Samuel R. Scottron
Samuel R. Scottron | |
|---|---|
Scottron | |
| Born | Samuel Raymond Scottron c. 1841 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | October 14, 1908 (aged 66–67) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | S. R. Scottron |
| Education | Cooper Union |
| Occupations | Inventor, businessman, merchant, barber |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Anna Maria Willett (m. 1902) |
| Children | 6 |
Samuel Raymond Scottron (c. February 1841 – October 14, 1908)[1][2] was an African-American inventor, merchant, and businessman. He received six patents throughout his career for inventions including an improved mirror, a curtain rod,[3] a supporting bracket, a pole tip, and two designs for window cornices.[4] Scottron lived in Brooklyn, New York City.[5]
Life and career
Samuel Scottron was born free in c. 1841, in Philadelphia, and moved as a child with his family to New York City.[6] However various sources have discrepancies in around his date of birth and place of birth.[7] He completed grammar school when he was 14 years old, and later received his engineering degree from Cooper Union in 1878.[7]
During the American Civil War, Scottron was the sutler for the 3rd United States Colored Infantry, and almost went bankrupt. To recoup his finances, he operated grocery stores in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida, and then a barber shop in Springfield, Massachusetts, where his parents were originally from.[8]
Scottron served on the Brooklyn Board of Education as the only black member,[9] and was a leader in the Republican Party.[10] He advocated for the abolition of slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Scottron served as a founding member and leader of the Cuban Anti-Slavery Committee.[11]
A chapter in the book The Negro in Business (1907) by Booker T. Washington is about Scottron.[12]
Family
Scottron married Anna Maria Willett, a New Yorker, in 1863; they had six children.[13][3]
Scottron died at the age of 67 on October 14, 1908, of natural causes in his home in Brooklyn.[3][10][14][15]
Inventions
- U.S. patent 76,253 Improved Mirror, March 31, 1868
- U.S. patent 224,732 Adjustable Window Cornice, February 17, 1880
- U.S. patent 270,851 Cornice, January 16, 1883
- U.S. patent 349,525 Pole Tip, September 21, 1886
- U.S. patent 481,720 Curtain Rod, August 30, 1892
- U.S. patent 505,008 Supporting Bracket, September 12, 1893
Publications
- Scottron, Samuel R. (October 1904). "Manufacturing Household Items". The Colored American Magazine. No. 7. pp. 621–624.
References
- ^ Carney Smith, Jessie (2007). "Samuel R. Scottron, 1843–1905, Inventor, entrepreneur". Notable Black American Men. encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
- ^ Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862–1948 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c Dixon, Euell A. (September 20, 2018). "Samuel Raymond Scottron (ca. 1843-1905)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
- ^ "Who Invented Curtain Poles?". polesdirect.com. May 8, 2015.
- ^ Washington, Booker T. (1907). The Negro in Business. Boston, MA: Hertel, Jenkins & Co. p. 151 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ Rich, Debra D. (October 7, 2021). Black Inventors Who Changed History: 1800s–1900s. Dorrance Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-63764-231-3.
- ^ a b Smith, Jessie (November 27, 2017). "Scottron, Samuel R. (1841–1908)". Encyclopedia of African American Business: Updated and Revised Edition [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 780. ISBN 978-1-4408-5028-8.
- ^ "Scottron, Samuel R." Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
- ^ Fouché, Rayvon (September 9, 2005). Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation: Granville T. Woods, Lewis H. Latimer, and Shelby J. Davidson. JHU Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-8018-8270-8.
- ^ a b "Samuel R. Scottron Dead". Brooklyn Eagle (Obituary). October 15, 1908. p. 2. Retrieved September 12, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Brock, Lisa (1994). "Back to the Future: African-Americans and Cuba in the Time(s) of Race". Contributions in Black Studies. 12: 17 – via Scholar Works.
- ^ Mirabal, Nancy Raquel (January 10, 2017). Suspect Freedoms: The Racial and Sexual Politics of Cubanidad in New York, 1823–1957. NYU Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-8147-6111-3.
- ^ 1880 Federal Census for Kings County (New York) Enumeration District 20, Sheet 2, Lines 21–30 (1061 Lafayette Street, Brooklyn, New York)
- ^ "Obituary: Samuel R. Scottron". The Brooklyn Daily Times. October 15, 1908. p. 2. Retrieved September 12, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Samuel R. Scottron". The New York Age. October 22, 1908. p. 4. Retrieved September 12, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.