1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
207 
point. According to a statement of Joseph Ridgway, 
(late Representative in Congress from Ohio,) who aid¬ 
ed him at the time, “ The cost of the first patterns may 
be put down at $15,000; the cost of these patterns, 
however was but an item compared with the expendi¬ 
tures he incurred during the five years he was experi¬ 
menting, and before he was prepared for combining his 
piecemeal inventions in the form of patterns, for the plow 
he got patented. A set of Jethro Wood’s plow pat¬ 
terns taken from a set of standard patterns, when dres¬ 
sed up and polished, with their appendages, to cast 
plows from, may be stated to cost from four to seven 
hundred dollars, the cost varying according to the com¬ 
pleteness of the fixtures for casting from.” 
These patterns, in consequence of the prejudice 
against east iron or “ pot metal,” as it was then called, 
which was considered about as brittle as glass, Jethro 
Wood was obliged to furnish at his own personal ex¬ 
pense to a vast number of foundries and furnaces; and 
a constant perseverance and travelling was needed to in¬ 
troduce the plow. The unskillfulness of the workmen 
in those early days was so great, that in many instan¬ 
ces, he had to show them by moulding the castings with 
his own hands; and the prejudices against “pot-metal ” 
were so strong, he was often obliged to give presents 
to induce them to cast the plow; so that at the expira¬ 
tion of his patent, all his receipts did not nearly equal 
his expenses, to say nothing of his time and labor. He 
commenced in comfortable circumstances, out of debt, 
and ended deeply involved. 
But there was another obstacle of a most formidable 
nature, which rendered his long and laborious efforts a 
continued series of great difficulties and disappointments, 
—a deficiency in the former patent laws. As soon as 
by his unwearied labors, the plow had been introduced, 
infringements commenced ; and manufacturers whom he 
had supplied with patterns, refused to pay premium, and j 
Jethro Wood by resorting to courts of law, could only j 
look forward to defeat, and ruinous bills of costs. The 
only course left for him, was to strengthen himself by 
interesting men in his patent; therefore he was obliged 
to make large assignments of territory, without receiv¬ 
ing any pecuniary reward, and without realising any. of 
the benefits he had hoped to receive. Thus the four¬ 
teen years of his term was lost to him, while his coun¬ 
try reaped the benefits. 
In 1832, it was satisfactorily shown to Congress that 
he had not been remunerated for the benefits conferred 
on agriculture, by the invention and introduction of his 
cast iron plow, and the patent was renewed for a term 
of fourteen years. But a proviso was insidiously in¬ 
serted in the bill, conferring on the former assignees all 
the right and privileges they had acquired during the 
first term of the patent. This proviso almost destroyed 
the benefits of the extension to the inventor, or his chil¬ 
dren, by giving to the assignees the largest and best 
portions of the territory, who had never done anything 
to merit the consideration of Congress, or for the ad¬ 
vantage of the inventor, (with but two honorable ex¬ 
ceptions,) but who had made themselves rich by the 
manufacture and sale of plows. The year following the 
extension, Jethro Wood breathed bis last. The first 
object of his son Benjamin, (his executor,) was to ap¬ 
ply to Congress for an amendment of the patent laws, 
and several years were consumed before this was ac¬ 
complished. The second was to commence suits to sus¬ 
tain the validity of the patent. So long as-Jethro 
Wood encountered the general prejudice against his 
plow, the merit, (or odium as it was then regarded) 
was fully accredited to him. It was only since its ex¬ 
traordinary value was proved that attempts were made 
to deprive him of the credit. In consequence of the 
length of time, witnesses were very much scattered, 
and pecuniary means being wholly inadequate, the pro¬ 
per witnesses could not be obtained, and from combina¬ 
tions of wealth and numbers, against a single family, 
the executors suffered several defeats before the patent 
was sustained. But in the autumn of 1845, after a tho¬ 
rough investigation of all the facts in the case, the United 
States Circuit Court fully sustained all the points of Je¬ 
thro Wood’s patent, which decision was not made until 
within a few months of the expiration of the patent, and 
a short period before the death of the executor. 
It is a common but most erroneous opinion, that al¬ 
though Jethro Wood himself reaped no advantage, his 
heirs have received enormous sums. To disprove this, it 
is sufficient to state, that it is a well-known fact, that be¬ 
fore the final decision of the Court, premiums could not 
be collected, and the sums received by the administra¬ 
trices for the brief period of the patent remaining, over 
and above the expenses of the suits, did not exceed the 
small sum of five hundred and forty dollars. This fact 
is established by Samuel Stevens, Esq., of Albany, and 
Judge Leland of Auburn, Cayuga county, as to the 
cost of the suits; and the affidavit of the administratri¬ 
ces as regards the whole amount of money received by 
them. 
The limits of this article have prevented that appeal 
to authority which would have corroborated all its state¬ 
ments; documentary evidence could be furnished on all 
the points. But the following brief testimony from a 
a few persons of high standing in the community, may 
not be out of place. 
Wm. H.-Seward, (now United States Senator,) says 
under date of Nov. 20, 1848, “ I am fully satisfied 
that no citizen of the United States has conferred great¬ 
er economical benefit on his country than Jethro Wood, 
—none of her benefactors have been more inadequately 
rewarded.” 
David Thomas, for many years chief engineer on the 
New-York canals, and who was personally acquainted 
with the efforts of Jethro Wood, from the commence¬ 
ment to the close of his life, furnishes the following 
testimony: “'The exercise of mind and amount of la* 
bor to perfect these improvements, can scarcely be ap¬ 
preciated by those who have not been engaged in simi¬ 
lar pursuits. It was a new field, and everything had to 
be learned by experiments. To discover and procure 
the best material for patterns, and to prepare them, 
employed him a long time, and a common mind would 
have shrunk from the difficulties that met him at foun¬ 
dries; oftentimes he had to overcome the unskillfulness 
or prejudice of moulders, by presents, or by showing 
them how to manage, with his own hands. 
“ I am satisfied that all his patented improvements 
were inventions of his own, originating in his own 
mind, and to avoid encroaching on what others had in¬ 
vented, he had every volume within his reach that treat¬ 
ed of plows, including several Encyclopaedias, carefully 
examined for that purpose. 
“ To Jethro Wood’s name, belongs the honor ol ren« 
dering the plow that cheap and efficient instrument that 
we now find it, truly enabling us to cultivate our fields 
at less than one-fourth of the former expense, and sav¬ 
ing millions to the country.” 
Samuel Stevens, of Albany, says under date of. Jan. 
8, 1848, “ I am satisfied that neither he nor his chil¬ 
dren have realised anything from that patent; so far as 
my humble opinion can have any weight, I think there 
never was a case in which the children of a public be¬ 
nefactor have such strong claims to be secured by the 
prolongation of a patent, or to receive some remunera¬ 
tion for the mental labor of their ancestor.” 
John Porter of Auburn, formerly New-York Senator, 
says, “ I have resided and been in active business in 
Auburn, the principal town in the county of Cayuga, 
[the residence of Jethro Wood,] for the last thirty 
years, and have known hirn and something about his 
