Summary: Inventor and Farmer, Andrew Beard~Born in Alabama in 1849, Andrew Beard spent the first fifteen years enslaved on a small farm in Alabama. A year after he was emancipated, he got married and became a farmer in a small city outside of Birmingham. While in Birmingham, he was able to develop and champion his first invention (a plow). Three years later, he patented a second plow. These two inventions earned him almost $10,000, with which he began to invest in real estate. ---------------- Tune in tonight to The Gist of Freedom as we discuss the history of Black Farmers with Gary R. Grant. Mr. Grant is the president of The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association. www.BlackHistoryBlog.com Read Mr. Grant's paper "Black Farmers United: The Struggle Against Power and Principalities" http://www.jpanafrican.com/docs/vol5no1/5.1BlackFarmers.pdf The authors are the President of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, Tillery, NC, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Kansas State University, and doctoral candidate in Sociology at Kansas State University, respectively. Please address any correspondence to tillery@aol.com. http://www.jpanafrican.com/docs/vol5no1/5.1BlackFarmers.pdf -------------------- Following his stint in real-estate, Andrew Beard began to work with and study engines. In 1892, he filed a patent for an improvement to the rotary steam engine. Mr. Beard was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio for his work on railroad coupler design.Andrew Beard invented the JENNY coupler for railroad cars. Little is known about the period of time from Beard's last patent application in 1897 up until his death. He died in 1921.
