While we may never know the actual production numbers of W&G earliest sewing machines, with a few mathematical calculations and reasonable assumptions we can come up with a much improved early serial number dating guide. 17,427 on June 2, 1857.” It is from this date that we can trace the birth of the cute machines that we have come to know and love. According to Grace Rogers Cooper’s book “The Sewing Machine: It’s Invention and Development”, page 40, “After taking out two minor patents (on December 16, 1856, and January 20, 1857), Gibbs obtained his important one, U.S. They were focused on making sewing machines. When Willcox & Gibbs began their partnership, keeping records of their sewing machine production dates, and serial numbers was not a top priority. He spent the rest of his life as both patriarch and benefactor of the village later dubbed Raphine - taken from the ancient Greek word for needle - when Gibbs donated land to the B&O Railroad for a right-of-way in 1883.The following revised rationale of Willcox & Gibbs serial numbers, painstakingly researched by Bill Grewe, initiated this revealing correspondence between the author and ISMACS’ Graham Forsdyke. But unlike reaper inventor Cyrus McCormick, his former Rockbridge neighbor, he did not move north. The impoverished former Confederate soldier also discovered that $10,000 had since been credited to his account.īy Southern standards, Gibbs was a rich man. His partner Willcox welcomed him warmly, telling him that the company had prospered nicely in his absence. When the war ended, Gibbs donned a borrowed suit and ventured north to see what, if anything, remained of his sewing machine business. Having contracted typhoid and pneumonia early on, he laid low for most of the war, but fought when called upon to defend his home ground in June of 1864, at the Battle of Piedmont.

With the coming of the Civil War, Gibbs distanced himself from his northern partners, returning to Rockbridge County. Due to its simple mechanics, the device cost less to produce than other machines and therefore could be priced less expensively -$50, as compared to twice that for a new Singer - just as its inventor had intended.

During the next several years, the Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine hit the market and caught on.

Willcox gibbs sewing machine parts