Royal Inventions: Henry Blair
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Henry Blair, born in 1807, was an African American farmer who noticed a need to bolster his harvest production and became the second Black man in America to hold a patent for the inventions he created as a result of this observance. As a farmer, Henry patented a corn-planter on October 14, 1834 that was made in the fashion of a wheelbarrow that would assist in his corn planting and yield him more crops.
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He then obtained another patent on August 31, 1836 for a cotton planter that he designed so that it would promote control weed and distribute cotton seeds evenly across his cotton field. Henry's patents would be significant in that the following year, in 1837, patent law was revised and African American men were refused eligibility to receive patents for their inventions. It would not be until 1871 that the law would be revised again to allow all men to receive patents; 11 years after Blair's death.
Blair's inventions are often regarded as the first versions of John Deer planting machines.
Royal ideas lead to royal creations.
Source:
1) http://www.biography.com/people/henry-blair-21319709#patents