assigned. The machine was
probably another attempt to evade royalty payment to the "Combination."

The serial number 262 indicates that at least that many machines were
manufactured, although this model is the only one known to be in
existence. The support arm of the machine head is iron, cast as a vase
of flowers and painted in natural colors. The paint on the head is
original, but the table has been refinished, and the iron legs, which
had rusted, have been repainted. (Smithsonian photo 48440-G.)]

[Illustration: Figure 106.--LATHROP SEWING MACHINE of about 1873. These
machines were manufactured by the Lathrop Combination Sewing Machine Co.
under the patents of Lebbeus W. Lathrop of 1869, 1870, and 1873. The
machine used two threads, both taken from spools; moreover, it produced
not only the double chainstitch, but it was constructed to produce also
a lockstitch and a combined "lock and chain stitch." The machine
illustrated bears the serial number 31 and the patent dates of Grover &
Baker, and Bachelder among others, in addition to the first two Lathrop
patent dates. The company lasted only a few years as it is included in
the 1881 list of manufacturers that had ceased to exist. (Smithsonian
photo 46953-F.)]

[Illustration: Figure 107.--ILLUSTRATION FROM A BROCHURE, marked in ink:
"The National Portrait Gallery, 1855." Singer Archives. (Smithsonian
photo 48091-E.)]

Figures 107 and 108.--THE NICHOLS AND LEAVITT sewing machines. One of
Elias Howe's earliest licensees was J. B. Nichols. His machine,
manufactured at first with George Bliss and later alone as J. B. Nichols
& Co., was called Howe's Improved Patent Sewing Machine. It was,
however, no more a Howe machine than any of the others produced under
the Howe patent.

In July 1855 Nichols went into partnership with Rufus Leavitt, and the
company name changed to Nichols, Leavitt & Co. In 1857 it was changed
again to Leavitt & Co., and finally in the mid-1860s to Leavitt Sewing
Machine Co. By the 1870s, it was defunct.

The Nichols-Leavitt machines can be dated by their serial numbers
approximately as follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_ _Company_

1-28 1853 Nichols & Bliss
29-245 1854 J. B. Nichols & Co.
246-397 1855 J. B. Nichols & Co.--Nichols, Leavitt & Co.
398-632 1856 Nichols, Leavitt & Co.
633-827 1857 Leavitt & Co.
828-902 1858