Richard Richards of Lynn, Massachusetts received patent number 3,857 on December 16, 1844 for his invention of a machine for cutting leather soles for shoes. The leather is placed upon the platform, and operating the treadle causes the machine to move the leather into position, cut a sole, and move the cut sole away from the blade. Richards had previously been a shoe last maker in Lynn, a city that became synonymous with shoe making as mechanization began to take over the industry in the second half of the 19th century. While Richards machine was a step towards mechanization of the shoe industry, it was still only a step in the process. The tedious task of hand lasting each shoe remained, but a machine patented by Jan Matzeliger of Lynn in 1883 solved this problem, increasing the rate of production by 70.