bibliography
NNDB
This is a beta version of NNDB
Search: for

John Deere

Born: 7-Feb-1804
Birthplace: Rutland, VT
Died: 17-May-1886
Location of death: Moline, IL
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Riverside Cemetery, Moline, IL

Gender: Male
Religion: Congregationalist
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Business, Inventor
Party Affiliation: Republican

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Invented the self-scouring plow

John Deere, now synonymous with tractors and agricultural equipment, was a 19th century blacksmith. His father sailed for England to claim an inheritance when Deere was eight years old, and was never heard from again. At fifteen years of age Deere went to work for a tanner, and at 17 he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. After several years of training, he opened a series of his own smithing ventures, all of which failed, until he came to Grand Detour, Illinois in 1837. In Illinois his shop thrived, especially after his invention of the self-scouring plow, an improved, polished-steel implement better suited than a standard plow for turning the area's sticky, stubborn soil.

In 1848 he moved the company to Moline, IL, for better access to the railroad and water-power for his equipment. As the American Civil War approached he was a staunch opponent of slavery, and in 1873 he was elected Mayor of Moline. Deere had been dead for more than twenty years when his company first began manufacturing motorized plows -- tractors -- in 1918.

Father: William Rinold Deere (tailor, presumed dead 1812)
Mother: Sarah Yates Deere ("Sally", seamstress, b. 1780, d. 1826)
Brother: Francis Deere
Brother: William Deere Jr.
Sister: Elizabeth Deere ("Betsy")
Sister: Jane Deere
Brother: George Deere
Wife: Damarius Lamb Deere (b. 1805, m. 28-Jan-1827, d. 1865)
Son: Francis Albert Deere (Deere executive, b. 1828, d. 1848)
Daughter: Jeanette Deere Chapman (b. 1830, d. 1916)
Daughter: Ellen Sarah Deere Webber (b. 1832, d. 1897)
Daughter: Frances Alma Deere (b. 1834, d. 1851)
Son: Charles Deere (Deere President, b. 1836, d. 1907)
Daughter: Emma Charlotte Deere Velie (b. 1840, d. 1911)
Son: Hiram Alvin Deere (b. 1842, d. 1844)
Daughter: Alice Marie Deere Cady (b. 1844, d. 1900)
Daughter: Mary Frances (b. 1851, d. infancy)
Wife: Lucenia Lamb Peek Deere (b. 1809, m. 1867, d. 1888)

    University: Middlebury College (attended briefly)

    Deere Founder and President (1837-86)
    Mayor of Moline, IL (1873-75)
    English Ancestry


New!
NNDB MAPPER
Create a map starting with John Deere
Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.

Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile



Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications