Elias Howe (1819-1867), American inventor, is credited with designing the first workable sewing machine, an invention which revolutionized garment and shoe manufacture.

Elias Howe was born in Spencer, Massachusetts, where his father operated a gristmill and sawmill. In 1835 Elias was apprenticed to a manufacturer of cotton machinery in Lowell, Massachusetts. Two years later he worked briefly in a machine shop in Cambridge, then apprenticed himself in Boston to a maker of watches and scientific instruments.

While working in this shop, Howe is said to have overheard the owner discussing the need for, and problems involved in making, a sewing machine. By 1844 Howe himself began trying to build a workable model. Even though he had acquired a family, he quit his job and, with financial support from his father, worked full-time on the invention. Later he was able to take in a partner, who provided more capital.

Howe had...