A Patent Document Issued for a Nail Making Machine

WASHINGTON, George (17432-1799). Partly-printed document signed ("Go:Washington") as President, Philadelphia, 24 February 1797. Two pages, 354 x 193mm, on vellum with intact paper and wax seal affixed at lower left with several strands of blue ribbon. Countersigned by Timothy PICKERING (1745-1829) as Secretary State and Charles LEE (1758-1815) as Attorney General. A patent issued to Jesse Kersey who "hath alleged that has invented a new and useful improvement for Cutting and Heading Nails. " The patent document is accompanied by a detailed description of Kersey's improvement. It is unclear whether Kersey ever implemented this specific invention, but in 1810 he formed a partnership with Isaace Pennock to form the Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory in present-day Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The partnership lasted for seven years, at which point, Pennock bought out Kersey's share and leased it to his son-in-law, Charles Lloyd Lukens. Soon the factory was producing boilerplates, and in 1818 furnished the metal for the first iron-hulled vessel in the U.S. When Charles Lukens died in 1825, the business came into the ownership of his daughter, Rebecca Lukens, who expanded the business over the course of the next twenty years. The concern, today known as Lukens Steel, remains in operation in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, as the oldest iron mill still in operation in the United States. Kersey (1768-1845) led a varied career. Born in York, Pennsylvania, he was apprenticed to a potter in Philadelphia at age 16. Beyond his interest in the iron works, he was also a famer, a part owner in a woolen mill, a writer as well as prominent Quaker preacher. For a very interesting article on Kersey, please see Peter D. Sippel, "A few Notes on Jesse Kersey," (2003 http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qwhp/jkbio.htm).

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