The Manufacturing and Marketing of Sewing Machines

in York, Pennsylvania

The sewing machine was the first great labor-saving consumer appliance of the

nineteenth century. Along with cooking, sewing was one of the most time consuming chores

faced by women. Sewing was an essential skill. In addition to meeting her family’s basic

clothing needs, women also sewed cloaks, jackets, hats, and formal clothes plus the household’s

linen, bedding, and quilts. These items, requiring many hours of labor, were hand sewn.1

The sewing machine changed all that. Francis Trevelyan Miller proclaimed in 1913 that

“no invention has done so much to deliver woman from drudgery. No one piece of machinery

has done so much to deliver her from her burdens, her seclusion, her serfdom” as the sewing

machine; the sewing machine gave women their “self-reliance and freedom.”2 An 1897 official

Singer Sewing Machine Company history summarizes the societal benefits this way:

“And so the great importance of the sewing-machine is in its

influence upon the home, in the countless hours it has added to

woman’s leisure for rest and refinement; in the increase of time

and opportunity for that early training of children, for lack of

which so many pitiful wrecks are strewed along the shores of life;

in the number less avenues it has opened for woman’s

employment; and in the comforts it has brought within the reach of

all, which could formerly be attained only by the wealthy few.”3

The fifth United States patent for a sewing machine was issued to Elias Howe in

September 1846 for the lock-stitch and the eye-pointed needle, which were essential for any

working sewing machine.4 His patent was initially contested but once it was upheld by the

courts in 1853, Howe began charging sewing machine manufacturers a $25 license fee, about

half the average price of a machine. However, Howe’s license did not cover all of the parts

needed to produce a functional sewing machine. Other manufacturers held patents to mechanical

improvements to the sewing machine and filed suits to protect their rights. This litigation

threatened to stop sewing machine production and sales. To resolve the situation, Elias Howe,

Wheeler, Wilson and Company, I. M. Singer and Company, and Grove and Baker agreed in 1856

to pool their nine complementary patents that covered all the necessary elements to build a

functional sewing machine. The “Sewing Machine Combination” charged sewing machine

makers a license fee of $15 per machine, with the other members agreeing to Howe’s stipulation

that at least 24 manufacturers were to be licensed. Other than pooling their patents, the

combination’s three manufacturing members continued to operate as separate entities competing

with each other and the licensed companies to attract buyers to purchase their particular sewing

machine.5

The first sewing machines were marketed to factories and seamstresses. Singer

introduced its first family sewing machine in 1858 which sold for $100, the equivalent of about

$3,000 today. This machine did not sell well as it was too light. In 1859, Singer manufactured a

heavier, more successful family machine with a $75 price. Other successful sewing machines

aimed at the home market were brought out around this time by Wheeler and Wilson and Grove

and Baker. Both of these machines sold for around $100. The Wilcox and Gibbs Sewing

Machine Company’s family model was priced at $50 in the late 1850s.6

There were 74 sewing machine manufacturing establishments in the United States in

1860 using capital totaling $1,426,550 and 2,287 workers to produce 111,623 machines with a

total value of $4,247,820. The published 1860 manufacturing census summary records one

sewing machine maker in York County, Pennsylvania. This firm, with $500 capital invested,

employed two hands at an average monthly wage of $70. Production was valued at $1,800

(about $54,500 in 2017 dollars). The manuscript census schedules for the second division of

York Borough, “All that portion of York Borough south of Main Street”, reveal that this

manufacturer was W. G. Moore or, maybe, H. G. Moore (see Figure 1).7 Moore’s establishment

used 2,400 pounds of iron castings costing $190, two turning lathes, and $150 of other articles to

manufacture 300 sewing machines during the year ending June 1, 1860.8 Unfortunately, I could

find no other information about this manufacturer. No one with the last name “Moore” is

recorded in the 1860 census population manuscript schedules as residing in the second division

of York Borough nor is there any Moore with a first name starting with W or H recorded for the

first division of York Borough. The population schedules for York County do list a William

Moore employed as a servant and a Wendel Moore working as a laborer in Spring Garden

Township. Other W. Moore’s in the county were employed as a forgeman in Lower Chanceford

Township, as a slater in Peach Bottom Township, and as a railroad agent and as a printer in

Wrightsville. The only H. Moore in the county was Henry S. Moore who was a carpenter in

Fairview Township.9 There is no listing for “Moore” in the 1856 York business directory nor is

a W. G. Moore listed in any later directories.10

The manufacture of sewing machines in York County ended some time in the 1860s. No

sewing machine maker is listed in the 1863-64 city directory. Two Moore’s are listed: an

auctioneer and a hotel proprietor11. And, there is no sewing machine manufacturing recorded for

York County in the 1870 census. Nationally, sewing machine production in 1870 was 578,919

machines with a value of $13,638,706, across 49 establishments employing 7,291 workers, 8

percent of whom were women and children.12

In addition to being the first consumer appliance, the sewing machine was the first

product sold under a consumer installment, rent-to-own plan and the first to be sold through a

franchised-agency system. Elements of both of these appear in the long history of sewing

machine marketing in York. Sewing machine agents began to set up shop in York after the Civil

War. The 1868-69 City Directory lists six sellers of sewing machines including Grove and

Baker at 100 South George Street and Howe’s at 137 West Market.13 Grove and Baker was

founded in Boston by a pair of tailors around 1849. Attorney Orlando B. Potter entered into

partnership with them. It was Potter who suggested the idea of a combination of sewing machine

manufacturers to pool their combined patents necessary to build a sewing machine. Grove and

Baker did not contribute any patents to the pool, although it held several patents of minor

importance, but was included in the combination because its president had proposed the patent

pool. When the combination’s patents began to expire in the 1870s, Grove and Baker sold off all

the patents held by the company and eventually the company itself was sold. Grove and Baker

manufactured its last machine in 1875.14 The agent for Grove and Baker was F. A. Steig. Steig

and Froelich were merchant tailors at 100 South George.

The Howe Machine Company, which had the advertisement depicted in Figure 2 on page

16 of the 1868-69 city directory, was founded by Elias Howe shortly before his death in 1867

and produced sewing machines until the late 1880s. Howe had licensed his patents to his brother

Amasa who started making machines under the Howe Sewing Machine Company name in 1854.

The brothers later had a falling out when Elias began making machines under the company name

his brother had used and continued to own. C. F. Kurtz (11 North George), L. Strayer (227 West

Market), and Hiram Young (10 East Market) are also listed under sewing machines in the 1868-

69 directory. Young also sold books and stationary and would go on to found the York

Dispatch.15

All the major sewing machine manufacturers of the period had a sales presence in York

by 1873. Singer Sewing Machine was at 18 North George Street with Wood and Ivory as

general agents. Wheeler and Wilson Sewing Machine, the leading manufacturer up through the

late 1860s, was located at 115 East Market (Figure 3).16 Wheeler and Wilson contributed two

patents to the sewing machine combination: the four-motion feed bar and the vibratory shuttle.

Both of these ideas were developed by Allen B. Wilson, a journeyman cabinetmaker. His

partner, Nathaniel Wheeler operated a carriage factory in Connecticut. Wilson retired from the

company in 1853 due to health concerns but the business carried on making sewing machines

until it was purchased by Singer Corporation in 1905.17

Howe Sewing Machine was represented in the early 1870s in York by general agent W.

S. Strayer at 20 West Market. Domestic Sewing Machine was located on the northwest corner of

Centre Square and Grove and Baker was now at 123 West Market. Weed Sewing Machines

were sold at 231 West Market while Wilson Sewing Machine was at 304 ½ West Market.

Manufactured in Philadelphia, American Buttonhole, Overseaming and Sewing Machines were

sold at 23 North George Street. Florence Sewing Machine Company, represented by Reuben

Shetter, was at 405 West Philadelphia Street by 1877. W. H. Lochman at 122 South George was

also listed in the 1873 city directory as a sewing machine agent.18

Wesley S. Strayer had the advertisement shown in Figure 4 in the 1877 city directory

announcing that he sold Elias Howe, Singer, Domestic, White, Circular-Feed, American, Victor,

Manning, English, and Weed brand sewing machines at his establishment one door west of the

post office at 20 West Market Street. C. V. Spangler and Company sold sewing machines and

musical instruments at 21 West Market Street in 1877.19 Spangler was a tobacconist in 1882.

An important name in the history of sewing machine marketing in York first appears in

the 1877 directory: Eli Grove. He was listed at 27 West Market Street in 1877 and was the

manager for the York Singer Machine Company shop in 1882.20 He represented Singer in York

until the 1920s. Eli Free Grove was born in 1853 in Hopewell Township. He came to York in

1870 and entered the sewing machine business as an agent for the Howe Machine Company. In

1877, he became the agent for Singer Machine Company for York and Adams Counties, with an

office right off the square on West Market Street in York and another office in Gettysburg. His

ad in the 1886 city directory (Figure 5) claimed that he has controlled the sewing machine trade

in York and Adams Counties for the last nine years and that his sales have run over 7,000

machines.21 In 1892, he was appointed the manager of the southern Pennsylvania district for

Singer, which comprised about thirty offices. His “beautiful and hospitable” house at 137 East

Market Street is now the home of the York County Bar Association. Grove passed away in

1935.22

Singer Sewing Machine inventor Isaac Singer had some York County connections.

Prowell asserts that Singer briefly served as a journeyman tailor in York and, while residing here

in the 1830s, entered into a common-law marriage with Mary Ann Sponsler.23 I. M. Singer and

Company adopted an number of innovative marketing techniques. Singer introduced the first

sewing machine designed for home use in 1856. It was lighter and smaller than other machines

and was made to sit on a decorative iron stand instead of on a wooden crate. Singer also offered

a trade-in program, where the company offered a $50 allowance for the customer’s old machine

towards the purchase of a new Singer model. The company began an installment buying or rent-

to-own program in 1856. And, after repurchasing the territorial rights it had sold in its earliest

days, Singer opened its own branch sales offices in cities around the country in the same area as

the best stores in town. The York showroom was located off Centre Square for many years. At

these stores, customers could see demonstrations and receive instruction, purchase parts, needles,

and thread, and bring in machines for repair.24

The number of sewing machine agents in York quickly declined. In 1882, just five are

listed in the city directory.25 The Singer Machine Company was located at 7 ½ West Market

Street. Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company (G. W. Allen, agent) was at 22 North

George, but the company’s presence in York ended by the mid-1880s. Thomas Wood, who

became the secretary of the York Gas Company, was an agent for New Home Sewing. He was

located at 107 East Princess Street. Moses E. Hartzler was an agent for the Domestic and Royal

St. John sewing machine companies during the 1880’s, first at 9 East Market Street and then at

the Odd Fellows Hall on the corner of King and George Streets. Born in 1849, Hartlzer along

with his wife and daughter are listed in the 1880 census as boarders at 112 North Duke Street.

His occupation was “sewing machine agent”. By 1900, he and his family were living at 119

West King Street and his occupation was listed as “commercial traveler, sewing machines”.

Hartzler was later a printer and the treasurer of the Spangler Manufacturing Company, a maker

of agricultural implements in York. He died in 1929.26

The Singer store moved to its long-time location at 4 East Market Street in the late 1880s

(Figure 6). An occasional competitor appeared and disappeared. G. W. Bange and Co. was

located on Fountain Square in Hanover in 1886. In 1889, Winemiller and Stouch were listed as

sewing machine agents at 304 West Market Street. William E. Smith was selling machines in

1895 at 102 South George Street. In 1899, Edward S. Howard at 110 South George and H. Katz

and Son at 129 South George are listed as sewing machine agents. Howard also sold carpets and

house furnishings, later running Davis Furniture at 122 South George Street. Ferdinand M.

Everhart was selling Domestic sewing machines at 243 West Market Street in 1913. He also

sold pianos at the same location.27

The sewing machine marketing situation stabilized in the 1910s, with Singer machines

being sold at their shop on Centre Square and Rothert Company offering White sewing machines

and “Everything for the Home” (Figure 7) in their department store at 42-46 South George

Street. By 1921, the Singer store had relocated to 51 East Market Street and during the 1950s

moved to 121 West Market Street. Singer moved out to the York Mall in 1969 (Figure 8) under

the management of John F. Murphy but closed a few years later.28

The history of sewing machine manufacturing in York was very short. But, befitting its

status as the first female labor-saving commercial appliance, the marketing and sale of sewing

machines at a specialty storefront in downtown York lasted over a century.

Notes

1. Sharon Hughes, “Isaac Merritt Singer: a womanizer who liberated women” (Masters thesis,

University of Texas at Tyler, 2014), 66-67; Ruth Brandon, A Capitalist Romance: Singer and the

Sewing Machine (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1977), 120-121.

2. Francis Trevelyan Miller, Wonder Stories (New York: The Christian Herald, 1913), 134.

3. Singer Sewing Machine Company, The Story of the Sewing Machine (Singer Manufacturing

Company, 1897), 9.

4. For the early history of the sewing machine, see Grace Rogers Cooper, The Sewing Machine:

Its Invention and Development (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1976), 3-38.

5. Ryan Lampe and Petra Moser, “Do Patent Pools Encourage Innovation? Evidence from the

19th-Century Sewing Machine Industry,” Journal of Economic History 70 (2010): 898-920;

Andrew B. Jack, “The Channels of Distribution for an Innovation: The Sewing-Machine Industry

in America, 1860-1865,” Explorations in Entrepreneurial History 9 (1957): 113-141; Cooper,

The Sewing Machine, 41-42.

6. Cooper, The Sewing Machine, 47.

7. United States Census Office, Census Descriptions of Geographic Subdivisions and

Enumeration Districts, 1830-1950 (National Archives Microfilm Publication T1224, roll 2, page

237); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29.

8. Bureau of the Census, Manufactures of the United States in 1860; Compiled from the Original

Returns of the Eighth Census, Under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior (Washington:

Government Printing Office, 1865), clxxxix, 535; Bureau of the Census, Eighth U. S. Census,

1860, [Microform]: Manufactures, Pennsylvania, Reel 2, York County, Second Division, York

Borough, Page 9, Line 9. Cooper’s, The Sewing Machine,72, compilation of nineteenth century

American sewing machine companies lists a Moore Sewing Machine Co. with an earliest record,

“circa 1860”, but provides no city or state information for the firm nor a last record date.

9. J. C. E. More, an auctioneer, is listed as residing in the second division of York Borough.

Bureau of the Census, Eighth U. S. Census, 1860, [Microform]: Population, Pennsylvania, Reels

1198-1201, York County, Second Division, York Borough, Page 116, Line 18; Spring Garden

Township, Page 30, Line 3 and Page 53, Line 4; Lower Chanceford Township, Page 12, Line 25;

Peach Bottom Township, Page 50, Line 1; Wrightsville Borough, Page 27, Line 34 and Page 53,

Line 21; Fairview Township, Page 48, Line 5.

10. The York Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1856 (York, PA: John Denig, 1856), 17-29.

11. Gopsill’s Directory of Lancaster, Harrisburg, Lebanon and York, 1863-4 (Jersey City, NJ:

James Gopsill, 1863), 312-313.

12. Francis A. Walker, Ninth Census – Volume III. The Statistics of the Wealth and Industry of

the United States (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872), 730, 623.

13. Directory of the Borough of York. Also a Business Directory, for 1868-69 (Baltimore: Webb

& Fitzgerald, 1868), 78.

14. Cooper, The Sewing Machine, 38; Lampe and Moser, “Do Patent Pools Encourage

Innovation?” 906.

15. Directory of the Borough of York . . . , for 1868-69, 78.

16. Eisenhart’s Directory of the Inhabitants, Incorporated Companies, and Manufacturing

Establishments of the Borough of York . . . for 1873 (York, PA: E. H. Eisenhart, 1873), 130.

17. Cooper, The Sewing Machine, 221-222; Jack, “The Channels of Distribution for an

Innovation,” 117.

18. Eisenhart’s Directory for 1873, 130.

19. Authentic General Directory of the Borough of York, Hanover, and Wrightsville, York

County, PA, for 1877 (York, PA: Herman & Miller and Thomas, 1877), 157.

20. Boyd’s York Directory . . . 1881-1882 (Pottsville, PA: W. Harry Boyd, 1881), 41.

21. Young’s York City and County Directory, 1886 (York, PA: “Evening Dispatch” Office,

1886), p. 225.

22. John Gibson, History of York County Pennsylvania, From the Earliest Period to the Present

Time. Divided into General, Special, Township and Borough Histories, With a Biographical

Department Appended (Chicago: F. A. Battey, 1886), Part II, 19; George R. Prowell, History of

York County Pennsylvania, Biographical, Illustrated, Volume II (Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1907),

368; “Eli Grove,” accessed October 25, 2016, https://www.myheritage.com/names/eli_grove.

23. Prowell, History of York County Pennsylvania, 652. None of the biographies of Isaac Singer

mention anything about York, Pennsylvania. See Hughes, “Isaac Merritt Singer: a womanizer

who liberated women” and Brandon, A Capitalist Romance. One of the sons of Isaac Singer and

Mary Ann Sponsler did live in York. An 1891 article in the Harrisburg Telegram reported that

John A. Singer, who lived on East Market Street in York, had abandoned his wife and left York.

See file #18020 on Singer Sewing at the York County History Center’s Library and Archives.

24. See Hughes, “Isaac Merritt Singer: a womanizer who liberated women,” 101-103; Jack, “The

Channels of Distribution for an Innovation,”122-132.

25. Boyd’s York Directory . . . 1881-1882, 41.

26. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch

(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWV1-YSL : accessed 2 September 2017), Moses

Hartzler in household of Oliver Bolinger, York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; citing

enumeration district ED 22, sheet 263A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.:

National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1207; FHL microfilm 1,255,207;

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch

(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3H4-GLR : accessed 2 September 2017), Moses E.

Hartzler, York city Ward 4, York, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED)

190, sheet 4A, family 81, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National

Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,503; "United States Census,

1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGC5-

JXW : accessed 2 September 2017), M E Hartzler, York Ward 11, York, Pennsylvania, United

States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 133, sheet 5B, family 110, NARA microfilm

publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll

1435; FHL microfilm 1,375,448.

27. Young’s York City and County Directory, 1886, 312; Young’s York City and County

Directory, 1889 (York, PA: York Dispatch Print, 1889), 332; York City Directory for 1899

(York, PA: R. L. Polk, 1899), 530; The Bell Publishing Co’s York City and County Directory

1894-95 (Baltimore: Bell Publishing Co., 1894), 242; York City Directory, 1913 (York, PA: R.

L. Polk, 1913), 1104.

28. R. L. Polk & Co.’s York Directory 1921 (New York: R. L. Polk, 1921), 1289; Polk’s York

(York County, PA.) City Directory 1960 (Boston: R. L. Polk & Co., 1960), 812; Polk’s York

(York County, PA.) City Directory 1969 (Boston: R. L. Polk & Co., 1969), 526.

Bibliography

Authentic General Directory of the Borough of York, Hanover, and Wrightsville, York County,

PA, for 1877. York, PA: Herman & Miller and Thomas, 1877.

Boyd’s York Directory . . . 1881-1882. Pottsville, PA: W. Harry Boyd, 1881.

Brandon, Ruth. A Capitalist Romance: Singer and the Sewing Machine. Philadelphia: J. B.

Lippincott, 1977.

Bureau of the Census. Eighth U. S. Census, 1860, [Microform]: Manufactures, Pennsylvania,

Reel 2, York County.

Bureau of the Census, Eighth U. S. Census, 1860, [Microform]: Population, Pennsylvania, Reels

1198-1201, York County.

Bureau of the Census. Manufactures of the United States in 1860; Compiled from the Original

Returns of the Eighth Census, Under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Washington:

Government Printing Office, 1865.

Cooper, Grace Rogers. The Sewing Machine: Its Invention and Development. Washington, DC:

Smithsonian Institution Press, 1976.

Directory of the Borough of York. Also a Business Directory, for 1868-69. Baltimore: Webb &

Fitzgerald, 1868.

Eisenhart’s Directory of the Inhabitants, Incorporated Companies, and Manufacturing

Establishments of the Borough of York . . . for 1873. York, PA: E. H. Eisenhart, 1873.

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https://www.myheritage.com/names/eli_grove.

Gibson, John. History of York County Pennsylvania, From the Earliest Period to the Present

Time. Divided into General, Special, Township and Borough Histories, With a Biographical

Department Appended. Chicago: F. A. Battey, 1886.

Gopsill’s Directory of Lancaster, Harrisburg, Lebanon and York, 1863-4. Jersey City, NJ: James

Gopsill, 1863.

Hughes, Sharon. “Isaac Merritt Singer: a womanizer who liberated women.” Masters thesis,

University of Texas at Tyler, 2014.

Jack, Andrew B. “The Channels of Distribution for an Innovation: The Sewing-Machine Industry

in America, 1860-1865.” Explorations in Entrepreneurial History 9 (1957): 113-141.

Lampe, Ryan and Petra Moser. “Do Patent Pools Encourage Innovation? Evidence from the

19th-Century Sewing Machine Industry.” Journal of Economic History 70 (2010): 898-920.

Miller, Francis Trevelyan. Wonder Stories. New York: The Christian Herald, 1913.

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Figure 1. Extract from 1860 manufacturing census schedule for York Borough. Source: Bureau

of the Census, Eighth U. S. Census, 1860, [Microform]: Manufactures, Pennsylvania, Reel 2,

York County, Second Division, York Borough, Page 9, Line 9. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania

State Library.

Figure 2. Howe Sewing Machine Advertisement. Source: Directory of the Borough of York.

Also a Business Directory, for 1868-69, 16. Courtesy of the York County History Center.

Figure 3. Boyd’s York Directory . . . 1881-1882, 225. Courtesy of the York County History

Center.

Figure 4. W. S. Strayer Advertisement. Source: Authentic General Directory of the Borough of

York, Hanover, and Wrightsville, York County, PA, for 1877, 120. Courtesy of the York County

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Figure 5. Singer Sewing Machines Advertisement. Source: Young’s York City and County

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Figure 6. E. F. Grove Advertisement. Source: File #14071, Advertising - General, York County

History Center Library and Archives. Courtesy of the York County History Center.

Figure 7. Rothert Co. Advertisement. Source: Polk & Co.’s York Directory 1921, 56. Courtesy

of the York County History Center.

Figure 8. Singer Company Advertisement. Source: Polk’s York City Directory 1969, 134.

Courtesy of the York County History Center.