idea. Fisher, however, agreed to sell his half interest, 

 and in February 1851 George S. Jackson, Daniel C. 

 Johnson, and William E. Whiting became joint owners 

 with Howe. These men helped Howe to procure wit- 

 nesses in the furtherance of numerous suits, but more 

 money was needed than they could raise. The following 

 year a Massachusetts man by the name of George W. 

 Bliss was persuaded to advance the money for the 

 heavy legal expenses needed to protect the patent. 

 Bliss did this as a speculation and demanded additional 

 security. Once more Elias' long-suffering parent came 

 to the rescue and mortgaged his farm to get the necessary 

 collateral. 



Only one of these suits was prosecuted to a hearing, 

 but this one, relatively unimportant in itself, set the 

 precedent. In it the defense relied on the earlier in- 

 vention of Walter Hunt to oppose Howe's claims. The 

 defendant succeeded in proving that Hunt invented, 

 perfected, and sold two machines in 1834 and 1835 

 which contained all the essential devices in Howe's 

 machine of 1846. But Howe showed that the defendant's 

 machine (which was a Blodgett and Lerow) contained 

 some features of Howe's machine which were not in 

 Hunt's. The jury decided the case in favor of Howe. 

 Howe later fought a vigorous battle with Isaac Singer, 

 but after much legal controversy the ultimate decision 

 in that case also was in Howe's favor. The suits and 

 payments to each patent holder for the right to use his 

 idea were choking the sewing-machine industry. Even 

 Howe could not manufacture a practical machine with- 

 out an infringement. Finally an agreement was reached 

 and a "Combination" was formed by the major patent 

 holders (see pp. 4 1 — 42 ) . 



In the meantime, eight years of the first term of 1 [owe's 

 patent had expired without producing much revenue. 

 This permitted Howe, upon the death of his partner, 

 George Bliss, to buy Bliss' half interest for a small sum. 

 He became, then, the sole owner of his patent just as 

 it was to bring him a fortune. He obtained a seven-year 

 extension for his patent in 1860 without any difficulty, 

 and in 1867, when he applied for another extension, he 

 stated that he had received SI, 185, 000 from it. Though 

 he endeavored to show that because of the machine's 

 great value to the public he was entitled to receive at 

 least $150,000,000, the second application was denied. 



During the Civil War, Howe enlisted as a private 

 soldier in the 17th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. 

 He went into the field and served as an enlisted man. 

 On occasion when the Government was pressed for 

 funds to pay its soldiers, he advanced the money necessary 

 to pay his entire regiment. 



Howe did not establish a sewing-machine factory 

 until just before his death in 1867. One of his early 

 licensees had been his elder brother, Amasa, who had 

 organized the Howe Sewing Machine Company about 



1853. When Elias began manufacturing machines on 

 his own, he sunk into the bedplate of each machine a 

 brass medallion bearing his likeness. Elias gave his 

 company the same name that his elder brother had 

 used. As this had been Amasa's exclusive property for 

 many years, he took the matter to the courts where the 

 decision went against Elias. He then organized the 

 Howe Machine Company and began to manufacture 

 sewing machines. On October 3, 1867, Elias died in 

 Brooklyn, New York, at the home of one of his sons-in- 

 law. The company was then carried on by his two 

 sons-in-law, who were Stockwell brothers. In 1872 the 

 Howe Sewing Machine Company was sold by Amasa's 

 son to the Stockwells' Howe Machine Company, which 

 in turn went out of business in the mid- 1880s. 



ALLEN BENJAMIN WILSON 



Allen B. Wilson was born in the small town of Willett, 

 Cortlandt County, New York, in 1824. At sixteen he 

 was apprenticed to a distant relative, a cabinetmaker. 

 Unfortunate circumstances caused him to leave this 

 employ, and in 1847 Wilson was in Adrian, Michigan, 

 working as a journeyman cabinetmaker. The place and 

 year are important, for it was at this time that he con- 

 ceived his idea of a sewing machine. Because of the 

 distant location, it is believed that he was not aware of 

 similar efforts being made in New England. Wilson 

 became ill and for many months could not work at his 

 trade. By August 1848 he was able to work again and 

 found employment at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Re- 

 solving to develop his idea of a sewing machine, he 

 worked diligently and by November had made full 

 drawings of all the parts, according to his previous 

 conceptions. 



In comparison to the monetary returns received by 

 the inventors Howe and Singer, Wilson himself did not 

 receive as great a monetary reward for his outstanding 

 sewing-machine inventions. Because of his health Wil- 

 son retired in 1853, when the stock company was formed, 

 but he received a regular salary and additional money 

 from the patent renewals. Wilson petitioned for a second 

 extension of his patents on April 7, 1874, stating that, 

 due to his early poverty, he had been compelled to sell a 

 half interest in a patent (his first one) for the sum of 

 $200. Also he stated that he had not received more 

 than his expenses during the original fourteen-year term. 

 Wilson also stated that he had received only $137,000 

 during the first seven-year extension period. These 

 figures were verified by his partner. The petition was 

 read before both Houses of Congress and referred to the 



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