Forgotten Thread

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 feeds by its own operation. 

William Johnson's Sewing Machine Patent Model (No. 10,597)

 

Even though his four-motion feed revolutionized sewing, he did not stop there. Johnson continued refining his invention in the years that followed. His original patent was eventually surrendered and canceled, and on February 26, 1856, a reissued patent was granted under an amended specification. This reissue—Patent No. 355—maintained the original term of fourteen years from the date of his first patent, No. 10,597, preserving his legal protection while reflecting the improvements he had made.

Johnson claimed that the mechanism in a sewing machine made by Wheeler & Wilson, a major manufacturer of sewing machines, infringed upon his invention and subsequently filed suit twice (in what became known as Johnson vs. Root). Allen Wilson's mechanism featured four synchronized movements: a vertical lift, a forward movement, a drop, and a backward movement- together allowing the machine to advance fabric or material incrementally. 

Drawings of William Johnson's Invention

Allen B. Wilson and Nathaniel Wheeler founded the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company after Wheeler agreed to help mass-produce a sewing machine designed by Wilson. Though Wilson had first conceived of the sewing machine in 1847—unaware it had already been invented—his innovative design would help revolutionize the industry. By 1859, Wheeler & Wilson had become the largest sewing machine manufacturer in the United States, earning widespread acclaim and winning awards for its engineering and craftsmanship. In 1905, the company was acquired by Singer, which eventually phased out most of Wilson's original designs - though it continued to produce the popular Wheeler & Wilson No. 9 model under the Singer name for a time.

The court ultimately ruled against Johnson, declaring his reissued patent invalid. The ruling determined that Patent No. 355 introduced substantial changes not present in the original, thus exceeding the permissible scope of a reissue. This decision significantly weakened Johnson’s standing in the competitive and increasingly litigious sewing machine industry.

The second case is often cited within the broader context of the so-called “Sewing Machine War” of the 1850s—a turbulent era defined by fierce competition and relentless patent litigation among sewing machine inventors and manufacturers. As companies raced to commercialize and protect their innovations, lawsuits flooded the courts, creating a legal bottleneck that threatened to stifle progress in the rapidly growing industry. To resolve the chaos, the major manufacturers—including Singer, Wheeler & Wilson, Grover & Baker, and others—formed the Sewing Machine Combination in 1856, one of the earliest examples of a patent pool in American history. This unprecedented agreement allowed member companies to share key patents, standardize licensing fees, and reduce the costly litigation that had plagued the industry. The Sewing Machine Combination not only stabilized the market but also paved the way for more efficient mass production and widespread adoption of the sewing machine; transforming both home and industrial sewing across the country.

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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes

Number of applications for patents during the year 1854: 3,324 Patents issued 1,902

On April 12, 1853, William H. Johnson of Granville, Massachusetts, a machinist by trade, filed for a patent from the United States Patent Office for the improvement of feeding clamps for sewing machines.


From patent filing -

 He invented a sewing machine in which a stitch of peculiar character is employed. The seam was made of a single thread with a needle, hook, and lever. A loop of thread is first run through the material to be sewed. A second loop is run through the material and the first loop is put through this. A third loop is run through the material and the first loop. A fourth loop is carried through the material, and the third through it. Thus, putting the first through the second and around the third, the third through the fourth end and around the fifth, and so forth, thus forming the belaying double loop stitch - as William called it.


William Hawkins Johnson: September 23, 1822 - December 30, 1883
Some sources have his date of death as January 30, 1884. His gravestone reads December 30, 1883.

On November 7, 1848, William Johnson filed a legal notice known as a caveat with the United States Patent Office. At the time, a caveat served as a formal declaration of intent to patent an invention that was currently in development. It acted as a placeholder, alerting the Patent Office—and any potential competitors—that Johnson was working on an invention and intended to file a full patent application once it was complete. This effectively secured his priority in case someone else attempted to patent a similar idea first.