He came to Spencer with his wife Deborah from Leicester, Mass. in 1776. It is said that he descended from John Howe of Sudbury, Mass. who became a freeman of Mass. Bay Colony in 1640.

Ancestral File Number: 8394-JP

Ancestral File Number: S18J-4L

Ancestral File Number: S18J-6X

Ancestral File Number: S18J-74

He was a soldier in the war of the revolution, had a pension.

Ancestral File Number: 1MP2-FB3

Gave birth: to two set of twins.

He was a surveyor of land, a justice of the peace and assessor many years.

They lived in Spencer until about 1834, when they moved to Cambridge, MA where he died 28 Dec. 1807; his widow died there 12 Sept.

Ancestral File Number: 264V-J7

Occupation: Farmer, owner of a grist-mill & sawmill.

Ancestral File Number: 264V-KD

He is credited with the invention of the spring bed. Previous to his invention, he had manufacted palm leaf hats in Cambridge with his brother Elias. At that time, he conceived the idea of using palm leaf as a filling for mattresses. Fine strips of palm leaf were twisted and subjected to heat to hold their curl. Palm leaf prepared in this manner became a popular filling for mattresses, and Tyler applied for a patent. He was granted a patent in 1853. Unlike his brother and nephew, he lived a long life. He died in Cambridge at agr of eighty.

Very little is known of William's early life except that he spent practically all of it in the vicinity of his birthplace and on or near the old family homestead. His occupation was primarily farming, but he possessed an inventive trait which near the close of his life led him to design new forms of bridge structure. He was the inventor and patentee of the "truss wooden bridge," now generally used in the constructed the bridge for the Western Railroad, over Connecticut river at Springfield. In 1838, he was commissioned to construct a bridge at Warren, Mass. for the Boston and Albany RR. He also designed and built the roof over the large depot of the Boston and Worcester Railroad at Boston, which was considered a very difficult and hazardous undertaking, but which was accomplished in a very satisfactory manner.This was so successful that for the remainer of his life he was busily engaged in constructing both bridges and roofs of his design, and this work, together with the royalties obtained thru selling rights th his patent, brought him a considerable fortune. Many of Howe's Truss bridges were built between the time of his invention and the development of the iron bridge. He removed to Springfield in 1840 and there died 1852.

He was the owner of mills and a large real estate.

Of Charlton, Mass.

Descendant of John Howe, of Sudbury, who became a freeman of Massachusetts Bay Colony in May l640 and died at Marlboro in l680. Elias Howe went to school occasionally in the winter time and worked on the farm and in the mills. The machinery of the latter interested him particularly, and he liked nothing better than to tinker with it and make repairs. When he was twelve years old his father could not afford to keep him in clothes any longer and hired him out to a neighboring farmer. Poor health and lameness prevented him from doing heavy farm work, and a year later he returned home to help in the saw and grist-mills. Ambitious to learn more about machinery, he went to Lowell, Mass., in l835 and became an apprentice in an establishment that manufactured cotton machinery. The panic of l837 severed this connection and Howe went to Cambridge, Mass. Here he found work in a machine-shop where he operated a newly invented hemp-carding machine. After a few months he went to Boston and became an apprentice of Ari Davis, a watch-maker primarily, but also a maker of surveying instruments and scientific apparatus for Harvard professors. Davis was an ingenious mechanical and, in spite of his eccentricities, was much consulted by both inventors and capitalists. In this ideal environment, with the finest of mechanical devices upon which to practice, Howe became both skilled and deft as a machinist. One day he overheard Davis suggest to a would-be inventor that he make a sewing machine, and from that moment he brooded over the possibility of devising a machine which would sew with the same motions as the human hand. In the meantime, Mar. 3, l841, he married Elizabeth J. Ames of Boston. He at length constructed a machine with a double-pointed needle and eye in the middle, but it proved an utter failure. In l844, however, he made another attempt, this time having in mind a lock-stitch and an eye-pointed needled united with a shuttle, an idea derived from the looms he had been familiar with all his life and had helped to make in the factory at Lowell. While the idea in the end proved a good one, he had first to devise a shuttle loaded with a lower thread and the means of throwing the shuttle at the proper intervals through loops of the upper thread. Soon after beginning this second machine, he gave up his nine-dollar-a-week job with Davis in order to devote his whole time to the task he had set himself. His father helped him by boarding him and his family in Cambridge, where he was then living. Howe later prevailed upon a friend, George Fisher, to become his partner, Fisher receiving the Howe family into his home as guests and advancing five hundred dollars toward buying materials and tools. Throughout the winter of l844-45 Howe labored steadily at his machine and by April l845 he had completed it to a point where it sewed with evenness and smoothness. In a public demonstration it exceeded in speed five of the swiftest hand sewers, for it could make 250 stitches a minute. Notwithstanding its success, however Howe met with financial discouragement. In l846 he completed a second machine, and after inducing Fisher to advance the necessary money, he took it to Washington, where he deposited it in the Patent office with his application for a patent. This was granted Sept. 10, 1846, patent No. 4750 (House Executive Document 52, 29 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 125, 308-09). Since he could arouse no interest in his machine in the United States, he decided to offer it in England. Accordingly, in October l846, his brother Amasa went to London with a third machine and succeeded in selling it for 250 pounds to William Thomas, a large manufacturer of corsets, shoes, and umbrellas. This transaction also gave to Thomas the entire rights of the machine for Great Britain. Seeing the possibilities of adapting it to sewing leather, Thomas induced Howe, through his brother, to come to London, and advanced the passage money. After working eight months for fifteen dollars a week, Howe quarreled with Thomas and found himself stranded. By pawning his model and patent papers he raised enough money to send his family home, and a few months later he returned in a sailing vessel, paying his way by cooking for the steerage. He arrived in Cambridge in time to reach the bedside of his dying wife. Meanwhile knowledge of the favor with which his machine had been received in England had reached the United States, and some manufacturers had already begun to make and sell sewing machines like Howe's in design. With a hopeless feeling, at first, he sued these manufacturers for infringement, using money advanced by George W. Bliss who had become his partner through the purchase of Fisher's half interest in the patent. One of the longest fights in American patent law followed, continuing from l849 to l854. With the proceeds of one or two successful suits, Howe made and marketed a number of sewing machines in New York, and thus kept himself alive. Finally his patent was declared basic and a judgment for a royalty was granted to him on every machine that infringed his patent (Howe vs. Underwood, 12 Federal Cases, 678). Shortly after this Bliss died and Howe for a nominal sum acquired full ownership of his patent. It expire in l860 but was extended for seven years in March l861, and in these years Howe's royalties often reached $4.00 a week. During the Civil War he organized and equipped an infantry regiment in Connecticut, and though he placed his means at its disposal he served in it as a private. In l865 he organized the Howe Machine Company of Bridgeport, Conn., and the perfected owe machine which he there produced won the gold medal at the Paris Exhibition of l867. After the death of this first wife, he married again (Howe Genealogies). He died in Brooklyn, N.Y.(Howe's own account of his invention and development of the sewing machine, including the litigation, is printed in Before then. Philip F. Thomas, Commissioner of Patents, in the

Matter of the Application of Elias Howe, Jr., for an Extension of his Sewing

Machine Patent (l860). See also The Howe Exhibition Cat. of Sewing Machines & Cases (l967), issued by the Howe Machine Company; Practical Mag. (London), V l875), 321-24; James Parton, in Atlantic Mo., May l867; Geo. Iles, Leading Am. Inventors (l912); W. B. Kaempffert, A Popular Hist. of Am. Invention (l924), vol. II; E. W. Byrn, The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century (l900); J. L. Bishop, A hist. of Am. Manufactures from l608-l860 (l864), vol. II; N. Salamon Hist. of the Sewing Machine from the Year l750; With a Biog. of Elias Howe,Jr.(London, l863). H. M. Towne, Hist. Sketches Relating to Spencer, Mass. Vol. I (l90l); D. W. Howe, Howe Geneals ....John Howe of Sudbury (l929): N.Y. Tribune, Oct. 5, l867.)

Dictionary of American Biography, Edited by Dumas

alone, Vol. IX, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, l932.

Note: Draper's book incorrectly attributes this invention to Elias Howe Senior

"The Bemis History and Genealogy" by Colonel Thomas Waln-Morgan Draper,1900, published San Francisco, California, copies in the Library of Congress

ELIAS HOWE, Inventor of the Sewing Machine

"He almost beggared himself before he discovered where the eye of the needle of the sewing machine should be located. His original idea was to follow the model of the ordinary needle, and have the eye at the heel. It never occurred to him that it should be placed at the point, and he might have failed altogether if he had not dreamed he was building a sewing machine for a savage king in a strange country. Just as in his actual experience he was perplexed about the needle's eye. He thought the king gave him 24 hours in which to complete the machine and make it sew, or suffer death as a punishment. Howe worked and worked, and puzzled, and finally gave it up. Then he thought he was taken out to be executed. He noticed that the warriors carried spears that were pierced near the head. Instantly came the solution, and while the inventor was begging for time he awoke. It was 4 o'clock in the morning. He jumped out of bed, ran to his workshop, and by 9, a needle with an eye at the point had been rudely modeled. After that, it was easy. That is the true story of an important incident in the invention of the sewing machine."

"Howe Genealogies" by Daniel Wait Howe, Revised & Edited by Gilman Bigelow Howe, 1929:

In early life he was employed at home in the making of cards used in the manufacture of cotton cloth, and thus acquired some of the ideas of machinery which he afterwards applied in the invention of the sewing machine. He lived with his father until 1835, when he went to Lowell, MA, and obtained a situation in a manufactory of cotton machinery, where he stayed for a couple of years, and then went to Cambridge, MA, and got employment in a machine shop. In a few months he went to Boston, and obtained employment in a shop kept by one Ori Davis for the manufacture of nautical and philosophical instruments, and it was while there, that he first conceived the idea of inventing the sewing machine, and he began work upon it about the year 1843. He received some pecuniary assistance from a former school mate, George Fisher, and in 1845 he produced a machine for which he afterwards secured a patent.

He vainly endeavored to interest the tailors of Boston in the invention, but they would have nothing to do with it and becoming discouraged, he took employment for several months as a railroad engineer. In 1847 he and his brother Amasa B. Howe, went to England to endeavor to introduce the invention there. Soon after, his wife and three children joined him in London. While there, he obtained employment in the establishment of William Thomas, who contracted with Elias to adapt his machine to the manufacture of corsets. After a few months, in consequence of some disagreement with his employer he was discharged. This seemed to have been the darkest period of his life; his invention appeared to be a failure, and all his years of labor upon it to have gone for naught. He was out of employment and out of means, his wife was in failing health and he was in a strange land, and far from home and kindred.

By extraordinary exertions and economy, and the help of a few friends, he managed to raise money to send his wife and children back to America, and in 1849 he followed, landing in New York with only half a crown in his pocket. He soon found employment in a machine shop, but soon received news that his wife was dying in Cambridge. He was so poor that he was compelled to borrow money to go to Cambridge, and was obliged to attend the funeral of his wife in his daily working clothes. Soon after, the news came that all his household goods had been lost in the wreck of the vessel in which they were shipped. He spent several years trying to re-purchase the rights which he had sold in the years of adversity, and in lawsuits with infringes upon his patent.

At last, in 1854, the validity of his patent was established and this was the turning point in his fortunes. He was recognized as the real inventor of the sewing machine, his invention containing the essential features of all other machines, and his income soon reached an enormous sum, it being estimated that at the expiration of his patent, he had realized about $2,000,000. He received many medals and other marks of appreciation of his invention, including a gold medal and a Cross of the Legion of Honor at the Paris Exposition in 1867.

During the Civil War, Mr. Howe was a zealous supporter of the Government, being largely instrumental in recruiting the 17th Regt. Conn. Vols., in which he enlisted as a private, and in which he served until he was compelled to leave the service by reason of failing health. At one time while he was in the service and the government was in financial straits, Mr. Howe advanced the money with which to pay the soldiers of the regiment.

Ancestral File Number: 264V-ZG

Burial: Greenwood, Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

Military service: Private,17th Connecticut Volunteers, Civil War

She died @31 years, 8 months of Consumption.

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

2. History of Spencer, Massachsetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 207.

3. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 249 [a. 47, G.S.I.].

4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

5. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 207.

6. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 249.

7. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

8. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 208.

9. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

10. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 208.

11. Historical Sketches Relating to Spencer Mass. by Henry M. Tower :( Vol. I) 1902,

12. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg 208.

13. Historical Sketches Relating to Spencer Mass. Vol II, by Henry M. Tower : 1902, pg 164.

14. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 207.

15. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 167.

16. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

17. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 172.

18. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 170.

19. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 249.

20. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 208.

21. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg 208.

22. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg 249.

23. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

24. Historical Sketches Relating to Spencer Mass. by Henry M. Tower :( Vol. I) 1902, pg. 101.

25. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

26. Historical Sketches Relating to Spencer Mass. by Henry M. Tower :( Vol. I) 1902, pg. 101.

27. Chester, Mass. V.R. to 1850, pg. 19.

28. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

29. Cambridge Mass. Vital Records, Vol. 11, pg. 209.

30. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 208.

31. History of Spencer Mass. 1875-1975, by Jeffrey H. Fiske, pg. 657.

32. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 170.

33. Chester, Mass. V.R. to 1850, pg. 60.

34. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849,

35. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 208 & 209.

36. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: including a Brief Sketch of Leicester, to the 1753 : by James Draper, pg. 208.

37. Charlton Mass. Vitals Records to 1849, pg. 93.

38. Charlton Mass. Vitals Records to 1849, pg. 231.

39. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 59.

40. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 170.

41. Spencer, Mass Vital Records to 1849, pg. 59.

42. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

43. Cambridge Mass. Vital Records, Vol. 1, pg. 19.

44. Cambridge Mass. Vital Records, Vol. 11, pg. 612.

45. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998.

46. Title: Howe Genealogies Author: Daniel Wait Howe Publication: Published in Accordance with the Will of Hon. Daniel Wait Howe Under the Direction of A Special Committee By the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929

47. Cambridge Mass. Vital Records, Vol. 1, pg 377.

48. Cambridge Mass. Vital Records, Vol. 1, pg. 377.

49. Cambridge Mass. Vital Records, Vol. 1, pg. 378.