Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The name Singer is now almost synonymous with the sewing machine, but there were other pioneers in the field before Isaac Singer made the first effective machine the people bought to use in their own homes." [Furtado: 1001 Days] "Elias Howe, a journeyman machinist in Boston, patented a sewing machine in 1846." [Howe: What Hath God Wrought, p. 534]