Histories

Biographical Information: WILLIAM B. PURVIS, born 1841, died 1914, buried in the cemetery of St James the Less, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His guardian, after his father's death (1857), was Jesse G. Webster, a white neighbour of the family. A quite successful (if eccentric) inventor. Amongst his inventions were a handstamp (1883) and a fountain pen (1890). He developed the Sterling Paper Bag Company, which went bankrupt (1885) but with all its debts covered by his uncle Robert Purvis (see 1.1.3.2.2. above), and the Union Electric Company, which was quite successful. Probably unmarried.