Martha Coston

Martha Coston was born in 1826. Widowed at 21, she discovered her late husband's notes on the invention of a ship-to-ship, land-to-ship signal system. His prototype, however,did not work. The challenge lay in developing a flame that would burn long enough and which incorporporated a coded combination of colors. Martha worked for many years with chemists and finally achieved a patent (Patent Number 23, 536) for a Pyrotechnic Night Signal system.

The U.S. Navy bought the system and it was used during the Civil War. Martha Coston's flares saved lives during shipwrecks andthe signals proved enormously valuable during Civil War battles at sea. Martha Coston continued working to improve her system and in 1871 she received a patent for the "Twist Ignition" device.

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