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Henry Blair



Blair, Henry (19th-century), U.S. slave and inventor. He became the first black to hold a patent when he obtained patents for a corn harvester (1835) and a cotton planter (1836). In 1858, however, it was ruled that slaves could not hold federal patents; this situation prevailed until after the Civil War.



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21st Century Webster's Family Encyclopedia21st Century Webster's Family Encyclopedia - Black haw to Boulez, Pierre