29, 1888.

ISAAC MERRITT SINGER

[Illustration: Figure 137.--- ISAAC MERRITT SINGER, 1811-1875. From a
charcoal drawing owned by the Singer Mfg. Co. (Smithsonian photo
32066-B)]

Isaac Singer, whose name is known around the world as a manufacturer of
sewing machines, was the eighth child of poor German immigrants. Isaac
was born on October 27, 1811, in Pittstown, New York, but most of his
early life was spent in Oswego. He worked as a mechanic and
cabinetmaker, but acquired an interest in the theater. Under the name of
Isaac Merritt, he went to Rochester and became an actor. In 1839, during
an absence from the theater, he completed his first invention, a
mechanical excavator, which he sold for $2000. With the money Singer
organized a theatrical troupe of his own, which he called "The Merritt
Players." When the group failed in Fredericksburg, Ohio, Singer was
stranded for lack of funds.

Forced to find some type of employment, Singer took a job in a
Fredericksburg plant that manufactured wooden printers' type. He quickly
recognized the need for an improved type-carving machine. After
inventing and patenting one, he found no financial support in
Fredericksburg and decided to take the machine to New York City. Here,
the firm of A. B. Taylor and Co. agreed to furnish the money and give
Singer room in its Hague Street factory to build machines. A boiler
explosion destroyed the first machine, and Taylor refused to advance
more money.

While Singer was with Taylor, George B. Zieber, a bookseller who had
seen the type-carving machine, considered its value to publishers.
Zieber offered to help Singer and raised $1700 to build another model.
In June 1850 the machine was completed. Singer and Zieber took the
machine to Boston where they rented display space in the steam-powered
workshop of Orson C. Phelps at 19 Harvard Place. Only a few publishers
came to look at the machine, and none wanted to buy it.

Singer, contemplating his future, became interested in Phelps' work,
manufacturing sewing machines for J. A. Lerow and S. C. Blodgett. Phelps
welcomed Singer's interest as the design of the mechanism was faulty and
purchasers kept returning the machines for repairs. Singer examined the
sewing machine with the eyes of a practical machinist. He criticized the
action of the shuttle, which passed around a circle, and the needle bar,
which pushed a curved needle horizontally. Singer suggested that the
shuttle move to and fro i