Russ Britton
Mrs. Watters
English 400
9/8/14
John Deere and the Company
John Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont, on February 7, 1804. He was raised by his mother basically his whole life. Growing up, he wanted to be a blacksmith. He fulfilled his dream at age 17 as a blacksmith's apprentice. A few years later, he was doing it on his own. His next twelve years were very busy after that. In 1837, Deere moved west to Grand Detour, Illinois. As he was there he opened up his own blacksmith shop. As a blacksmith, he experienced working on other plows that had been created for farming. John quickly realized that these plows needed to be remade. Here he began to start creating his own plows and he sold three plows by 1838. He had produced ten more plows by the next year. and even forty more by 1840.
The John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois.
English: Deere & Company World Headquarters buildi...
John Deere House, John Deere Historic Site (John D...The demand for these plows were high, therefore he partnered up with Leonard Andrus to produce even more. In 1846, they sold close to one thousand plows that year. A few years later, Deere noticed that Grand Detour wasn't good enough for him. As a result, he packed up and moved to Moline, Illinois. Moline is located by the Mississippi River, which gave him access to even more opportunities. He was able to offer cheap transportation and water power. John started to get british steel because it is sturdy. That immediately sped up his operation. His company made around 1,600 plows in the year of 1850. In 1858, he transferred his leadership of the company to his son, Charles, who was turned the vice president of the company. John Deere was still the president of the company, except he decided to focus on political activities. Not a whole lot...