Isaac Singer

Isaac Merritt Singer (1811 to 1875) was an American inventor, actor and businessman who made important improvements in the design of the sewing machine and founded what became one of the first American multi-national businesses, the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Others, among them Walter Hunt and Elias Howe, had patented sewing machines before him, but his success rested on the practicality of his machine, the ease with which it could be adapted to home use and its availability on an installment payment basis. He obtained his first patent in 1839 for a rock drilling machine, patented a machine for carving wood and metal in 1849, and in 1856 joined the first patent pool with rival sewing machine makers. He died in 1875 leaving a fortune of 13 million dollars, divided among 20 of the 26 children he fathered by five women.