Howe, Elias

(1819-1867)

   Born in the United States in the countryside of Massachusetts, Howe led the life of a typical farmer's son. Seeking to secure a better life, Howe worked in a machine shop and, realizing the demand for a mechanical sewing device, began his exploration of such a machine. He designed a crude lockstitch machine and soon thereafter created a second version perfecting his original design. In 1846, he made his way to Washington, D.C., and was issued a patent for his design. When his machine did not attract buyers, Howe and his family emigrated to London where Howe, unfortunately, did not receive the success he had anticipated. Desperate, he sold off his last model and pawned his patent rights so that his family would have the necessary finances to return to America. At this point, the sewing machine was experiencing significant interest on the part of the public. Howe and several other sewing machine inventors were vying for sole patent rights and, in 1856, the leading inventors joined together and created a fixed license fee for the group. Howe and an inventor named Isaac Singer were part of the license pool. The majority of the patents that were part of this pool expired in 1877.