Claim: Paul Whitin, an American blacksmith who established the Whitin Machine Works, had begun his career as an apprentice in Colonel James Fletcher's forge, and then in 1973, he married Elizabeth Fletcher.
Evidence: Col. Paul Whitin, (1767–1831) was an American blacksmith and pioneering industrialist who in 1831 in Northbridge, Massachusetts established the Whitin Machine Works, which would later become the largest maker of specialty textile machinery in the world. He began his career as an apprentice in Colonel James Fletcher's forge in South Northbridge. In 1793, he married Fletcher's daughter, Elizabeth (Betsey) Fletcher and they would have six children, including five sons.