The first photo patent in America! Originally shared by Morgan Sonja Brimont Early daguerreotype camera with mirror lens by Alexander S. Wolcott On May 8, 1840 Alexander Wolcott, with the assistance of John Johnson Sr., received the first American patent for photography (US Patent No. 1582) for their Daguerreotype mirror camera, which did not have a lens http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=1508 http://photodoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/history-photo-camera-3.jpg