Inventor Samuel Hopkins received America's (and Canada's) first patent for a method of making potash and pearl ash. Potash was used as a fertilizer and detergent; pearl ash which was a version of baking soda was used to make glass and saltpeter. The process consisted of burning wood (usually from cleared fields), mixing the ashes with water and then boiling off the liquid. It was tremendously valuable as the chemicals were widely used and exported to Britain.
After he received the patent, he went on to establish a licensing system where shopkeepers paid him fees (which was $200 over five years) for the recipe and instructions on how to create the appropriate kettle or furnace. He put together an innovative marketing plan for what was one of the ‘tech startups’ of the colonial era, printing brochures and giving talks. While he sold about 300 licenses, which should have netted him the equivalent of 1.7 million dollars, he never seemed to have become wealthy.
