﻿574 
  AisrisruAL 
  report 
  Smithsonian 
  institution, 
  1929 
  

  

  Wilson 
  had 
  thought 
  out 
  the 
  plan 
  of 
  a 
  substitute 
  for 
  the 
  shuttle, 
  the 
  

   rotary 
  hook, 
  a 
  marvelous 
  piece 
  of 
  ingenuity. 
  He 
  showed 
  Mr. 
  Wheeler 
  

   his 
  model, 
  who 
  became 
  so 
  convinced 
  of 
  its 
  merits 
  that 
  he 
  determined 
  

   to 
  develop 
  the 
  new 
  machine 
  and 
  leave 
  Wilson's 
  first 
  shuttle 
  machine 
  

   to 
  those 
  who, 
  by 
  fraud, 
  had 
  become 
  the 
  owners 
  of 
  it. 
  This 
  last 
  firm 
  

   possessed 
  neither 
  the 
  mechanical 
  nor 
  business 
  ability 
  to 
  put 
  it 
  prop- 
  

   erly 
  on 
  the 
  market, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  the 
  original 
  patent 
  was 
  

   purchased 
  by 
  the 
  Wheeler 
  & 
  Wilson 
  Manufacturing 
  Co. 
  

  

  Wilson 
  now 
  bent 
  all 
  his 
  efforts 
  to 
  improving 
  his 
  rotary 
  hook 
  which 
  

   was 
  a 
  new 
  departure 
  from 
  all 
  previous 
  ideas 
  of 
  sewing, 
  and 
  was 
  de- 
  

   scribed 
  in 
  his 
  second 
  patent, 
  issued 
  on 
  August 
  12, 
  1851. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  

   remarkable 
  coincidence 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  date 
  a 
  patent 
  was 
  granted 
  

   to 
  Isaac 
  M. 
  Singer 
  for 
  his 
  first 
  machine, 
  which 
  , 
  with 
  its 
  improvements, 
  

   was 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  the 
  most 
  formidable 
  competitor 
  of 
  the 
  Wheeler 
  & 
  

   Wilson 
  machine. 
  

  

  Wheeler, 
  Wilson 
  & 
  Co. 
  at 
  once 
  began 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  

   machines. 
  The 
  sewing 
  machines 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  previously 
  patented 
  

   and 
  sold 
  to 
  the 
  public 
  were 
  so 
  difficult 
  to 
  operate 
  and 
  so 
  impractica- 
  

   ble 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  much 
  distrust 
  of 
  all 
  such 
  devices 
  and 
  but 
  few 
  were 
  

   willing 
  to 
  even 
  try 
  them. 
  With 
  the 
  assistance 
  of 
  his 
  wife 
  to 
  operate 
  

   the 
  machine, 
  Wilson 
  demonstrated 
  to 
  0. 
  E. 
  Winchester, 
  later 
  the 
  

   head 
  of 
  the 
  Winchester 
  Repeating 
  Arms 
  Co., 
  but 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  a 
  large 
  

   manufacturer 
  of 
  shirts 
  in 
  New 
  Haven, 
  Conn., 
  its 
  ability 
  to 
  neatly 
  and 
  

   rapidly 
  make 
  a 
  shirt. 
  Mr. 
  Winchester 
  was 
  so 
  agreeably 
  surprised 
  

   with 
  the 
  quality 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  that 
  he 
  agreed 
  to 
  take 
  some 
  machines 
  on 
  

   trial. 
  In 
  the 
  same 
  way 
  machines 
  were 
  left 
  for 
  trial 
  in 
  Troy, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  

   Boston, 
  and 
  Philadelphia. 
  Soon 
  the 
  business 
  was 
  on 
  a 
  substantial 
  

   basis 
  and 
  in 
  October, 
  1853, 
  a 
  stock 
  company 
  was 
  formed 
  under 
  the 
  

   name 
  of 
  the 
  Wheeler 
  & 
  WUson 
  Manufacturing 
  Co. 
  

  

  Wilson's 
  fourth 
  patent, 
  the 
  universally 
  used 
  4-motion 
  feed, 
  was 
  

   issued 
  on 
  December 
  19, 
  1854. 
  This, 
  with 
  the 
  rotary 
  hook 
  and 
  the 
  

   stationary 
  circular 
  disk 
  bobbin, 
  the 
  subjects 
  of 
  his 
  second 
  and 
  third 
  

   patents 
  in 
  1851 
  and 
  1852, 
  completed 
  the 
  essential 
  features 
  of 
  Wilson's 
  

   machine, 
  original 
  and 
  fundamentally 
  different 
  from 
  all 
  other 
  machines 
  

   known 
  at 
  that 
  time. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  crude 
  models, 
  whittled 
  out 
  of 
  mahogany 
  by 
  Allen 
  B. 
  

   Wilson 
  between 
  1847 
  and 
  1849, 
  wliich 
  clearly 
  show 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  

   his 
  ideas, 
  and 
  the 
  original 
  models 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  Patent 
  Office 
  

   establishing 
  the 
  claims 
  made 
  in 
  his 
  first 
  three 
  patents, 
  are 
  now 
  pre- 
  

   served 
  in 
  the 
  National 
  Museum. 
  The 
  model 
  representing 
  the 
  third 
  

   patent, 
  that 
  of 
  June 
  15, 
  1852, 
  is 
  a 
  beautifully 
  made, 
  compact 
  little 
  

   machine, 
  weighing 
  but 
  6/2 
  pounds, 
  and 
  contrasting 
  greatly 
  with 
  the 
  

   clumsy, 
  heavy 
  Singer 
  models 
  of 
  that 
  time 
  which 
  weigh 
  over 
  55 
  pounds. 
  

  

  Having 
  appHed 
  his 
  inventive 
  genius 
  to 
  starting 
  the 
  business, 
  Mr. 
  

   Wilson 
  was 
  at 
  his 
  own 
  request, 
  upon 
  the 
  reorganization 
  of 
  the 
  firm 
  

  

  