The Inventive Minds of Connecticut Women: Patents in the 19th Century

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May 22, 2021 • Hide Featured Image, Business and Industry, Invention and Technology, Women

Mary F. Bishop, Means for Operating Egg Beaters, Patent Number 384,674
- June 19, 1888, Bridgeport

In 1809, a Connecticut resident received the first US patent issued to a woman, but it would not be until after 1840 that women’s patents made their mark in the United States Patent Office. Between 1790 and 1930, Connecticut residents were issued the most patents in the US per capita, many of them inventions by women. From improvements in skirt elevators, to the invention of a rotary cutter, to a combined bath and bureau, women’s patents helped change the way we lived, worked, and played both in the state and around the country.

Ann F. Stiles, Case for Daguerreotype Pictures Patent Number 7,041 – January 22, 1850, Southbury	Sarah Jane Wheeler, Curry Comb Patent Number 31,199 – January 22, 1861, New Britain	Sarah A. Baldwin, Door Plate and Card Receiver Patent Number 36,388 – September 9, 1862, Waterbury
Catharine Allsop Griswold, Improvement in Skirt Supporting Corsets Patent Number 56,210 – July 10, 1866, Willimantic	Jane E. Gilman, Improvement in Combined Dressing Bureaus and Bath Tubs Patent Number 107,479 – September 20, 1870, Hartford	Mary Ann Boughton, Forming Air Chambers in Dental Plates Patent Number 111,429 – Jan. 31, 1871, Norwalk
Carrie Jessup, Culinary Vessel Patent Number 112,352 – March 7, 1871, New Haven	Catharine A. Griswold, Improvement in Corsets Patent Number 116,585 – July 4, 1871, Willimantic	Mary M. J. O’Sullivan, Improvement in Dinner Plate Covers Patent Number 120,995 – November 14, 1871, New Haven
Emily M. Norton, Improvement in Step Ladders Patent Number 123,287 – January 30, 1872, Bridgeport	Ann Harrison, Improvement in Sleigh Bells Patent Number 147,259 – Feb. 10, 1874, East Hampton	Elizabeth E. Norton, Improvement in Skirt Elevators Patent Number 150,777 – May 12, 1874, Bridgeport
Annie Maria H. Moss, Dust Pan Patent Number 267,242 – November 7, 1882, Monroe	Leila C. Harrison, Hitching Device Patent Number 306,484 – October 14, 1884, New Haven
Emma J. Swartout, Machine for Sewing Hat Tips Patent Number 316,414 – April 21, 1885, Danbury	Mary F. Bishop, Means for Operating Egg Beaters Patent Number 384,674 – June 19, 1888, Bridgeport
Corinna Thatcher Rogers, Sachet Bag Patent Number D19,774 – April 22, 1890, Ansonia	Mathilde Schott, Surgical Knife Patent Number 431,153 – July 1, 1890, New Haven	Mathilde Schott, Die and Dice Box Patent Number 435,635 – September 2, 1890, New Haven
Alice M. Hobson, Steam Cooker Patent Number 466,137 – December 29, 1891, New Britain	Jennie Snyder and Fred Lockwood, Culinary Vessel Patent Number 485,993 – November 8, 1892, Mianus	Lucilla Mallory, Garment Stretcher Patent Number 529,283 – November 13, 1894, Bridgeport