Who was John Deere?

Yes, there actually was a man named John Deere.  He was raised by a single mom in a very tough time in history.  His father perished at sea when John was only 4 years old. Born in Vermont in 1804, Deere apprenticed as a blacksmith as a  young man and his skill and workmanship allowed him to be very successful but the economy of New England collapsed around 1836 and  the young man headed out west and started a blacksmith shop of his own in Grand Detour, Illinois. Many farmers had problems with their cast iron plows as the sticky soil would clog up the plows.  Mr. Deere found out that a highly polished steel plow blade wouldn’t clog up. He fashioned one out of an old saw blade and demonstrated it at a local farm. Farmers flocked to his blacksmith shop to get this new plow. 

In 1848 John established a factory in Moline on the banks of the MIssissippi river to harness the power of the river and be able to get raw goods and materials to produce his plows.  His factory was producing 1000 plows a year at that time. In 1868 the company became Deere and Company and branched out making several other farm implements. Deere was active in many civic groups and was the mayor of Moline at one time.  

There is so much more to learn about the history of the man and founder of one of the best known companies in America, but I don’t have enough room here in the paper to write about it! Happy Collecting!