1846: Elias Howe patents the first practical sewing machine and threads his way into the fabric of history. French tailor Barthelemy Thimonnier patented a device in 1830 that mechanized the ...

For years local historians and newspaper columnists (I'm pointing at myself) have had some laughs at the expense of Deacon Elias Howe, the man credited with the founding of Salinas. But the story ...