Benjamin Montgomery's shallow-water propeller: refused under every name (Davis Bend, MS, 1857–1864)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1857 · Places: Louisiana
SUMMARYBenjamin Montgomery's shallow-water propeller: refused under every name (Davis Bend, MS, 1857–1864) [Connections: Tech & skilled labor, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDBenjamin Thornton Montgomery was born in Loudoun County, VA, around 1819. He was sold south and bought in Natchez by Joseph E. Davis, the older brother of Jefferson Davis. HistoryNet says that while enslaved he learned "surveying, levee repair, architectural drawing, and steam ginning," and later ran the plantation's cotton sales and store. He designed a steam-driven propeller for boats in shallow water. Sources give the sequence of refusals in different orders, but they agree on the outcome. Jefferson Davis applied in 1857 and was refused. Applications in Montgomery's name and in Joseph Davis's name were also refused, because Montgomery was not a citizen and the Davises were not the "true inventor." Wikipedia dates a denial to 10 June 1858. Montgomery applied again on 28 June 1864, when he was no longer enslaved, and was again refused. Joseph Davis later sold Montgomery the Davis Bend plantations: $300,000 on long-term credit in 1866 according to Wikipedia, 1867 according to HistoryNet. The land reverted to the Davis family after a missed payment in 1876. STATUS: enslaved (per the Davis purchase at Natchez and the Patent Office refusal) until the Union army reached Davis Bend; free when he filed in 1864
PATTERNThe same propeller was refused under three different names: Jefferson Davis's, Joseph Davis's and Montgomery's own
LENS (WW9)Even the enslaver's brother, a future president, couldn't put his name on our engineer's work, and once the engineer was free they still wouldn't sign it
OPENThe "U.S. patent 588" linked on Wikipedia is unverified. Find the 1864 file and the reason it was refused. The exact order of the 1857–58 applications differs between sources and needs deep research
SOURCEWikipedia, "Ben Montgomery" (cites Hermann, "Reconstruction in Microcosm," Journal of Negro History 65:4, 1980); HistoryNet; Wikipedia, "Patent racism".