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Patent Model of device to refloat boats (reproduction)
Patent Model of device to refloat boats (reproduction)
TitlePatent Model of device to refloat boats (reproduction)
Coverage / Year1849 to 1967; Springfield, IL
DescriptionReproduction of model boat with system of accordian bellows on sides and seven long poles to work system extending along sides of boat from base to well above deck. Model is stained in red oak stain. Bellows are grey. Boat is a long oval set on a stand.
InterpretationAbraham Lincoln patented a device designed to refloat boats stuck on sandbars. The bellows would be inflated by a crank system using the long poles to push the bellows open. The extra buoyancy would float the boat off the sandbar. The device was never manufactured, because having the system on the boat made run aground of more sandbars than without. Despite the engineering flaw, he received the patent in May 1849 and is the only U.S. President to hold a patent. The original model Lincoln made is at the Smithsonian. This model was made in 1967 and is 1/10th larger.
Lesson Plans / ThemesAmerican Communities in History; Antebellum Society and the Civil War; How we learn about communities
Learning Standards16 History
Author or CreatorNewcomb, Charles J.
SourceOriginal at Smithsonian Insitution. Reproduced by Charles Newcomb and donated to Ford's Theatre National Historic Site. Transferred from Ford's in 1993 to Lincoln Home.
Subject / KeywordsLincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865; Patent; Boat; Sandbar; Invention; Wood
Collection PublisherLincoln Home National Historic Site
Further InformationFor any further information related to this record, please contact the Collection Publisher. See http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc for more information about this project.
Rights Management Statementhttp://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc/conditions.htm
Resource IdentifierLIHO 6763
CONTENTdm file name48456201662003_6763.jpg
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