On September 10, 1846, an American inventor by the name of Elias Howe was rewarded the patent for his first model of the lockstitch sewing machine. He was born on July 9, 1819, in Spencer, Massachusetts. In his early years, Howe lived in Massachusetts where he took part in a textile factory in Lowell in 1835. When the Panic of 1837 came around, the mill was shut down and he moved to Cambridge where he worked as a mechanic. Working under Ari Davis who was an ideal mechanic at the time, Howe was able to capture the idea of the sewing machine. Marrying Liz Ames in 1841, he had three children. Though he was not the first to conceive the idea of the machine, Howe upgraded the designs of the machines and made significant changes to ultimately be rewarded with the patent, as the U.S. Patent 4,750, with the lockstitch design. Others key contributors, shown below, were Barthélemy Thimonnier, Walter Hunt and Josef Madersperger.