Day 3

Henry Blair is believed to be the second African American to receive a patent. He invented a corn seed planter in 1834 and a cotton planter in 1836. Because he could not read or write, Blair signed his patent with an "X."

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable (1745?-1818)

1. DuSable was a Black man from Haiti is who is credited with founding Chicago. His father was a Frenchman in Haiti and his mother was an African slave. It's not clear how he arrived in New Orleans from Haiti, but once he did, he traveled from there to what is now modern day Peoria, Illinois. Although he was not the first to pass through the area, he was the first to establish a permanent settlement, where he lived for at least twenty years. He set up a trading post on the Chicago River, where it meets Lake Michigan, and became a wealthy man with a reputation as a man of good character and "sound business acumen."