Helen Blanchard
Helen Augusta Blanchard (25 October 1840 – 1922) was an American inventor who received 28 patents between 1873 and 1915. She was known for her numerous inventions dealing with sewing machines and sewing technology.
Early life
Blanchard was born in Portland, Maine. Her father was Nathaniel Blanchard, a shipowner and businessman; her mother was Phoebe Buxton Blanchard. She demonstrated an inventive turn of mind at an early age, but did not receive her first patent until she was over thirty.
First inventions and move to Boston – 1870s
Her father suffered financial losses as a result of the business panic of 1866, resulting in the loss of the family homestead. Helen Blanchard moved to Boston, Massachusetts and patented several inventions relating to sewing machines in 1873 and 1875.[1]:518
Philadelphia and New York – late 1870s–1890s
After developing techniques for zigzag stitching and overseaming, Blanchard moved to Philadelphia, where she established the Blanchard Overseaming Company to market her inventions in the late 1870s or early 1880s. She also founded the Blanchard Hosiery Machine Company in 1882. She moved to New York in the early 1890s, and continued to patent a variety of inventions, including a pencil sharpener (U.S. Patent No. 304,900 issued September 9, 1884) and a hat sewing machine.[1]:520
Later life
Having profited from her commercial ventures, Blanchard was able to buy back the family homestead in Portland, and moved back there in 1901. She continued to patent inventions until suffering a stroke in 1916. She died in Providence, RI, in 1922 and is buried in the family plot in Portland.[1]:520[2]