Thomas L Jennings

Biography

Thomas L Jennings.
1791-1856, born a free man in New York City, Thomas Jennings was the first known African American to receive a patent. His patent made on March 3rd of 1821 (US Patent 3306x) was used for his discovering of a process called dry scouring, which is used in today's modern everyday dry cleaning.
Unfortunately, dating back to the US patent laws of 1793, slaves could not own their own inventions, as all credit was given to the slave owner. This was due to the fact that slaves were not citizens and didn't have the ability to own their own rights. This was eventually overturned in 1861, as Thomas Jennings was able to benefit from his profit because he was born a free man.
He was a passionate abolitionist, and he used his hard earned money to free his family from slavery and support abolitionist causes. Thomas passed away in 1856.