10/24/2026
The first, earliest, and most important document relating to Glidden’s barbed wire patent # 157,124 was written on this date.
This letter, announcing the “matter of application for patent for Improvement in ‘Wire Fences,’” is dated October 24, 1873.
It is written by Chicago patent attorney George L. Chapin who will go on to patent several devices of his own. Chapin is named as one of the witnesses on the final patent description.
The patent office in Washington, DC received the letter on the 27th—only 3 days later—along with the patent specifications and a drawing of the invention. The letter doesn’t mention the combined oath and power of attorney (shown here) that Glidden also drafted that day and was likely included. Also included was a $15 treasury certificate (that, adjusted for inflation, would be the equivalent of $404 today). When the patent is finally approved on November 24, 1874, October 27 is considered the original filing date.
