McCormick Invented Reaper 150 Tears Ago
The McCormick harvester and twine binder, manufactured in 1881,
was the first binder which tied the bundles with twine. After the
development of this machine only minor developments, tending to
give greater durability and lighter draft, were added.
Cyrus Hall McCormick, a 22-year-old Virginian, gave America its
first step toward farm mechanization when he invented the reaper
150 years ago this spring.
He first showed it publicly in July 1831, in a field near
Steele's Tavern, not far from the valley of Walnut Grove, where
the family farm lay.
McCormick walked behind the reaper, which was drawn by a single
horse ridden by a boy. Jo Anderson, a slave, raked the platform
clear of cut grain.
Neither McCormick nor any of those on the field or watching
could have had any idea of what lay ahead how eventually all field
operations of American farmers, and farmers over most of the world,
would be performed through the use of machinery.
McCormick was not satisfied with this first reaper. He did not
seek a patent until 1834. In the meantime Obed Hussey, a Maryland
inventor, obtained a patent for a reaper. McCormick obtained his
first patent on June 21, 1834.
Continuing his experiments through 1841, McCormick sold seven
reapers in 1842. By 1843, he sold 29, and in 1844 he sold 50.
In those days, machines were handmade. The family's log
blacksmith shop was the first factory. But after the harvest of
1844, McCormick set out on horseback to see what chances for sales
might be found in the broad prairies of the Midwest.
By 1847, he decided to place his headquarters in Chicago, which
then had a population of 16,859. He built his factory on the north
bank of the Chicago River; in the following year 700 reapers were
built and sold. He expanded the plant, adding machinery, steam
power and manpower.
Looking for markets overseas, he exhibited his reaper at the
Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851. After receiving the
highest award at the fair, the Council Medal, he started a campaign
of introducing his machine to other countries at fairs and
exhibitions. Sales went up worldwide.
During the late 1850s and 1860s, McCormick and his brothers,
Leander and William, both partners in the firm, added machines
designed to cut hay. These included a combination mower-reaper and
a mower designed to save drudgery and speed production of hay in
areas where dairying was becoming important. New employees
specialized in product improvement and new machine development.
Farm interest in labor-saving devices rose during the War
Between the States. In 1862 McCormick equipped his reaper with a
rake arm which raked the cut grain off the platform and to the side
of the machine. This eliminated the work of one man, the raker.
This meant more grain produced with less manpower.