The College owes its existence to the Erie Canal and the agriculture and industries that brought prosperity to the Village and helped finance the College. Most important was Dayton Morgan and William Seymour’s factory which the first versions of Cyrus McCormick’s famous reaper for harvesting grain. But when Morgan and Seymour introduced their own improved reaper in 1850, he sued for patent infringement. The result was a series of dramatic trials that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The legal battles surrounding the reaper involved some of the most prominent people of the day including local Congressman and College trustee Elias B. Holmes, future president Abraham Lincoln, and future Supreme Court Justice Samuel Blatchford. The College at Brockport Archives holds a sizeable collection of Dayton Morgan’s papers which provided insights into the legal case and more broadly into the economic life that financed what became The College at Brockport.
| Presenter: | Steven Bennett (Undergraduate Student) |
|---|---|
| Topic: | History |
| Location: | 122 Hartwell |
| Time: | 1:15 pm (Session III) Please note that presentation times are approximate. If you are interested in attending sessions with multiple presentations, please be in the room at the start of the session. |
Zotero (Education focus)
5 pm - 6:15 pm
Naturalization Ceremony
11 am - noon
Leadership Program Kick-off
3:30 pm - 5 pm
ADP Distinguished Speaker Series "The Audacity to Heal: Our Rape Culture"
7 pm - 9 pm
Faculty/Staff Campaign Kickoff
noon - 1:30 pm
