Cyrus McCormick was the inventor of the mechanical Reaper.
The mechanical reaper was invented by Cyrus McCormick.One of the most important inventions in the history of farm innovation was a horse-drawn machine that harvests wheat.The reaper, which one observer likened to a cross between a wheelbarrow and a chariot, was capable of cutting six acres of oats in one afternoon.
Robert and Mary Ann Hall McCormick were from Great Britain and migrated to Virginia in the 18th century.He was the son of a family that was influential in the area.His father was both a farmer and a blacksmith.
Young McCormick spent his time in his father's workshop.After more than 20 years, his father failed to come up with a workable, horse-drawn mechanical reaping machine, despite holding patents for inventing such farm machinery as a clover huller, a blacksmith's bellows, and other labor-saving devices for the farm.Cyrus decided to take on the challenge.
He was a religious young man who believed his mission was to help feed the world, even though his invention would make him prosperous and famous.Farmers in the early 19th century needed a lot of laborers to harvest.He wanted to reduce the number of hands needed for the harvest.He drew on the work of many other people in developing the reaper, including that of his father and Jo Anderson, but he ended up based his work on principles completely different from those employed by Robert McCormick.
He came up with a model after 18 months.His machine had a vibrating cutting blade, a reel to pull the grain and a platform to catch the falling grain.He was only 22 when he succeeded.The first version was rough, but it worked because his family were assigned to walk with the frightened horses to keep them calm.He received a patent for his invention.
After receiving the patent, he set aside his invention to focus on his family's iron foundry, which failed in the wake of the bank panic of 1837 and left the family in debt.He set up a shop next to his father's house and focused on improvements.Business took off after he sold his first machine.
The future of his reaper was convinced by a visit to the Midwest.He and his brother opened a factory in Chicago in 1847 and sold 800 machines in the first year.The largest farm equipment manufacturing firm in the country was founded by the new venture.
When his reaper won the gold medal at the Great Exposition in London, he gained international fame.He was active in Presbyterian causes as well as Democratic politics.
The Great Chicago Fire destroyed the company in 1871, but the family rebuilt it.He produced a reaper that bound the bundles with wire.He used a knotting device invented by a Wisconsin pastor to bind the handles with twine.Despite fierce competition and legal battles, the company continued to prosper.
Cyrus Jr. took over as president at 25 years old after his father died.The business was marked by tragedy two years later.One of the worst labor riots in American history took place after a workers' strike in 1886.The Haymarket Riot claimed the lives of seven policemen and four civilians.
Seven of the eight were sentenced to death, one committed suicide in prison, four were hanged, and the sentences of two were commuted to life imprisonment.
The International Harvester Co. was formed when J.P. Morgan bought the company along with five others.
Cyrus McCormick is known as "The Father of Modern Agriculture" because he made it possible for farmers to expand their farms into larger operations.The invention and manufacture of other labor-saving farm implements and machinery was encouraged by his reaping machine.