Illinois History: A Magazine for Young People

              John Deere Helping Illinois
Andrew Bauer
Oregon High School, Oregon
Teacher: Sara Werckel
It took a strong man and a team of oxen ninety-six hours to plow one acre of land in the nineteenth century, but John Deere developed a new plow that sped up the plowing process and is still affecting the lives of people in Illinois. John Deere was a hardworking man. Deere developed the plow that turned into a farm-equipment establishment of today. His works benefit people worldwide, but also the area in which I live.
Deere was born on February 7, 1804 in Rutland, Vermont. He became an apprentice to a blacksmith at the age of seventeen. His apprenticeship ended in 1825. He immediately became a blacksmith and opened a shop in Vermont. He went bankrupt because there were too many blacksmiths in his area. He sold his shop to his father-in-law and moved to Grand Detour, Illinois. He arrived with his tools and seventy-five dollars. While in Illinois he soon learned that the people, much like the people in Vermont, had problems plowing fields. In Illinois the sticky soil made the problem greater. To plow well in Illinois, farmers had to use eight yoke of oxen. This was very expensive and the farmers of the area could not afford these oxen. Deere set out to develop a faster and more effective way to plow.
Deere visited the sawmill of Leonard Andru and saw a broken saw blade. Deere took the blade and chiseled off the teeth, heated, then shaped the blade to the proper shape. The blade, from its use at the mill, had a very smooth, slick polished surface. This kept the sticky soil from clinging on the blade. Deere finished his first plow in 1837. This plow was more effective than the other modern plows. Deere made two more plows in 1838, which he gave to friends in the Grand Detour area. Deere made ten plows in 1839, which he sold for ten to twelve dollars. In 1840 he made forty plows, in 1841 seventy-five, in 1842 one hundred, and in 1843 he made four hundred plows.
Photograph Courtesy of the Illinois State Historical Library
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