Biography of andrew j beard

Andrew Jackson Beard was an African-American inventor. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio for his work on railroad coupler design.

Born in Alabama in 1849, Andrew Beard spent the first fifteen years of his life as a slave on a small farm in Alabama.

A year after he was emancipated, he married and became a farmer in a small city outside of Birmingham. Andrew Beard was not just a farmer, he was carpenter, blacksmith, railroad worker, businessman and finally an inventor.

Despite having no formal training Andrew Jackson Beard became an accomplished inventor.

While in Birmingham, he was able to develop and champion his first invention, a plow.

Biography of andrew j beard invent

In 1881, he patented the plow, and sold the patent rights for $4,000 in 1884. In 1887, Andrew Beard patented a second plow and sold it for $5,200. Beard invested the money he made from his plow inventions into a profitable real-estate business.

These two inventions earned him almost $10,000, with wh