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Patents by Connecticut Inventors 1800-1890

Click to access this dataset on CT Open Data

This list was compiled by Museum of Connecticut History staff in the 1990s, and lists all patents by Connecticut inventors between the years of 1800-1890. This period spans a time of incredible industrial growth and inventiveness in Connecticut, and the Yankee ingenuity on display in these patents helped make the state one of the premier industrial centers of the nation and the world.

Many of the pre-1836 patents listed here are only known because of annual lists of patents or patent digests that were published by the Patent Office. The actual records were destroyed in a fire in 1836, and many were never reconstructed. All of the pre-1836 patents are known as the “X-Patents,” and those that have been recovered were given patent numbers beginning with the letter X.

Patents up to this time had not actually had numbers of any kind, they were simply known by date and title. About five months before the fire, the Patent Office began numbering their patents; this system, now up to seven digits, is still in use today.

Patents found in this dataset can be found using the Patent Public Search tool on the U.S. Patent Office’s website. The easiest way to locate a patent is to enter the seven-digit serial number into the basic search.

The Connecticut Patents 1800-1890 dataset contains names of inventors, descriptions of what they were patenting, patent numbers (if available), and date of issue. It also contains a two-digit code that corresponds to a general subject area. The subjects are:

01 Firearms, guns, cannons, etc.	23 Grinding mills
02 Metallurgy, metalworking, etc.	24 Stonemasonry, mining, etc.
03 Woodworking, sawmills, etc.	25 Vehicles
04 Weaving, sewing, looms, etc.	26 Explosives, chemical processes, distilling, paint-making, etc.
05 Steam boilers, engines	27 Plumbing, pipes, hoses, etc. and water-powered devices
06 Railroads	28 Printing, bookmaking, and paper
07 Ships, boats, canals	29 Engines, coolers, elevators, pneumatics, etc.
08 Clothing	30 Ivory
09 Agriculture	31 Military equipment (non-weapons)
10 Hardware, tools, etc.	32 Sewing machines
11 Tanning	33 Toys, games, and leisure (includes bicycles)
12 Rubber	34 Equipment for horses
13 Musical instruments	35 Photography
14 Medical	36 Glassware
15 Foods and cooking	37 [this category empty]
16 Business and labor	38 Electricity and electronics
17 Clocks	39 Telephones
18 Fireplaces, stoves, furnaces, etc.	40 Fire safety
19 Lanterns, lamps, and lighting	41 Construction
20 Furniture	42 School equipment
21 Household items	43 Art
22 Doors, windows, drawers, trunks, etc.