The Washington times., 1901-07-11


! ton. as contemplated. of complete his
| tory of the United States Patent Office
| who have In their possession illustrations
| documents, printed articles or valuab BILE
| Information bearing upon the subject are
cordially invited to communicate with
I TINS Office concerning the same Such
| communications should state clearly the
nature of the material and should be ad-
dressed to the chief clerk, United States
/ Patent Office, and marked History of
J Patent Office
Material loaned to this office for the
desired purpose will be handled with care
! and will be returned. If desired
/ by direction of the Commissioner
'E. V. SHEPARD, Chief Clerk
/ There is extant but meagre and in
! accurate history of the Patent Office.
] This was published several years ago by
private individuals. and not having been
revised in many years is far from com
plete ExCommissioner DueH, during
| his incumbency of the Office, called upon
Mr.. Shepard for some historical informa-
ton to incorporate in his annual report
to the Secretary of the Interior. Mr.
Shepard then prepared such matter. and
the idea of compiling the history, similar
to that which has been published by the
| State and other departments, suggested
| itself to him. Mr.. Duell and he discussed
! the project with view to preparing
| publication which could be made ready
/ for distribution at the exhibit of the Of
1 fee at the Buffalo Exposition. 1t was
/ soon made obvious that the undertaking
entailed too much labor TO be ready In
/ that time, and the matter was then post
poned. Since that time. Mr.. Shepard has
had the plan in mind, and has given con-
siderable thought to it. Recently with
/ the authorization of Commissioner Allen.
| he called together the principal exami-
/ ners in various divisions. and a commit
tee was formed TO undertake the work.
An outline of the scope of the history
was prepared by Mr.. Shepard. The
| schedule follows:
preliminary work, such as arranging
title page, inserting a register of the Office
/ from the back of the rules Of practice:
! preface signed by the Commissioner. Civ
| ing reasons for publication; note giving a
| plan of the work. the parts into which it
| is divided, and explaining how to use the
| index
! Synopsis Of the work Part /, history
OF the patent system: Part ii. history of
| the Patent Office; Part III, organization
! and administration details; Part ", aims
and advantages OF the system, brief anal
! ysis Of the present laws, and compari-
son of the same with foreign patent laws:
Part V. view OF the patent system from
commercial standpoint; Part VI. miscel-
laneous topics. alphabetical index
Mr.. Shepard proposes to undertake the
| preparation of the subdivision of the work
| entitled Organization and Administration
! Details John w. Babson, Levin II.
| Campbell, James I. Newton, Arthur +.
! Kinnan, Thomas a. Witherspoon. and
| Eugene L. Sewell are the examiners who
| have been selected to assist with the 9th
| er parts Of the work. to be apportioned to
each In accordance with the schedule. Mr..
| Shepard has prepared detailed state
Inent Of the topics under the part as
signed to him, and has requested that
the same be done by his collaborators
and that they suggest the names of such
employees of the office as are most compe-
tent TO assist on each part. The whole is
to be finally submitted 10 a competent
editor, who will review the work and
prepare the synopsis which is TO occupy
a prominent place in the fore part of the
book.
As already intimated, it is proposed to
have the volume profusely illustrated
Pictures of the earlier homes of the Pat
ent Office and its present large building
will be reproduced. The appearance of
the Patent Office after the destructive
fire which occurred some years ago
is one of the features contemplated.
Probably some of the more important in
ventions and those more interesting from
| a point OF antiquity or other interest will
1 be produced.
With a view to the present undertaking.
| Mr.. Shepard and Commissioner Allen
have been collecting the portraits of for
mcr heads OF the patent system. While
the records of the Patent Office are some
what defective. II appears that there have
| been, including Mr.. Allen. thirty-one
heads Of the system. Twenty-eight por-
traits have already been collected. one
of those missing is that of Commission
er Allen, and can be added at any time.
The other missing portraits are those of
John d. Craig, who was Superintendent
of Patents from the early part of Jack
sons administration until 1884. and of
Thomas Johns, superintendent from May
2, lN35, until July 3, 1896.
The fact that Mr.. Johns was at one
time at the head of the patent system is
not found in the records Of the bureau
today, and the fact was conveyed to the
bureau by the State Department Of
which at the time the Office was a divi-
sion. So far the officials have-uet only
been unable TO procure Craig picture.
but also are unable to find any trace of
his family or even learn the State from
which he was appointed. one fact is
quite pertinent. that Craig instituted the
present orderly and systematic classifica-
tion and arrangement of models ana
drawings corresponding to the na-
ture Of the subject TO which they be
lonsed. There are many other evidences
of his syste matte work in the office and
everything possible will be done TO find
/ not only picture, but also to prepare
Biography Of him.
None of the genealoSies Of the Craigs
mentions one as having been Superin-
tcndent of Patents. which title was be
slowed upon that position by Thomas JEFF
IeysOp, nor do any OF the biographical en-
CyclOpediaS contain MS name
With only these two omissions the col
lection of portraits of former Superintend-
ents and Commissioners from the lime of
DR.. William Thornton, appointed IN lSE
| by Thomas jefferson, is complete. Dr.
| ThorntOn's portrait is one in oil An
other one Is a CrayOn portrait OF Superin-
tendent Jones. a portrait just received IS
that of Col. James &. Pickett. who served
as Superintendent of Patents in 1894, and
who subsequently held many other posi-
tiOns Of trust and honor under the Govern
mcHt. After considerable corresponding
elsewhere the portrait was procured from
| Theodore J. Pickett. an attorney Of Wash
4 ingtou and a grandson OF Colonel Pickett.
An account of the life Of Superintendent
Pickett is found in the Encyclopedia OF
Distinguished Kentuckitus" and "Cyclo-
pedia of United States Biography, from
y hIch the following dJtd is obtained:
Hon. James G. Pickett. lawyer. edltur,
politician, and author. WAS born February
g. 1888. in Fauquier County Virginia. ana
was the son of Col. John Pickett. lie en-
ioytd the advantages of q thorough clasS.-
/ cal education and was distinguished. in
deed, as Cnc of the first scholars of ken
tuchy- In the war ol lsl2 ne beeitne
third lieutenant Of United states Arul-
lory in 1919. and was promoted second
| lieutenant IN lsl4 left the service at the
close of the war with England; again en-
tered tho army IN 1878 and served as Dep
uty QuaTtermuster General TIN le2l, when
ne resigned. ana entered upon the practice
of law IN Mason County. Kent itky. where
his father had settled In 1886 lie was
editor of the 'Maysville Eagle IN lSl9'
and was elected member OF the state
Legislature in lS22: was Secretary OF state