Samuel Ward Francis

{{short description|American inventor, physician, and writer}}

Samuel Ward Francis (December 26, 1835 – March 25, 1886) was an American writer, inventor, and physician from New York.{{cite web|url=https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/ext/dw/101283881/PDF/101283881.pdf|format=PDF|title=Newport Daily News : Obituary|website=Collections.nlm.nih.gov|accessdate=July 18, 2018}} Among his inventions was an early typewriter and the spork.{{Cite patent|number=US147119A|title=Improvement in combined knives, forks, and spoons|gdate=1874-02-03|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US147119/en}}