| US Patent: 204,736 
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| Device For Marking Animals | 
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| Patent Dates: |  
| Applied: | Feb. 15, 1878 |  
| Granted: | Jun. 11, 1878 |  
 
USPTO (New site tip)| Patent Pictures:
	      
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	        ] |  |  |  | Charles P. Housum and Hugh W. Hill patent June 11, 1878 |  Google Patents
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                        Stan Schulz
 
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| Description: |  | The tool is designed to work with a pre-marked metal ear tag and corresponding ring. The punches on the handle side of the pivot are removable and are used to obliterate selected portions of the pre-stamped tags prior to their application. An 1895 ad mentions rubber "stamps" for use with Hill's Adjustable Animal Marker. 
The tag and wire ring have a separate patent -- no. 206,569 issued July 30, 1878. 
Known example marked H.W. Hill & Co. MARKER, with the patent date on the "back" side. The basic Hill patent 130,853 was granted Aug. 27, 1872. Housum was Hill's partner - see pat. no. 156,669. He retired in 1891; Hill sold the business to Decker Mfg. Co. of Keokuk, IA in 1894. |  |