A New Year, A New Invention?

In January, we get organized. We make lists, we make goals, and we set forth plans to accomplish projects.

Maybe the new year is also a time to receive good news. I wonder if that is how Perley L. Orminston felt on January 3, 1922 when he granted a patent for a Roller Skate? Perley filed his application for this invention on March 5, 1920.[1]

In 1922, Perley was a resident of Portland, Oregon. The 1920 federal census indicates that, Perley, age 36, was living in the household of his mother, Ellen Orminston, age 65, together with his sister Edna Grace, age 26. Perley's occupation in 1920 was listed as a house carpenter.[2]

No doubt, Perley's interest in inventing was inspired after the first patent he received in 1910. Perley continued to invent useful objects. By 1927, he had been issued six patents.[1, 3, 4, 5, 6,7]

In the 1930 federal census, Perley listed his occupation as inventor.[8] A title well-deserved!

Sources

1. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database," digital images, USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://patft.uspto.gov : accessed 3 January 2022), Perley L. Ormiston, Roller Skate, patent no. 1,402,010 (1922).

2. 1920 U.S. census, Multnomah Co., Oregon, population schedule, Portland, sheet 2b (penned), line 84, Perley L. Ormiston; Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 January 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm T625_1502; image 4.

3. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database," digital images, USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://patft.uspto.gov : accessed 3 January 2022), Perley L. Ormiston, Gate-Opener, patent no. 979,689 (1910).

4. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database," digital images, USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://patft.uspto.gov : accessed 3 January 2022), Perley L. Ormiston, Combined Pencil Sharpener and Attaching Clip, patent no. 1,275,982 (1918).

5. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database," digital images, USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://patft.uspto.gov : accessed 3 January 2022), Perley L. Ormiston, Skate, patent no. 1,497,224 (1924).

6. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database," digital images, USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://patft.uspto.gov : accessed 3 January 2022), Perley L. Ormiston, Compression Gauge, patent no. 1,568,913 (1926).

7. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database," digital images, USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://patft.uspto.gov : accessed 3 January 2022), Perley L. Ormiston, Drawing Apparatus, patent no. 1,622,229 (1927).

8. 1930 U.S. census, Multnomah Co., Oregon, population schedule, Portland, sheet 1a (penned), line 18, Perley L. Ormiston; Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 January 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm T626; image 1.

For More Information

• US Patent & Trademark Office, Search for Patents: https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search

• Google Patents: https://patents.google.com/

• Judy G. Russell, “Those OTHER patents,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 2 Dec 2021).

Copyright 2022 Debora Ellen Blodgett