Talk:Elias Howe

Dedication
I don't know if it is relevent enought to add, but the Beatles' film Help! was dedicated to "Elias Howe, who, in 1846, invented the sewing machine". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.12.13.154 (talk) 21:32, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I would second this suggestion. The movie is the only reason I know Mr. Howe's name, and I strongly suspect there are more than two of us. 63.87.201.114 (talk) 20:51, 25 November 2013 (UTC) jalp
 * Yes check.svg Done I found an excellent reference for this fact, and have added a brief sentence noting it. Jusdafax (talk) 00:56, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

Siblings
Did he have any siblings? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.176.177.10 (talk) 21:39, 7 February 2010 (UTC)
 * An elder brother is named in the article. There is a record here of a younger sister: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/AF/family_group_record.asp?familyid=204555 Piperh (talk) 19:10, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Actual inventor
See here and here for John Brooks Nichols, whose adaptations to the Singer machine made it work on shoe leather, revolutionizing production in Lynn and the rest of New England. At least according to those sources, he just happened to be extraordinarily modest and decent. Realizing Howe had patented what he considered the main innovations in sewing machines, he yielded and worked out a licensing arrangement by which his adapted machine would be sold with appropriate royalties to Howe... which then funded the court cases that actually established the greater validity of his patent against Singer and the rest. — Llywelyn II   14:42, 30 June 2023 (UTC)