al number approximately as
follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

11,000-46,000 1868
46,001-91,843 1869
91,844-167,000 1870
167,001-301,010 1871
301,011-446,010 1872
446,011-536,010 1873
536,011-571,010 1874
571,011-596,010 1875
596,011-705,304 1876

No figures are available for 1877-1886.

[Illustration: Figure 97.--ADVERTISING BROCHURE distributed by E. Howe
during the brothers' brief partnership; the machines are basically A. B.
Howe machines, 1863. (Smithsonian photo 49373-A.)]

[Illustration: Figure 98.--HOWE (STOCKWELL BROTHERS) MACHINE, 1870.
(Smithsonian photo 45572-E.)]

[Illustration: Figure 99.--PATENT MODEL OF CHRISTOPHER HODGKINS,
November 2, 1852, assigned to Nehemiah Hunt. (Smithsonian photo 34551.)]

Figures 99, 100, and 101.--THE N. HUNT (later, in 1856, Hunt & Webster
and finally in 1858 Ladd and Webster) sewing machine was based on the
patents of Christopher Hodgkins, November 2, 1852, and May 9, 1854, both
of which were assigned to Nehemiah Hunt. First manufactured in 1853, the
machine, which closely resembled the Hodgkins' patent, won a silver
medal at the exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics
Association that same year.

In 1856 Hunt took a partner, and the company became Hunt & Webster. An
interesting account of this company appeared as a feature article in
_Ballou's Pictorial_, July 5, 1856, where it was reported that "the
North American Shoe Company have over fifty of the latest improved
machines, represented in these drawings [fig. 31], now running...." The
article also estimated that a 55-million dollar increase in shoe
manufacturing in Massachusetts in 1855 was due to the sewing machine. In
1856 the Hunt & Webster machine again won a silver medal at the
exhibition. Very late in 1858 the company became Ladd, Webster, & Co.
and continued to manufacture both family and manufacturing sewing
machines until the mid-1860s.

The approximate date of manufacture can be determined by serial number:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-100 1853
101-368 1854
369-442 1855
443-622 1856
623-1075 1857
1076-1565 1858
1566-3353 1859

No figures are available for the 1860s.

[Illustration: Figure 100.--RIGHT: HUNT & WEBSTER sewing machine of
about 1855, serial number 414. (Smithsonian photo 48216-V.)]

[Illustration: Figure 101.--