• Born: 14 Dec 1822, Leicester MA
• Died: 15 Jul 1907

  General notes:

Manufacturer

  Events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1870 census taken at New Haven CT, listed as a hardware manufacturer.

• He was issued patent number 290,118 on 11 Dec 1883
  
  JOSEPH B. SARGENT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.
  
  COFFIN-ORNAMENT.
  
  SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,118, dated December 11, 1883. Application filed August 6, 1883.
  
  To all whom it may concern:
  Be it known that I, Joseph B. Sargent, of, New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Coffin Ornaments; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description Of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in—
  Figure 1, a perspective view; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section.
  This invention relates to an improvement in the construction of the ornament used upon coffins and representing a "calla" or similar flower. In the usual construction the flower is made as the head of a screw, and by means of which it is secured to the coffin and so as to rest upon a base of leaves or other suitable ornamentation. In casting the flower, and in order to mold it as a whole, the spadix is represented as lying flat upon the spathe; and then in plating, to represent the spadix of the usual gold color, the whole must be plated first with silver, and then the spathe covered with some suitable non-conductor,leaving the spadix exposed to receive the gold plate; but, however well this may be done, the fact that the spadix lies fiat upon the spathe gives to the flower an imperfect representation. The operation of plating, as before described, renders this desirable ornament too costly except for the most expensive ornamentation.
  The object of my invention is not only to avoid the expense of two plating operations, in one of which the parts not to be covered must be coated or plated, but to represent the spadix as standing in its natural position in the flower, and not lying upon the spathe.
  To this end my invention consists in constructing the spadix detached from the spathe, and providing the two with means for attachment, whereby the two may be plated separately, and in their respective colors, and then united, and the spadix stand in its natural position, as more fully hereinafter described.
  A represents the spathe as forming the head of a screw, B. C, the spadix constructed with a screw upon its inner end, and the spathe with a corresponding hole, so that the spadix may be set into its proper position centrally in the spathe, and stand upright therein as in the natural flower. These two parts are thus made separate, the one from the other. The spathe may be plated with silver and the spadix with gold, thus representing as nearly the natural colors as may be done in metal, and thus avoid the coating of one part while the other is plated, as must be the case where the spadix lies flat upon the spathe, and thus standing erect the flower has a more natural appearance than the usual construction of such flowers in metal.
  The shank of the spadix may be smooth and the hole in the spathe corresponding, so that the spadix may be driven into the spathe, or it may be otherwise constructed, it only being essential to my invention that the two shall be made separate and constructed with suitable means for attachment the one to the other, and so as to leave the spadix standing upright.
  I claim—
  The herein-described improvement in that class of coffin-ornaments which represent a calla or like flower, consisting in a spadix constructed separate and independent of the spathe, the two constructed for attachment, and so as to permit the spadix to stand upright within the spathe, substantially as described.
  
  Joseph B. Sargent
  
  Witnesses:
  W. S. Hastings
  C. L. Baldwin