Died 1720 | Nationality American | |
Sybilla Masters (c. 1676 – 23 August 1720), born Sybilla Righton, was an American inventor. Masters was the first person residing in the American colonies to be given an English patent, and possibly the first known inventor of her sex in America. Masters was given a patent for a corn mill in 1715 in her husband's name, as women were not allowed to have their own patents in that time and place. She also patented a process for making hats.
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Though not much is known of Masters' early life, it is thought she was born in Bermuda as her father had emigrated from there in 1687.
Early life
Masters' exact date of birth is unknown but it is believed that she was born around 1676 in Bermuda and in 1687 she and her six sisters emigrated to Burlington Township, New Jersey (along the Delaware River) with her Quaker parents Sarah and William Righton. Sybilla Righton first showed up in the colonial records in 1692 when she testified as a witness in the New Jersey courts for her father. Sometime between 1693 and 1696 Sybilla married Thomas Masters a prosperous Quaker merchant and landowner; they had four children Mary, Sarah, Thomas and William.
Journey to London
On June 24, 1712 Masters left her family and headed to London to receive patents for her invention ideas, because only some of the American colonies were issuing patents and Pennsylvania was not one of them. On November 25, 1715 Masters was granted a patent from King George I of Great Britain under her husband's name, since she could not use her own name, for the process of "Cleaning and Curing The Indian Corn Growing in the several Colonies of America."
If not for her husband, Masters would have gone unrecognized for the patent because it was under his name, but due to his political connections he stated in the patent that it was her idea and when the patents were issued King George I stated publicly that it was her idea. Masters received her second patent under her husband's name for a method of weaving straw and palmetto leaves into hats and bonnets. She opened up a shop in London that used this process and sold many popular hats and bonnets. Masters returned home on May 25, 1716.
Invention details
Masters' first patent, for a new method of creating cornmeal, used a stamping process instead of grinding. It consisted of a long wooden cylinder with projections on each side which caused a series of heavy pestles to drop onto mortars which were filled with kernels of corn. This invention was powered by horse or by water wheel and it produced Tuscarora rice which was sold as a cure for Tuberculosis, and was also a food product like hominy grits.
Masters' other patent was the process of making hats and bonnets out of straw and palmetto leaves. That process was also used to create many weaved goods such as baskets, matting and covers for furniture.