John Deere

John Deere is a name familiar to all…green tractors, yellow seats, big and small….but who knew that John Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont in 1807?  His father disappeared while on a voyage to England leaving his mother to struggle financially.  He attended school in Rutland and then Middlebury for a year before dropping out for financial reasons.  John apprenticed as a blacksmith for four years then opened his own shop in 1825.  He married in 1827 and had 5 children.   

When John's shop faced financial difficulties he sold it to his father in law and headed to Grand Decatur, Illinois in 1837.  He set up shop and was immediately successful there as no other blacksmiths existed for competition.  John’s father was a tailor in Rutland.  As a child, John sharpened needles for his father by drawing the polished steel through sand.  He remembered these tasks when working with farmers in Illinois.  These farmers were faced with heavy soil full of clay, and their cast iron plows caked with dirt.  Deere created several versions of the plow all with the theory of the polished steel cutting through the soil. 

One custom plow lead to two orders and then several.  Before long, John could not keep up with the orders.  In 1841, he was producing 75-100 plows a year.  After a bad business partnership was dissolved, John moved his operation to Moline, Illinois for proximity to the Mississippi for transportation.  By 1855, he was producing 10,000 plows a year.

From day one, everything that John produced was of top quality.  He is reputed to have said “I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me."  Business continued to grow, and John’s son, Charles, became involved.  By 1857, Charles took over the business, and several years later he incorporated the company as Deere and Company.   

John eventually became more involved in the community, in his church, in banking and as Mayor of Moline.  He passed away in 1886 in Moline leaving behind probably the most recognized name in farm equipment.

The company that we think of today as the green and yellow tractor company had very simple origins.  The plow that was the start of the John Deere company was an implement that preexisted motors.  This implement was a simple plow blade with handles for the farmer to steer with.  The plow was attached to a horse’s harness so the farmer not only guided the plow but the horse as well.  And to think, John Deere got his start in a tailor shop and blacksmith shop in Rutland.

Sign up here to receive our monthly newsletter and more articles like this one.