Improvement In Gun-Locks. (open access)

Improvement In Gun-Locks.

Patent for "new and useful improvement in Gun-Lock" (lines 4-5) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 14, 1874
Creator: Grisham, James Madison
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement In Apparatus For Washing Dishes and Table-Cutlery (open access)

Improvement In Apparatus For Washing Dishes and Table-Cutlery

Patent for improvements to a dish washing machine with specifications and illustrations attached.
Date: August 12, 1879
Creator: Walling, Edmund, P.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Portable Extension Top for Stoves. (open access)

Portable Extension Top for Stoves.

Patent for a new and improved portable extension for stove tops. This design is for a casing with pot-holes that utilizes a flange and a collar to allow for attachment to the stove top. This increases the usable surface area of the stove by a third.
Date: November 16, 1880
Creator: Hutchinson, John Henry
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Caster. (open access)

Caster.

Patent for an improved design for casters, otherwise known as "rollers for bedsteads and the like" (lines 15-16), including illustrations.
Date: April 19, 1881
Creator: Custer, George
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee Roaster. (open access)

Coffee Roaster.

Patent for a new and improved "culinary utensil primarily intended for use as a coffee roaster, but also . . . of any article which needs to be stirred while upon the fire" (lines 12-16). This design utilizes a crankshaft to stir the beans (or other foods) as they roast.
Date: August 23, 1881
Creator: Walling, Edmund Pendleton
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Trimming Hooves of Animals. (open access)

Apparatus for Trimming Hooves of Animals.

Patent for a new and improved hoof trimmer. This design "consists in an upright standard or support having a concaved supporting-recess adapted to receive the animal's hoof, with parallel guide-ways arranged in rear thereof, a trimming implement moving in said guides, and so constructed as to operate upon the hoof without injury to the frog, and means for reciprocating the trimming device from either side of the animal" (lines 16-25).
Date: December 11, 1883
Creator: Mullins, Joshua C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
File. (open access)

File.

Patent for a new and improved file. This design consists in "[a] file provided with longitudinal teeth upon one or both of its edges . . . [and] upon its sides so cut that they extend only half-way across the width of the file, the inner ends of the said teeth meeting at an angle at the center of the width of the blade" (lines 50-56).
Date: March 18, 1884
Creator: Custer, George.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for a new and improved gate. This design "relates to improvements in that class of gates in which the gate is suspended from and adapted to transverse a supporting-beam adapted to oscillate and cause the gate to travel back and forth by gravity, according to the position the beam occupies, and has for its object to provide a gate and its operating mechanism which shall be simple and durable in construction, and capable of being readily and easily operated by a horse[back rider] or driver of a team approaching the same from either direction" (lines 9-20).
Date: May 19, 1885
Creator: Connelly, William E.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination-Lock for Money-Drawers, &c. (open access)

Combination-Lock for Money-Drawers, &c.

Patent for improvement to a combination lock for money drawers to make it more secure.
Date: March 16, 1886
Creator: Sturgis, Herbert M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
File. (open access)

File.

Patent for a new and improved file. This design "consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of a file having its teeth cut to extend half-way across the face from each edge and at an angle to each other, and having a longitudinal groove in the middle of each face" (lines 22-27).
Date: November 2, 1886
Creator: Custer, George
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn and Cotton Planter. (open access)

Corn and Cotton Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "the upright frame supported on the beam and carrying the two pivoted arms, in combination with the wheel having studs on both sides, the wires, and the lever middle fastened to the agitator-shaft . . . a hopper having the circular excision in its bottom, of the horizontal feed-wheel and arms, fast to a vertical vibratory shaft" (lines 79-88).
Date: November 16, 1886
Creator: Williams, John W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Cultivator. (open access)

Rotary Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved rotary cultivator. This design is "to lessen the weight on tongue and the down draft while the power is applied more directly to the plows. By this means [the design is] enabled to make the whole frame very light; also, to provide convenient means of adjusting the altitude of the wheels with respect to the plows, so as to regulate the depth of the latter, and also to hold them out of the ground; also, to obtain suitable means for adjusting the plows at any desirable angle to the line of travel, and to throw greater or less soil to or from the plants" (lines 15-26).
Date: July 19, 1887
Creator: Coleman, Benjamin T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spirit Level Sheath. (open access)

Spirit Level Sheath.

Patent for a new and improved sheath for levels. This design "is to provide a rubber or other elastic sheath for levels, adapted to encircle the glass and prevent injury thereto in case of jars or falls, and to also form a steady securement between the level-glass and the metallic covering or housing therefor" (lines 13-18).
Date: March 13, 1888
Creator: Truitt, James Stuart
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Compress (open access)

Cotton-Compress

Patent for "a simple and efficient device and to secure economy in power and in construction" (lines 9-11).
Date: January 8, 1889
Creator: Taylor, George
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn and Cotton Planter (open access)

Corn and Cotton Planter

Patent for "a novel planting mechanism for planting either corn or cotton-seed, at the pleasure of the operator, by a simple adjustment of parts, and thereby adapt the machine for sowing different kinds of seeds and save the farmer the expense of two different machines" (lines 19-25).
Date: April 9, 1889
Creator: Cathey, Thomas Jefferson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bridle Bit. (open access)

Bridle Bit.

Patent for a new and improved bridle-bit. This design consists "[i]n a bridle-bit, the combination, with the bit-bar, provided with the loops of the angle-levers mounted on the said bar and having their corresponding arms respectively connected by the curb-chain and provided with rein loops or rings and the studs or pins on the levers engaging the loops" (lines 70-76).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Bowles, Zachary Taylor
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design "relates to improvements in cotton-chopping machines in which revolving hoes are attached to plows; and the object of [the] improvement is to afford facilities for chopping out cotton by means of horse-power instead of by hand" (lines 8-13).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: Green, Frank
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fastener for Bedsteads. (open access)

Fastener for Bedsteads.

Patent for a new and improved fastener for bedsteads. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a bedstead, of the head and foot board provided with inclined bores or holes, and slots extending from the bores or holes to the face of the boards, the side rails being provided with vertical bores or holes, and slots communicating with said bores or holes, and the locking plate adapted to connect the rails and head and foot boards and comprising the oppositely-disposed converging cylindrical beads and the integral web connecting the beads" (lines 78-88).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: Watson, Thomas H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway Gate. (open access)

Railway Gate.

Patent for improvements to "cattle-guard gate for railroads in particulars of construction (lines 8-10). Includes illustrations.
Date: December 2, 1890
Creator: Grisham, James M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

Cleburne Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1891
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railroad-Track Lifter. (open access)

Railroad-Track Lifter.

Patent for improvement in railroad-track lifters by using “the combination of a base, a upright, a lever and two pawls engaging notches of the upright” (lines 97-99) and “hand mechanism for operating the pawls,” (lines 1-2, p. 2) for easily raising sections of railway-track. Illustration is included.
Date: March 31, 1891
Creator: Brown, Hiram David
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn-Planting Attachment for Plows. (open access)

Corn-Planting Attachment for Plows.

Patent for improvement in corn planting attachment for plows in which the “attachment can be conveniently attached to any plow or furrow-opener” (lines 11-12) as a seed-dropping device. “This device may be retained in a raised or inoperative position.” (Lines 85-86) Illustration is included.
Date: July 14, 1891
Creator: Green, Frank
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rein-Holder. (open access)

Rein-Holder.

Patent for improvement in rein-holders that are being used in carriages and wagons by using two horizontal jaws, one with a downwardly-projecting rear end and the other with a downwardly-projecting front end; the first jaw is secured to the side of the wagon and the second jaw is pivoted to the first jaw. This device will "hold the reins when the driver is absent and capable of being tripped by pressure of the driver’s foot" (lines 11-13). Illustration is included.
Date: October 6, 1891
Creator: Watson, Thomas H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

Waco Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1892
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History