Wilbur Wright’s Wright Cycle Company Checkbook, 1904–1906—Patent Attorney Payments, Foundry and Lumber Accounts
An important original Winters National Bank checkbook associated with Wilbur Wright and the Wright Cycle Company, preserving manuscript financial entries during the years when the Wright brothers transformed their achievement at Kitty Hawk into practical powered flight.
The book’s outstanding entry records a $25 payment to patent attorney H. A. Toulmin on January 22, 1904—the date the Wright brothers employed him to handle their flying-machine patent case. A further payment of $43 to Toulmin on February 17, 1904 documents the continuing relationship.
Additional entries include payments to Buckeye Iron & Brass, Dayton Lumber Company, The New Era Gas Engine Company, Cooper Insurance Company, and Rike Dry Goods Company. Buckeye had cast the aluminum crankcase for the brothers’ 1903 aircraft engine, making its appearance here especially noteworthy. The individual stubs record payees and amounts without specifying the goods or services purchased.
Entries bearing “W.W.,” including a September 30 notation reading “Cash. W.W.,” add a personal dimension to this working business record. Together with handwritten addresses, calculations, and supplier notes, the retained stubs preserve the everyday financial activity surrounding the brothers’ pioneering work.
The accompanying inventory describes 27 completed check stubs, 19 unused checks, and two pages of miscellaneous notes, with most handwriting attributed to Wilbur Wright and additional entries attributed to Orville. It gives the recorded date range as January 22, 1904 through January 10, 1906.
Bound in blue cloth, showing rubbing, edge wear, and fraying. Interior leaves exhibit toning, scattered spotting and soiling, creases, and wear at the hinges. Issued checks were removed at the perforations, leaving their retained stubs; unused check forms remain.
A substantial early Wright brothers business artifact combining patent-related payments, supplier accounts, and manuscript working notes from a decisive period in aviation history.
An important original Winters National Bank checkbook associated with Wilbur Wright and the Wright Cycle Company, preserving manuscript financial entries during the years when the Wright brothers transformed their achievement at Kitty Hawk into practical powered flight.
The book’s outstanding entry records a $25 payment to patent attorney H. A. Toulmin on January 22, 1904—the date the Wright brothers employed him to handle their flying-machine patent case. A further payment of $43 to Toulmin on February 17, 1904 documents the continuing relationship.
Additional entries include payments to Buckeye Iron & Brass, Dayton Lumber Company, The New Era Gas Engine Company, Cooper Insurance Company, and Rike Dry Goods Company. Buckeye had cast the aluminum crankcase for the brothers’ 1903 aircraft engine, making its appearance here especially noteworthy. The individual stubs record payees and amounts without specifying the goods or services purchased.
Entries bearing “W.W.,” including a September 30 notation reading “Cash. W.W.,” add a personal dimension to this working business record. Together with handwritten addresses, calculations, and supplier notes, the retained stubs preserve the everyday financial activity surrounding the brothers’ pioneering work.
The accompanying inventory describes 27 completed check stubs, 19 unused checks, and two pages of miscellaneous notes, with most handwriting attributed to Wilbur Wright and additional entries attributed to Orville. It gives the recorded date range as January 22, 1904 through January 10, 1906.
Bound in blue cloth, showing rubbing, edge wear, and fraying. Interior leaves exhibit toning, scattered spotting and soiling, creases, and wear at the hinges. Issued checks were removed at the perforations, leaving their retained stubs; unused check forms remain.
A substantial early Wright brothers business artifact combining patent-related payments, supplier accounts, and manuscript working notes from a decisive period in aviation history.
