The Journey In Between: Clarissa Britain, Inventor (1816-1895)
Denise E. Pilato
Abstract
Clarissa Britain was a 19th century woman inventor with
seven patents to her name, but little is known about this remarkable
woman. Her patents include a floor warmer, ambulance, boiler,
lantern dinner pail, vegetable boiler, dish drainer, and lamp burner.
All seven patents were granted within a frenetic 18-month span from
March 1863, to September 1864. Beyond the official patent records
documenting her inventions, little is known about her experience as
an inventor or whether or not she succeeded in the business of
invention. The nature and number of her patents, however, suggest
that she was a woman committed and motivated to improve the
quality of life during and after the American Civil War. The absence
of her story, like other significant women inventors, reveals a larger
story about women's identity as inventors in the history of American
progress.
A few factual details about the circumstances related to her
inventive activity present a picture resembling an early
daguerreotype. The faint image is intriguing in what the eye sees and
what it is obscured. The face begs the question, what was her story?
Why did she patent so many different kinds of inventions in less than
two years? Who was this woman with seven U.S. patents? Although
there is no known existing image of Britain, the skeletal facts of her
life present a snapshot and a brief story about an energetic and
resourceful woman who lived her life in service to others. Her slim
biographical profile reveals a significant story that is part of the larger
narrative of American history of technology, where stories about
women inventors remain buried in obscurity. Britain's story reveals
issues of identity, the nature of national progress, and coded histories.
2
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Key Words: Inventors, women, women inventors, inventions, patents,
American Civil War, ambulance,
*****
Clarissa Britain was a 19th century woman inventor with
seven patents to her name, but little is known about this remarkable
Michigan woman. Her patents include a floor warmer, ambulance,
boiler, lantern dinner pail, vegetable boiler, dish drainer, and lamp
burner. All seven patents were granted within a frenetic 18-month
span from March 1863, to September 1864. Beyond the official
patent records documenting her inventions, little is known about her
experience as an inventor or whether or not she succeeded in the
business of invention. The nature and number of her patents,
however, suggest that she was a woman committed and motivated to
improve the quality of life during and after the Civil War.
Her biographical profile is similar to other women inventors
who are considered professional 19th century inventors. This identity
3
Denise E. Pilato
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as an American professional woman inventor first emerges in Civil
War and post-Civil War patent records and includes a handful of
women who received multiple patents and/or singularly diverse kinds
of inventions that proved commercially successful.1 Like other early
professional women inventors, such as Martha J. Coston, Mary
Walton, Margaret Knight, Amanda T. Jones, and Helen Blanchard,
Britain was single, white, protestant, and educated. But unlike these
inventors, the success of her inventions is circumspect, which has
lead some to believe that she did not experience any financial success
from her patents.2
A few factual details about the circumstances related to her
inventive activity presents a picture resembling an early
1
Pilato, Denise. The Retrieval of a Legacy: Nineteenth Century American Women
Inventors (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2000), 86.
2
Macdonald, Anne L. Feminine Ingenuity: Women and Invention in America (New
York: Ballantine Books, 1992), 20-21.
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daguerreotype. The hazy image reflects a vital, intelligent woman
that invites speculation as to her identity. The faint image is
intriguing in both what the eye sees and that which is clouded in
obscurity. It begs the question, what was her story? Why did she
patent so many different kinds of inventions? And why during such a
condensed and relatively brief time frame of less than two years?
Who was this woman with seven U.S. patents? Although there is no
known existing image of Britain, the skeletal facts of her life present
a snapshot of an energetic and resourceful woman who lived her life
in service to others. Her biographical profile reveals a unique
individual with particular skills and uncommon ambitions for a 19th
century woman.
Britain was born in 1816 in Brownville, NY, to a politically
prominent family. In 1827, she moved to St. Joseph, Michigan, with
her family. Her father, General Calvin Britain, was one of the pioneer
settlers who originally plaited St. Joseph. He first came to Michigan
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to teach in the Carey Mission School, which was established for the
Pottawatomie people in 1822. Throughout his life he actively
continued in the settling and development of Berrien County. Her
brother, Calvin, was also a prominent citizen of St. Joseph, who
served as a Representative in Michigan Legislature in 1847, 1850,
and 1851, and later as the Lieutenant-Governor of Michigan in
1852-53. 3 As a 19th century single woman, Britain's family
connections afforded her some measure of affluence, which elevated
her social status.
Additionally, she was born into a family who appreciated the
value of education. Her early life was marked by educational
opportunities that fostered learning and teaching aspirations. By
1830 she was qualified as a teacher, but her formal education
3
History of Berrien and Van Buren Counties, Michigan with Illustrations and
Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (Philadelphia, PA,
1880), 148-149.
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extended well beyond this initial qualification. She was noted as a
pupil who “excelled in mathematics” at the school of Rev James R.
Boyd in Watertown, New York, and later she was a pupil of
distinction at the Troy Seminary, New York, in 1838 and 1839,
headed by the respected Mrs. Emma Willard. This school had a
reputation as an outstanding female school, in part, because it offered
difficult courses commensurate with those offered at schools for
boys.4 Shortly thereafter, she gained teaching experience as an
assistant to the head of a seminary in Washington, Pennsylvania,
followed by an appointment in charge of a school in Batavia, New
York.5
4
“Troy Female Seminary.” Encyclopedia Britannica. retv. 2-27-13
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/606900/Troy-Female-Seminary
5
Fairbanks, Mrs. A. W., ed. Emma Willard and Her Pupils or Fifty Years of Troy
Female Seminary 1822-1872 (Mrs. Russell Sage: New York, 1898), 141-142.
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In 1841 she returned to Michigan and commenced “a school
on the corner of Broadway and Third Street”.6 By 1843, the Niles
Female Seminary was successfully operating with Britain as the
Principal. It was advertised in the Niles Republican as a place where
“parents wishing to give their daughters an education, can find no
more institution more desirable, or place them under a person better
qualified for the duty.” 7
The seminary offered 11-week terms per quarter with a tuition
ranging from $2.50 for courses in the Primary Department, and fees
ranging from $4.00 to $6.00 for courses in the Higher Department.
Board was $1.25 per week and for a fee of $3.00 a student could
6
“Niles Schools: Niles Female Seminary.” Folder title in the Niles Public Library
Local History and Genealogy Department, Niles, Michigan. n.d.
7
Niles Republican. “Niles Female Seminary” 9 Sept 1843, n.p.
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have a “bed and bedding, lights, and washing. ” 8 This was a fullservice school for young women with options for enrolment in the
Higher Department, where students studied rhetoric, logic,
astronomy, chemistry, geometry, algebra, botany, and French. They
were also required to study Kames Elements of Criticism (1762),
which was an old traditional text on morals and ethics as well as
Wayland’s Moral Science (1835), which was a new look at the
“science of human duty.” 9 In later editions, Wayland’s Preface stated
that he fervently hoped that his ideas would stimulate a conviction of
one’s own responsibility in an effort to “make men better.” He did
not specifically mention “make women better,” but his ideas certainly
were exemplified in Britain’s patents. 10 The types of inventions that
8
Niles Republican. “Niles Female Seminary” 23 Nov 1844, n.p.
9
Wayland, Francis. Wayland’s Moral Science (Cook & Co.: New York, 1835), xii.
10
ibid (Gould & Lincoln :Boston, 1865), v.
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Britain patented invites speculation that she was influenced by ideas
related to the science of human duty as all of her inventions suggest
efficiency, economy, and utility.
While Principal of the Niles Female Seminary, Britain was
noted to be both competent and successful. She was described as a
“prominent teacher” who had “charge of a select school for young
ladies at Niles, which was largely attended by pupils, and was
deservedly popular.” 11 Her reputation as a “prominent teacher”
characterizes her legacy, while her accomplishments as inventor are
conspicuously absent. 12 Was she an anomaly? Yes, in several ways.
For example, in an 1870 Woman Suffrage Tract entitled “Woman as
Inventor”, it was noted that, “If women have ideas, they are taught to
11
Coolidge, Judge Orville W. A Twentieth Century History of Berrien County
Michigan (Chicago & New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), 159,173.
12
St. Joseph Herald 9 Nov 1895; “Niles Schools: Niles Female Seminary; Ensign,
312.
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repress them as improper for their sex, and the genius which does
them and their sex honour, is deemed to be hidden from light.” 13
And particularly as Michigan’s fist woman inventor ever and the only
one who had patents during the Civil War, Britain’s identity may not
have been something that was considered significant or meritorious,
not anything worth remembering for prosperity when compared to
her sterling reputation as a teacher.
Although Britain’s profession as an outstanding teacher
spanned a lifetime, her school, the Niles Female Seminary, did not.
In 1848, Britain sold the school to Trinity Parish, which continued to
operate as a school for boys. 14 Her next professional move was a
teaching appointment from 1850-1853 at Mrs. Willard’s Troy
13
Gage, Joslyn M. E. “Woman as Inventor.” Woman Suffrage Tracts No. 1. (New
York State Woman Suffrage Association, 1870), 21.
14
“History of Niles School” from the Niles Public Library, folder titled “Niles
Schools: Niles Female Seminary” n.d., 9.
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Seminary where she was once a student. She continued to teach
criticism and rhetoric, which included Kame’s Elements. Her next
teaching career move was to Beaufort, South Carolina, which was
also where her sister, Martha Johnston and her family lived. 15 It is
not known at what school Britain taught in Beaufort, but in the 1850s
there were at least three female schools and one female academy in
operation. 16
With family close by and job opportunities at hand, her life
seemed to be on a familiar path, but as history unfolded, South
Carolina was a fateful place to be in the late 1850s and early 1860s.
No doubt, she understood the dramatic and momentous events taking
place around her as tension and talk surrounding secession mounted
15
Fairbanks, Mrs. A. W., ed. Emma Willard and Her Pupils or Fifty Years of Troy
Female Seminary 1822-1872, 142.
16
Helsey, Alexia Jones, Lawrence S. Rowland. Beaufort, South Carolina: A
History. (The History Press: Charleston, SC, 2005), 90.
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in Beaufort. By December 20, 1860, talk turned into action. South
Carolina became the first state to secede from the United States when
the “Ordinance of Secession” was crafted and signed in the Milton
Maxey House in Beaufort. Less than a year later in early November,
the Federal Navy bombarded Port Royal. By noon on November 7,
the Federal Fleet claimed victory with all surrounding areas falling
under Federal occupation. 17 Britain was still in Beaufort during this
time, which was only six miles from the scene of battle. She
experienced the Civil War firsthand from its very start.
In 1862, she received news of her brother Calvin’s death in
Michigan. As the administrix of Calvin’s estate, she was required to
return to Michigan without delay. What happened to Britain on her
journey from South Carolina to Michigan in 1862 remains
undocumented, but after this experience, she engaged in an incredible
period of inventive activity unlike anything else in her life before or
17
Timeline 1862. Retv. 2-27-13 http://americancivilwar.com/tl/tl1862.html
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after. What battles or aftermath did she encounter on her journey as
she travelled from the South to the North that inspired her unparallel
invention activity? When considering the possible effects of
travelling through a country engaged in Civil War from a
geographical, chronological, and social perspective, it is not difficult
to imagine some possible factors that fuelled her inventive spirit.
Geographically, depending on her route, she may have
travelled through North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky or
another route may have included Virginia and West Virginia. In any
case, she had to make her way through a landscape engulfed in
warfare, both on and off the battlefield. Chronologically significant,
on January 27, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the General
War Order Number One declaring February 22, as the official date
for a “general movement of the Land and Naval forces of the United
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States against the insurgent forces.” 18 This order escalated the
conflict to a new pitch, particularly in the Eastern Arena where many
battles and skirmishes took place during 1862. Inevitably, some of
these must have been directly in Britain’s northbound route. And
socially, as a single woman travelling upward of 900 miles through a
war zone, Britain was faced with danger, discomfort, and experiences
completely outside of her normal life. Did these new experiences
include seeing the suffering of the wounded being moved from the
battlefield with inadequate transports, witnessing makeshift
ambulance trains on the move from battlefield to hospital, or stand by
injured soldiers arrived at a hospital, road weary and battered by a
difficult trip far from the scene of a battle? Did she observe harsh
living conditions in military camps or personally experience firsthand
18
Bowen, John. Civil War Days, Everyday Life During the War Between the
States.
(Secaucus, NJ: Charwell Books, 1987), 54.
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privation of war? These questions pose valid possibilities based on
primary and secondary sources, including Britain's patent records.
Her first patent was awarded on March 10, 1863, and her last
one was granted on September 27, 1864, with five patents in
between, totalling seven patents altogether. All seven patents were
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granted to her while she lived in St. Joseph Michigan. 19 Her patent
record is remarkable because of the number of patents, the variety of
19
United States Patent Office. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents for
the Year of 1864, Arts & Manufacturing, Vo I-II (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1866).
---
Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan. Improvement in Lamp Burners.
Letters of Patent No. 44, 393, Sept 27, 1864.
---
Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan. Improved Dish Drainer. Letters
of Patent No. 43,088, June 14, 1864.
---
Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan. Improvement in Vegetable
Boilers. Letters of Patent No. 43,087, June 14, 1864.
---
Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan. Improved Lantern Dinner Pail.
Letters Patent No. 41, 274, Jan 19, 1864.
---
Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan. Improvement in Boilers. Letters
of Patent No. 40,157, Oct 6, 1863.
---
Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan. Improvement in Ambulances.
Letters of Patent No. 39,460, Aug 11, 1863
---
Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan. Floor Warmer. Letters of Patent
No. 37,851, Mar 10, 1863
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types of patents, and the short time span in which she received all the
patents.
Of all of her patents, Britain’s second patent, an ambulance,
dated August 11, 1863, holds particular interest in understanding the
social context that promoted its invention, its wartime application,
and feasible commercial manufacturing potential. It is entirely
possible that this patent resulted from something that she witnessed
firsthand on her journey North in 1862. The purpose of her invention
clearly supported the war effort and demonstrated that she had some
specific knowledge about the need to transport the wounded quickly
and efficiently off the battlefield to a place of safe treatment. In her
patent specification to the United States Patent Office she related, in
part, that,
This invention relates to certain new and useful
improvements in ambulances for the removal of the
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wounded from the field of battle to safe quarters,
where they may receive immediate surgical aid.
The invention has for its object the construction of a
safe, cheap, and comfortable ambulance which will
admit of being taken apart and packed in a very small
compass for convenient transportation, and which
may be easily erected again when occasion requires,
the whole arrangement being adapted to the wants and
necessities which arise in the transportation of the
wounded about the field, and to hospitals which may
be remote there from, all as will be hereinafter
described. 20
20
United States Patent Office. Clarissa Britain of St. Joseph, Michigan.
Improvement in Ambulances. Letters of Patent No. 39,460, Aug 11, 1863.
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After a thorough mechanical description, the official patent
specification concludes with Britain’s claim:
I have obtained a means whereby I am enabled to
erect a frame in a common wagon-body in a few
minutes which will serve as a comfortable support for
stretchers; and these stretchers, with the wounded
lying upon them, can be placed in this frame and
conveyed from the battlefield to the hospital to receive
surgical succour. It is not proposed that the wagons
themselves should be brought upon the field, but they
should be left in the immediate vicinity in a secure
place. 21
Her patent emphasized values beyond novelty
21
United States Patent Office. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents for
the Year of 1864, Arts & Manufacturing, Vo I-II (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1866).
20
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of design and efficient operation. This patent, like her others,
addressed safety, convenience, and comfort, all of which convey an
intention to improve quality of life. Some of her other patents may
also have had military application, but this is the only one of her
seven patents in which she specifically states a military application.
It is unknown, however, whether she ever sold the patent to the U.S.
Army or had any relationship with the Army Corp of Ambulances,
which was established in 1864. 22
One of her other patents, an improved lantern dinner pail, was
specifically targeted for use “by miners and other persons who are
obliged to labour through the day for containing their dinner.”
Consistently, her patents reflect her desire to improve the quality of
life for working class people, be they soldiers, miners, or domestic
workers. This motivation was consistent with her commitment to
22
Casualties and Medical Care. retv. 2-26-13
http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/CasualtiesAndMedicalCare/ambulancecorps.html
21
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“the science of human duty,” which appeared as an early and
enduring influence in her life.
What she witnessed of the Civil War while travelling from
South Carolina to Michigan in 1862 certainly provided her with
inspiration to invent “new and useful improvements.” Additionally,
as a single woman in her later 40s, she found herself for the first time
without supporting male family members, including financial support
and community prominence. Economic circumstances could
certainly have played a part in motivating her short, but prolific
inventive period, but to date no evidence has surfaced to indicate that
she made any profits from her inventions.
There are, however, a few circumstantial details that suggest
she may have attempted to engage in the business of invention. For
example, on the last page of the probate court file for Calvin Britain,
signed by Clarissa Britain, dated January 28, 1867, her place of
residence was recorded as Kenosha County, Wisconsin. All previous
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documents in this file record state that Berrien County, Michigan,
was her place of residence. 23 This detail raises the possibility that
such a move may not have been arbitrary, but deliberate. Logic
would compel an inventor of an ambulance to do extended business
in a transportation-manufacturing region. And because Kenosha was
a transportation-manufacturing centre and the home to such firms as
Bain Wagons, Mitchell Wagons, American Motors and the Nash
Motor Company, a move to this location seems entirely reasonable.
It is also of interest that Cordilla Harvey, who lived in Kenosha,
Wisconsin, started the first federal hospitals during the Civil War to
transport men off the front lines and care for them at remote
hospitals. This raises the question, was Britain in any way connected
with Harvey or the transportation manufacturing business in
Kenosha?
23
Britain, Calvin. Probate Court File, 1862.
23
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Comprehensive biographical research holds significant
promise to bring to light some of these missing pieces. For example,
after living in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Britain’s name appears in a
Chicago census, and her place of death is recorded as Baton Rouge,
LA. Whether or not she continued to invent or engaged in the
business of invention in any of these cities is still unknown and her
story remains illusive.
Woman inventors such as Clarissa Britain, along with
approximately 350 other women did, in fact, invent a wide variety of
things during the Civil War era. Among these women, Britain was the
only one from Michigan, however, in the following two decades after
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the War, over 60 Michigan women received patents for their
25
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inventions. 24
24
United States Patent Office, Women Inventors to Whom Patents Have Been
Granted by the United States Government 1790 to July 1, 1888.
Bibliography
Ambulance Corp, method of removing wounded from the field.
[Library of Congress photograph] 1861-1869. Retv 2-12-13.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003004579/PP/?
__utma=37760702.62021%096046.1314631219.1314631219.131463
1219.1&__utmb=37760702.13.9.1314631%09510532&__utmc=377
60702&__utmx=
%09&__utmz=37760702.1314631219.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=
%28organic%29|ut%09mcmd=organic
Ambulance train at Harewood Hospital, Washington D.C. 1863.
[Library of Congress photograph] retv 2-12-13.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/01300/01354v.jpg
Britain, Calvin. Probate Court File, 1862.
Bowen, John. Civil War Days, Everyday Life During the War
Between the States. Secaucus, NJ: Charwell Books, 1987.
Casualties and Medical Care. retv. 7-26-11
http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/CasualtiesAndMedicalCare/
ambulancecorps.html
Coolidge, Judge Orville W. A Twentieth Century History of Berrien
County Michigan. Chicago & New York: Lewis Publishing
Company, 1906.
26
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The Civil War provided a springboard from which many
women engaged in activities, such as inventing and patenting, which
were previously outside of the sphere of female activity. Professional
women inventors, like their male counterparts, engaged in the
business of invention as way to make money and were often times
motivated by a desire to make a positive contribution to the welfare
of others. Britain was one such woman inventor.
Her journey from the South to the North in 1862 served as a
backdrop for her remarkable inventive activity. The journey in
between encompassed a shift in her identity from schoolteacher to
inventor. It is this image, like a faded daguerreotype, that captures
our imagination and begs the question, who was Clarissa Britain?
What was her story?
Notes