Abel Conant (1784 - 1875)

Born 1 Jun 1784 in Hollis, Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Ancestors

Husband of Harriet (Hubbard) Conant — married May 1822 in New Ipswich, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, USA

Descendants

Died 12 Apr 1875 at age 90 in Lowell, Hartford, Massachusetts, United States of America

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Biography

He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1813 at Concord, New Hampshire. Practiced at Townsend, Massachusetts, and New Ipswich, New Hampshire. In 1834 he removed to Lowell, Massachusetts and his health having failed he gave up his profession. He studied chemistry and physics and became an inventor. At an early day he invented the parlor organ and the hollow auger used by wheelwrights; also invented and patented the mortised door lock now in common use (circa 1909). He invented the process of raising bread with cream of tartar, but the impossibility of preventing infringement deprived him of the benefit of his inventions. He perfected many other improvements, and at the time of his death was engaged on several others which he expected shortly to make public.

Sources

• Jewett, Frederic Clarke, History and Genealogy of the Jewetts of America, Volume I, The Grafton Press, New York, 1908. Pgs. 203-4.
• A History and Genealogy of the Contant Family in England and America, Thirteen Generations, 1520-1887; By Conant, Frederick Odell, M.A., Privately Printed, Portland:1887 p. 306
• New Hampshire Birth Records, Early to 1900, database with images, FamilySearch (8 April 2020), Abel Conant, 01 Jun 1784; citing Hollis, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,000,379.
• Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, database with images, FamilySearch (6 April 2020), Abel Conant, 12 Apr 1875; citing Lowell, Massachusetts, v 225 p 121, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,207.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #180137776, Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA