Jan Ernst
Matzeliger and the
Shoe Making
Machine
By Franchesca L.
His family, home, and day of birth
Jan Ernst Matzeliger was
born on September 15, 1852 in
Paramaribo, Dutch Guyana.
He was the son of a
Surinamese homemaker and a
Dutch engineer.
Early life
Jan Ernst Matzeliger had no education. When he
was 10 years old he was apprenticed to go work in
the machine shops that his father owned. That is
when he started to show an interest in mechanics.
At the age of 19 he moved to Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania to become a sailor. Then he moved
to Lynn, Massachusetts because all of the
machine shops were there.
The Shoe Making Machine
Jan Ernst Matzeliger worked
at Harney Brothers Shoes
factory for five years before
he got the idea of making the
shoe making machine. The
shoe making machine could
make 700 shoes in a day while
regular people at the time
could only make 50 shoes in a
day.
Why it is important
and how it
changed our lives.
It is important because it quickly
attaches shoes to the soles. It also
only took one machine instead of a
group of people. It has changed our
lives by making 700 shoes in a day.
Getting Famous
After making the shoe making
machine Jan Ernst Matzeliger got
his own stamps. He also had six
patents. The automatic method
for the lasting shoe,the nailing
machine, the tack separating and
distributing mechanism, the
lasting machine, the mechanism
for distributing tacks and nails,
and the second advanced lasting
machine.
His death
Jan Ernst Matzeliger
died on August 24,1889
because of tuberculosis.
He died at the age of 36.
He also didn't live long
enough to see the
progress of the shoe
making machine.