Electrical Railway System

William B. Purvis

Black Inventors, Black Inventions, African American Inventors, African American Inventors, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations

Born

1838

Birthplace

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

U.S. Patent(s)

US588176

Source(s)

Wikipedia

William B. Purvis, Black Inventors, Black Inventions, African American Inventors, African American Inventors, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations

Inventor

William B. Purvis

U.S. Patent No. US588176

William B. Purvis (12 August 1838 – 10 August 1914) was an African-American inventor and businessman who received multiple patents in the late 19th-century. His inventions included improvements on paper bags, an updated fountain pen design, improvement to the hand stamp, and a close-conduit electric railway system.

William B. Purvis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a wealthy and influential family, one of the eight children of Joseph Purvis, a gentleman farmer and Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis, noted poet. William’s maternal grandfather was African-American sailmaker, merchant, philanthropist, inventor, civil rights activist and Abolitionist James Forten; his uncle was Robert Purvis, wealthy businessman, abolitionist and landowner; his aunts included educator Margaretta Forten and essayist and poet Harriet Forten Purvis; cousins included Dr. Charles Burleigh Purvis of Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D. C., suffragist and author Harriet Purvis, Jr., and educator, poet and essayist Charlotte Forten Grimke.

First installed in New Jersey, Purvis’s close-conduit electric railway system set an electromagnet under the center of the railcar. The closed conduit construction was made by insulating material and installing many soft iron cables on its surface. The cable was attracted upwardly against the top of the space in which it lay, making contact with a brass strip. According to Dr. John MacFadyen, the superintendent of the Installation, the new system was safer and cheaper than the old system, and he believed the new system would replace the old one in the near future.

Purvis was able to earn some profit from this invention; with a number of investors, he formed the Union Electric Construction Company, dedicated to the development of urban railway systems using his patents, and for a time was the President of the concern. By 1899 the company had offices in the Philadelphia Bourse and pursued opportunities in a number of cities including Omaha, Nebraska, Jersey City, New Jersey, Des Moines, Iowa and Washington, D. C.

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William B. Purvis, Black Inventors, Black Inventions, African American Inventors, African American Inventors, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations
William B. Purvis, Black Inventors, Black Inventions, African American Inventors, African American Inventors, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations

Electrical Railway System

William B. Purvis

Black Inventors, Black Inventions, African American Inventors, African American Inventors, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations
U.S. Patent No. US588176

Biography

William B. Purvis (12 August 1838 – 10 August 1914) was an African-American inventor and businessman who received multiple patents in the late 19th-century. His inventions included improvements on paper bags, an updated fountain pen design, improvement to the hand stamp, and a close-conduit electric railway system.

William B. Purvis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a wealthy and influential family, one of the eight children of Joseph Purvis, a gentleman farmer and Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis, noted poet. William's maternal grandfather was African-American sailmaker, merchant, philanthropist, inventor, civil rights activist and Abolitionist James Forten; his uncle was Robert Purvis, wealthy businessman, abolitionist and landowner; his aunts included educator Margaretta Forten and essayist and poet Harriet Forten Purvis; cousins included Dr. Charles Burleigh Purvis of Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D. C., suffragist and author Harriet Purvis, Jr., and educator, poet and essayist Charlotte Forten Grimke.

First installed in New Jersey, Purvis's close-conduit electric railway system set an electromagnet under the center of the railcar. The closed conduit construction was made by insulating material and installing many soft iron cables on its surface. The cable was attracted upwardly against the top of the space in which it lay, making contact with a brass strip. According to Dr. John MacFadyen, the superintendent of the Installation, the new system was safer and cheaper than the old system, and he believed the new system would replace the old one in the near future.

Purvis was able to earn some profit from this invention; with a number of investors, he formed the Union Electric Construction Company, dedicated to the development of urban railway systems using his patents, and for a time was the President of the concern. By 1899 the company had offices in the Philadelphia Bourse and pursued opportunities in a number of cities including Omaha, Nebraska, Jersey City, New Jersey, Des Moines, Iowa and Washington, D. C.

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William B. Purvis, Black Inventors, Black Inventions, African American Inventors, African American Inventors, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations
William B. Purvis, Black Inventors, Black Inventions, African American Inventors, African American Inventors, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations
Born – 1838 Birthplace – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S. Patent(s) – US588176 Source(s) – Wikipedia