From the desk of Alison Gibson, Director
It seems that the village of Ripley has always had an inventive vibe with creative ideas to solve a problem. Some are more creative than others! Anyway, we thought we’d revisit the idea of patents from Ripley residents. A fair number of years ago we worked on collecting information on patents from Ripley as well as from other Brown County villages. Ripley had the most by far. Most were for agricultural implements—such as the early 1842 hemp brake awarded to William McMillan.(The brake was used to break down hemp and flax stems so the fiber could be used for rope and thread). There was another hemp brake improvement patent by Daniel F. Wallace in 1868. Everything from lamps, artificial honey, quilting frames. plows, extension ladders and more before 1900.
We’d say most Ripley residents are familiar with John P. Parker’s patents on tobacco screws and soil pulverizers, but he was in good company in Ripley. The Civil War slowed things down some, but didn’t stop the creative juices flowing. For example, in 1863, Samuel Jolly received a patent for a seed planter and Samuel Liley for a tobacco fork for lifting and passing the tobacco sticks in the barn. Anyway, we welcome you to stop in and browse through the notebooks, or search online for all the cool things that Ripley residents created.
Looking ahead into November, some of the most popular fiction authors have books coming out, including James Patterson (Raised by Wolves and The House of Cross), Richard Paul Evans (Christmas in Bethel), Clive Cussler (Desolation Code), Janet Evanovich (Now or Never-#31 in Stephanie Plum series), Nora Roberts (The Mirror-2nd in Lost Brides trilogy) and David Baldacci (To Die For)—you, our patrons, can place holds on these titles before they are out—stop in, go online to your account or call!
Don’t forget to change your clock back 1 hour this week-end—Standard time starts at 2:00 am on Sunday November 3rd.
