October 1834

Maryland farmer Henry Blair received a US patent for a mechanical corn planter, becoming the first inventor explicitly identified as 'a colored man' in patent records. Two years later in 1836 he received a second patent for a cotton planter, making him the first Black American documented to hold multiple patents.

Henry Blair of Maryland became the second Black American to receive a US patent — a corn-harvesting machine (Patent No. 8,447X). He is listed in the patent records as 'a colored man,' making him one of only two Black patentees identified before 1836. His practical ingenuity worked against the common claim that enslaved people could not innovate or own intellectual property.