Abraham Lincoln's Patent Model
date: label: date made
content: prior to 1849
label: date patented
content: 1849-05-22
name: label: patentee
content: Lincoln, Abraham
label: maker
content: Lincoln, Abraham
notes: label: Description
content: Like many people of his era, Lincoln believed deeply in the value of personal initiative, inventiveness, and scientific and technological change. Lincoln’s mechanical and scientific interests began with his training as a surveyor in New Salem and continued throughout his life.
label: Description
content: In 1848 he decided try his own hand at developing an invention to lift boats grounded in shallow water. On May 22, 1849, Congressman Abraham Lincoln received a patent for his method of lifting boats over shoals. A trip to Niagara Falls inspired the design, when he witnessed a grounded boat being lifted over shallow waters. Lincoln produced the model with the help of Walter Davis, a Springfield mechanic. There is no evidence that he ever sought to put the idea into production.
label: Description
content: Transfer from the U.S. Patent Office, 1922
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois
topic: label: general subject association
content: Patent Models
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Presidential History Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Rubenstein, Harry R.. Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.031940
label: catalog number
content: 31940
label: accession number
content: 48865
label: patent number
content: 6469
objectType: label: Object Name
content: patent model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brown (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 3/4 in x 26 1/4 in x 4 3/4 in; 24.765 cm x 66.675 cm x 12.065 cm