Hymen Lipman

Hymen L. Lipman (March 20, 1817 – November 4, 1893) was an American stationer and inventor credited with registering the first patent for a pencil with an attached eraser on March 30, 1858.

Early life Hymen L. Lipman was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 20, 1817, to Lewis Lipman, an English merchant. Lyman immigrated to the US around 1829, arriving and settling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He resided in Philadelphia for the remainder of his life.

Career

In 1840, Lipman succeeded Samuel M. Stewart, then the leading stationer in Philadelphia. Three years later, he started the first envelope company in the US. In 1875, the US Supreme Court ruled against Reckendorfer, declaring the patent invalid because his invention was actually a combination of two already known things with no new use.

Personal life In 1848, he married Mary A. Lehman, daughter of Peter K. Lehman, one of the founders of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.

Lipman died at his Philadelphia home November 4, 1893, aged 76, yet Haaretz notes a contemporary obituary describes him as a "self-sacrificing Christian" and his and his wife's gravestone epitaphs contain Christian quotes. His contemporary obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer states he was a secretary of the Philadelphia Sabbath Association, an elder at Philadelphia's Clinton Street Presbyterian Church and later a member of the Grace Protestant Episcopal Church.