The federal government issued this patent to Samuel Brouwer of New York City in 1793 for his invention of a brick-making machine. It is signed by George Washington as President, Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, and Edmund Randolph as Attorney General.
Only 19 patents signed by George Washington are currently known to survive, of which only 7 are also signed by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. Brouwer’s is:
- the only known patent signed by Washington and Jefferson with its original drawing;
- one of only two patents signed by Washington and Jefferson known in private hands;
- one of only ten patents issued by Washington and Jefferson under the 1793 second patent
act which was heavily influenced by Jefferson and one of only two known to survive;
- the only known surviving GW-TJ signed patent for a New York inventor.
