Scott County, Iowa Genealogy Trails

Other Data

Invention

A blacksmith and farmer in Scott County, by the name of Samuel Freeman, built a wire fence on his farm near Hickory
Grove in 1859, and was troubled with cattle getting through between the wires. In 1861 his son, Pembroke E. Freeman, devised a barb which he applied to the  wire. This proved effective in stopping the cattle and was doubtless the first application of barbed wire to fences. No effort was made by Freeman to have his invention patented but the fence was well known to his neighbors and attracted attention from many farmers in the county.

Gue, Benjamin F., History of Iowa from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth, New York, 1903 [Transcribed by: Candi H. 2008]

BACK
©2008 Genealogy Trails