By STEVE HATHCOCK
We’ve all heard stories or have personal experiences of not buying something when the price was right. There are many of us here on South Padre Island who lament the fact that at one time they could have bought an acre of land for $500 or a large beachfront tract for as little as $2,500. However, opportunity is not always easily recognized.
Our story begins in the spring of 1851. William A. Townsend was a successful book publisher with a stable of writers that included such literary giants as James Fennimore Cooper whose Last of the Mohicans
inspired a slow building of recognition for the plight of the American Indians to Frank G Forrester, a rod and gun writer whose exploits were told and retold all across the country.
One day, a tall burly man dressed in shabby clothes and carrying the model of his newest machine came to his office and, to the intense irritation of Townsend, proceeded to extol the virtues of his new device which
was an improvement on Elias Howe’s sewing machine. In its current design, the man, whose first name was Isaac, explained that Howe’s machine was unreliable and prone to breakdown. He had redesigned the
machine in such a way that it would become one of the greatest mechanical improvements of the time, but he did not have the means to secure the patent and put it on the market. All he needed to perfect his patent was $500. In exchange for the money, he offered Townsend a half interest on all the profits he, the inventor, was sure to make.
Isaac was no stranger to Townsend. Just a few years earlier he had patented an improvement on the manufacturing of movable type made from wood. Townsend’s career had taken a great leap about that time, partly due to Isaac’s invention, which greatly enhanced the speed of production and also reduced the cost of printing. Townsend was not interested though. Books were his business and besides, in truth, Townsend felt
uncomfortable with the way the man was practically begging for the money. He said he “had no time for such a project,” and sent Isaac and his contraption away.
Dejectedly, Isaac took his machine and left. He returned a couple of days later and asked Townsend to reconsider his proposition, but Townsend was adamant. If the machine could not be used in the printing
industry then he was not interested. Pondering his dilemma as he walked the streets of New York City, Isaac miraculously found himself face to face with his long-lost brother, John Singer.
After a great deal of conversation, Isaac said, “So there is my story brother. I am broke and to keep my share of the partnership, I must raise $500.”
Reaching into a leather money belt strapped around his waist, John removed a thick sheave of bank notes and peeled off the amount asked.
“Here brother,” John said nonchalantly as he handed the bills to Isaac. “Good luck to you, for I am off to the Texas frontier.” After the meeting with his brother, John finished his own business in New York City and
boarded the first steamer to New Orleans, There he loaded his wife and their new child aboard the Alice Sadell, a three-masted schooner and set sail for Texas.
In the meantime, unable to reach a settlement, Howe sued Isaac and his partners for patent infringement.
The lawsuit revolved around one issue. Like Howe’s machine, the Singer Sewing Machine used thread from two different sources. Isaac Singers improvement consisted of a needle with its eye at the point which
when the machine was engaged, would push the thread through the fabric, thus creating a loop on the opposite side. Then a sliding shuttle slipped the thread through the loop. The returning needle drew the thread tight, which created a perfect lockstitch.
The outcome of the whole affair rested in the hands of Judge Sprague of Massachusetts, who announced his ruling one fine day in 1852, stating “The plaintiff’s patent is valid and the defendant’s machine is an
infringement.”
A settlement was soon reached between Howe and Singer. All agreed that Isaac was by far the greater promoter and the Singer Sewing machine, patent infringement aside, was the superior machine. Finally, the two sides agreed that Singer and Company would manufacture and distribute the machine, and Howe would be paid a royalty of five dollars for each one sold. The new machine would aptly be called, “The Singer Sewing
Machine.”
Ironically, Townsend’s fortunes would wane while Singer’s soared. Upon his death, Isaac Singer’s net worth was estimated to be somewhere around fifteen million, while Townsend died almost a pauper.
Prologue: New York City, 1853 – A large wooden crate is delivered to the wharves in New York City where it is placed in the hold of a steamship bound for the Gulf of Mexico. The packing label reads, To Captain John Singer and wife, General delivery, Brazos Santiago, Texas.
This was the first Singer Sewing Machine delivered to Texas. Several years later, John Singer received another packet containing a bank draft for $150,000. The money was from Isaac Singer and would not be the
last such payment he made to his brother.
John Singer and his lost treasure has become a Padre Island legend.