Margaret Knight (inventor)

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Margaret Ethridge Knight (February 14, 1838 – October 12, 1914) was an American inventor. She was born in York, Maine to James Knight and Hannah Teal. A cotton mill worker from the age of nine through her 56. In 1868, while living in Springfield MA., Knight invented a machine that folded and glued paper to form the brown paper bags familiar to shoppers today.

Knight built a wooden model of the device, but needed a working iron model to apply for a patent. Charles Annan, who was in the machine shop where Knight's iron model was being built, stole her design and patented the device. Knight filed a successful patent interference lawsuit and was awarded the patent in 1873. With a Massachusetts business man, Knight established the Eastern Paper Bag Co. and received royalties.

Other inventions included a numbering machine, window frame and sash- patented in 1894 and several devices relating to rotary engines, patented between 1902 and 1915 according to Encyclopedia Britannica, 2005. Knight's original box-making machine is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Margaret never married and died on October 12, 1914 at the age of 76. A plaque is on the Curry Cottage at 287 Hollis St in Framingham recognizing her as the "first woman awarded a U.S. patent" and holder of 87 U.S. patents. However, Knight was not actually the first: the first female patent-holder was Mary Kies, who patented a weaving process in 1809.