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Patent holder profile

Thomas J. Martin and the Fire-Extinguisher Patent

Martin brings the next-ten sequence into public safety through an 1872 fire-extinguisher improvement tied to Dowagiac, Michigan.

Why this belongs on CultureUp

Martin is a public-record memory story.

Martin belongs here because public-safety technology is part of Black American technical memory when source limits remain visible.

Unique holder rank 10 / grant rank 12Status: source_reviewedSource grade: A-

Patent: 125063: Improvement in Fire-Extinguishers
Issue date: 1872-03-26
Place: Dowagiac, Michigan
Record strength: A- patent-record strength for invention, date, and residence, with a biography caveat.
Identity evidence: Publishable with the patent record visible and life context kept as future source work.
Why this record matters: The record moves the archive into civic safety and fire-protection technology.

What the public record supports

U.S. Patent No. 125063 for fire-extinguisher improvements, issued March 26, 1872.
Patent text ties Martin to Dowagiac, Michigan.

What remains open

Identity evidence and life context need expansion.
Commercial and public-safety use remain open source questions.

Article profile

Read the person, place, invention, and record separately.

CultureUp keeps each layer visible so a patent record does not get stretched into claims the source trail cannot support.

The patent record

The patent text identifies Thomas J. Martin of Dowagiac, Michigan, and an improvement in fire-extinguishers issued March 26, 1872.

The person in the record

The person record remains patent-first until public biography and local records are added.

Place attached to the claim

Dowagiac is the place anchor printed in the patent record.

The invention

The invention belongs to fire-protection and public-safety technology.

Business, labor, and use

The patent does not prove sales, manufacture, fire-department use, or local civic role.

What the record cannot prove

The patent cannot prove complete biography, lineage, business success, or all use history.

Patent records

Grant trail

Grant rank and unique-holder rank are shown separately so repeat patentees do not distort the chronological sequence.

Grant rank 12Holder rank 10utility patentmedium high

125063: Improvement in Fire-Extinguishers

Thomas J. Martin / 1872-03-26

Patent row anchors public-safety technology; identity evidence and life context should remain separate from the patent record.

Residence: Dowagiac, Michigan
Category: public safety / fire protection
Source status: medium high
Primary sources: 2 mapped

Source trail

Claims stay tied to source limits.

Patent record

Patent text, case-file context, or patent-image trails that can support inventor, title, number, date, place, and claim language.

patent text mirrorpatent text with identity-source caveat

US125063A - Improvement in Fire-Extinguishers

Google Patents / 1872 patent record

Supports: Shows Thomas J. Martin of Dowagiac, Michigan, connected to an improvement in fire-extinguishers issued March 26, 1872.
Limit: The patent verifies invention, date, and residence. Identity evidence and life context should be strengthened before biography expands beyond the patent row.
Last checked: 2026-06-09
Source URL: https://patents.google.com/patent/US125063A/en

Identity evidence

Institutional profiles, Baker/Murray recovery context, or public source trails that support careful Black patentee language without private proof.

official historical essayrecovery-project context

Found on Baker's list

United States Patent and Trademark Office / 2022

Supports: Connects Henry E. Baker's recovery project, George Washington Murray's Congressional Record list, and the problem that the Patent Office did not and still does not collect demographic data.
Limit: Baker's list is a recovery starting point, not a complete census of Black inventors.
Last checked: 2026-06-08
Source URL: https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/historical-stories/found-bakers-list