Part 15 (2/2)

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 ”

903-1115 1859 ”

1116-1436 1860 ”

1437-1757 1861 ”

1758-2077 1862 ”

2078-2400 1863 ”

2401-2900 1864 ”

2901-3900 1865 Leavitt Sewing Machine Co

3901-4900 1866 ”

4901-5951 1867 ”

5952-6951 1868 ”

6952-7722 1869 ”

There is no record that the coure 108--LEAVITT SEWING MACHINE of about 1868, serial number 6907 (Sure 109--LESTER SEWING MACHINE of about 1858 The Lester machine was first manufactured by J H Lester in Brooklyn, New York His machine was based on the patents of William Johnson, John Bradshaw and others but not on the patents held by the ”Coh he had secured a license When the Old Dominion Company applied for a license from the ”Combination,” Lester learned of this, went to Riched to combine his business with theirs Since the Lester reed to cease the manufacture of the Old Dominion ed to the Lester Mfg Co Late in 1860, George Sloat entered the coain, this ti machines continued until the outbreak of the Civil War the following year, which brought a conversion to arms production The manufacture of Lester machines was never resumed

The machine illustrated was manufactured by J H Lester in Brooklyn; it bears the serial number 96 The nuh 1861 is not known, but it was probably less than 1,000 (Sure 110--NE PLUS ULTRA of about 1867 Another of the interesting hand-turned chainstitch machines of the late 1850s and 1860s was patented by OL Reynolds The baster plates and the handle on the wheel areshi+eld and draped-flag pattern is painted on the base

Anotherinscription stamped on the baster plate: ”Ne Plus Ultra, Patent Applied For, 174, OL

Reynolds, Patentee & Manufacturer, Dover NH” Reynold's patentthat the machine illustrated here--which bears the serial number 26--was manufactured before the patent was obtained (Smithsonian photo 48216-F)]