In a previous post I mentioned my friend Ralph’s two patents and his great-great-grandfather’s purse lock patent. That’s three generations of patentless relatives bookended by two generations of patent holders. While researching a tool manufacturer, I found a family where all five generations held patents.
Alexander Vaughan, father
Sanford Vaughan, son
Howard Vaughan, grandson
Howard Vaughan, Jr., great-grandson
Charles Vaughan, great-great-grandson
Clearly this is an overachieving family! As further trivia, Alexander was a witness on Sanford’s patent D29,109 and Sanford was a witness on Alexander’s D29,767. See Vaughan Manufacturing’s web site for more information on the company’s history.