Sybilla Righton Masters

Sybilla Masters (died 23 August 1720), born Sybilla Righton,^[1] was an American inventor. Sybilla Masters was the first person to be given an English patent in America, and possibly the first known inventor of her sex in America. She 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.^[2] She also patented a process for making hats.^[2]

Though not much is known of Masters' early life it is thought she was born in Bermuda as her father had emigrated there in 1687.^[3]

Early life

Sybilla Righton Masters' exact date of birth is unknown but it is believed that she was born around 1676 in Bermuda and in 1687 she emigrated to Burlington west New Jersey Pennsylvania with her Quaker parents Sarah Righton, William Righton and six sisters. 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

June 24, 1712 Sybilla 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. November 25, 1715 Sybilla Masters was granted a patent from King George I 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." It was a process of making corn meal which was called Tuscarora rice because of the new method. If not for her husband Thomas Masters, Sybilla 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. Sybilla received her second patent under Thomas Masters name for a method of weaving straw and palmetto leaves into hats and bonnets. She open up a shop in London that used this process and sold many popular hats and bonnets. Sybilla returned home on May 25, 1716.

Inventions

Sybilla Masters was granted two patents from the king George I which were valid in England and in the American colonies. Her first patent was a new method of creating cornmeal using a device that 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 but is actually just a food product like hominy grits. Sybilla's other patent was the process of making hats and bonnets out of straw and palmetto leaves which was also used to create many weaved goods such as baskets, matting and covers for furniture.

References

Additional sources

• Blashfield, Jean F. "Sybilla Masters America's First Patented Inventor." Women Inventors. Minneapolis: Capstone Press, 1996. 5-10. Print.
• "M." Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Ed. Edward T. James. Vol. 2. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, 1971. 506-508. Print.
• Samuel, Charlie. "Sybilla Masters: The First Woman Inventor." Inventors and Inventions of Colonial America. 29 East 21st Street, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. 13-14. Print.
• Sarudy, Barbara Wells. "Quaker Inventor Sybilla Righton Masters (died in 1720) & Patents for Women." 18C American Women: 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 01 Oct. 2016.
• Waldrup, Carole C. "Sybilla Righton Masters (1675-1720)." More Colonial Women: 25 Pioneers of Early America. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, 2004. 34-36. Print.