Feb. 11, 2002

That's how John Deere's epitaph reads...his gift of 1837 grew to great business success by the time his company celebrated its centennial in 1937.

The Green Girl found a special treat inside the issue of Implement and Tractor from January 9, 1937. An eight-page full-color insert highlights John Deere's contribution to the world--the steel plow.

"John Deere, the village blacksmith of Grand Detour, Illinois, rolled up his sleeves and went to work--a determined young giant, intent on working out an idea that obsessed him. The hammer's blows rang louder on the anvil; in the fire of his forge, he saw a glowing vision--the vision of a self-polishing plow that would shed the black, sticky soil of the vast prairie empire, and insure the permanency of agriculture in the New West.

"Farmer Lewis Crandall, from across the river, had furnished the incentive. "John," he said, "if you cant' make a plow that will scour in this sticky land of mine, I'm going back East."

"And Deere had said: "Lew, if I can't build the plow you need, I'll likely be going back East with you."

"Unyielding as Vermont's granite hills that had sheltered him in his youth, John Deere carried on. Beset by hardships, besieged by hapless neighbors, the young blacksmith held steadfastly to his purpose. He would build a plow that would conquer the stubborn prairie land. That was his answer to a challenge. He had pride as a craftsman and the courage to commit himself to a task that everyone said couldn't be done.

"A broken mill-saw blade of shining steel for the moldboard and share, landside and standard of wrought iron, beam and handles of white oak--that was John Deere's first plow.

John Deere was deeply concerned about the problems of the plowmen. They looked to this young craftsman for help. "No plow will work in this sticky soil after the sod is broken," they said. "Can't you do something about it?" Deere accepted the challenge.

"Many weary hours were spent in field tests. Back and forth went John Deere, from shop to field, from field to shop, toting the test plow on his shoulder, cutting furrows, making adjustments, pounding out imperfections--and finally--success; his self-polisher had scoured and turned clean furrows in Crandall's land where everyone said no plow would work. The stubborn soil and yielded--the conquest of the new Canaan was on.

"It was not written that a man of John Deere's many accomplishments should go through life as a village blacksmith. He was more than a blacksmith, more than a manufacturer--he proved later, in building up his business, that he was endowed with a high quality of leadership; men were attracted to him, respected him, and remained loyal under him.

"With amazing perception and an indomitable spirit, this rugged craftsman, while untrained in business practice, quickly analyzed and mastered the problems that confronted him--problems of procuring materials, problems of finance, of manufacture, of transportation, of marketing. Formidable barriers they were, back in the days when "wilderness was king"; when Chief Blackhawk and his warriors roamed the hills.

"Farther and farther into the hinterland the John Deere self-polishers were peddled. Ox-cart, river-packet, stage coach, horse and wagon--all had a part in the marketing of these first plows.

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As John Deere worked at his forge, there came to him a vision of men freed from the despairing toil of following an iron plow that would not scour--a vision of a self-polishing plow that would insure the permanency of agriculture in the new west.

"As the railroads projected their steel spurs farther westward, and the outposts of commerce were extended, John Deere gradually built up his dealer organization. His constant aim was to have his products marketed through the most substantial agent in a town. In this effort he was highly successful.

"Today, there are thousands of John Deere dealers, serving every farming community, keeping faith with the century-old business principles handed down by John Deere. A large majority of these dealers have been identified with the House of Deere for many years; in not a few cases their businesses have been passed on as an heritage from generation to generation.

"Today, there are eleven John Deere factories, which have grown from John Deere's one-anvil shop. Each factory specializes in the manufacture of particular implements, and the products of all are distributed through fifty-five branch houses and sub-branches.

"John Deere has gone, but his name is written indeliby in the history of agricultural progress. His good works live after him, standing as an enduring monument to the rugged honesty and sound business principles.

"A review of his lifework reveals that he had done much of which he might well have been proud.

"His plows had been used to conquer untamed wilds in many lands. Civilization had advanced behind his plows. The world was more prosperous and happier because of his plows.

"But John Deere's ruling pride was not so much in the great end attained as in the way the end had been reached. He felt most pride in the consciousness that he had never produced a plow of poor quality. Early in his career, he had said: "I will never put my name on an implement that hasn't in it the best that is in me." His was the pride of the master craftsman.

"The pride that John Deere felt is the pride of the makers of John Deere farm equipment today, as they observe the centennial which marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Deere's steel plow. It is a powerful incentive the maintenance of the high standard to which John Deere implements have been kept, up through the years."

Next week, check back for a synopsis of the rest of Deere's business and life until his death in May 1886 at the age of 83.

An American story

The entire village was agog when the first shipment of imported plow steel arrived at John Deere's shop. It had come all the way from England by ocean vessel, canal boat, covered wagon--the best grade of steel available, for Deere's fast-growing plow business.

The emigrant wagon, with John Deere plow swung up tightly to one side, pushed deeper into the west. On went the pioneers with renewed courage, knowing that, through the genius of a young blacksmith, they would have crops to sustain them.

The superior qualities of John Deere implements are today recognized in all parts of the world, and stand as a tributeİto the vision and integrity of John Deere, the pioneer blacksmith who gave to the world the steel plow.

Unperturbed by the taunts of doubting villagers, who watched him carry his first self-polisher toİthe field for trial, John Deere went on with his experiments, on to the fulfillment of an ideal--to build a plow that would solve the farmer's problem.