CHAPTER XL 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



IN giving the origin of this department, recourse is had to a 

 little work published in 1872, by James M. Swank. He writes 

 as follows : 



To Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, of Connecticut, son of Hon. 

 Oliver Ellsworth, third Chief Justice of the United States, is the 

 country more indebted than to any other person for the recog- 

 nition by Congress of the claims of agriculture. His services 

 date from 1836, in which year he was appointed by President 

 Jackson the first Commissioner of Patents. The Patent Office 

 had been just then reorganized. Owing to its subsequent inti- 

 mate association with the interests of agriculture, the origin of 

 that office requires a brief notice, before reference is made to 

 Mr. Ellsworth's administration of its duties. 



The first article of the Constitution provides for promoting the 

 progress of science and the useful arts, by securing to authors 

 and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and 

 discoveries. This clause is the foundation of our laws regulating 

 copyrights and patents. Up to 1793 the granting of letters- 

 patent was confided, by act of Congress, to the Secretary of 

 War, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney-General, the 

 records of patents being kept in the office of the Secretary of 

 State, and all models and drawings being deposited there. On 

 the 2 ist of February of that year, the duty of acting upon appli- 

 cations for patents was assigned exclusively to the Secretary of 

 State. The examinations of these applications was performed 

 by a single clerk in the office of the Secretary, who, in 1821, 

 received the title of Superintendent of the Patent Office. In 

 1830 this office was further recognized by law, and made the 

 subject of a special appropriation. On the 4th of July, 1836, it 

 was made a separate Bureau of the Government, and the office 

 of Commissioner of Patents was created. In December of the 

 same year Blodgett's Hotel, a three-story brick building, used 



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