John Deere Paper

Austin Jackson 4/27/09 Mr. Neuburger English III Research Paper John Deere History Everyone has most likely seen the unmistakable logo and colors of a John Deere tractor, but few understand anything beyond the trademark green and yellow colors. The John Deere actually got its start when a man named John Deere built a plow that made farming easier and less of a task for farmers in 1837. After the plow, the company started to grow and has continued to do so ever since. In order to fully understand the success of the John Deere Company one needs to know more about the company founder, the products of the company, and it business practices that allow it to thrive in the face of many competitors. There might be many reasons for the success of John Deere, but in order to truly understand one has to look at the company beginnings. According to John Deere’s website, John was born in Rutland, Vermont, on February 7, 1804, and raised in the nearby town of Middlebury. At the age of four Johns father was lost at sea which left John’s mother, Sarah Deere, to raise John and his five brothers and sisters by herself. John didn’t have much growing up and he received the simplest education available. (Par3) In his early teens, John took a job with a tanner where he ground bark for a very small amount of money, a pair of shoes, and clothes. (Par4) When he was 17, John left home to become an apprentice to a well known blacksmith with a good reputation in Middlebury, Captain Benjamin Lawrence. The first year of his four

year apprenticeship John was paid 30$ and an additional 5$ every year that followed. He also received free room and board and a set of clothes when needed. On top of all this, John got an education on a useful skill that allowed him to make money and provide for his family. John completed his apprenticeship in 1825 and moved on to find work where he could. (Par5) During this time, John met Demarius Lamb, who was a young woman that was attending boarding school in Middlebury. The two were married in 1827, John was 23, and Demarius was 22. (Par8) For the next decade, John and Demarius moved from town to town all throughout central Vermont searching for work. There was no shortage of blacksmiths making it difficult for John to get a job. Finally John decided to borrow money and buy some land where he built a house and a blacksmith shop, only for it to be destroyed by fire not only once but twice. After this John had to sell the land, he had just acquired, forcing him to put his dream of having his own blacksmith shop on hold for a little while longer. (Par9) The fires left John deeply in debt and once again, in need of stable income. (Par10) A former employer of Johns had moved to a small town in northwestern Illinois, named Grand Detour. On a return trip to Vermont to retrieve his family, the man told John about all the opportunity in the flat, expansive prairie. (Par11) After this, John decided to leave his family in Vermont and head west to find a job and seek his fortune. John made the six-week trip to Grand Detour, hastily built a small blacksmith shop, and began receiving work in a few days. (Par13) It was not long before John heard about the Vermont farmers having trouble breaking the tough prairie ground. Their cast-iron plows that worked so well in the light, sandy New England soil, performed poorly in the sticky soil of the Midwest. Soil clung to the plow bottoms and had to be removed, by hand, every few steps, making plowing an extremely tiring and timeconsuming task. (Par14) Despite the difficulties John had had in Vermont, he was actually a very

inventive and skilled blacksmith. He realized that if a plow had a highly polished surface it would clean itself as it moved through the field instead of the farmer having to do it by hand. (Par15) One day while John was at a sawmill he spotted a broken saw blade and asked the owner if he could have it. John took it back to his shop and fashioned the world’s first steel plow, and in doing so, opened the west to agricultural development. (Par16) It was now time to send for the rest of his family. In late 1838, Demarius and the five Deere children made the six-week journey west. Baby Charles, who would later succeed his father as president of Deere & Company, was cradled in the wagon's feedbox. (Par17) Although John had neither the money nor the facilities to produce more than a few plows a year, he soon realized that his future success was not in the blacksmith trade but rather in the plow business. (Par18) Therefore, John wasted no time in getting started building plows, improving his design with every plow he built. The only problem he had was getting his costly shipments of steel in from England, which was the only place he could get steel at that time. To help him cover his costs John began taking on partners to help finance his young company. (Par19) In 1848, John decided to move his operation to a more convenient location that would lower his costs. So he moved to the young, enterprising town of Moline, Illinois. There he took advantage of waterpower and better transportation provided by the Mississippi River. After a few years, production of steel plows was up to 1600 a year. In addition, John was also getting his own special steel, rolled to his specifications, from mills in Pittsburg. (Par21) Many of his first plows were loaded on wagons and sold all over the countryside. Still others were loaded on steamboats and distributed to towns up and down the Mississippi River. (Par22)

It was during this time that John laid down principles of doing business that are still followed today. Among them was his insistence on high standards of quality. "I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me," he vowed. (Par23) One of John's early partners would often chide him for constantly making changes in design, saying the work was unnecessary because the farmers had to take whatever they produced. John is said to have replied, "They haven't got to take what we make and somebody else will beat us, and we will lose our trade." (Par24) John made certain his oldest surviving son Charles received the formal education he himself was denied. Charles was educated in a number of private Moline schools, went on to Iowa College in Davenport, Iowa, and then to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He completed his formal education at the prestigious Bell's Commercial College in Chicago. (Par25) After his education was completed, Charles joined the company as a bookkeeper in 1853, at the age of 16. Working his way through a variety of positions, Charles quickly earned a reputation as a keen businessperson. Charles handled the business and John attending to the products and sales. (Par26) In 1858, John turned over management of the business to Charles, who was just 21 at the time. This gave the 54-year-old John more time to devote to social and philanthropic causes. (Par27) In the early 1850s, John became interested in politics and agreed to be chairperson of the county convention for the Whig party. (Par28) John also led the efforts to bring a fire engine to Moline, co-founded the First National Bank and was a trustee of the First Congregational Church. He was well known for his generous contributions to local educational, religious and charitable organizations. (Par29)

Although John was still officially serving as president of Deere & Company, John's role in the business was minimal after the Civil War. He purchased a farm east of Moline in the early 1860s and raised registered Jersey cattle and Berkshire hogs. In 1865, his wife of 38 years, Demarius, died at the age of 60. The next year, John traveled to his native Vermont and married Demarius's younger sister Lucenia. (Par30) In 1837, John was elected mayor of Moline. During this time, he did many things to fix the town that he had worked so hard to build. One thing in particular was the passing of a liquor license ordinance that received widespread criticism. However John was credited for repairing sidewalks and streets and replacing open drains with sewer pipe to prevent disease. (Par31) After his two year term was up, John was more than ready to retire. He and Luncenia made frequent visits to Vermont, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco. (Par32) On May 17, 1886, at age 82, John Deere died at his spacious home Red Cliff, which overlooked the sprawling city he had built, now with more than 10,000 residents. (Par33) The town of Moline fell into mourning. Business as well as many private citizens were draped in black, flew flags at half-mast, and even placed pictures of John draped in black curtains in windows. (Par34) Three days later, more than 4,000 people stood in line at the First Congregational Church to pay their final respects. (Par35) So while the man himself was gone, his legacy lived on in a way he could have never imagined. His descendents or their spouses went on to lead the company John Deere founded for the next 96 years. (Par36) The company is still guided today, as it has been from the beginning, by core values: quality, innovation, integrity and commitment. (Par37)

Now that one knows the history behind the John Deere Company, they can fully appreciate the colors they know so well. The John Deere Company had a very rough start but it just goes to show what hard work and determination can do for a person.

"John Deere: A Biography." John Deere: Our Company. 1 Jan. 1996. Deere & Company. 25 June 2009 .