Abraham Lincoln’s Patent
Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday – or, the 217th anniversary of it. He is the only U.S. President who has ever been granted a patent. To celebrate his birthday, his inventiveness and mechanical inclination, and his support of the patent system, I bring you this discussion of Abraham Lincoln’s patent.
A Device for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals
Abraham Lincoln was granted U.S. Patent 6469, for a “Method of Bouying [sic] Vessels”, on May 22, 1849. He had just finished his first and only term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The patent is for “the combination of expansible buoyant chambers placed at the sides of a vessel” with shafts and means to push the chambers into the water and expand them, adding to the buoyancy of the ship. The device looks a bit like large bellows parallel to the ship, and closer to the hull than the outriggers on an outrigger canoe.
Possible inspiration for the invention
Biographies of Lincoln suggest that an 1831 river trip provided the inspiration to Lincoln, in the form of the cargo vessel (which he’d helped build) becoming stranded on a mill dam in New Salem, on the Sangamon River, en route to New Orleans (via the Illinois River and the Mississippi). The boat became high-centered, and while Lincoln managed to offload the cargo, drain the water the ship had taken on, and thus save the vessel, the experience seems to have inspired him to create an easier way to help vessels avoid stranding on shoals or other obstacles to river navigation.
No commercial use of Abraham Lincoln’s patent
Abraham Lincoln’s patent model
No one ever made or marketed Lincoln’s invention (so far as anyone knows). Perhaps it was unwieldy to operate. Additionally, it seems likely that the additional weight of the buoyant chambers would have made navigation more difficult, and would have increased the draft required for a vessel equipped with them. Regardless, Lincoln’s dedication to the patent system, and his receipt of a patent, deserves to be celebrated. The model that he made to accompany his patent is on display at the Smithsonian Institution. A picture of the model is reproduced here, from a 1908 biography of Lincoln.
While Lincoln is the only U.S. President to receive a patent, other Presidents were inventors, or had other types of intellectual property. Check this blog soon for additional posts on other famous inventors.
Do you have questions? Agree or disagree? I’d be glad to hear from you in the comments. Call me at 617-340-9295 or email me at my Contact Me page. Or, find me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Google Local, or Avvo.
