formed a
backstitch, identical to the one used in hand sewing, was invented in
Monkton, Vermont. The earliest record of this machine that this author
has found was in the second or 1867 edition of _Eighty Years of Progress
of the United States_; the machine is not mentioned in the earlier
edition. The writer of the article on sewing machines states that John
Knowles invented and constructed a sewing machine, which used a single
thread and a two-pointed needle with the eye in the middle to form the
backstitch. This information must have come to light after the first
edition was published, but from where and by whom is not known. Other
sources state that two men, Adams and Dodge, produced this machine in
Monkton.[14] While still others credit the Reverend John Adam Dodge,
assisted by a mechanic by the name of John Knowles, with the same
invention in the same location.[15] Vermont historical societies have
been unable to identify the men named or to verify the story of the
invention.[16] The importance of the credibility of this story, if
proved, rests in the fact that it represents the first effort in the
United States to produce a mechanical stitching device.

1820-1845

American records of this period are incomplete as a result of the Patent
Office fire of 1836, in which most of the specific descriptions of
patents issued to that date were destroyed. Patentees were asked to
provide another description of their patents so that these might be
copied, but comparatively few responded and only a small percentage was
restored. Thus, although the printed index of patents[17] lists Henry
Lye as patenting a machine for "sewing leather, and so forth" on March
10, 1826, no description of the machine has ever been located. Many
patents whose original claim was for only a mechanical awl to pierce
holes in leather or a clamp to hold leather for hand stitching were
claimed as sewing devices once a practical machine had evolved. But no
evidence has ever been found that any of these machines performed the
actual stitching operation.

[Illustration: Figure 9.--AN ADAPTED DRAWING of Hunt's sewing machine
published by the _Sewing Machine News_, vol. 2, no. 8, 1881, to give
some idea of its construction and operation. "The frame of the machine
(A) rested on a base (B) that was supported by a table. The wheel (C)
worked on a central shaft (E) and was set in motion by hand or foot
power. On the front of the wheel (C) was a raised cam (D