He was an inventor and patented several key items in the 19th century, derivatives of which are still being used in the 21st century. His 1829 typewriter is the first constructed in America with a patent. It was later destroyed in a fire. His great grandson built a model of it for the 1893 Chicago's World's Fair based on a parchment copy of the original patent. This model went through various hands and ended up at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.