Linus Yale | |
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| Born | April 27, 1797 Middletown, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1858 (aged 61) Newport, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Newport Cemetery, Newport, Herkimer County, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, inventor, metalsmith, politician |
| Known for | Multiple patents including pin tumbler locks. Father of Linus Yale Jr |
| Children | Linus Yale Jr. |
| Relatives | John B. Yale, grandson Julian L. Yale, grandson Merton Yale Cady, grandson Madeline Yale, granddaughter John Deere Cady, great-grandson William Yale Giles, great-great-great-grandson |
| Family | Yale |
Linus Yale (April 27, 1797 – August 8, 1858) was an American businessman, inventor, metalsmith, and politician. He was a founder of Lamson, Goodnow, and Yale, an American manufacturer of bank locks, and served as the first Mayor of Newport, New York. His patents were signed by President Andrew Jackson. His son, Linus Yale Jr., would later found the Premier manufacturer of locks in the United States, and be a pioneer in the American lock industry through the Yale Lock Company.
His family were notable gun-machine makers in Vermont and Massachusetts during the American Civil War, supplying Lincoln's Union Army with muskets and interchangeable parts. Toward the end of his life, Yale's enterprise obtained from the US Treasury Department the contract to become the sole supplier of all the new bank locks, mints, sub-treasuries and custom-houses in the United States.