With his inventions of the mechanical corn seed planter and mechanical cotton planter, groundbreaking agriculturalist Henry Blair paved the way for future Black inventors and farming nationwide, becoming the only patent recipient ever recorded as a “colored man,” by the U.S. Patent Office.
Born in Glen Ross, Maryland, in 1807, there are little details of Blair’s early life. The inventor was a free man and ran an independent business while also working as a farmer.
He was not formally educated and believed to be illiterate, signing his patents with an “X” rather than his name.
Though many African Americans were still enslaved during Blair’s life, patent law allowed freedmen to receive patents.
Blair’s first patent was for the mechanical corn seed planter in October 1834 and the second was for his mechanical cotton planter in August 1836. His corn planter resulted in more efficient crop planting and resulted in greater overall yield for farmers, while his cotton planter effectively removed weeds.
While he was the second African American to receive a patent— after the first was issued to Thomas Jennings, who invented dry cleaning in 1821— Blair’s patents revolutionized farming.
“A free man of colour, Henry Blair by name, has invented a machine called the corn-planter, which is now exhibiting in the capital of Washington. It is described as a very simple and ingenious machine,” read an 1836 article from The Mechanics’ Magazine. “The inventor thinks it will save the labour of eight men.”
Blair died in 1860 in Maryland of unknown causes. In 1871, patent law was changed to allow all American men the right to a patent.
“Blair left an indelible mark on food production facilitating planting as no one had before,” wrote Adelaide Mahler in a post published to Community Harvest SRQ. “Today, we see the effects of Blair’s inventions in most industrial planting devices that carve open the ground, deliver seeds, and reseal the soil. It begs the question: what would our food system, our society, look like without him?