In August of 1991, Carolyn Louise O’Hare Lees was moving to Raleigh, North Carolina. She donated a Willcox and Gibbs sewing machine to the Kingsland Manor.

Carolyn was born in Jersey City in 1920 and married to Eric Lees of Nutley. They had three children: a son, David, and two daughters, Deborah, and Glynis. It was Glynis who put her mother and brother in the news in January 1957. Carolyn had given birth to Glynis in December and was still in the hospital recovering. According to hospital regulations at the time, children were not allowed in maternity wards. To overcome this, Beth Israel Hospital set up a closed-circuit television booth in the hospital lobby. It was connected to Carolyn’s room, and eleven-year-old David was the first person to use the new system.

Carolyn’s husband, Eric, passed away in 1975. She continued to live in Nutley and was involved in church groups like the Newcomer’s Club until 1991, when she moved south to Raleigh. Carolyn passed away in 2001.

Willcox and Gibbs started their sewing machine manufacturing business in 1857. James Edward Allen Gibbs was awarded a patent for the first twisted chainstitch single thread sewing machine using a rotating hook. He partnered with James Willcox to form the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Our machine has a serial number of 39831 and patent dates in the 1920s.

The description that was written when Carolyn made the donation to the Trust was: made by Willcox and Gibbs; mechanism enclosed in a table – 17 inches by 24 inches and 30 inches high; wood is dark stain; it is electrified.