On March 7, 1854, William H. Johnson, a machinist from Granville, Massachusetts, was granted U.S. Patent No. 10,597 for a mechanical mechanism that enhanced the efficiency of sewing machines—a rapidly evolving technology of the era. That same year, his invention earned him a silver medal at the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, held at the New York Crystal Palace, a showcase of American ingenuity and industrial progress. In his patent filing, Johnson summarized his invention as consisting of what he called the "belaying double-loop stitch" with a single thread by the employment of one needle used in connection with a double-spring hook over which the loops are formed, the needle working vertically and having a vibratory side motion, so that each time it passes through the cloth or other material to be sewed the material is moved forward a sufficient distance for the succeeding perforation, thus constituting the machine which forms the seam using a single thread and f...