1838-1914
William B. Purvis was a black inventor and businessman who received multiple patents in the late 1800s. His inventions included an updated fountain pen design, improvement to the hand stamp, and a close-conduit electric railway system, and bag machinery.
Purvis’s upbringing is credited to his uncle Robert Purvis who was working for the Underground Railroad. In his youth, William Purvis worked for many low paying jobs and meanwhile did many experiments for his inventions.
However, despite held 12 patents on paper bag manufacturing machine, Purvis’s first business attempt was not successful. His first company, The Sterling Paper Bag Company, bankrupted in 1884. He owed $100,000, and his uncle Robert Purvis repaid his debts. Even though his company failed, he was able to sell his patents to the Eastern Paper Bag Company in Pennsylvania.
Even so, Purvis did not give up his business career and inventions. On January 7, 1890, Purvis received a patent for improving the efficiency of the fountain pen. Moreover, from 1895-1897, Purvis invented the bag machine, bag fastens, and electric railway device, and because of these inventions, Purvis was regarded as a successful creative genius.
Purvis set an elastic tube between the pen nib and the ink reservoir, enabling the tube to return the excess ink to the reservoir. The new pen could evenly distribute the ink when being used. For this design, Purvis received U.S. Patent 419,065 on January 7, 1890.
First installed in New Jersey, Purvis’s close-conduit electric railway system set an electromagnet under the center of the railcar. The closed conduit construction was made by insulating material, and installing many soft iron cables on its surface.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Purvis established the Union Electric Construction Company in New York, and became the president of his company. The company appeared on the market in May 1900, offering 40,000 shares for subscription at $5 per share.
Black History 