Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Theaker, Thomas Clarke

THEAKER, Thomas Clarke, commissioner of patents, b. in York County, Pa., 1 Feb., 1812; d. in Oakland, Md., 16 July, 1883. He received a good English education, removed to Bridgeport, Ohio, in 1830, and was principally occupied as a machinist and millwright. He served in congress as a Republican in 1859-'61, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the ensuing congress. He was made a member of a board of commissioners who were appointed to investigate the workings of the patent-office, and was afterward made by President Johnson commissioner of patents, serving from 17 Aug., 1865 till 6 June, 1868.