Rail Patents 1870-1890

Here’s the second installment in 19th century railroad-related patents by local inventors. This set is from 1870 - 1890, so "Rensselaer, NY" doesn't exist yet.

Richard Greenalch, Of Greenbush, Assignor To Himself And William Buchanan, Of Yonkers, New York.
IMPROVEMENT IN PACKINGS FOR STUFFING-BOXES. Letters Patent No. 167,238, dated August 31, 1875 Attorney: ?; Witnesses: T. B. Mosher, Alex. F. Roberts
[1880 Census: Richard Greenalch, 48]

John Loftus, of East Albany, Assignor of One-Half His Right to Richard Greenalch, of Greenbush, New York.
IMPROVEMENT IN STUFFING-BOXES FOR STEAM-ENGINES; Letters Patent No. 194,696, dated August 28, 1877. Attorney: Gilmore Smith?; Witnesses: Wm. Loftus, Arthur B. Murphy

Charles E. Austin, of Bath-on-the-Hudson, New York.
IMPROVEMENT IN JOURNAL-COOLING ATTACHMENTS FOR RAILWAY-CARS: Letters Patent No. 219,198, dated September 2, 1879 Attorney: Paul Goepel; Witnesses: Paul Gopel, Carl Karp
Charles S. Smith, of Bath-on-the-Hudson, New York:
RAILWAY-CAR; Letters Patent No. 266,322, dated October 24, 1882. Attorney: T?. C?. Brecht?; Witnesses: L. F. Chamberlin, James Van Valkenburg
ADJUSTABLE HOOD FOR CAR-PLATFORMS; Letters Patent No. 266,323, dated October 24, 1882. Attorney: T?. C?. Brecht?; Witnesses: L. F. Chamberlin, James Van Valkenburg

William G. Mink and Eugene N. Alling, of Bath-on-the-Hudson, N. Y.
LANTERN; Letters Patent No. 264,956, dated September 26, 1882. Attorney: William H. Low; Witnesses: William H. Low, C. J. Mattison
[1880 Census: probably William G. Mink, 36, a Clerk, and Eugene Alling, 24, a Dealer in Confectionary]

Thomas B. Purves and Thomas C. Craven, of Greenbush, N.Y.
DRAW-BAR; Letters Patent No. 271,269, dated January 30, 1883. Attorney: Worth? Osgood; Witnesses: Oliver Herbert, Thos. B. Purves, Jr.
[1880 Census: probably Thomas C. Craven, 50, Engineer R. R.]

Thomas C. Craven, of Greenbush, Assignor of One-Half to Abraham Schell, Of Albany, New York.
MEANS FOR SUPPLYING AIR TO THE FURNACES OF LOCOMOTIVE-BOILERS; Letters Patent No. 311,475, dated February 3, 1885.
Attorney: Alex. Selkirk; Witnesses: Charles Selkirk, Alex. Selkirk, Jr.

Robert J. Pratt, of Greenbush Heights, Assignor To The Electric Manufacturing Company, Of Troy, New York.
REFLECTING-GALVANO METER. Letters Patent No. 323,203, dated July 28, 1885. Attorney: John C. Pennie?; Witnesses: J. C. Pennie, J. R. Nottingham
[Robert J. Pratt, Electrician and Manager at the new works in Greenbush, The Electric Manufacturing Company]

Samuel Hyman, of East Albany, Assignor of Three-Fourths to James W. Eaton and Charles Wetherwax, Both of Albany, N. Y.
RAILWAY-TRACK; Letters Patent No. 345,054, dated July 6, 1886. Witnesses: Geo. W. Kirchwey, Kartusoff N. Macfee
[1880 Census: Possibly Samuel Hyman, 34, Machinist, Albany]

William Lowe, of Greenbush, New York.
RAIL-JOINT UNION; Letters Patent No. 394,867, dated December 18, 1888. Attorney: Geo. A. Mosher; Witnesses: Geo. A. Mosher, Chas. L. Alden

Emery Van Decar, Of East Albany, Assignor Of One-Half To Aaron Fryer, Of Bath-On-The-Hudson, New York.
LUBRICATOR FOR JOURNALS OF RAILWAY-WH EEL AXLES. Letters Patent No. 398,556, dated February 26, 1889. Attorney: Alex. Selkirk; Witnesses: Frank E. Selkirk, Charles Selkirk
CAR-AXLE LUBRICATOR. Letters Patent No. 414,129, dated October 29, 1889. Attorney: Alex. Selkirk; Witnesses: Charles Selkirk, J. C. McFarland
[1880 Census: Possibly Emery Vandecar, 23, Works in Mach Shop, Half Moon; Aaron Fryer, 41, Works in Piano Manf.]

John Loftus, of Albany, Assignor of One-Half to John Greenalch, of East Albany, New York.
APPARATUS FOR HEATING RAILWAY-CARS; Letters Patent No. 400,777, dated April 2, 1889. Attorney: William H. Low; Witnesses: Wm. H. Low, John Greenalch

Richard Groark, of Greenbush, New York, Assignor of One-Fourth to William H. Hepinstall, of Same Place.
OSCILLATING PIPE-JOINT. Letters Patent No. 403,883, dated May 21, 1889. Attorney: Frederick W. Cameron; Witnesses: William H. Hepinstall, Frederick W. Cameron
PIPE-COUPLING. Letters Patent No. 403,884, dated May 21, 1889. Attorney: Frederick W. Cameron; Witnesses: William H. Hepinstall, Frederick W. Cameron
[1880 Census, Probably Rich Groark, 26, Wood Turner, Greenbush]

Robert J. Pratt and Joseph Robison, Of Greenbush, N. Y.
VALVE. Letters Patent No. 416,948, dated December 10, 1889. Attorney: John C. Pennie?; Witnesses: Ed. K. Curtis, Benj. F. Allen

If anyone can add to the common knowledge about any of these inventors, please e-mail me at bathonhudson@gmail.com. Where did they work? What did they do there? Why did they file a patent and what did they do with it? I’ll compile the results for the city historian.