The First Patent

U.S. patent #1, issued in 1790 and signed by George Washington, was granted to Samuel Hopkins for an improved method of making potash. Potash, consisting mainly of potassium carbonate, was then made from hardwood logs and was widely used in manufacturing many products including soap, glass, dyes and gunpowder. Potash was "America's first industrial chemical" and it was probably the first major agricultural product in America that was sold for money.

Until recently it was thought that Patent #1 was granted to a Samuel Hopkins from Pittsford, Vermont. In 1998 it was discovered that the real Samuel Hopkins of Patent #1 fame was from Philadelphia.

Many people still think that the Samuel Hopkins who lived in Pittsford, Vermont earned the first patent. Below is a historical marker to this effect on US-7 in Pittsford (photo taken 7/3/10):

The sign mentions pearl-ash, which was a form of potash.

How did such a case of mistaken identity occur? In 1836 a fire destroyed the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. All records pertaining to the first 10,280 patents were lost. I don't know the full history of how this case of mistaken identity occurred, but the correct Samuel Hopkins was apparently discovered by someone named David Maxey. He published articles in the Jan/Apr 1998 issue of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography and the March 1998 issue of the Journal of the Patent & Trademark Office Society.

In 2002 the State of Pennsylvania erected their own historical marker to Samuel Hopkins in Philadelphia (source and more info):

At the time of the first patent the seat of the U.S. government was in Philadelphia, and Vermont was still an independent republic—not even part of the United States yet. (The new U.S. government began operations in 1789, initially in New York. In the summer of 1790 it moved to Philadelphia for ten years while new government buildings were constructed in Washington, DC. Vermont was an independent republic for 14 years beginning in 1777, becoming the 14th state in 1791.) Taking those historical facts into account, it seems altogether reasonable that the recipient of the first U.S. patent was from Philadelphia not Vermont.

I cannot find Mr. Maxey's articles online, but an excellent online article is The First Patent, by Henry M. Paynter. Dr. Paynter was an emeritus professor of mechanical engineering at MIT who retired to Pittsford, Vermont in 1985 and died at his home there in 2002. (obituary) In his retirement, Dr. Paynter became interested in the history of the first patent. This article also describes the importance of the potash industry to colonial America and the young United States. The quote above about potash being "America's first industrial chemical" came from this article.

There are photos of the potash kettles in Pager's lilac garden and in Beth's garden in this 5/11/08 post on my work blog: The Forgotten Potash Economy.