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John Deere was born February 7, 1804
Rutland, Vermont. John Deere was a American blacksmith and manufacturer. -
He was apprenticed in 1821 when he was 17 to Captain Benjamin Lawrence. Benjamin was a prosperous blacksmith.
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Entered the trade for himself in 1825.
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January 28, 1827, he was married to Demarius Lamb, who became his wife and helper for thirty-eight years.They both had nine children.
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Deere moved to Illinois and invented the first successful steel plow in 1837.
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Deere had polished and sharpened needles by running them through sand. This polishing helped the needles sew through soft leather. Deere found that cast-iron plows were not working very well in the tough prairie soil of Illinois and remembered the polished needles. Deere got an idea that a plow made out of highly polished steel and a correctly shaped moldboard would be better able to handle the soil conditions.
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In early 1838 deere soold his first plow to his first costimer Lewis Crandall, who quickly spread word of his success with Deere's plow. Many people started buying it and it became famous.
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By 1841 Deere was manufacturing 75-100 plows per year.
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By 1855, Deere's factory sold more than 10,000 such plows.
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Deere insisted on making high-quality equipment. He said, "I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me."Following the Panic of 1857, business improved, Deere left the day-to-day operations to his son Charles.
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An 1859 John Deere's Plow Factory in Moline, Illinois was growing.
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John Deere's Factory in Moline, in the 1880's was growing bigger ever year
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He died at home on May 17, 1886, at the age of 82.
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Deere's invention started the leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world.
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Deere's invention led to many other inventions like the tractor and other machinerys. If it was not for his invention we would not have many farming tools today.
