Early life
Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4 1848 as the youngest of the four children of Rebecca (1826-1848) and George Latimer (July 4, 1818 -c.1880). George Latimer had been the slave of James B. Gray of Virginia. George Latimer ran away to freedom in Trenton, New Jersey in October, 1842, along with his wife Rebecca, who had been the high slave of another man. When Gray, the owner, appeared in Boston to take them back to Virginia, it became a noted case in the movement for abolition of slavery, gaining the involvement of such abolitionists as William Lloyd Garrison. Eventually funds were raised to pay Gray $400 for the freedom of George Latimer. Lewis Latimer joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 15 on September 16, 1863. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy on July 3, 1865, he gained employment as an office boy with a patent law firm, Crosby Halstead and Gould, with a $3.00 per week salary. He learned how to use an L square, ruler, and other tools. Later, after his boss recognized his talent for sketching patent drawings, Latimer was promoted to the position of head draftsman earning $20.00 a week by 1878. In 1874, he co patented (with Charles W. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars (U.S. Patent 147,363).
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell employed Latimer, then a draftsman at Bell's patent law firm, to draft the necessary drawings required to receive a patent for Bell's telephone.
In 1879, he moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut with his brother, William, his mother, Rebecca, and his wife. Lewis was hired as assistant manager and draftsman for the U.S. Electric Lighting Company, a company owned by Hiram Maxim, a rival inventor of Thomas Edison. Latimer received a patent in January 1881 for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of carbon filaments for lightbulb. The Edison Electric Light Company in New York City hired Latimer in 1884, as a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights.
Personal life
He married Mary Wilson on December 10, 1873 and later had two daughters, Emma Jeanette (born on June 12, 1883) and Louise Rebecca (born April 19, 1890). Mary was born in Rhode Island.
Inventions
In 1874, he copatented (with Charles W. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars (U.S. Patent 147,363).
Latimer received a patent in January 1881 for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of carbon filaments used in lightbulbs.
Legacy
Latimer is an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on electric filament manufacturing techniques.
Latimer's home has been moved to a small park in Flushing, New York and turned into a museum in honor of the inventor.
A set of apartment houses in Flushing are known as "Latimer Gardens".
P.S. 56 in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, inamed Lewis H. Latimer School in Latimer's hono
Patents
* U.S. Patent 147,363 "Water closets for railway cars," February 10, 1874
* U.S. Patent 247,097 "Electric lamp," (with Nichols, Joseph V.), September 13, 1881
* U.S. Patent 252,386 "Process of Manufacturing Carbons," January 17, 1882,
* U.S. Patent 255,212 "Globe supporter for electric lamps," (with Tregoning, John), March 21, 1882
* U.S. Patent 334,078 "Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting," January 12, 1886
* U.S. Patent 557,076 "Locking rack for hats, coats, and umbrellas," March 24, 1896
* U.S. Patent 968,787 "Lamp fixture,"(with Brown, Charles W),August 30, 1910
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