Reportedly, Saint never made a model of his invention. It was just an idea in the patent office until 1873 when Newton Wilson stumbled on the patent and decided to build it. After he did, he found that it would not work without some modifications.

Other sewing machines emerged, but the first practical device was invented by Walter Hunt in 1834. Unfortunately, this was not a commercial success, and the first really viable sewing machines had to wait for Elias Howe Jr. and Isaac Merrit Singer.

Howe's machine was patented in 1846, but each one had to be hand-crafted and could not be readily mass produced. Singer, on the other hand, made a patent model of his sewing machine in 1851, and his piece of equipment soon became a fixture in many homes around the world.

The machine owned by A. A. was manufactured by Charles Raymond, who began making sewing machines about 1858 with William Nettleton in Brattleboro, Vermont. These were rather crude contraptions and the company was not in business long. In 1862, Raymond moved to Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and set up a factory with 15 workers he had brought with him.

By the early 1870's, Raymond's Sewing Machine Factory had two large buildings on Yarmouth Street in Guelph and employed about 165 workers. Reports in the County of Wellington Directory for 1871 - 72 state that Raymond's could turn out around 500 sewing machines a week.

The first machine produced by Raymond's in Guelph was the "Raymond's Family Sewing Machine," which was hand operated and made a chain-stitch. Its patent date is July 30, 1861, and it sold for $12, which made it one of the cheapest sewing machines available in the 1860's.

The problem with a chain-stitch is that it can unravel fai
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