Vine and Ashmead Patent

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [folder], Vine and Ashmead Patent, 1849-1850, Ms1986-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
1 Cubic Feet 1 oversize
Creator:
Ashmead, James H., 1810-1880 and Vine, William, 1798-1872
Abstract:
This collection contains a patent awarded to William Vine (1798-ca. 1872) and James H. Ashmead (1810-1880) of Hartford, Connecticut, for "machines beating gold".
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [folder], Vine and Ashmead Patent, 1849-1850, Ms1986-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains a handwritten patent certificate (No. 7552) awarded to William Vine and James H. Ashmead of Hartford, Connecticut for "machines for beating gold." The four-page document includes a description of the device and a set of engineering drawings for it.

Biographical / historical:

James H. Ashmead was born about 1810 in Pennsylvania. Ashmead married Susan Jane Terry of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1839. During his life, Ashmead worked as a gold foil merchant. He died in 1880.

William Vine was born in England in 1798. By 1830, he and his wife Sarah moved to New York, where they had several children. By 1850, he was a machinist in Hartford, Connecticut. The next year, he was listed in the Hartford city directory as a "patentee and manufacturer of gold beating machines, knife polishing machines, and a variety of other articles." He died around 1872.

Sources:

U.S. Federal Censuses, 1850-1860

James Ashmead (abt. 1810 - aft. 1870), WikiTree, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ashmead-40, accessed November 2023.

"James H Ashmead", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/146075354/james-h-ashmead, accessed October 8, 2025.

"William Vine" in the U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/2469/records/1276711508, accessed October 8, 2025.

"William Vine", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14138566/william-vine, accessed October 8, 2025.

Acquisition information:
The Vine and Ashmead patent was acquired by Special Collections and University Archives prior to 1986.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Vine and Ashmead Patent completed in November 2023.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard