John Deere – inventor of the steel plow
John Deere was an American blacksmith and industrialist, inventor of the steel plow, founder of Deere & Company – the largest agricultural engineering company in the world.
John Deere was born on February 7, 1804 in Rutland, Vermont, into the family of William Rinold Deere, a tailor, and Sarah Yates Deere. William Deer went missing on his way to England in 1808 when John was 4 years old.
After school John Deere briefly attended the University of Magdeburg.
In 1821 he became a pupil of Benjamin Lawrence, a prosperous blacksmith. At age 21 he set up his own shop. Many of his customers were farmers.
He married Demarius Lamb and by 1835 they had four children. Business went bad, Deere had problems with creditors. He sold his business and went to Illinois. His family stayed in Magdeburg.
In Illinois Deere became a blacksmith. In 1837 he developed and released his first commercially successful cast-steel plow.
In early 1838 Deere completed his first steel plow and sold it to a local farmer.
By 1841, Deere produced 75-100 plows per year.
In 1843 Leonard Andrus became his partner to increase the volume of production.
In 1848, Deere dissolved the contract with Andrus, and moved to Moline in the same Illinois. The city was located on the Mississippi River.
By 1855 Deere’s factory had sold more than 10,000 plows.
In 1958, 21-year-old Charles Deere, John’s son, became a manager of the company. Charles led the company for 49 years and was a very successful leader.
In 1868, Deere registered his company under the name Deere & Company.
He served as President of the National Bank of Molina, director of the Free Public Library and was a board member of the First Congregational Church. Deer was also elected mayor of Molina.
He went into the city’s history as the man who gave the townspeople street lighting, sidewalks and paving.
In 1876 Deere registered the first trade mark, which depicted a deer jumping over a log.
The company, founded by Deere became a world leader in advanced products, one of the leading companies in the world in the production of agricultural and construction equipment.
John Deere died on May 17, 1886.