a decided improvement over the shuttles of
Hunt and Howe, which formed stitches in only one direction. After each
stitch the cloth was advanced for the next stitch by a sliding bar
against which the cloth was held by a stationary presser. While the
needle was still in the cloth and holding it, the sliding bar returned
for a fresh grip on the cloth.

Wilson made a second machine, on the same principle, and applied for a
patent. He was approached by the owners of the Bradshaw 1848 patent,
who claimed control of the double-pointed shuttle. Although this claim
was without justification, as can be seen by examining the Bradshaw
patent specifications, Wilson did not have sufficient funds to fight the
claim. In order to avoid a suit, he relinquished to A. P. Kline and
Edward Lee, a one-half interest in his U.S. patent 7,776 which was
issued on November 12, 1850 (fig. 23).

[Illustration: Figure 23.--WILSON'S PATENT MODEL, 1850. (Smithsonian
photo 45504-H.)]

Inventor Wilson had been associated with Kline and Lee (E. Lee & Co.)
for only a few months, when, on November 25, 1850, he agreed to sell his
remaining interest to his partners for $2,000. He retained only limited
rights for New Jersey and for Massachusetts. The sale was fruitless for
the inventor, as no payment was ever made. How much money E. E. Lee &
Co. realized from the Wilson machine is difficult to determine, but they
ran numerous ads in the 1851 and 1852 issues of _Scientific American_. A
typical one reads:

A. B. Wilson's Sewing Machine, justly allowed to be the cheapest
and best now in use, patented November 12, 1850; can be seen on
exhibition at 195 and 197 Broadway (formerly the Franklin House,
Room 23, third floor) or to E. E. Lee & Co., Earle's Hotel. Rights
for territory or machines can be had by applying to George R.
Chittenden, Agent.[48]

[Illustration: Figure 24.--WILSON'S PREPATENT MODEL for his rotary hook,
1851. (Smithsonian photo 45506-E.)]

[Illustration: Figure 25.--WILSON'S ROTARY-HOOK PATENT MODEL, 1851.
(Smithsonian photo 45505-B.)]

Another reads:

A. B. Wilson's Sewing Machine ... the best and only practical
sewing machine--not larger than a lady's work box--for the trifling
sum of $35.[49]

Wilson severed relations with Lee and Kline in early 1851 shortly after
meeting Nathaniel Wheeler, who was to become his partner in a happier,
more profitable enterprise involving the sewing machin