Ann Harned Manning
Ann Harned Manning of Plainfield New Jersey has been credited with the invention of two important farm machines: the mower and the reaper. She has also been credited with the invention of the clover cleaner. She was born probably in 1790 and married WIlliam Henry Manning at some undetermined date. Her husband received a patent for the clover cleaner, the reaper and the mower thereby taking the credit for these important inventions. As Autumn Stanley has pointed out, while the reaper was not the first, Ann Manning's prototype was the first functional machine and "possibly America's earliest entry in the international race to mechanized harvesting of hay and grain." (Stanley, p.78) After Wiliam Manning's death credit for the invention was stolen by a neighbor whose name was added to the list of patentees.
References:
Mothers and Daughters of Invention by Autumn Stanley (Rutgers University Press, 1995),pp. 78-80.Woman in Science by H.J. Mozans (MIT Press, 1976) p. 352.
CERES GODDESS OF AGRICULTURE
Web Sites:
Woman As Inventor
