After Elias died in 1867, the company was run by his sons-in-law, the Stockwell brothers. To distinguish their machines from those of A. B. Howe, they marked each machine with a brass medallion picturing the head and flowing locks of Elias Howe. They also continued to advertise their machine as the “original” Howe. In about 1873, B. P. Howe, Amasa’s son, sold the Howe Sewing Machine Co. to the Stockwell brothers, who continued to manufacture Howe machines until 1886.
The machines of the A. B. Howe Sewing Machine Co. may be dated by serial number approximately as follows:
| Serial Number | Year |
| 1-60 | 1854 |
| 61-113 | 1855 |
| 114-166 | 1856 |
| 167-299 | 1857 |
| 300-478 | 1858 |
| 479-1399 | 1859 |
No figures are available for 1860-1870, but 20,051 machines were manufactured in 1871.
The machines of the [Elias] Howe Machine Co. are not believed to have begun with serial number 1, and no figures are available for 1865-1867. After that, the machines may be dated by serial number approximately as follows:
| Serial Number | Year |
| 11,000-46,000 | 1868 |
| 46,001-91,843 | 1869 |
| 91,844-167,000 | 1870 |
| 167,001-301,010 | 1871 |
| 301,011-446,010 | 1872 |
| 446,011-536,010 | 1873 |
| 536,011-571,010 | 1874 |
| 571,011-596,010 | 1875 |
| 596,011-705,304 | 1876 |
No figures are available for 1877-1886.
Figure 97.—Advertising brochure distributed by E. Howe during the brothers’ brief partnership; the machines are basically A. B. Howe machines, 1863. (Smithsonian photo 49373-A.)