Patent Research
The mechanical genius of our area is celebrated at the Labor & Industry Museum! The Labor & Industry U. S. Patent research project began in 1996. The St. Louis, MO, Public Library is a depository for the annual reports of the U.S. Patent Office. The records go back to 1836 when the present numbering system was devised. The reports are scanned not only for Belleville, IL, patentees but for patentees throughout the metro-east area. The early reports are not on-line; therefore, they must be looked at page by page. It is a time-consuming job but has yielded very interesting information on the industrial life of our area and on patentees long forgotten. The research project is ongoing. Want to help? Call us!!!
In 1790, President George Washington signed the bill which laid the foundation for the patent system as we know it today. From 1790 until 1836 when the patent law was revised, patents were unnumbered, therefore, Patent #1 was awarded to J. Ruggles for a locomotive steam engine for rail and other roads, July 13, 1836. The St. Louis Public Library is a regional depository for patent information. A review of the 1851 U.S. Patent Office Annual Report indicates Cyrus Roberts received the first patent awarded a Belleville resident. He received the patent for his improvements in Threshing and Separating Grain. The following year, 1852, he received a patent for a Grain Separator and in 1857 for an improvement in Horsepowers. Roberts moved to Three Rivers, Michigan to avoid the threat of Cholera. He continued to invent, he established a velocipede and motor car company and became the Mayor of Three Rivers. Worden P. Penn, another inventive genius in the same league as Cyrus Roberts, received 20 patents for his agricultural equipment improvements between the years 1859 and 1969. Prior to the Civil War and after these improvements and all manner of agricultural equipment were manufactured in Belleville. Other important inventors were Gundlach, Geiss, Brosius, Opp, Boul, Rentchler and Heaton.
In this section of our site you will find sketches for patents submitted by Belleville's industrial innovators. The sketches of these inventions can be viewed by scrolling down below.
In 1790, President George Washington signed the bill which laid the foundation for the patent system as we know it today. From 1790 until 1836 when the patent law was revised, patents were unnumbered, therefore, Patent #1 was awarded to J. Ruggles for a locomotive steam engine for rail and other roads, July 13, 1836. The St. Louis Public Library is a regional depository for patent information. A review of the 1851 U.S. Patent Office Annual Report indicates Cyrus Roberts received the first patent awarded a Belleville resident. He received the patent for his improvements in Threshing and Separating Grain. The following year, 1852, he received a patent for a Grain Separator and in 1857 for an improvement in Horsepowers. Roberts moved to Three Rivers, Michigan to avoid the threat of Cholera. He continued to invent, he established a velocipede and motor car company and became the Mayor of Three Rivers. Worden P. Penn, another inventive genius in the same league as Cyrus Roberts, received 20 patents for his agricultural equipment improvements between the years 1859 and 1969. Prior to the Civil War and after these improvements and all manner of agricultural equipment were manufactured in Belleville. Other important inventors were Gundlach, Geiss, Brosius, Opp, Boul, Rentchler and Heaton.
In this section of our site you will find sketches for patents submitted by Belleville's industrial innovators. The sketches of these inventions can be viewed by scrolling down below.
- Alcohol Still - Kessler
- Armor Cladding For Ships - Heaton
- Firearm - Bunsen
- Horsepower - Penn
- Ink Roller - McLemore
- Piston Rod - Gundlach
- Thresher - Cox & Roberts
- Tullerian - Troll
Alcohol Still - Kessler
It looks like Peter Kessler died just a few years after inventing an improvement for distilling grain in 1859! Peter, a blacksmith, and his wife were born in Bavaria between 1795 and 1800. A Michael Kessler operated a saloon on West Main during the same time frame. Could there be a connection? Neither appear in the 1877 Belleville Street Directory. There could be some research opportunities here!!
Charles Heaton, the forgotten inventor! Heaton moved west to Belleville and received patents in 1863 and 1864 for his ideas on the armor cladding of ships which was a big issue in the Civil War. His inventions caught the attention of the U.S. War Department, and Heaton successfully sued the U.S. Government for using his ideas without permission. He won a verdict of $95,000 on April 30, 1864.
George C. Bunsen, son of the famous German educator, George Bunsen, was a proponent of more humane living conditions for the working men and women of the industrial era. He edited a paper entitled, "The Reformer" and was the Secretary for numerous benevolent associations. He was also an inventor. He was awarded U. S. Patent #51690 for the "Revolving Firearm" on December 26, 1865. "The stock of the arm is made hollow, and contains a system of gear or toothed wheels driven by a coiled spring, by which the various operations of revolving the cylinder, discharging the hammer, etc. are accomplished upon pulling the trigger."
Worden P. Penn, an inventive genius, received 20 patents for his agricultural equipment improvements between the years 1859 and 1869. Horsepower improvements were especially welcome since one horsepower equaled the power of 21 men! Penn also concerned himself with seeding machines and harvester rakes. He operated an agricultural equipment warehouse on E. Main St. Some of his inventions were granted with another inventor, i.e. Rentchler and/or Brosius also of Belleville.
In 1920, two of the three stencil machine manufacturing companies in the world were located in Belleville, IL. Both companies, Marsh and Ideal, also invented shipping and packaging supplies. Ink rollers such as Terrell McLemore's 1965 Fountain Roller have generally been replaced by ink jet printed labels.
Four generations of Gundlachs have reminded us that inventors are "Chiefs". The first Gundlach patent was issued to Belleville resident P. M. Gundlach in 1857 for an improvement to the grain drill. Through numerous Belleville-based machine companies, the Gundlach family continues to manufacture all manner of cutting and crushing tools, which range in size from a few inches to the world's largest rockbuster.
The Beno J. Gundlach Co. manufactures smaller items, and the T. J. Gundlach Machine Company manufactures coal and rock crushing equipment capable of reducing products 4' square to 6" fragments at the rate of 1500 tons an hour.
The involvement of Belleville's working men and women in the production of a myriad of products that enhance our daily lives began with the 1851 vibrating thresher of Cyrus Roberts and John Cox. They emigrated to Belleville from Pennsylvania in 1848 and are credited with introducing the vibrating principle to threshing grain. Their company was incorporated under the name Harrison Machine Works in 1878.
Joseph Troll was educated in Germany. After his arrest for involvement in the 1848 German Revolution, he emigrated to America and settled in Belleville. By 1856, he was a teacher in West Belleville and a member of the St. Clair County Teachers Institute. He was fascinated with astronomical clocks and received two patents for tellurians.