Lucy Webb Hayes' Sewing machine
Bridgeport Connecticut Mfg. Co.1858
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Fremont, United States
Original Wheeler-Wilson sewing machine; metal base and supports with brown wood top and cover; metal bottom has four legs with metal rod connecting two sides in middle; metal rod supports co-joined foot pedals which are attached to a wheel pulley system under the table top; on table-top sits stitching mechanism of metal plate, two arms and various other moving parts; table top is square; cover is box-shaped with a flip-top that has hinges further towards the back that allows top to be open for use of the machine; two small drawers (one on each side) are situated at top of cover (not visible when top is closed); also has red label # 92 on cover.
- Title: Lucy Webb Hayes' Sewing machine
- Creator: Bridgeport Connecticut Mfg. Co.
- Date: 1858
- Physical Location: Fremont, Ohio
- Provenance: A sewing board went along with this machine. Both pieces were used by Lucy Webb Hayes at her home in Cincinnati during the Civil War and according to niece Lucy Keller, Hayes made her older son's clothing on this machine. Hayes' mother, Maria Cook Webb, bought it for her daughter in 1858 for the price of $112. This information is in a letter from Rutherford B. Hayes to his mother, Sophia Birchard Hayes. This Wheeler-Wilson machine was made by the Bridgeport Connecticut Manufacturing Co., circa 1854.
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