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Please help ID this circa 1899 bicycle

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https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030256666&view=1up&seq=53
View attachment 1776294

View attachment 1776295


seems like you can buy the volume 89 of the Official Gazette online, there is probably a way to find it online for free!
This is the full page from the pdf patent volume.

Screenshot at 2022-12-15 10-54-34.jpg
 
Is this flange an identifying characteristic? I edited out the tear in the image that was near this flange this morning. The flange may have been on both sides of the fork but it is difficult to say because the tear was there.

enlarge_Screenshot_at_2023-01-26_17-15-13b.png
 
Is this flange an identifying characteristic? I edited out the tear in the image that was near this flange this morning. The flange may have been on both sides of the fork but it is difficult to say because the tear was there.

View attachment 1776590
What your arrow is pointing is likely a coasting peg and there usually is one on the other side of the fork. These do not assist in identifying the bicycle as they were a common accessory at that time. Good luck with your quest.
 
A very interesting post,especially because of the West Virginia connection.Considering the terrain and very rural nature of that part of the state it was a place with very little paved road and few bicycles.Walnut Grove is not far from my farm.Assuming it arrived in Walnut Grove by rail,that bicycle traveled through my farm to get there.
I was incorrect about county paving out to Walnut Grove during anything close to that time frame.

"On the 23rd day of July, 1913, the County Court received a petition signed by many property owners in that direction praying the court "to pave with brick or concrete to the Glaze property;" this was at the bridge at Holswade Addition."

The Holswade addition is southwest of Spencer. Walnut Grove is another 6 miles back in the woods.

I can not imagine trying to ride that bicycle on Van Dale Fork road before it was paved!
 
You may want to consider this a Crawford brand bicycle. They featured left side chain drives and a similar fork crown as seen in the attached although this 1895 example may be a few years older.
View attachment 1776955
Thank you. That looks pretty similar. But the 5 spoke disc on the left is the brake, not the sprocket. The chain sprocket is still on the right. Also, the head tube seems too long.
 
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