﻿THE 
  SEWING 
  MACHINE 
  LEWTON 
  575 
  

  

  in 
  1853, 
  released 
  from 
  active 
  service 
  or 
  further 
  responsibility 
  for 
  the 
  

   company. 
  His 
  ill 
  health, 
  and 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  his 
  early 
  struggles 
  and 
  a 
  

   keenly 
  sensitive 
  nervous 
  temperament 
  made 
  it 
  desirable 
  for 
  him 
  to 
  be 
  

   relieved 
  of 
  the 
  daily 
  routine 
  of 
  the 
  business. 
  During 
  his 
  leisure 
  he 
  

   found 
  time 
  to 
  explore 
  other 
  fields 
  of 
  invention, 
  among 
  which 
  were 
  

   cotton-picking 
  machines, 
  photography, 
  and 
  illuminating 
  gases. 
  

  

  Wilson 
  did 
  not 
  receive 
  a 
  proper 
  reward 
  for 
  his 
  great 
  inventions, 
  es- 
  

   pecially 
  when 
  this 
  is 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  earnings 
  of 
  Howe 
  and 
  Singer, 
  

   whose 
  inventions 
  were 
  mechanically 
  much 
  inferior. 
  In 
  his 
  petition 
  

   to 
  Congress 
  in 
  1874 
  for 
  a 
  second 
  extension 
  of 
  his 
  three 
  patents, 
  he 
  

   stated 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  not 
  received 
  more 
  than 
  his 
  expenses 
  during 
  the 
  

   14-year 
  term 
  of 
  his 
  original 
  patent 
  and 
  that 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  poverty 
  he 
  

   had 
  been 
  compelled 
  to 
  sell 
  a 
  half 
  interest 
  in 
  his 
  patent 
  for 
  S200. 
  

   He 
  also 
  stated 
  that 
  for 
  the 
  7-year 
  term 
  of 
  the 
  extension 
  of 
  his 
  patent 
  

   he 
  had 
  only 
  received 
  $137,000. 
  These 
  statements 
  were 
  verified 
  by 
  his 
  

   original 
  partner. 
  

  

  JAMES 
  EDWARD 
  ALLEN 
  GIBBS 
  

  

  The 
  invention 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  practical 
  single 
  chain-stitch 
  sewing 
  

   machine 
  came 
  about 
  through 
  the 
  curiosity 
  of 
  a 
  young 
  native 
  Virginian 
  

   having 
  a 
  mechanical 
  turn 
  of 
  mind. 
  James 
  Gibbs 
  had 
  been 
  helping 
  

   his 
  father 
  build 
  wool-carding 
  machines, 
  but 
  the 
  burning 
  of 
  his 
  father's 
  

   mill 
  and 
  the 
  competition 
  of 
  large 
  factories 
  led 
  him 
  to 
  turn 
  to 
  carpenter- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  provide 
  for 
  his 
  family. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  1855 
  that 
  his 
  attention 
  was 
  

   first 
  attracted 
  to 
  sewing 
  machines 
  by 
  seeing 
  a 
  plain 
  woodcut 
  of 
  a 
  

   Grover 
  a"nd 
  Baker 
  machine 
  in 
  a 
  newspaper 
  advertisement. 
  This 
  

   picture 
  showed 
  only 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  machine 
  which 
  left 
  the 
  

   course 
  of 
  the 
  needle 
  and 
  the 
  manipulation 
  of 
  the 
  thread 
  under 
  the 
  

   cloth 
  a 
  mystery. 
  There 
  was 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  cut 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  more 
  

   than 
  one 
  thread 
  was 
  used 
  and 
  it 
  at 
  once 
  excited 
  his 
  curiosity 
  to 
  know 
  

   how 
  the 
  thing 
  could 
  possibly 
  sew. 
  His 
  effort 
  to 
  solve 
  the 
  puzzle 
  is 
  

   best 
  told 
  in 
  his 
  own 
  words 
  : 
  

  

  As 
  I 
  was 
  then 
  living 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  way 
  place, 
  far 
  from 
  railroads 
  and 
  public 
  

   conveyances 
  of 
  all 
  kinds, 
  modern 
  improvements 
  seldom 
  reached 
  our 
  locality, 
  and 
  

   not 
  being 
  likely 
  to 
  have 
  my 
  curiosity 
  satisfied 
  otherwise, 
  I 
  set 
  to 
  work 
  to 
  see 
  what 
  

   I 
  could 
  learn 
  from 
  the 
  woodcut, 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  accompanied 
  by 
  any 
  description. 
  

   I 
  first 
  discovered 
  that 
  the 
  needle 
  was 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  needle 
  arm, 
  and 
  consequently 
  

   could 
  not 
  pass 
  entirely 
  through 
  the 
  material, 
  but 
  must 
  retreat 
  through 
  the 
  same 
  

   hole 
  by 
  which 
  it 
  entered. 
  From 
  this 
  I 
  saw 
  that 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  make 
  a 
  stitch 
  similar 
  

   to 
  handwork, 
  but 
  must 
  have 
  some 
  other 
  mode 
  of 
  fastening 
  the 
  thread 
  on 
  the 
  under- 
  

   side, 
  and 
  among 
  other 
  possible 
  methods 
  of 
  doing 
  this, 
  the 
  chain 
  stitch 
  occurred 
  to 
  

   me 
  as 
  a 
  likely 
  means 
  of 
  accomplishing 
  the 
  end. 
  I 
  next 
  endeavored 
  to 
  discover 
  

   how 
  this 
  stitch 
  was 
  or 
  could 
  be 
  made, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  woodcut 
  I 
  saw 
  that 
  the 
  driving 
  

   shaft 
  which 
  had 
  the 
  driving 
  wheel 
  on 
  the 
  outer 
  end, 
  passed 
  along 
  under 
  the 
  cloth 
  

   plate 
  of 
  the 
  machine. 
  I 
  knew 
  that 
  the 
  mechanism 
  which 
  made 
  the 
  stitch 
  must 
  be 
  

   connected 
  with 
  and 
  actuated 
  by 
  this 
  driving 
  shaft. 
  After 
  studying 
  the 
  position 
  

   and 
  relations 
  of 
  the 
  needle 
  and 
  5ha.ft 
  with 
  each 
  other, 
  I 
  conceived 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  