• Born: 1816, New York
• Marriage (1): Mrs. Oliver Benjamin Oakley

  General notes:

Silverplater

  Events in his life were:

• He worked circa 1850 as a silverplater in Cincinnati OH

• He appeared on the 1850 census taken at Cincinnati OH, listed as a silverplater.

• He worked circa 1860 as a silverplater in San Francisco CA with a shop at 608 Market Street.

• He appeared on the 1860 census taken at San Francisco CA, listed as a silverplater.

• He was issued patent number 81,672 on 1 Sep 1868
  
  OLIVER B. OAKLEY AND HIRAM ROSEKRANS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
  
  Letters Patent No. 81,672, dated September 1, 1868
  
  IMPROVEMENT IN DOOR-BELLS
  
  To All Whom It May Concern:
  Be it known that we, Oliver B. Oakley and Hiram Rosekrans, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improved Door-Bell; and we do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use our said invention or improvements without further invention or experiment. The object of our invention is to provide a door-bell having a gong, that will be operated by pulling a knob, similar to bells operated by means of coiled wires, and not by turning a crank, as they are now used, and also one which is not liable to get out of order, and which, if it should, may be easily repaired by removing the gong. To effect this, we use a gong and case of the ordinary construction, having a standard, projecting from the centre of the case, to the outer end of which the gong is attached. Near the centre of this standard is a projection, on the end of which a lever or bell-crank is attached so as to rotate. One end of this lever is pierced with a hole, through which, by means of a wire, the bell-pull is attached. When the knob is. pulled, the other end of the lever strikes a spur on a cam, which rotates around the lower portion of the standard and causes the cam to. turn, when one end of the cam forces down a bar to which the clapper or hammer is attached by means of a bent wire, until the lever releases the spur, when the rebound will cause the hammer to strike the gong. To more fully illustrate and explain our invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, of which— Figure 1 is a top view. Figure 2 is a side sectional elevation. Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.
  A is a bell-case of the ordinary construction, having a standard, B, projecting from its centre, to the outer end of which a gong, C, is attached. Near the centre of the standard B is a projection, D, to the end of which is attached a bell-crank or lever having two arms, a and b, the arm a being the longest. Near the extremity of the arm a are two holes, c and d, one for 'the purpose of attaching the wire which connects the bell-knob I and the arm a, and the other for the purpose of containing the end of a wire, E, one end of which is coiled so as to form a spring, which draws the knob back after the stroke. The end of the arm b is made round, so that when the knob is pulled, the end, b, of the lever will strike the spur e on the cam F, and turn the cam. The cam F is placed at the bottom of the standard B, and rotates- around it; and as it rotates, one of its arms forces down the bar G, to which the clapper or hammer K is attached by means of a bent wire. When the spur of the cam is released from the end of the lever, the spring H, operating on the. hammer-bar in restoring it into position, carries it by its momentum beyond its former location, and produces the percussion on the.gong.
  The bell may be placed at any distance from the bell-pull, and be connected by a wire, as the common doorbells, which are operated by a coiled spring.
  By this means, we have a bell which is not liable to get out of order, and which may be placed on doors of any thickness, or at any distance from the door, and, at the same time, the out-door attachments are neat, while the sound of the gong-bell is more distinct and clear than that from the hanging bell.
  Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is—
  The hammer-bar G, the cam Ft and the two arms a and b, together with the knob I, operating by a horizontal or straight pull, either near the bell-gong or at a distance, substantially as and for the purpose herein described..
  In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our bands and seals.
  
  Oliver B. Oakley
  Hiram Rosekrans
  
  Witnesses:
  Samuel Read
  Stanford Hilton

• He appeared on the 1870 census taken at San Francisco CA, listed as a silverplater.

• He appeared on the 1880 census taken at Oakland CA, listed as a silverplater.

Oliver married Mrs. Oliver Benjamin Oakley. (Mrs. Oliver Benjamin Oakley was born in 1832 in New York.)