June 26, 2025
Steiger Tractor Company
Excerpt from Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel Two brothers, Douglass and Maurice Steiger wanted a large, powerful tractor for their farm operations. Unable to find what they […]
June 19, 2025
Denning Motor Implement Company History
Excerpt from Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel In December, 1899, Joseph M. Denning moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and opened a plant known as Denning Wire […]
June 19, 2024
Oliver Tractor Company
Nestled in the heartland of America the name Oliver Tractor Company stands as a testament to the relentless spirit of innovation that has shaped the agricultural landscape for over a […]
February 5, 2024
Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Co.
Benjamin Warder began building reapers at Spring field, Ohio in 1850. Prior to that time, Warder had established a sawmill, grist mill, and woolen mill. A factory designed to make […]
January 26, 2024
General Motors Corp., Pontiac, Michigan.
William C. Durant, chairman and majority stockholder of General Motors Corporation was determined to meet the Fordson challenge by getting into the tractor business. If nothing else, it was a […]
January 9, 2024
John Lauson Mfg. Co.
Few boys of fourteen years are forced to assume a man’s tasks, but thus it was with John Lauson. His father and four other brothers had come from Germany and […]
July 21, 2023
The Allis-Chalmers Story
Perhaps to its own harm, Allis-Chalmers has at times represented the ultimate in diversification. Even in the early days when Decker & Seville was scarcely established, the firm built stone […]
February 7, 2023
Deere & Co. Company History
John Deere was born at Rutland, Vermont on February 7, 1804. By 1823 he had become a blacksmith, and spent the next few years working in various shops. The […]
January 25, 2023
Avery Company History
Robert H. and Cyrus M. Avery formed the Avery Planter company at Galesburg, Illinois in 1874. Robert Avery had developed some ideas about corn planters during his imprisonment at Andersonville, […]
January 20, 2023
Advance-Rumely Thresher Co. History
Meinrad Rumely was born in Germany in 1823, and came to the United States in 1848. Two brothers, Jacob and John, had emigrated earlier. For a time he worked with […]
September 22, 2022
Ann Arbor Machine Co. History
The history of Ann Arbor Machine Company goes back to 1882. The company began in a small way building hay presses and other machines. Their heavy duty Columbia hay press […]
American Seeding Machine Company History
American Seeding Machine Company was organized in 1903. This merger brought together several competing companies. Ostensibly, the plan was to achieve the benefits of mass production by eliminating a great […]
September 21, 2022
Nichols & Shepard Company History
John Nichols opened a blacksmith shop at Battle Creek, Michigan in 1848. Little is known of Nichols’ early life, nor does anything but the most scant history of the early […]
Minneapolis-Moline Company History
As with the Cockshutt line, the Minneapolis- Moline line had no connection with Oliver Corporation in the strictest sense. The commonality lies in the acquisition of Minneapolis-Moline, Cockshutt, and Oliver […]
Hart-Parr Company History
In 1872, Charles Walter Hart was born at Charles City, Iowa. The Hart family had arrived on the Massachusetts shore in 1632…this particular scion of the family came to Iowa […]
September 19, 2022
International Harvester Company History
Before Cyrus Hall McCormick’s death in 1884, he and William Deering spoke of amalgamation, but nothing came of these conversations. Records of the following years indicate that a number of […]
Deering Harvester Co. History
Deering Harvester Company formed another major root of International Harvester Company. When William Deering became involved in the harvester business, Cyrus Hall McCormick had been at it for about forty […]
September 16, 2022
McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. History
The year 1981 marks the 150th Anniversary of the McCormick reaper. From this crude machine of 1831 the McCormick empire was built, and through it International Harvester Company gained its […]
American Tractor Company History
Although J. I. Case was actively engaged in the construction machinery business, particularly in the 1912-1920 period, it is curious indeed that they made no overt move into the crawler […]
Rock Island Plow Company History
Of all the companies acquired by J. I. Case, the Rock Island Plow Company remains as one of the most significant. Curiously though, Case closed out the Rock Island tractor […]
Emerson-Brantingham Company History
In 1852 John H. Manny Company was organized to build the Manny reaper. Two years later, in 1854, Manny built nearly 1,000 reapers. His small factory at Waddam’s Grove, Stephenson […]
September 15, 2022
J.I. Case History
Everything in life has its challenges. The history of mechanized agriculture is certainly no exception. Although the history of J. I. Case Company is seen here through the product lines, […]
