Harriet Tracy


Harriet Ruth Brisbane Tracy was an American inventor who patented at least 27 inventions between 1868 and 1915, including six elevator and 17 sewing machine patents. Her first patent was for a crib attachment for bedsteads. Her patented elevator was put into everyday use at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
In her obituary it was noted that she was also "gifted as a writer of verse and prose", contributing frequently to "magazines and periodicals".

Personal life

Born Harriet Ruth Brisbane in Charleston, South Carolina to William Brisbane and Julia Hall Lowndes. The noted abolitionist William Henry Brisbane was her first cousin once removed.
She moved to New England before the Civil War with her family. In 1860 she married Cadwallader Colden Tracy, a baseball player who had been a member the New York Knickerbockers in 1854. From about 1860-1890 she lived on Staten Island, New York in the village of New Brighton. With her husband she had four daughters. She moved about 1890 with her family to Paris, France, and then to London, England. She died in 1918 at Isleworth.