George Baldwin Selden
| George B. Selden | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 14, 1846 Clarkson, New York, US |
| Died | January 17, 1922 (aged 75) Rochester, New York, US |
| Cause of death | Stroke (in late 1921) |
| Resting place | Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York |
| Education |
University of Rochester (dropped out), Yale University (Sheffield Scientific School and Yale Law School) |
| Occupation | Businessman, inventor, lawyer |
| Known for | Inventing a version of the automobile |
| Board member of | Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers, Electric Vehicle Company, Selden Motor Vehicle Company, Selden Truck Sales Corporation |
| Spouse(s) | Clara Drake Selden, née Woodruff (1871-1922; his death) |
| Children | Four |
| Parent(s) | Henry R. and Laura Anne Selden (née Baldwin) |
George Baldwin Selden (September 14, 1846 in Clarkson, New York – January 17, 1922 in Rochester, New York) was a patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895.
In 1859, his father, Judge Henry R. Selden, a prominent Republican attorney most noted for defending Susan B. Anthony, moved to Rochester, New York, where George briefly attended the University of Rochester before dropping out to enlist in the 6th Cavalry Regiment, Union Army. This was not to the liking of his father who after pulling some strings and having some earnest discussions with his son managed to have him released from duty and enrolled in Yale. George did not do well at Yale in his law studies, preferring the technical studies offered by the Sheffield Scientific School, but did manage to finish his course of study and pass the New York bar 1871 and joined his father's practice.
He married shortly thereafter to Clara Drake Woodruff, with whom he had 4 children. He continued his hobby of inventing in a workshop in his father's basement, inventing a typewriter and a hoop making machine.
For a time, Selden represented photography pioneer George Eastman in patent matters.
Inspired by the mammoth internal combustion engine invented by George Brayton displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, Selden began working on a smaller lighter version, succeeding by 1878, some eight years before the public introduction of the Benz Patent Motorwagen in Europe, in producing a one-cylinder, 400-pound version which featured an enclosed crankshaft with the help of Rochester machinist Frank H. Clement and his assistant William Gomm. He filed for a patent on May 8, 1879 (in a historical cross of people, the witness Selden chose was a local bank-teller, George Eastman, later to become famous for the Kodak camera). His application included not only the engine but its use in a 4-wheeled car. He then filed a series of amendments to his application which stretched out the legal process resulting in a delay of 16 years before the patent was granted on November 5, 1895.
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