A few weeks ago a friend alerted the staff at the Fenton History Center that there were lithographic prints of some patents that had Jamestown connections for sale on eBay. Since the Fenton does not purchase items, this was of interest to us for the information. One of the patents was an “Improvement in Butter Tubs” issued to James Gilberds. Another one was issued to Richard G. Bush for “Improvement in Tuck-Markers for Sewing-Machines.” The third was for “Improvement in Thread-Cutters for Sewing-Machines,” issued to Milo Harris. Later I alerted another friend about the Gilberds patent and he showed me the copy he had found on Ancestry. com.

Later, on the same day as the email, I was looking for a photograph. In one of the files I searched, was an interesting photograph of five men from the late 1800s. Labeled on the back, one man was identified as Milo Harris and the others were his brothers. Milo Harris-the same name that was on the patent, but is it the same person? A little more research satisfied that question, and yes, the Milo Harris in the photograph was the Milo Harris to whom the patent had been issued.

The research showed that Milo Harris in 1870 was an agent for sewing machines, as was his brother-in-law, Richard G. Bush. That would explain their patents concerning improvements for sewing machine attachments. In 1875, Milo and his father, John L. Harris, were the owners of the Jamestown Oyster and Butter Pail Company on Steele Street. Wonder if they used James Gilberds’ patent while manufacturing their tubs? James Gilberds was making his own tubs and pails on East Second Street. By 1880 the census listed Milo as an Agent of Patent Rights.

With that information, I again searched patents on Ancestry.com for Milo Harris and found more patents that he had witnessed or some that he had applied for in his name. And there were some that other people received but Milo Harris was assigned one-half of the patent. He may have accepted half the patent in payment for his work on submitting a patent, especially if he thought the patent would result in production of the item and he would profit by that.

In 1900, both Milo and his step son-in-law, S. Arthur Baldwin were listed by the census as Patent Attorneys. The city directory at that time also lists Milo as the manager of the Vulcanite Co., but no other mention of that company has been found. Ten years later Milo has switched to Real Estate and Baldwin is still a Patent Attorney. Milo continues in Real Estate until, in 1920, the city directory has him listed as an inventor and the census lists him as the manager of a packing company. Milo died in 1923 and is buried in Lake View Cemetery.

From this, one learns that there are many more records available on Ancestry.com than family trees and census records. Did anyone in your family receive a patent? Search Ancestry.com here at the Research Center of the Fenton History Center to learn more about your family. And sometimes serendipity produces a larger story as information found in an unexpected place ties into a story that started with one fact.