Yardley Chittick

Who was Yardley Chittick?

Charles Yardley Chittick was for several years the oldest living patent attorney in the United States. Yardley was also the oldest living member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was born in Newark, New Jersey.

Chittick was a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and was the first person to attend his 90th reunion in the school's 230 year history. While a student he got into a scuffle with fellow student and future actor Humphrey Bogart after he refused to polish Bogart's shoes. After Andover, Chittick went to MIT, where he majored in mechanical engineering, was a low-hurdle track champion, and a proud member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. While a student at MIT, he was elected captain of the one-mile relay track team.

Chittick was once offered a job by Thomas Edison but turned it down, saying he thought it would be more fun to work for a golf club manufacturer. He said Edison gave him a 150-question test before offering him the job. Several years before his death, he said he asked for a copy of the test from the Thomas Edison Museum and was shown the original with Edison's handwriting in the margins.

Chittick became registered as a patent attorney on February 1, 1934. He was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court on September 20, 1950.