This page was recently uncovered by our current President, John Clough.
In doing a little research, I stumbled across this site (http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2007/06/26/alton-new-hampshires-king-of-corkscrews-william-rockwell-clough-1844-1920/) which ultimately led me to MacLean and Nugent’s work at this site (http://www.bullworks.net/clough/cloughfr.htm).
I reached out to Ron MacLean, who gave me permission to attach the page and link to his site.
As Ron MacLean and Bob Nugent note in the introduction to their online book “William Rockwell Clough – Inventor & Manufacturer of Over a Billion Corkscrews,”
“W.R. Clough was a diversified mechanical genius and prolific inventor! He was granted and involved in some way, in a total of forty-three patents. Twenty-five of these were related to corkscrews, including four patents in England and one each in Canada, France, and Germany. All but two of his inventions were wire related, the exception being for the manufacture of sealing wax and a hose supporter. His sealing wax and bill and paper file patents, were probably inspired by his early work as an accountant.”
There’s much to read on this important ancestor. Be sure to check out the links for more information.