Velocipede of Unknown Manufacture - 1869 - Connecticut ? U.S.A.

Velocipede of Unknown Manufacture - 1869 - Connecticut ? U.S.A.

This is a very nice boneshaker built during the brief velocipede craze that shook the United States for one year, from the Autumn of 1868 until the Autumn of 1869. Most of the finish to the main frame is now gone and a dark patina has replaced it. The main frame is oval in shape. The wheels still retain some of the original mustard color paint with red pin stripe although the color is quite faded. There is a stamp on the underside of the saddle suspension spring from the Killingworth Manufacturing Company of Clinton, Connecticut. The Killingworth Company made springs of Swedish steel for the carriage trade. Unique to this velocipede are the wheels. They are built using Sarven hubs. The Sarven Patent  , U.S. Patent 17,520, was taken out by James D. Sarven of Columbia Tennessee in 1857 and reissued on August 11, 1868. 

In the link for the Sarven Patent we read this -  An 1860 advertisement from New Haven Wheel Manufactory includes a letter: "I, James D. Sarven, hereby certify that the NEW HAVEN WHEEL CO., per Henry G. Lewis, Secretary, and Messrs. WODBURN & SCOTT, of St. Louis, Mo., have the exclusive right (to) manufacture my PATENT WHEEL, and sell the same as an article of merchandise to those not owning those rights." The New Haven Wheel Co.was founded by E.E. Bradley and Henry G. Lewis in 1853 in New Haven Connecticut.

It is likely that the wheels for this velocipede were supplied by the New Haven Wheel Company . This is the only American make of velocipede, that I am aware of, equipped with wheels using the Sarven Patent.

From a History of Manufacturers New Haven Ct. 1864