Patents of Pine Village, Rainsville, and Independence, Indiana 5

On the 15th of March in 1898, Charles “Charlie” Wesley Fenton (1856–1922) of Pine Village, Indiana, received a patent for his invention of metal fence posts for building board fences such as were used on farms. Charlie was one of Thomas “Tom” or “Tommy” Eleazer Fenton’s brothers; Tommy was the blacksmith who designed a special shoe for a young colt who matured into arguably the first sports hero in America: Dan Patch, the pacer who is even mentioned in the lyrics of a song in The Music Man. Visit my Books from the HeartLand website (http://roberttrhode.org/) to read more about Dan Patch and to watch a short movie of the horse in action. One of Charlie and Tommy’s sisters was my great grandmother, Magnolia “Nola” or “Nolia” Somerset (Fenton) Cobb, a professional photographer whose glass-plate images I have often included in my blogs and on my Facebook page. Her son, Charles “Charley” Albert Cobb, designed and built a tractor from a hit and miss engine. Suffice it to say that Charlie came from a family with a streak for invention.

Patent for Fence Posts

By Charles Wesley Fenton

Of Pine Village, Indiana (1898)

Charlie claimed for his fence posts “great strength, durability, and neatness.” His posts were “preferably constructed of angle-iron bent in a U form at the top,” and the flared feet were attached to metal plates. The feet and their plates were inserted in holes that were “filled in [with soil] and rammed.” Boards were held firmly by metal pins through their ends and were supported by brackets attached to the posts. Studying the patent drawing gives a sufficient idea of the way that Charlie’s invention helped in the construction of a board fence.

Charles Wesley Fenton

I would guess that Charlie’s posts were, in fact, “neat,” as they would grip the earth and would be less subject to the upheavals of freezing and thawing that were frequently visited upon posts made of wood. My research, though, has not revealed a company manufacturing posts such as Charlie’s, and I have no way of knowing if he ever sold any. 

Charles Albert Cobb and the Tractor He Built from a Hit and Miss Engine

James M. Swadley and Harry F. Ross served as witnesses to Charlie’s patent.

Another View of Charley Cobb and His Tractor

With Both Photographs Taken by His Mother

Magnolia Somerset Cobb

Patents of Pine Village, Rainsville, and Independence, Indiana 4

In 1871—just three days after his birthday—David B. Eberly of Pine Village, Indiana, received a patent for an improvement in cultivators. Born in Pennsylvania on the 7th of October in 1815, Eberly worked as a blacksmith in Boswell, Indiana, for a time (as indicated in the census of 1880). According to Eberly’s description, his invention had at least two significant features: “First, … a double-pointed shovel provided with a spring-cap secured at one side by rivets and at the other by a screw-bolt to the back of the double-pointed shovel in such a manner that the shovel may be adjusted on the shank, set, and secured at any desired angle. Secondly, … a curved angular shank provided with a slot in its upper end, secured to the plow-frame by two screw-bolts, one near the vertex of the angle of the shank, the other in the slot aforesaid, the whole being so arranged that the shank will keep the shovel in position when used in arable soil, but will permit it to yield when it meets an obstruction.”

Patent for Improvement in Cultivators

By David B. Eberly of Pine Village, Indiana (1871)

Essentially, everything about Eberly’s cultivator was adjustable from the spacing of the shovels, through their angle, to the position of the shank. His was a so-called “walking cultivator.” By looping the lines around one shoulder, he could twist his torso to signal the team of horses while he held onto the handles of the cultivator.

Abraham Haun and Alonzo P. Rowen served as witnesses to Eberly’s patent.

As Eberly’s patent was granted prior to 1880, a scale model of his invention had to accompany his application. This fact suggests that his cultivator was substantially more than a dream on paper. The evidence that Eberly was a blacksmith leads to the conclusion that he built at least one full-size cultivator.

My review of books depicting and describing farm implements revealed no cultivators quite like Eberly’s invention. I wonder if any company availed itself of the opportunity to copy his ideas or if he sold any cultivators himself.

Eberly died on the 18th of February in 1901. He is buried in Pine Village Cemetery.