenings. (open access)

Improvement in Whiffletree-Fastenings.

Patent for the improvement of whiffletree fastenings, relating to the means by which single-trees are attached to a double-tree. It includes a description and illustration.
Date: June 11, 1872
Creator: Ahrenbeck, Charles
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Wheels for Vehicles. (open access)

Improvement in Wheels for Vehicles.

Patent for new and useful improvement in wagon hubs that includes one-piece attachment and spokes that can be cut by metal strips by exposed to no injury, including illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1873
Creator: McNalley, Michael
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Windmills (open access)

Improvement in Windmills

Patent for the improvement of wind mills, that includes a detailed description as well as labeled figure drawings.
Date: May 20, 1873
Creator: Jackson, Thomas R.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Weeding-Hoes. (open access)

Improvement in Weeding-Hoes.

Patent for improvment of "the construction of weeding-hoes; and it consists in providing the same with an inclined cutting-edge, in such a way that they will enter and pass through the ground more easily than hoes constructed in the ordinary manner." (11-16)including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1873
Creator: Crossland, Henry S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Windmills. (open access)

Improvement in Windmills.

Patent for a "self-regulating windmill, so arranged that it will automatically exclude the wind from the wheel during storms and irregular or sudden squalls of wind, while it will equally enlarge the opening through which the wind is admitted to the wheel, whenever the power of the wind is reduced." (Lines 14-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 2, 1873
Creator: Davie, John P. & Morgan, Asa
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Wheels for Vehicles. (open access)

Improvement in Wheels for Vehicles.

Patent for "an improved hub for buggy and other vehicle wheels, which shall be simple in construction, strong, and durable, and which will run with little friction." (Lines 10-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 23, 1873
Creator: Brown, David
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Water-Proof Joints for Roofing-Boards. (open access)

Improvement in Water-Proof Joints for Roofing-Boards.

Patent for the improvement of water-proof joints for roofing-boards, including illustrations.
Date: March 10, 1874
Creator: Beazely, John
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Windmills. (open access)

Improvement in Windmills.

Patent for the improvement of windmills, including illustrations.
Date: September 29, 1874
Creator: Symthe, Peyton.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Jail Cells. (open access)

Jail Cells.

Patent for new and improved jail cells. This design calls for cell walls constructed of vertical sections secured by through-bolts, tubular bars for the concealment of the through-bolts, wooden corner-posts and sill and head timbers, and outer and main walls lined with sheet-iron (with narrow windows lined with chilled cast-iron) (paras. 15-19).
Date: January 29, 1878
Creator: Thomas, John S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Well-Augers. (open access)

Improvement in Well-Augers.

Patent for an improved well-auger, includes instruction and illustration.
Date: May 21, 1878
Creator: Glass, James T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Water-Drawers. (open access)

Improvement in Water-Drawers.

Patent for an improved water drawer, includes instructions and illustration.
Date: June 11, 1878
Creator: McC. Mathes, William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement In Water-Elevators. (open access)

Improvement In Water-Elevators.

Patent for improvements to water-elevators using water-vessels which are suspended from a chain or cord, also known as endless carriers.
Date: August 18, 1877
Creator: Wright, Martin Van Buten
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Windlass Water-Elevators (open access)

Improvement in Windlass Water-Elevators

Patent for an improvement in Chain-Wheels consisting "in the construction and arrangement of a device for drawing water from wells, which shall be cheap, convenient, and free from danger, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth."
Date: July 27, 1878
Creator: Knipscheer, John
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement inTables. (open access)

Improvement inTables.

Patent for improvement in tables which "consists in the arrangement and combination of parts that will be more fully described hereinafter, whereby the table can be taken apart, packed in a small compass for transportation, and then put together again by an inexperienced hand” (lines 11-17).
Date: November 19, 1878
Creator: Melcher, John C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Water-Tanks. (open access)

Improvement in Water-Tanks.

Patent for an improved water-tank built with lumbers that are thoroughly dried and covered with asphaltum as waterproof agent. It includes illustrations.
Date: January 28, 1879
Creator: Bardon, Prosper
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Wrenches. (open access)

Improvement in Wrenches.

Patent for furnishing "an adjustable wrench for holding and turning bolts, pipes, taps, &c." (lines 7-9). Includes instructions and illustration.
Date: July 1, 1879
Creator: Killough, William B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvements In Buckles. (open access)

Improvements In Buckles.

Patent for a new kind of buckle along with specifications for construction and illustrations of the buckle.
Date: August 12, 1879
Creator: Carnes, William J., Jr.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History