W H O I N VENTED TH E R EAPER ?
AN
AN
SW E R TO TH E
H AV E B E E N
B
S TA T E
ME N T
S A I D TO
FI L E D A T TH E T R E A S UR Y
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B
,
SW I FT
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W H O I N V EN TED
H EAPER ?
TH E
ME N T SAI D TO H AV E
TR E ASUR Y DE PAR TM
ENT
AN AN SW E R TO TH E PR O TEST STATE
BE E N FI LE D AT TH E
i
By a
B
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Swi f t
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Thi s Prote st wa s recently p ublish ed anonymo usly I t u nde rtak es
to prov e that Hu s sey invent ed the rea per a n d th erefore the pictur e of
Cyru s H McC ormi ck shoul d n ot b e put on a n ew bankn ote The P ro
te st as publish ed was p r e faced by th e state ment tha t i t was pre pa red
by th e r e presentatives of the manufa cturers of harvesting machines an d
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t hat Th e opportunity will at last b e p resented to se tt le the questi on
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forever
Let an y wh o are interested in th is subj ec t rea d the facts
herew ith given a n d j udge for themselves a s t o th e mer its of th e cas e
Th e question i s n ot W ho fi rst ha d an idea that it would be de
sirabl e t o reap by ma chine ry ? but W h o m a de the fi rst m achine t hat
?
worked s ucc es sf ully
A fl ying mach in e th at c oul d c a rry pa ss e n ers t o
N ew Y o r
k in five hours w ould be a great inventio n M any have plann e d
a n d built an d patente d fl ying ma chin es yet n o on e ha s p roduc ed a su c
cessi n l on e an d t he man w ho wi ll c ombine the devic es that will ma ke
a pr a ctical fl yin g ma chin e is truly th e inven tor ev en though he m ake
u se of lev e rs springs fra mes a n d d e vices th at othe rs hav e tri ed and
with whi c h the y have failed
B e f o re t he year 1 83 1 th ere are accoun ts of att empts t o ma ke a
reap e r and some of t he ma chin es it i s s ai d di d a few ho ur s wo rk
O n e or two of th e earlie r ma
w he n all con di ti on s were fa vora lble
chine s had d evices tha t sinc e being combined in a p ra ctical way with
oth er devic es h ave found a place in th e successful reaping ma c hin e
I t i s claime d that O gle in 1 82 2 co mbined m ore of the elements n eces
sary for suc cess than an y ot he r inven t or but the on e machin e he
cl aim e d to have b ui lt lack ed c ertain n e c es sa ry features and he did n ot
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arran ge som e of tho s e he ha d so the y w oul d oper a te Hi s m a chin e
failed N ot on e was so ld He di d n o
t even take a patent a n d th e w orl d
pr ofit e d n othing by his l a bors With th e kn owl edge gai n e d from fifty
years of exp eri e n c e with re a p ers it is poi n t ed out that only a few
chang e s wo uld h ave be e n n e c es sa ry for him t o hav e prod uced a suc
H e was a school ma st e r a visi onary inv e ntor without
cessful r ea p e r
mechanical skill a n d h is r e ap e r was a n d would t o day be a f ai lur e
B ell i n 1 82 8 bu ilt a push ma chine a great a r k on four whe e ls
having a cuttin g d e vic e consisting of sh ear s with b lad e s sixt ee n i nch e s
“
long A f ew of th e se machin e s wer e bu ilt but from th e ir int ricacy
”
th ey fe ll into disuse
B ell s c ountrymen have c laim e d t he invention
of th e r e aper for h im but h av e fai l e d t o sh ow th at his machi n e w as or
coul d b e a success
The Protest also r e fers to Pitt s ma chin e Thi s machin e was n ot
e ven a r e ap e r as it di d n ot have a cut ti ng appa ratus
I t ha d a re
volving cvli n der with r ows of combs t o st rike in to t he heads of grain
and tear th em off I t wa s a fai l ur e R a ndall s machine i s al s o men
t i on ed a s having b ee n op erated in N e w J er s ey in 1 833
Ra ndal l made
'
a mode l which h e exh i bited at a M echan ics Fa i r in Utica N Y on
J a nuary I 5 I 83 5 Hi s pa tent was issu e d in Ap ri l of I 83 5 and his fi rst
mach in e bu i lt for the ha rv e st of 1 83 5 Th e mac hi ne wa s a f ailure
It wa s so pronounced a failur e tha t Randal l di d n ot restore h is p a tent
Along i n the fi fti e s Ran d a ll was a willing witnes s for pay an d made an
ex p a r l e a ffi davit in th e M ccormi ck vs
S e y mour
M orga n suit
sw ea ring h is invention ba ck t o 1 830 H a vin g n ever bui lt a ma ch i n e
for sa le it is n ot to be wond e r e d at th a t h e s old hi s recoll e ction but
u n d er the stimulus of pay i t was t oo activ e H e was produc ed for
cross e xam ina tion an d con vi cted by th e testi mony of his own son a n d
oth e rs of swe arin g falsely a n d of alte ring hi s mo del 8 0 clea rly wa s
Randall convicted that Mr J ustic e Ne lson did not even refer t o h im
in hi s charg e in that cas e H e r e ferr ed to th e machines of B ell
Schn e bly H us sey Moor e an d Hascall R e e d an d Woodward saying :
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With t he e xc ep ti on of th e pat e nt an d machin e of H us s e y not
on e of th e mach i n es r e ferred t o ever wen t int o gene ral or s uc ces sfu l
op erat i on W hy th ey fai led w e do not kn ow What was t he s e c ret
what th e def e cts we are not told All we know is t ha t they we r e um
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successful e x p erim e n ts
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What e v e r question there i s lies betwee n M c cormick an d Hu ssey
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1
i
o
f
83 3
oth
and
Hu
sey
had
mach
nes
in
the
harve
st
k
s
m
i
c
r
McCo
B
an d both applied for pat e nts before th e harve st of 1 834 There i s an
account of Hu ssey s machine p ublish ed in th e fall of 1 833 and on e
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of
McC ormi ck s in the Lexingt on Union and in the M echan ics Maga
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ne also i n th e fall of 1 833 H ussey sen t th e e ditor of th e Mechanics
M a ga z ine a picture of his machine in I 83 4 an d so did McCormi ck
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The photolith ographic cuts in thi s article are reproduction s of the s e
pictures
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I
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—
WH O
W A S FI R ST W ITH A
MA C HI N E
?
hi stor y of H ussey s r eaper as herewith presented shows that
i t never wa s a succe ss As McC ormi ck s was a succ ess it t h erefore
mak e s no di fferen ce whi ch on e wa s firs t in p oint of time B ut i n a d
i
k
s
o
m
c
r
M
C
c
r
ition
thi
s
th
e
facts
clea
ly
demo
nstrate
p riorit y
t
o
d
I n th e suit of Mc corm ick vs Ma n n y H ussey t estifie d on th e 2 8th
w
:
of
wa
s
a
sked
this
question
and
gave
thi
s
ans
er
n
1
d
8
a
t
A
u
u
s
da y
55
g
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The
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Have you invented and us ed any reap ing machine
l ong since
I invented an d u sed a rea p i n g m a chi ne i n
and
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how
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if
so,
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Hu ssey ne ver claime d an earl ier da t e of co n cep ti on tha n 1 8 3 3
H e publishe d a pamp hlet i n 1 8 5 4 w ri t t e n by hi s frien d E dward Stab
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l e r e n titled
A B ri ef Narrat iv e of th e I nve ntion of Reap i n g Ma
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c hines in which is th e followin g sent e n c e :
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N eith er H ussey nor anyo n e else for him has eve r a ss erted tha t
his i n vention wa s p rior to
I n the Lexington Uni on Se ptember 1 8 1 833 following a long
d e scription of McCormi ck s m a chi n e i s th e foll owing testim onial :
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July 1 8 1 8 3 3
I have seen M r Cyrus H McC ormi ck s grain cuttin g mach in e
in O pe ration for t w o rea son s
It cut for m e thi s s eason
I thin k it
will p e rform wel l wh ere th e gr ound is free of r oc ks and stump s ; and
will b e a great savin g over ha nd l abor and can b e so constructe d as to
cut much wider tha n at pre sent and I think it well worth t he att ention
I thi nk it will cut a bout 1 2 acre s p er day by being w ell
of th e p ubl i c
”
E
R
attended
Si
gn
ed
J
H
N
I
O
V
(
)
I certify t hat Cy rus H McCormi ck s reaping machin e cut 1 1
acre s of wh e a t for m e on the si xt h da y of t his m onth and t he grai n was
cut clean a n d n e at
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July 1 3 1 833
WM MO O RE
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This Wier testimo nial carrie s the McCormi ck machin e back t o
1 83 2 and th e Moore testimonial shows that it was a su ccess
Th e M echanics M a ga z in e of A pril 1 834 contained th e pic t ure
of Hu ssey s reap er that w e herewith p roduce
Th is came to McC or
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m ick s notice and h e wrote th e editor of that maga ine from Rock
20 1 8 3 4 as foll ows :
under
date
of
May
bridge
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Mecha
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To th e Editor of th e
ics Maga ine
z
f
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o
—
Havin g seen in the April number
your maga ine
D ea r Si r
n
i
d
a cut and de scripti on of th e reaping machin e sai to have been
n
z
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vented b y O be d Hus se y of O hio last sum m e r I woul d ask a favo
of von t o inform M r Hussey a n d th e publi c through your columns
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that th e prin ciple n amely cutting grain by means of a tooth ed i n
strum e nt receiving th e rotary m otion from a crank with th e iron teeth
proj e ctin g abov e th e e dg e of the cutter for the p urpose of preventing
th e grain fro m pa rtaking of its motion is a pa rt of the pri nc iple of
m y machine an d w a s invent ed by me a n d Operate d on wheat and oats
in July 1 83 1 This can b e attested to th e e ntir e satisfacti on of th e p ub
lic an d M r Huss ey as it w as witn es sed by many pe rson s Con se
o
f
u
e
tly
I
oul
wa
rn
all
pers
ns
agai
nst
th
e
us
e
th
e
aforesaid
p
ri
n
o
d
n
w
q
in any way as an infringe
ci p le a s I rega rd and treat the use of it
ment O f my rig hts
Th e rev olving reel a s I conceive con
st i tut es a very important i n fact ind ispe n sable p art of my ma chine
Very resp ectfully yours etc
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C Y RUS H M C C O RM I C K
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As Mr McC orm i ck stated in thi s lett e r the fa ct of h is having suc
cessful ly operated his reap er in July of 1 8 1 can b e p roven
th
e
n
t
e
o
3
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tir e sati sfaction of the public
T he fact that h e did so O p e rat e it in
1 83 1 was not disp ut e d for y e ars a n d Hus s e y admitte d its us e in 1 8 1 in
3
a brief file d by hi m in 1 848 be fore th e B oard of Commi ssioners for th e
E x t er si on of Pat e nts
Referring to McCormi ck s testi mony (at th e
taking of which he was p r e s ent) to p rov e th e u s e of hi s mach in e i n 1 83 1
Hussey wrote :
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The re a re but tw o points satisfa ctorily proved whi ch are n ot in
the records of the Patent O ffi ce to wit : th e date of th e first trial of
the mach ine an d t he ab a nd onme nt by C H McC ormi ck of th e do uble
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fi n g en
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At this dat e th ere is but on e living witnes s of th e worki n g of the
reap e r in 1 83 1 a nd he i n 1 848 testified under oath t o its su ccess ful
operatio n in 1 83 1 Th ere are in existenc e n ume rous a ffidavits (a s y e t
u np ublished ) of p erson s w ho sa w the reap er at wor k i n 1 83 1 Th e re is
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also on file in th e Paten t O ffice at Washin gton D C th e sworn t e s
t i mon y of seven witne s s e s taken l n the spring of 1 848 som e of whom
were cros s questione d by H ussey to the fact that Cyr us H McCor
mick s reap er did successf ul work in the harve st of 1 83 1 Fi fty years
ago when do z e n s of witn esses were livi n g no one di sputed th e fact
that McC orn i i ck s reape r s ucce ssfully worked in wheat an d oats in
th e harvest of 1 83 1 an d n o on e who knows th e fact sdisputes it n ow
The Committee on Patents of th e United S tates S e nate report e d
March 30 1 85 2 when there were b ills pending before th e Comm ittee
for th e exten sion o f both H usse y s and McC ormi ck s first pat e nts as
follows :
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The testimo n y wa s th ereupo n taken in complianc e with th e or
d er of th e B oard an d by th e p roof s ubmi tt ed on the pa rt of s a i d
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McC orm i ck it ap p ear s conclusively that he i n vented his machine th e n
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p ractically
and publi cly tested its op e rati on in th e har vest of
An d that fro m th e exhi bits referred t o y our committee it a p
p ear s that hi s ( Hus sey s ) ma chine w as first construct e d and Op e rat e d in
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I t was the n that: Huss ey answe red sayin g th at the priority of
McC orm i ck shoul d not aff ect hi s invention as our machin e s do not
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on fl ict
Th e lat e Hon orabl e Edmund B urke Comm is sioner of Pat e nts in
1 84 8
wrote S enat ors D ouglas an d Shiel ds March 4 1 8 50 recom
m e n din g th e extension of both H us s ey s an d McCorm i ck s pate nts
s ayi n g :
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The tes t i mony of Mr McC ormi ck presented to th e B oard of
Extension clearly prov e d t h a t h e inv en te d an d put in Opera tion hi s
m achin e in 1 83 1 two years be fore th e d a t e of Hussey s patent
B ut
m y opini on is that j ustice wi ll b e s ub s erv e d by ext e nding th e pat e nts
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o f both par t ies
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Ne i ther h owever succeeded in obtaini ng an exten sion
Mr Just ic e Nel son of the United State s Supreme Cou rt in the
Seym our
Morgan decided in 1 8 5 5 amo ng
s uit of McC orm i ck vs
o ther p oints the following :
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It ap pears fro m th e evid ence in t he case th at H ussey and M c
Cormick turned their a ttention to the constru ction of a reap in g ma
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McC ormi ck t wo or three y e ars
c hin e ver y nearly at th e same per iod
e arlier
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H us sey was a witn e ss for S eymour
M organ in thi s case
I t is submitted that the p roof on the p oint of p riority of McCor
mi ck i s conclusive
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I I
—W H AT W A S MC C O R MI C K S MAC HI N E
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O F 18 3 1 AN D H USSE Y S O F 1 8 3 3
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Let u s s ee which on e c ontained th e devices that time has demon
s t ra t ed as being essential t o th e successful reapi ng of grain
M
et hods o D m t —
1
Th e pictures show that both mach in e s
( )
f
f
were drawn by te a ms walki n g at the sid e of th e g rain McCormi ck s
2
1
1
u
8 34 desc ri bes both a pull and a
atent
w
hich
was
i
ssu
ed
J
ne
p
n
d
ush
machine
a
the d rawing of the pate nt which is h erewith repro
p
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Fig I shows th e shafts for a h orse in dott ed lin e s at th e front
and at th e side of th e grain and the ton gue beh ind Thi s plan of
du ced,
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Poi
en i e
dJ
a n e zI
m fi
fi
sh owing an d describing alternate methods of construction wa s and
s t ill i s very common in patents McC orm i ck s ide a was that a ma
chin e with a wid e r cut coul d be made by pushing than by p ulling at
th e side and t o e ff ect thi s th e p atent sh ows the pole behi n d attache d
t o the r ear of the pl a tform ne a rer the center of th e ma ch in e than th e
pol e or sh afts could be H is pla tform bein g j u st th e width of th e fi n
ger bar al lows the raker t o walk a t the rear of th e f rame of th e ma
chine and rake th e gavel to th e side out of th e way of th e team i f p us h
ing behind an d out of th e way of th e team and ma chin e in the ne xt
round of the field wh eth er the m achine be dra wn or pu sh ed Hus sey s
patent sh o ws and describ es only a p ull mach ine be cause hi s platform
ext en ded the full wid th of hi s fi n g er ba r a nd frame and the refore was
not adapted to raki n g th e gav el to the side a s was McC orm i ck s
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H ussey s g a vel was pushe d off directly behind the fi n g er bar an d hi s
machine the refore could not h ave been p ushed as the t eam woul d
trampl e the gave ls n or coul d it make a second rou n d of th e field eve n
as a p u ll machine unt il th e gavel of the first round ha d been remove d
from the path of th e team Thi s al tern a tive syst em of draft described in :
th e patent shows that McC ormi ck ha d clear ideas in 1 8 3 4 of a wider
machine sim i lar to the modern header which must be pu shed an d
of a n arrower mach ine t hat c oul d more han dily b e drawn His ma
chin e w a s always drawn except on on e occasion Th e Pr otest how
eve goe s to unwarra ntabl e extreme s in in sisting that the McC orm i ck
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patent of 1 8 34 sh ows only a push machine Such a mistake could
only hav e been made by a writ er ignorant of the subj ect or with mal
ice p ublishing wh at h e kn ew t o b e unt rue Thi s i s the main point of
t he whol e argument of th e Protest as is shown b y the following q uo
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t a t i on
:
S everal
alleged rep resentations of th e 1 83 1 machin e ha ve be en
published showing a hors e in thill s drawing it di ff eri ng little from
th e ma chi ne of the McCormi ck patent of 1 84 5 I f these representa
tions are correct the n t he machine of the McC ormi ck patent of 1 834
shows ; p ra ct i cally an aban donment of th e princ iple s of th e allege d
machine of 1 8 3 1 for in th e p atent th e rea pe r w a s a push machin e
—
som ewhat lik e the B ell of 1 8 26 but mou n ted on t w o wh eel s only a
master wh eel a n d a gra in wheel Th e tongu e as us ual with the se ma
chine s extended rea rwardly but ha d nothin g t o p revent it s end from
droppin g t o th e grou n d nor ha d it an ythi n g t o prevent th e draft Of
th e team from rai si n g it So const ructed it w a s n ot as controll a ble
as a wh eelbarro w fo r th e load in the latt er will keep the handles from
being turne d over for wa rd by the pulling action of the arm s of the
op e rator In orde r t o p revent th e ma chin e from tu rnin g Ove r fo rward
du e p rovision wa s made h owever for h e says : Th e ton gue is t o be
supported by t he hors e s by m ean s of a p ole pas sing ac ross their back s
be tween th em a n d resti n g on pad saddles Fr om thi s a pole or chain
pa sses back t o th e tongu e be l ow an d sus pends it to the desired h eight
With a machi ne of th e header typ e in mind it n ow seems st range that
th e idea of s up p o rt i n g it s push tong u e up on th e back s of the horse s
ever occurred an d it s eem s equally stran ge t hat a man would ever sup
pose that a team coul d be so driven as to stee r such a machine A
hors e might be trai ned to run a wheelbarro w as a feat but no one
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woul d thin k of u sing such a c ombin ation for any p ractical pu rp ose
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The quotation from th e p at e nt that i s c ontain e d in th e above ex
t r act sho w s th at the w riter of th e Prote st must have had be fore him
a copy of t he McC orm i ck pa tent of 1 8 34 What explanation th en
can b e off ere d for his fai lure to sta te that th e p atent al s o provided for
?
a plan of pulling th e machin e
I mmedi ately after the d escription of
th e plan for p ushin g the machine the patent d es cribes h ow it can be
dra wn I t says :
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O
h orse may work th e mac hin e from th is si de by substituting
”
shafts for th e tongue
ne
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Again after sp eaking of a guide in front of the main whe el
fl ect gra in to th e cuttin g app aratu s th e patent states :
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t o de
,
This triangl e is t o be moveable on its screw also an d it may be
removed alto g eth er for th e pu rp ose of in serting shafts so that th e ma
,
,
12
c h ine may be dra wn by one hors e in this manner The two headpiec e s
are to be l en g the n ed a s als o the cu rved bra ce p roj ecting towards all of
th em about th ree o r four feet Th e two broa d pieces wi ll be conne ct e d
at th eir en ds by a b ar for the singlet ree a n d risin g from th e right
hand on e near th e en d an u p right connects it with th e cu rv e d brace
and by th e side of th is u pright rises anoth er secu red to its p lace to a
h eight su f ficie n t to clea r the reel From thi s top a brace passes across
the reel to the op po site post B elow the inne r sh a ft from the single
tree end is secured a longer bow or b race proj ec t ing outward s ome
what an d co n tinuin g along the di r e cti on of th e shaft to th e fron t of the
horse whe re it pass es aroun d an d j oin s t o the other sha ft which ha s
be en l eft p urp osely l on ge r
Th e obj e ct of th is bow is to throw th e
stalk inward towards th e cuttin g apparatus instead of the t riangl e re
”
moved
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
This l a n guage q uoted fro m th e patent is de script ive of a m e thod
of pulling th e machin e a s shown by t he dotted lines of th e drawing
I f t he eyesight of th e writ er of the Protest is so poor that he c oul d
not s ee th e shafts in the d rawin g an d t he langua ge in the sp ecifi cation
d escribing them is it not fair t o presume that hi s mental faculties are
?
so imp aire d a s t o rende r valuele ss anything he may w rite
I t is a
w eak caus e that can only b e ma intained by misl e ading sta t e ments and
garbled quotati on s Repeatedly during the past fifty years th e a rticl e
from th e Lexingt on Uni on of S eptembe r 2 8 I 83 3 descriptive of Me
Cormi ck s reap er has been rep roduced and wi dely p ublish e d T his
articl e s ays :
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
’
,
.
Thi s machin e "
refe rri ng to th e McC ormi ck r eaper of 1 833] is so
constructe d as to leave a long or sh ort st ubble to Ope rat e al ik e on tall
I t i s dr a w n 5} ( me fl a m e w a lk i ng by t/ze si de of
or short grain
”
n i n Shafts
r
i
a
g
,
.
.
Th e
pap er th en proceeds t o give a full description of t he ma chi ne
The fo ll owing testimonial in relation to the ope ration of t he McCor
mick reape r in th e h arvest of 1 8 3 3 wa s p ublish e d in the Novemb e r
1 833 is su e of t he M ech anics M a gaz in e an d R e gi ster of I nventions :
.
,
’
‘
,
I ce rtify th a t Mr C H McCormi ck s reapin g m a chi n e w i t/z a
ll a m a was e mp l oyed by m e in th e late harv e st a n d though I did n ot
work it much I wa s satisfi ed with its work
E
Sig
n
ed
A
M
S
"
] J
“
’
.
.
.
.
Mr M
was Gove rnor of Virginia in 1 843
Mr William S McCormi ck testifie d under oath in
suit of McCormi ck vs M a nny as follows :
.
.
'
cD ow ell
.
.
.
,
1 8 55 ,
in the
13
Cros s
-
—
d
uestion
How
wa
s
th
e
hors
e
attache
to
that
ma
1
75
"
.
chine ?
Answe r — I do n ot recollect whe ther the first machi ne wa s
worked by one or two h orses ; but whe ther or n ot I well remember
that th e hors e or h ors e s w e re al ways attach e d to th e mach i n e substa n
t i a lly as now done using a p ai r of sha fts or pole to suit on e or two
hor se s th e horse or horses wal king outside an d al on gside of th e g ra i n
t o be cut with th e cutting apparatu s on th e l eft a s ha s bee n th e case
”
ever since
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
The P rotest ma k es long extracts from the commun ication whi ch
M r McC ormi ck file d in Januar y of 1 848 when h e sought t o have hi s
pat e nt of 1 83 4 extend e d It m ust therefore b e presumed that its w riter
kn e w a n d suppressed the foll owing quotation from th e sam e c ommun i
cation :
,
.
.
“
Th e machine at th e time of this experi me nt ( 1 83 1 ) c onta i ned
all th e esse n tial p arts t hat were embra ce d i n t he p a ten t of Jun e 2 1
1 83 4
I t had a pl at fo rm ; th e strai ght sickl e wi t h the vi b ratin g acti on
by a crank ; the fi ngers or sta tiona ry sup po rt s t o th e cutting at th e
edge of the blade a n d proj e ctin g forwa rd into the grain ; t he reel and
the g e neral arrang e m en t s by whi ch th e ma chine was balance d upon
t w o wheels perh ap s nine t e n th s of t he wh ole wei ght bein g throw n
u pon the on e be hind th e draft t /zer eéy a l t a r/Z i ng t /ze Il en e:
fr om
”
and at on e side
,
.
,
,
,
-
,
,
.
Summari z in g on t he methods of drafts
(a ) Th e pa t ents sho w tha t both machi nes wer e drawn by a te a m
walking out sid e the st a n di ng gra in
i
k
M
c
o
r
m
c
e
b
C
p
at
nt sh ows an alte rnative devi c e so that t he
s
( )
machin e coul d be p ushe d
T
h
i
c
plan
o
f
Hus
sey
s
mach
n
e
is
suc
h
that
it
could
b
e
e
n
o
t
( )
push ed
Accoun ts of McC ormi ck s machin e published at L exin g ton
V a befo r e any knowledge of Hu ssey s ha d p en et rated that remote
n eig hborhoo d show th a t the machi ne wa s drawn w he n at work in th e
harv e st of 1 833
(e ) Sworn te stimo ny of h alf a cent u ry a g o a n d swo rn s t atem e nt s
in 1 84 7 of th e invent or himself sh ow that the machine wa s always
drawn from th e si de
M
c
o
r
k
C
m
i
i
c
s
The
picture
of
achi
ne
here
i
th
p
blis
h
d
m
w
u
a
e
()
show s the pull m ethod of draft
reprod uction oi on e publi sh e d i n
.
.
’
.
’
.
’
,
,
’
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
’
,
,
.
14
I t i s s ubmitt e d th a t as
metho d of draft the Protes t i s
misleading and the conclusion s dr a wn th erefrom m ust fall
,
t erly
t o the
,
ut
.
M
'
a efi zn er
—McC
mi ck
machi ne wa s
mounted on two wheels a ma in whe el whic h supporte d the gr ea te r
part of th e wei ght of the machi n e gav e m oti on to the crank reci p ro
ca t ed t he knife a n d revolv ed t he re e l a n d a grain wheel a t th e outer
Huss ey s machin e ha d th re e wh eels at the stub
e n d of th e pl atform
ble side all of w hich rested u po n the ground The ton gue was piv
The
ot ed loosely t o th e machine like th e usual farm wa gon to n gue
platform was rigidly p roj ected t o th e side as shown i n th e picture It
is plain th e refor e that it could not follow the in eq ualities of the
ground and that any o bst ructi on e ncoun te red by t he wheel s woul d
th row it up and d own l eaving a washbo a r d stubble Hussey s p a tent
a
r
d
e
how
v
e
r
h
t if a wide platform was to b e used th e machine
c
i
e
d
t
v
p
should have fo u r whe e ls th e extra one at th e outer end of th e platf orm
It is eviden t that such a constructi on must have drawn a s h eavy as a
stone boat ( S e e Fig 2 taken from Ardrey s Ame rican Agricultural
”
I mpl ement s ) S i mply to recipr ocate the knife and draw the machin e
took four horses on the trot
Gen er a l P la
( 2)
n
f
o
t /ze
.
0r
’
s
,
,
,
“
,
’
.
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
’
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
’
-
.
,
.
.
1838
’
B USS E Y S R E A PE R
.
,
Th e McCo rm i ck constructio n is i den t ical with that found i n
mo dern reapers Th e machi n e ha d a sti ff p ole as have th e reap ers of
to —
da y and balanced over the w h e el s thus handli n g like a cart and
conforming t o th e s urface of the ground The weight wa s position e d
l argely about th e drive wheel thus giving power to move the op erative
parts of th e ma chi n e McC ormi ck stated this con struction very con
ci sely in the follow mg langu a ge fifty years ago
.
,
,
,
.
-
,
.
:
,
The genera l arrange ment by which the machine was balanc ed
upon two wheels perhaps nine tenths of th e whole w ei ght b ei n g
thro w n upon the one behin d th e draft th e reby atta ch ing th e hors es in
front a n d at one side without th e u se of the separate two whe eled cart
for th e pu rpose of controlling the running of the m a chine up on its two
“
-
,
,
-
15
w heels , to accommodat e itself to th e
w hich construction I claim (an d which
I n explanation
irregula rities
H ussey
of
th e ground
this last stat ement H ussey remodel ed hi s ma
chin e adopting M r McC ormi ck s plan in 1 84 1 I n a long adv ert is e
ment in the Americ a n Farmer of 1 84 2 Hussey state s :
of
’
.
,
.
,
La st year an entire chan ge wa s made in the general structure
of my machine (s e e illu stration Hussey s reaping mac hine 1 84 1
Fig
’
,
,
,
.
Summari z in g on thi s point :
i
c
k
a
T
plan
is
the
one
in
univ
e
rsal
us
e
at
this
day
M
c
o
r
m
h
C
e
)
(
b
H
us
ey
aban
done
d
h
is
c
on
stru
c
t
i
o
n
and
ado
ted
that
o
f
M
c
s
p
( )
Cormick
I t is the refore s ubmitted th a t on the ge neral con struction of the
machi ne McC ormi ck s plan was th e succes s a nd Hus s ey s th e fail ur e
.
.
’
’
.
—T
picture of th e McCormi ck machine th e Pat
e nt O fli ce drawings a n d all the early new spaper accou n ts sp eak of
M cC ormi ck s reel I n the des cription of McCorm i ck s ma chi ne in the
M echan ics M agaz ine i n 1 833 it i s stated :
e R
T
h
3
( )
he
ed
,
,
’
’
.
’
There i s a reel as it is te rmed which i s a bout 6 or 7 fee t in di
a m et er and th e same l engt h of t he knife
Th is is ma de by frami ng
ar ms in e ac h e nd of th e shaft say ei ght th e po int s of whi ch a r e j oin ed
togethe r by pieces called ribs pa r allel t o the shafts The reel is re
volved as th e machi n e advan ces by a ba nd fro m the main wh ee l to
on e on its shaft the obj ect of which is t o draw th e grain back to the
knife which will be done whether straight or tangl ed up ri ght or l ea n
i ng un le s s b e low a n angl e of 4 5 degree s and t o throw it upon the
a p ron ?
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
’
16
In a lett e r writt e n by M r McC orm i ck to the editor of the M e
cha n i cs Maga z in e in May of 1 8 4 is the following :
3
.
’
,
,
Th e rev olving reel a s I c onceive constitutes a very imp ortant
”
i n fact indi sp e n sabl e pa rt of my machine
,
,
,
,
.
Attenti on is call ed to th e fact th at this reel is a r e el that will do th e
work I n all th e reapers built by McCormi ck it could be ad j u ste d
up and dow n and forward an d back th e t wo mov e ments of to day I t
has b e en said that B el l had a re el but th e descript ions of it sh ow that
th e arm s w e re only thirt een inches i n le n gth A n yon e e xp e ri e nce d
i n harve sting grain knows that suc h a reel wo uld h ave no e ffect i n
raisin g lod g e d an d tan gl ed grain but on the contrary wou l d roll it
ah e ad of th e knife a n d b e wors e tha n usel e ss Hus s e y had no reel
and n e v e r ha d
Th e Prot es t says :
.
-
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
.
In it s perfected form (refe rring t o H u ssey s reaper) it may b e
—
consi dere d as e xisting in th e manual d elivery reap ers largely u s ed in
Eu r op e and ext e n sively ma nufa cture d by the McC ormi ck H arv e sting
M achine C omp an y the D e ering Ha rvester Company and oth e rs a s
”
sh own by their annual circulars
’
,
,
.
All Europ e did not sell
he r e with ( Fig
1 89 6
.
th ese ma n ual delivery reap e rs in
“
will sh ow the so cal l e d m arm al
of
-
-
.
delive ry reap e r th at i s now being made a n d sold I t is a n attachment
for a mowe r a makeshift for usin g th e mow er on th e sma ll E uropean
farm s (which ave rage about fi ve acres each ) t o r e ap a smal l patch
.
,
,
18
th e te rmination of the platform upon the cutt e r and when
”
separated lands t hem on t he platfo rm
en
d of
,
.
I n the clai m of th e patent is th e following :
An d al so th e me thod of divid ing an d keeping s e parate the grain
”
to be cut from that t o b e left standing
I n th e n ews p aper a rticle published in the Lexington Union in
Sept e mbe r of 1 83 3 i s the f oll owing description of th e divider :
.
A lon gsi d e the ap ron by the point of the knife and extending
some distance before th e knife i s rai sed a partit i on of cloth for the
pu rpo se of dividi ng a n d keepin g sepa rate th e cut g rain from that
”
which is left standing
Th e p ictures of H us sey s mac hine will show that it had no divid er
Later after H ussey ha d abandoned his t wo wheeled cart and adopted
McCormi ck s co n struction of mount ing the ma chine upon a main a n d
grain wheel ( Fi g
h e stood a narrow boar d edgewi se at the en d of
hi s platform to protec t th e top of th e grain whe el from becoming
w ound with grain and vi n e s but at no time during th e life of the M c
Cormick patent of 1 83 4 did he have upon his ma chin e a divide r pro
n
n
c
i
in
fro
t
o
f
the
cutting
a
paratus
t
o
sep
a
rate
th
e
grain
to
be
e
t
p
j
g
cut fr om that to be left standing Practical men know that without a
reel or a divi de r Hussey s machi n e could n ot b e a s uccess ful reaper
Th e co mbi ned action of McCormi ck s divi der and reel is essen tial
in reaping machines Th e divide r p roj ected ah ea d of the fi n g er bar
an d separate d t he swat h to be cut from t he grain to b e l eft standing
t threw th e part to be cut inwardly so it cou ld be acte d upo n by the
reel and th us be sepa ra ted before it was s evered and whil e its roots
held it t o the ground Judge Nelson stat ed in the ca se of McC ormi ck
vs S eym our
Morgan :
,
,
“
,
.
’
.
-
,
’
-
.
-
,
.
’
.
’
-
.
.
,
,
.
.
That th e p la i n ti fi wa s seekin g to obtain a divider that would
n ot only d i vide the standing g rain but one that coul d b e s uccessfully
'used for dividing grain
whether standing or tangled or lod g e d or
broken
I t seem s from the t estimony of all th e witnesses
t h a t there is no great di fficulty in di vi din g th e grai n i n the Op eration
of reapin g w hen it stands erect Th ey say that th e reel is of n o gre a t
u tility wh ere the gra in is n ot t a ngled or leaning ; that the Operation
of Hussey s machine without the reel is as successful as that of any oth e r
in cutting standing grain ; that th e di fficulty c omm e nc es in tangle d
gr a in ; and that as great po rtio ns of the grain during the ha rvest
i
r
po tions perhap s of every field are in that co n dit on a ma chine woul d
‘
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
’
,
,
,
,
,
,
19
comparatively useless that coul d operate only on stan ding grain
”
leaving t ha t which is tangl e d to be cut bv some oth er instrument
be
,
.
Referring aga in to th e reaping attachment ( Fig
attention is
called to the divider which proj ects in front of the fi n g er bar about
thre e fee t a nd whi ch h as welded to i ts p oint two solid iron rods that
exten d rearwa rdly a n d upwardly and diverge at the ir ends in ord er
t o pene tra te the grain and separ ate th e swath t o be cut from the g r ain
to be le ft st a ndi ng Thera ker w ho as has been he r et ofore e xp lai n e d
us es hi s rak e largely a s a reel as sists th e divi der in sepa rating the
g rain and r eelin g it upo n the p a l t form
Th e Protest says :
I n its ( Hus sey s ) p erf crt m fo rm it exists in
”
th e ma n ua l delive ry rea p e r
As it i s plain that it i s n ot the machine
whi ch Hussey invented and bu ilt th e com par i son is fatal a s a s uppo rt
to the claim tha t Hus s e y s wa s a practical reaping machine for in
order to make t he
man ual delivery machin e o p erative it must have
McCormi ck s divid er and place a man with a ra ke t o do the work of
McCormi ck s r e e l
S ummar i z ing on this p oint :
( a ) McCormi ck s machine had a divider from the beginning
I
t
d
h
b
a divide r in combination with a re el from th e b egin
a
( )
nin g
( c ) Huss ey s reape r did not contain a divider during the life of
McC ormi ck s fi rs t p ate nt
( d ) The reaping atta ch me nt for mowers which ha s be en called
P erfl ct ezz H ussey Ma c/11 h r
clearly sh ows H u ssev s reape r t o
h ave bee n a failur e as th e manual delivery has a divider and posi
tions a man upon th e machine with a rake to do by han d t he re elin g
and dividing which th e McC orm i ck ma chine always did auto mati ca lly
I t is submitt ed that un der this h ea d alone H us sey s machin e
must be deemed a failure
.
-
,
,
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,
,
,
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’
’
’
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,
’
,
-
.
’
’
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’
.
.
’
,
’
.
”
’
’
,
,
,
.
’
,
,
.
(5 )
l
e
— McCormi ck s
P /a tf or zzz
’
n
mchi n e from the be g i nn in g
ha d a platform of the sam e width as th e fi n g er bar Th e r a k er w a s
thus en a bled to walk behind or ride on th e fram e of th e machine a n d
d raw the accum u lat ed gavel from the platform up on the groun d at th e
si de of t he machine and out of the w a y in m aking the next round of
th e field
-
.
,
.
20
Hu ss ey s mac hin e had a platform ext e ndi ng the full width of th e
cuttin g apparatus an d fra m e The W id e thi rd wh e el was plac e d be
h in d th i s platfor m and th e rake r who som e tim e s sat upon th e plat
fo r m p u s he d th e ac cumulat e d gavel upon th e ground imm ediat ely be
hi n d th e platfo rm an d i n th e path of th e team and ma chin e in ma kin g
th e n e xt round of th e fi e ld Thi s wa s th e p lan of th e Huss e y ma chine
so l ong a s built
Th a t it wa s unhandy an d a s e rious dis a dvan tage
15 fully p r oven by th e f oll ow ing quot a tio n from th e G e n e se e Fa rm er
vol 1 6 p 3 08 :
’
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
.
.
’
Hu ss ey s wen t on a n d th e gat herers ha d t o j ump an d run t o
McCormi ck s worke d ver y
ke e p pac e wi th th e fl e et horses
e asy a n d cut as cl os e a n d re gu l ar as could b e de sired The r e was not
a st r aw t o b e s een on th e whol e tr ack over which it wen t ; th e sh e ave s
w er e al l b e autif ully ar ranged i n lin e wi t h th e ir bu tt e n ds ni ce ly t o
g e th er a s ni cely as if don e by han d wi th care It cut so p erfe ctly
s tr ai ght that it took th e last row a t on e cut a n d mad e a cl e an swe e p
n ot l e aving a si n gl e st r aw t o t e ll th e tal e
Whil e all that wa s goi n g on H ussey wo rk e d up and d own with
a l e gion of busy gather er s fol lowin g the r e ap er at a qui ck st e p ha v
i n g a l a r ge qua n ti ty y e t to cut The poor hors es al th ou gh young and
p ow erf ul driven at a g r eat spee d w er e c ompl e tely e xhau st e d T h e
mach i n e works h e avi ly it r e qui res t oo muc h p owe r t o drive its pon
H a vi ng n o si de del i very a n umb e r of men mu st i m
deron s kni fe
mediat e l y remove th e grai n i n ord er to cl ea r th e track for th e n e xt
cut ; t he men n ot havin g tim e t o mak e n e at work left th e field str ew e d
with gr ain I n countri es wh e r e man ual labo r is sc a rce which i s t he
case e v erywh e re during ha rv e st this ma chin e cou ld n ot b e e mploy e d at
”
all e xc e pt wi t h a great los s of g rain being tramp e d out by th e horses
,
’
:
.
.
,
‘
,
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,
-
,
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,
,
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,
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,
,
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,
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.
.
,
,
.
I t ca n hardly b e sa i d th at H uss e y s m a chi n e was n ot a practical
r e ap er s ol e ly b e c aus e th e ga vel could n ot be deli ver e d at on e sid e
B ut n e v erth e l e ss th e McC ormi ck si de deli very p la n has driven e very
r ea r d eliv e ry ma chi n e out of existenc e i n Am eri ca
S umm ari z ing on t hi s p oint :
t
so that t he r aker
k
was
cons
r
ucted
s machine
m
i
c
M
o
r
c
C
a
( )
coul d’ d e liv er th e gr ai n at on e sid e out of the wa y of th e t e am i n th e
n e xt r o un d
b
Hus
s
e
y
s
m
a c hin e wa s con struc t e d so tha t th e bun d l e ha d to
( )
b e r ak e d off dir e ctly in its pa th on the n e x t r ou nd
o
f
f
a n d di vi der t o g e t th e
c
B
ecaus
e
th
e
ab
senc
e
th
e
reel
o
( )
r
i
it
was
impo
ssibl e for H uss ey s rake r
n p roperly on th e platform
a
g
’
.
,
b
-
.
’
.
’
.
’
’
,
21
draw th e gav el s t o on e sid e ev e n though i n 1 84 1 h e ad op ted th e
McCormi ck pla n of
hi s machin e upo n t wo whe e l s
It is submitt ed on this point th at McC ormi ck s ma chine had
h
d
v
a
f
reatly
a
ntag
e
H uss ey s
t
e
o
g
to
,
.
’
,
,
’
.
(6)
TI M C u rl i
n
A
g
pp a
ra
t us
.
—Who e v e r compil e d th e P r ot e st
for
th e riva l ma nufacture rs was adroit i n trying t o narrow the succe ssf ul
el ements of a reap ing machin e dow n t o th e cuttin g ap paratus E s
h
i
l
l
s
n
i
s
thi
whe
t
e
y
select
Hussey
th
eir
hero
whose
o
ly
c
s
o
a
s
n
e
a
p
y
i nvention wa s an improvem en t in th e cutting appa ratus
Th e P rote st says :
.
,
.
Tw enty or 30 reapi n g ma chin es had b een i n vent e d be for e Hu s
but all were fai l u r es be ca use th e y would n ot cut w e ll Wh e n
sey s
Hus sey invente d hi s succ e ssful cutt in g apparat us h e di d what How e
”
di d for th e se wi ng ma chine
’
.
,
,
.
It is n ot my wi sh to det ract from the hon or j ustly du e th e many
w ho ma de impr ovements on the re aping mac hin e ; it i s however n eces
sary i n thi s c a s e to show wha t th e cutting appara tu s wa s which Hus s e y
invent ed and u sed in 1 833 a n d wha t was McC ormi ck s of 1 83 1
“
To sh ow t ha t writ e rs do n ot agr e e that r ea p e rs
w er e failur e s
”
becau se they could not cut well I qu ote from th e Gen e se e Far m er
v0 1 iv 1 8 3 4 p 1 5 4 :
,
,
’
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
.
M r B oy er made an ingenious appara tus t o imitate the mo tio n
Even though it cu t well y e t
a n d do the work of th e bow e d scyth e
”
i t ma de wr etched w a ste
.
.
,
.
Th ere could be m a n y d ev ice s for merely sever in g th e st alks w e r e
is n ot n ecessa ry to h a n dl e th e gra in gently an d prese rve it T h ere
is m ore requi red of a reap er than t o mer e ly cut th e s tal ks Grain is
r e ap e d solely that it m a y be sav ed a n d th e divider reel a n d sid e
d elivery platform are more es se ntial in th e saving th a n woul d b e a
c ut ti ng devi ce whi ch might have the ma ny nic e ties of con st r uction
found in th e 5 00 or more patent e d improvements mad e sinc e 1 83 1
Hu ss ey s 1 833 cut ting app a ratus is claimed as follo ws :
.
.
,
,
.
’
0 72 Mei ?
t
z
w
o
t
r
i
hori
o
n
al
s
aw
i
th
te
e
h
a
h
t
t
w
t
( )
g
”
si des for cutting grain
“
T
h
e g uards forming doubl e bearings a bove and below the
b
( )
saw wh er eby th e cutting is made sur e w h et her with sh arp or dull edg e
th e guards a t th e sa me ti m e p rotecti n g t he sa w from rocks or sticks or
”
other large s u bstance s it may m eet wit h
a
“
The
s
”
.
,
,
.
22
“
e
r
u
n
c
p
eculiar
c
o
n
struction
that
the
s
a
w
teeth
may
fre
T
h
e
( )
wher e by th e n eces sary p res sure an d conse quent fri cti on of two cor
re sponding edges cutting together as a pai r of s ci ssors are entire ly
”
avoided
,
,
.
Th e d rawin g Fig 5 shows thi s cutting apparatus Attention i s
”
call ed to th e fact that th e saw teet h are sh a r p on their two sides
Th e saw t ee th in u se to day are sharp on ly on on e side Leaving th e
t e eth sharp on tw o sides make s a bevel on both side s of th e knife sec
tio n This is what is meant in th e thi rd clai m j ust quoted
Every farmer s boy knows that a suc ces sful cutting device of to
“
day is on e th a t has th e fri ction of two c orrespo nding edges cutting
”
together as a pair of sci ssors , th e ve ry el ement aga inst which Hussey
so carefully provided
Th e construction of thi s cuttin g apparatus of Huss ey s must have
be e n known to the compilers of th e Pro tes t I f th ey did n ot kno w
of this fa tal defect in Hu ss ey s cutting apparatus of 1 8 3 3 th ey sh ould
not be writing so p ositively on the sub j ect ; i f t hey di d k now th en th e y
ar e deceiving th eir rea ders
That th ere may b e n o question of th e drawin g above ( Fig 5 ) co r
rect ly representin g th e Hussey cutting apparatus of 1 8 33
I quot e
from reissu e l e tt e rs pat e nt No 44 9 gra nt ed Apri l 1 4 1 8 5 7 to O bed
Hussey :
,
,
.
.
.
-
.
.
.
’
.
’
-
.
’
,
,
.
.
,
'
,
.
I n my ori gi nal invention
,
,
th e reaping m a ch in e patented by
m e in 1 83 3 th e upp er pa rt of th e guards was fa stened to the lowe r
part both b e fore an d beh in d t he bla des as rep res ented at C C an d
th e gra ss straw etc which was not pe rf ectly cut was forced in by
,
vi z :
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
23
th e shearing motion of th e blade s a nd work e d back between th e blad e s
a n d th e g rass m a teriall y ob structin g the fre e movement of th e blade s
i n w et weather frequently caused what th e farmers calle d ch okin g
I n my ori ginal sickl e patente d in 1 83 3 t lze N a der a r e g r ou n d
w i t /z a bevel on bot /z f i l es of Me edg e; th e pu rp ose of thi s is that by
mean s of the shoul der of the bevel th e sharp ed ge is prevente d from
coming in contact with the fin ger a n d wh en sp rung or be n t cutt i ng
into t he finger
B y reas on of th is ten denc y of th e scallope d
sickl e to force the stalks across and th us entangle them upon the fi n
g e rs a ll t he modes heretofor e devi sed (3f w ort i fl g l /zi s S tet /e w ere
a pp a r e
i mjf eeti ve
H usse y sign ed th e above u nder oath in 1 8 57 and th e Patent
O f fice ranted him a patent for an improvement on the se statements
Further proof seem s unnecessary t o sh ow the failure of Husse y s
machin e of 1 8 33 after his ow n sworn statement in 1 8 5 7 N evert he
less t he re ar e man y facts a side from hi s own statem ent which would
of t h emselves e ffectually prove it s fail ure
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
Or
.
’
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
I n a bri ef filed in th e Patent
O ffice
in 1 848 H ussey disclaime d
ev e rythin g i n his first patent but hi s cut t er an d desc rib e d that as
'
,
Composed of a row of blad es of lancet point shap e arranged
'
S
I do n ot cla i m 10 o
e the i n ven tor o
on a rod sid e by side
s
u
e
/
/
z
(
m
e
é
f
but I claim th em in combinati on with and vibratin g through and into
”
doubl e fingers
,
,
.
.
A di scu ssion th erefore of th e Husse y cutting a pparatus is a dis
cu ssi on of his reaper
Mr W N Whiteley i s on e of th e very few w ho n ow have th e cour
a g e to sign their communication s
an d w ho states in a letter written
n
a
1
8
uary
89 7 an d publish e d with the Prote st :
J
,
,
.
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
All reapin g machines of th e present day emb od y s ubstantially
all of th e vital principles given by O bed H ussey in 1 8 33 an d at di ff erent
”
peri ods th ereafter
.
Possibly Mr Whitele y s m em ory is b e tter n ow than it was in 1 86 1
w hen h e had l ess intere st in denyin g th e invention of th e reap er by
McCormi ck All disintere sted p ersons however will thin k that hi s
min d was as vigorous and his j udgm ent on th e que stion of invention as
—
1
1
a
h
ood
in
86
as
it
i
s
to
d
H
on
Samuel
ug ert Acting C om
S
T
y
g
missioner of Patents says in hi s opinion g iven Marc h I 1 86 1 in th e
'
application of Eunice B Hussey fo r an extension of O bed H uss e y s
patent :
“
The coun sel of Wm N Whiteley the opp onent of th es e exten
’
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,
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,
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i
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,
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,
,
24
sions have urg e d with gre at p e rtin acity that th e inven tions are n ot
”
n ov e l
Shug ert s decisio n was rendered M arch 1 1 86 1 and L e e
Fisher
were th e att orneys for Whiteley
O n Ap ril 1 1 1 86 1 th e foll owing l etter wa s written t o St Louis
by Mr Geo M Lee of the fi m of Le e
Fisher Whitel ey s atto rn e y s :
,
.
’
,
.
,
.
,
.
,
.
.
.
’
r
,
,
Cincinnati Ap ri l
,
1 1,
1 86 1
.
Messrs Kingslan d " Ferguson :
—
Gents W e write you at the in stance of va riou s of the mower
and r eaper manufacturers who oppose th e exten sion of McCormi ck s
patents
W e have taken mu ch t e stim ony in th e case and oh
t a i n ed a resolutio n of Congress giving us more time until May 1 1 to
take further evidence Now thi s litigat i on i s for th e j oint inte re st of
y ou all and w e have su pp ose d all would sus tain it
.
.
’
.
,
,
.
.
,
Cor mi ck : p a ten ts a r e ex ten ded lze w i ll mon op oli z e the en ti re busi n ess
med y ou w i ll a ll ei t/zer li eme t o pa y lzi m $1 5 per ma c/zi n e or q ui t; for
alth ough h e was b e at e n in th e Hussey cas e h e ha s reissued his pat en ts
a s y ou ar e awar e so as to cover eve ry machin e of any real value All
h e w aits for now i s an exten sion an d h e will begin a wa r on you all
and it will be fou nd almost im po ssible t o b eat him in court on the s e
reissues Th e y are prepare d with great care but he can be beaten in
th e Patent O ffice a n d h e must be be a ten now or never
Pl e ase therefore tak e hold and h elp us beat th e c omm on e
n e y:
S ubscription s have ranged from $1 00 to
Resp e ct
full y
L EE
F I S H ER by G M Lee
P S — Sen d i n also to th e Patent O ffice so m e h undre ds of re
m o n stran ce s if you can like this There i s n o p ostage t o pay
To the Commissi oner of Patent s of U S :
We oppose the exten s ion o f C H McC orm i ck s patents H e
has m ade money enough off th e fa rmers "
Sign ed by
,
,
.
,
.
,
m
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,
,
,
,
.
,
.
.
.
.
,
,
.
.
.
.
’
.
.
.
.
Mr Whiteley has always oppose d McC ormi ck b ut it is di ffic ult to
that McC ormi ck s patent s will
see how he could in 1 86 1 hav e th ought
m onopoli z e the entire business a n d c over eve ry machine of any real
“
”
value an d to da y st ate :
Th e reap er of the present day does not
disclos e any p rinciple s contained i n the early e ff o rts of C H McC or
”
mick ; but that cann ot b e said of H uss ey
I n 1 86 1 when th e fight wa s
on an d reaper men knew about th e ma t ter Whiteley s interp re tation
“
”
were not novel and M c
of th e situation was th a t Hu ssey s claims
”
Cormi ck s cover ed eve ry machin e of a n y real value
M r W hiteley
of 1 89 7 be tte r s qua r e h i mself with Mr Wh iteley of 1 86 1 before his
Opini ons will b e entitled to any w e ight on hi storical ma tters
Let it be
rememb ered however that Mr Whiteley had s u ffi cient abilit y in me
,
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26
“
Soci e ty 1 839 it was stated A tro t is s ometimes ne ces sary where the
grain is much lodged or a strong wind drives i n th e direction of t he
”
machin e
H uss e y writing from B altimore on Novembe r 1 5 1 8 39 states :
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
With t he speed of an ordi nary bris k walk th e cutting is sure
So sure i s th e cut ti ng at all times tha t the sharp edge i s by n o
mea n s necessa ry for no sha rpe ning i s required from be ginning to en d
of harve st and n o di ff erence in th e excellency of its work can be dis
covere d between sharp an d dull cutters
The machin e w ill
also do excellent work in almost any kind of grain in a quick trot but
su ch a sp eed sh oul d b e a voi de d exce pt wh en ab solu tely necessary
.
”
,
.
,
.
,
"
.
In 1 840 H us sey sen t several re a pin g machine s to parties near
Richmond but they did not give satisfaction and Edwa rd R uffi n the
famous agriculturi st of Vi rgin i a editor of th e Farmers Registe r de
cli n ed to re commen d th e machin e b ecaus e
h e had not seen a trial
”
of i t a n d th os e who have t ried it di ff e r a s to it s merits and ec onomy
This statemen t of M r R uffi n cal led forth a letter from "
u ee n
Ann e County Maryland und e r date of F ebruary 1 8 1 84 1 an d on e
from Mr Hussey himself under date of April 4 Th e one from "ueen
Ann e Cou nty decla res tha t :
;
,
,
,
’
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
.
.
,
I have not as
,
,
,
from my own exp erience been able to decide
I t broke early in th e ha rvest
on th e value of the reap er
The knives could not b e set to cut high er than nine inch es I t cut
more straw than wa s useful and al so gras s amon g the wh eat this i m
p osed unn ece ssary labor on th e h ors es and a heavy strain on th e ma
”
chin e
e
t
y ,
,
.
.
.
,
,
.
Hussey discussing th e caus e of th e failur e in Virginia st a tes in
letter to th e Farmers Re gi ste r :
,
,
,
hi
s
’
I t i s adm itt e d that it may n ot do everything that is exp ected of
it wh en proper ma na gement is n ot u sed ; fo r instance when th e wheat
i s r a nk an d mix e d with grass th e cutte r shoul d be rai sed to th e high
”
est point
,
,
,
.
Hussey then mad e a prop osition to Ru ffi n t o sen d two mach ines
to Virginia an d thi s p roposition w a s accepted and th e machin es w er e
sent t o th e est ates of Wm B Harrison Esq Upper B randon and R
B B olden Sandy Point Jame s River b oth of whom made reports t o
th e Fa rmers Register Harrison decline d to reco mmend th e machin e
as tim e savin g and went on to say amon g oth er things :
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
’
.
,
,
Th e r e aper cann ot b e started as long a s there is any dew on
t he
wh eat in the morn ing n or can it 0 p era t e after much ha s fallen in th e
ev en ing
I t would add g reatly to the value of this ma chin e
if th e ingen i ous inventor M r Hu ssey can devis e some way t o make
”
them cut damp straw so they coul d be kept at work all day
,
.
,
.
,
.
,
B olde n declar ed that :
With th re e mul es and a man to drive and on e on th e mach in e
t o rake th e wheat from the pl atfor m upon which as it is cut it fall s
we estimated th at rather more than on e acre p er hour wa s reap ed The
machin e does not cut well early in th e mornin g wh en th e wheat i s
”
moist
,
,
,
.
,
.
I n 1 84 2 at a m eetin g of th e Pri nce Ge orge County (V a ) Agri
cul tural Soci e ty July 4 a repo rt was submitte d by th e Committee t o
th e eff ect th a t :
.
,
,
,
Hus s e y s wheat reaping ma chin e has b een introduced on on e
of the B ran don est ates but owing princip ally t o its in ability t o work
wh e n th e wheat is damp from dew no material advantage has y e t t e
”
s ult ed from it
’
,
,
.
In Ma rch of 1 84 3 H us sey w ho had read the glowing a ccounts of
th e work of McC ormi ck s ma chine s in Vi rgini a wrote t o the editor
of th e Southern Planter as follows :
,
’
,
I saw in your last Pla n te r an ac count
another reap er in your
State which i s attracting som e attention it shall be m y endeavor to
meet that ma chin e in th e fiel d in t h e n ext ha rvest I th ink it but j us
tic e to gi ve this public n otice th at parties concerned may n ot be
tak e n u n awares but have th e oppo rtunity t o prepare themselves for
”
such a c ontest
of
,
,
.
,
,
.
McC ormi ck
accep te d this cha l len ge thr ough the columns of th e
Richm ond En quirer and suggeste d th at Hussey meet him on th e
fa rm of Mr Ambrose H utchins on where a machin e that he had sol d
t o the President of th e Virginia State A gricu ltural S ociety Rev
H Turner would be in op erati on I n accepting Huss ey s challen ge
he sai d :
,
.
,
,
.
’
.
.
,
,
I will willingly submit the pretensions of both machines t o th e
arbitram ent of a di si n tereste d tribunal of experien c ed fa rm ers
I shal l en d eavor t o show i n the fi rst place that my machin e will c ut
damp or wet wh eat a n d in order t o do so propose to comm enc e
cuttin g at sun ri se I shall further endeavor t o show that it will cut
1 5 acres a day without pu shin g or driving and with a ver y l ight t wo
”
hors e dra ft
.
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
In place of going
to
th e fa rm of M r Hutchin son Hussey brou ght
.
,
28
reap er to th e farm of a Mr Wight on the James River o n t he
d a y on which Mc C ormi ck wa s to sta rt i n Operation a machine p ur
chased of h i m by Wi ght There I S a statem ent of thi s trial in th e
Richmond En quirer from whi ch w e l e arn that the McCormi ck ma
c hine O perated w ell i n th e wet wheat after a h eavy rain whil e H uss e y s
cl ogged and stopp ed an d in a len gt h of t wenty pac es had t o be
t urned out of th e crop twic e an d start e d i n again by his fou r mul e s
a t a har d trot
after which h e admitt ed that hi s ma chine would n ot
c ut w e t or da mp grain
Hu ssey n ot b ei n g sati sfied on the 3oth of Jun e took hi s
reaper to Hutchin son s McC ormi ck was there with his ma chine an d
bega n cutting at
a m a s promi sed H uss ey however did n ot
i
1
0
th
e
fiel
d
u
ntil
aft
e
r
o
lock
A
comm
ttee
was
appointed
by
e
t
t
o
c
g
th e sp e ctators and th e ma chi n e s tri e d together in di ffer e nt l ocations
T h e decision was rend e r ed i n favor of th e McC ormi ck m ac hi n e be
“
caus e i t cut damp wheat wa s lighter draft had side delivery scat
”
H ussey how ever wh e n
t eri ng les s grain a n d better quality of cut
d efeat ed w a nted t o try again and the machines met on the farm of a
M r Roan e At this trial th e McCormi ck machin e cut fou rteen acre s
in on e day n ot w
ithstanding a loss of som e time in the morni ng a n d
agai n a fter dinner
This wa s th e last seen of M r H ussey in Virginia H e wa s fairly
b eat e n bu t never cease d t o bewail hi s failure At th e en d of th e y e ar
1 844 h e wrot e the editor of Th e Cultivator :
hi
s
,
,
.
,
.
,
’
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
’
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
’
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,
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,
,
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,
,
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,
,
,
,
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,
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,
It is now 1 0 year s sin ce my inve n tion of th e reap er I have been
constantly en gaged sinc e that time in i ts improvem ent
It
c annot app ea r strang e if som e of th e s e change s may h ave b e en for th e
M y larg e
w ors e an d thereby e n dan gere d its good name
”
machine require s four horses
.
.
.
.
It ha s b e en sta te d t hat H uss ey was n ot strong enough to p ush
his mac hine A careful exa minati on of hi s various attempts t o i n t ro
d uc e hi s machi ne s b et we e n th e year s 1 8 34 and 1 84 5 will show t hat hi s
failur e was not du e t o l a c k of ability but of cutti ng apparatus From
t he sworn testimony o f hi s own foreman Lov e grov e in th e Hussey
extens ion case of 1 86 1 it app e ars that from 1 840 to 1 84 5 h e ma de
b ut from twelve to f orty machines annually an d fr om hi s ow n state
ment he sol d in 1 84 7 the last year of his pat e nt only ten machines
Hu sse y s br ot h er w ho had establi shed himself at Auburn N Y mad e
“
”
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,
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,
29
h eadway I n 1 846 th e New Y or k Agricu ltural Socie ty at its fai r
h e ld in Auburn ma de an award t o McC ormi ck over the Hu ssey
Auburn m a chin e and Huss ey himself aft erwa rds repudiate d th e
Auburn machine
B efore this ti me McC ormi ck s ma chin e wa s a pr onounc ed s uc ce ss
Hu ss ey s a s has bee n shown was a failure Th e question therefore
a s t o who i n ve nted th e first p ractical reape r woul d seem to b e co nclu
si vely settled in fa v r of McC ormi ck
p
I nasmuch a s some hav e a ss um ed th at Hussey s patent of 1 84 7 on
th e Ope n b ack guard was th e invention which m ade reapin g ma chine s
p ra ctical it is appropriate to sh ow th a t for seve ral years afte r takin g
ou t that patent h e h ad n o conception of a su ccessful cut t ing appa ra tus
no
,
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,
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’
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’
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,
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’
,
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F ig
His
this impr ovemen t
1
N o
847 says :
7
I n my o ri gi n a l i nvent ion (p a t ent of 1 8 33) th e plate s are g r ound;
with a b ev el on both si d es of th e edge Th e pu rpose of th is is that
b y mea ns of th e shoulder of the bevel th e sha rp edge i s pre v ente d
f r om c oming i nto immediate contact w ith th e i ron in pa ssin g th e guard
T hi s b evel is n ot so n ecessary for the fork of th e blades as n ear thei r
points ; hence in thi s imp rovem en t about on e inch of edge at the forlc
i s flush on th e u n der side leaving th e b evel on th e upp er si de Th e
de sign of this i s that the gras s etc which is forced i n betwe en th e
blade s an d th e lower par t of th e g uard shall b e cut up an d worke d out
”
by th e flush edge comi ng cl ose t o th e iron at the fork
.
.
6
shows thi s cutter
date d August
of 1 84 7
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I n thi s improveme nt h e had two p oints which he cl a i me d in
foll owing cl a i ms :
,
“
a
peni
n
ab
ve
T
h
e
o
o
( )
g
"
vibratin g blade s
.
the
blad es
at
t he
A in c ombi na ti on with
,
.
30
“
( b)
The particul ar applic a tion
”
blades for the p urpos e described
of
the flush edge at the fork
of the
.
'
H e still kept his blade s almost fou r an d on e half inches long an d
beveled a s they were on both side s to within on e inch of thei r rea r
they acte d i n a mann e r simi lar t o th e c uttin g of a stick between two
”
bricks
Th e y st ill drew much d ea d gras s weeds and tra sh i nto th e
slots of the g uard part of which worked out at the r ea r because of th e
op ening on the top part of the guard That this appa ratus wa s n ot a
s ucce ss is very plai n from th e repo rts that we have of the ope ration of
the machine
’
I n 1 85 1 at the World s F air i n L ondon th e o ffi cial trials were he ld
Th e o fficial rep ort of M r J oh n
on th e fa rm of Mr M echi in Essex
son the American Commi ssioner says :
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Th e wheat up on which th e tr i a l wa s to be made was quite green
and remarkably he a vy an d eve rything as unfavora ble as coul d well be
The first machine tried was Hussey s which did not succeed
at all as it clogged very soon an d p assed ove r th e gr ain without cut
ting i t After this had bee n tried two or thre e time s an d failed it was
propo sed by on e of th e j ury th a t no further trial be made bu t it wa s
in siste d that t he oth er Ame rican reape r ( M c corm ick s ) should be trie d
After it ha d pa sse d its lengt h the
The machine was started
clean path made by th e reaper sh owe d that t he w ork was done an d th e
”
reaper was successful
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’
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M r Hussey howeve r wa s not satisfied an d anothe r trial
obtained Th e following is from the repo rt of M r Pusey M P
was one of the j udges :
w as
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.
who
,
I n the first t ri a l at T ip Tree H a ll Mr McC orm i ck s reap er wo r k ed
well th e other (H UISS C y S) di d n ot go at all As th e c orn however w a s
then green it wa s thought right to m a ke fu rthe r t rial
Th e
ob j ect of our second t ri al was to decide wh eth er either or both was
su fficiently go od to re ceive our Council M ed a l
M r McC ormi ck s
worked in this trial a s it has since worked at Cirenc ester College and
elsewh ere commanding th e admir a tion of p ractical farmers and there
'
fore receive d the Council M edal M r Huss ey s sometimes becam e
clogged a s in th e f orm er trial at Ti p Tree and theref ore could not
possibly obtain th at di stinction
'
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The O p eration of th e H us sey ma chine at Paris in 1 8 5 5 ha s b een
clearly shown by the qu otation heretof ore given to h av e be e n almost a
failu re for
,
Th e poor horses although young an d p owerful driven at great
,
,
31
peed were c ompletely exhausted Thi s ma chine works heavily ; it
”
requires too much p owe r t o drive its ponderous knife
s
.
.
.
I n a paper read be fore the B riti sh Soci ety for the Advan ce ment of
Art and Science in 1 8 5 3 Alfre d C rosskill th e first man ufactur er in
England of the H ussey an d B ell t ype of machines makes as fair a
'
,
,
,
,
s
tatement
H ussey s cutting app aratus as can b e made :
’
for
“
and guar ds varie s in b oth machines
Mr
an
angle
with
the
gu
a rd of 60 t o 7 0
t
Th e cutters use d by
degre es a n d have thei r e dge s s errated
H uss ey make an an gle of 1 0 or 20 degrees with the guard and a re
mu ch more acute than thos e used b y his rival They are plain edge d
an d th eir action is to chop the corn ( grai n ) betw een them a n d the
H
ard
th
rough
which
h
ey
pa
i
s form of a kni fe b ends the g ra s ses
t
ss
u
g
”
t h rough th e gu a rds and in tim e ch okes up the knives
.
Th e s h ap e of th e k nives
’
McCormi ck s cu ter s form
.
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,
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.
Again the writer state d :
I n Hus sey s they fo rm a very acute angle w ith th e guards w hi ch
are plain edged and therefore chop off the st raws by means of very
”
rapi d m otion through the fingers
’
,
,
.
M r Jac ob Wil son in his celebrate d p rize e ssay before the Royal
Agricultural S ociety refe rred to th e tw o machine s as foll ows :
,
.
,
I n M r McC orm i ck s ma chin e the knife ha d a se pa rate edge the
num erous blades being rivet ed on t o the b ar in the fo rm of an obtuse
a n gl e con sequently its action is similar t o t hat of a saw I t was more
de sirable more easily worked and les s liable to choke than Hussey s
I n H ussey s the knife fo rmed a very acute angle wh ich was smooth
edged an d chopped the straw by a rapid motion thro ugh and agai nst
th e fingers but u nless d riven at a conside rable sp eed wa s liable t o
chok e A friend who w orke d on e of thes e machine s in Ame rica for
several year s inform s me that it was n o uncomm on practice t o have
the h orses going at a sharp trot during th e whole day to prevent the
ch oking—of course h aving relays of men and horses
The
obtuse angl e c utter ( Mc C orm i ck s shear draw cut ) is simp le eff ecti v e
dur able seldom requi res sharp ening and c onsume s les s power than
”
any oth er form
’
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Th e Royal Agricultural College F a rm i n 1 8 5 2 h eld a trial be tween
Hu ssey s and McC ormi ck s reapers lasting nin e days A committee
wa s appointe d an d the t rial wa s one of the most severe ever held The
rep ort of the j udges states :
,
,
’
’
.
.
McCo
m i ck
machin e appear ed to be free from clogg ing The
p la ce at which it was n ecessary for the horses t o walk i n order to
secure the prope r working of th e machin es appeared t o us a most
r
’
s
.
32
materi al feature in th eir clai m s Th e horses whi ch d rew Huss ey s ma
chin e was d riven by a m an riding on the near h orse an d were kept at
a fast wal k whi ch we est imate d at n early f our miles p er hour— c ertain
ly a t a speed fa r exceeding th e ordin a ry wa lk of regu lar cart horses
an d this sp ee d appea re d n ecessary t o in sure efli ci en t working ; a t e
i
r
m
n
u
e
e
t
which mu st be very dist res sin g t o heavy h orses McCor
q
mi ck s on the contrary was dr ive n by a man seated on a ma chin e at
th e ordin a ry p ace of c a rt h orses (sa y 2% mi le s pe r hour) a rate a t
whic h a pai r of h orses mi ght work for a whol e d ay a s at th e pl ow an d
”
with as little d i stres s
’
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Another great tri a l was h el d i n
comm ittee repo rted :
“
1 85 2,
at
D ri ffi eld,
En gla n d
,
a nd
the
com m ittee a re furth er o f opinion th a t from th e violent
reverbato ry moti on imp a r te d t o every pa rt of Hu ssey s mach ine dura
bi li ty i s n ot to b e exp ected and th at th e form of the serrate d cutters
i n McCormi ck s ma chi n e is fa r p ref e rabl e t o th e d eepl y i n d ented
s mooth edged cut ters in Hus sey s an d that th e y will n ot nearly so often
”
ne ed r en ew i ng
Y ou r
,
’
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’
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’
,
.
I n th e acc oun t of the annual exh i b ition of th e Ro y al Agricultur al
S oc iety i n 1 8 5 3 p ublishe d i n the F armers M a gazin e it i s state d :
’
,
,
M r Hus se y th e Ame rican al so ma d e some exc ellent work with
h i s i mprove d ma chin e whic h i s completel y alter ed (by it s En glis h
ma ker) since th e great ex h i biti on
Th e sp eed of th e cutting
knive s i s increas ed so that t he horse s may go on e fourth sl owe r The
kni fe used in A m e rica where the climat e i s ve ry dry a n d th e crop s light
was fo rme d t o cut a n angl e of 20 degr ees It i s n ow m a d e t o cut at a n
a ng le of 4 5 degre es and with sickl ed edges to suit the moist con di t i on
This for m
of th e h eavier crop s a n d h umi d climate of G reat B ritain
of knife or cutter i s n ot only bette r ada pted fo r gree ni sh crops in w et
”
or dry weather b u t it greatly r ed u ce s th e li a bility t o clog
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,
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,
In the
cussi
on on
M oh
M ag azine o f May 2 2 1 8 5 8 ther e is a l ong di s
rea p in g mach i ne s I n spe aking of Husse y th e a rticl e s ta tes :
‘
e
a n i cs
’
,
,
.
The knife of th e McCormi ck c onsists of a seri es of very sh ort
obt use angular bl a des so as t o form a cutting edge which d oe s n ot
depa rt very considerably fro m a stra i ght lin e The whole of th e cutt i n g
edges are finely serrated after th e m a n n er o f th e si ck le e d ge The cut
is what i s kn own as a draw cut in op positi on t o th e chopp i ng a ct i o n
’
of th e Hu s sey knife
I n cutting MlcCormi ck s reap e r ha s th i s
g r e a t a dvan t a g e th a t th e kni fe woul d never clog in da m p foul c rop s
”
whil e th e Hus se y ma chin es woul d only cu t when t he crop was d r y
,
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The s ame a rticle
“
sa
ys
of t he
B ell ma ch in e :
Thi s machine ha d la i n dorma n t
for
many y ea rs
.
That it
wa s
3 4:
I n 1 8 5 6 P H Wats on a pa tent at torney of Washingt on who had
been interested for the defense in th e suit of McCorm i ck vs Ma nn y
an d w ho had in that c on necti on become familia r with ha rvester i n ven
tions sough t Hus sey a n d explaine d to him wh erein his cutting devic e
wa s wron g a n d u rged upon him t he reissue of his patent of 1 847 Pre
paratory t o this rei ssue Wats on w a s retai ned a nd the foll owing list of
lawyers : Stanton the greatest pate nt lawye r of hi s da y ; Har d ing the n a
y oun g man but sinc e famous ; G iff ord Kelle r D o d ge McL ea n La w
H ewitt a n d Scott Th e total fe es p aid th es e me n in four years was
an exorbita nt sum for that early da y Th ese figu r es and
n a me s are taken from t he statement fi le d by H us sey when obtaini n g
the extensi on of his pa tent in 1 86 1
Th e p aten t of 1 847 wa s then
reissued Th e o ri gi nal patent st a te d in th e fi rst claim that the gu ards
were t o be open on top and to be used i n combi n a ti on w i l l: a é mf o
Wa t son fro m h is exp erien ce with th e McC ormi ck m a c hine knew th at
McCormi ck ha d us e d a kn i f e i n combinati on with gu ard fin ge rs that
were open bel ow and so thi s claim was reissue d to cover a sca lloped
k n if e i n co mbina t ion with op en g ua rd fi ng ers
Noth ing wa s sa i d
about th e beveling of t he knife upon both edges ; and for th e first time
H ussey
made the invention for whi ch he ha s been gi ven so much
credi t TO the average man h owever this invention will appear d u e
t o th e
that h e pai d t o that long array of f a mous lawye rs Th i s
rei ssu e by Hussey of his patents ; th e employme nt of th e leadi n g p atent
lawyers of America payi ng them immen se fees an d th e man ipulati on
of hi s p atent th r ough the Patent O ffi c e is ample evidence of H us sey s
shre w dnes s an d business a b ility
At this ti m e hi s manufa cture of
ma chines ha d d ecrease d t o a very few (ninet een i n
and h e see m e d
to realize that as a ma n ufacture r h e was out of th e market an d that
hi s sol e O pp o rtuni ty lay in reissuin g his p atents t o cove r a cutting
device whi ch should con t ai n far m ore of McCormi ck s idea tha n of his
.
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"
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”
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’
ow n
.
If M r H ussey s conception in 1 846 had been clear on even this
featu re he wou l d have been entitle d to th e cre d i t for an i mp rovement of
value ; but he ha d n o conception o f t he esse ntial requisite of a draw
”
cut
I n secu ring his reiss ued patent he comp letely chan ged it from
”
th e o ri gin a l Th e knife was change d from a knife to a scall oped
”
”
knife and th e open guard cha n g ed from a guard O pen on t op t o
r
.
’
,
.
.
“
“
open gu a rd
Thi s rei ss ue practice finally reache d such out r a ge
ou s extreme s that th e United States S up rem e Cour t in 1 880 turned
d own the whol e s ubj ect of reis sue S uch a rei ssue a s H us sey s a ttor
neys O btai n e d i n 1 8 57 woul d t o d ay be absolut ely void
”
an
.
’
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.
MoCo nn oé r Cutti ng App a tus —I quote from the d esc ript ion
MoCo mi ck s first reap e r found in the second volume of th e M e
'
’
r
of
r
ar
’
,
cha n ics Magaz in e
of 1 8 33 ,
’
a s foll ows :
There is a wh eel
turn ing a small crank an d fr om thi s
c ran k th e kni fe receive s a vi bratory m otion It i s about 4 } fe et l ong
with a n e dg e somewha t like that of a sickl e ( havi ng te eth ) strai ght and
proj ecting into t he grai n at right an gles t o the ho r se
Th e
grain is prevente d from slipp ing with th e edge O f the knife by pieces
”
of wire pr oj ecting be fore it withi n t w o or t hre e inche s of each oth e r
,
4
.
,
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,
.
I know of n o patent machine exp eri men t n ewspaper repo rt or
tradition of a reciprocating knife driven by a crank with fi xed fingers
t o prevent the gr ain from slipping with th e kni fe b e fore that of M c
Cor m i ck in 1 83 1
I n the McC ormi ck p atent of June 1 1 834 tw o ways O f making the
kni fe are de sc ri bed The on e us ed wa s :
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
“
A vib rati ng bl a d e ope rat ed by a cran k having the e d ge either
smooth or with teeth eith er wit h stationary w ires or piec es above a n d
bel ow a nd p roj ecting be fore it for th e p urp ose of steadying an d sup
port i n g the gra in whi l e cuttin g ; or using a double c rank a n d another
”
blade or vibrating ba r
,
,
,
,
.
Th e al te rnative plan of tw o vibrating blad es was n eve r used
F rom th e testi m ony under oath of Wm S an d L ea n d er ] Mc
Co rmi ck take n fifty years a go it a p pe ars th at th e fingers or gua rds
d i d proj ect ov er the knife and were bent ba ck beneath its cutting e dge
“
Wm S McCorm i ck d es cri bin g these finge rs sta t ed tha t t he b ac k
end O f th e iron fin ge rs w a s mad e in th e sh a pe O f a fork a nd tha t fork
ex tending ba ck t o the platform was riv et ed t o a woode n pin while th e
front end proj ected forw ar d ove r a n d back un de r th e edge of th e
”
recip r ocati ng knife Th e d rawin g he rewith ( F ig 7 ) shows the cut ti n g
It shoul d be
a pparatus th a t w a s u sed in t he ma ch ine down t o 1 8 39
born e in mind th a t McC ormi ck after using hi s rea p e r in the h ar vest
—
e
o
f
1
8
of 1 83 2 t o ha rvest fifty ac r es of g rai n an d in the harv sts
3 3 34 3 5
to h a rve st co n s i d e rab le c rops of gra i n w en t into t he bus iness of sm elt
ing iron in 1 8 3 5 whi ch the n promised l a rge p rofi ts
The p anic of
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36
caus e d t he fai l u r e of th e iron busines s and it wa s n ot until th e
harve st of 1 839 th a t h e was abl e again t o take up his reape r I n t he
1 83 7
,
.
Sta un to n V a S pe ctat or of July 2 5 1 839 i s a n e d i tori al givi ng a favor
abl e a c c ou n t oi a p ubli c t ri al i n that ha rv e st on the farm of M r Josep h
Sm ith an d sta ting tha t i t wa s h el d i n th e pres en c e of 200 pe r s on s Th i s
was follow e d on Aug ust 1 1 i n th e sa me pa per b y an a dverti sement of
Mr Mc cormi ck s c onta i ni n g th e c e rtificate Of Abra m S mith a n d el ev e n
oth e r gentl em en to the e ffi c i ent w orking of the ma chi n e
I n 1 840 th e fi nge rs w e r e c h a n ge d to dou bl e clos e d on es
I n th e
earl y m onth s of that y ea r th e Ric h mon d E n q ui rer c ontai ns a ce r t i fi cate
of fi v e gen tle men a s t o the O pe r ati on of the machi n e at di ff er en t ti me s
As a r esul t of th es e tri a l s Mr A bra m Smi th or d e re d a mac hin e as di d
“
”
also Rich a rd Sa mpson th e Fa rmer of V i rgi n ia but b ot h ma chi n e s
drew gra s s i nt o the gr oov es on the un d er side of the fingers a n d di d
n ot O pe r at e w ell
Th ese ma ch i ne s ha d th e s a me troubl e th at Hu s se y
en c ount e re d whe n he s ent his ma ch i n e s to V irgin i a fou r years lat e r
’
I n 1 84 1 Smi th s ma chi n e wa s i mp r ov ed b y the s ubstitution of a n ew
sickl e wi th r everse angl e t e et h cut ting b oth wa y s and it p erfo rme d
sati s fa c t ori l y in th a t h ar ve st So succ ess ful wa s it i n 1 84 1 th at Mr
McCormi ck a d ve rtise d his machin e in the sp r i n g of 1 842 in th e Ric h
m on d En q uir er F or the fi rs t ti me in th e history of harvesting ma
chi n ery hi s ma c hin e was wa rr an t e d to do good w ork ; to cut on e an d a
hal f a cr e s p er h our an d t o sa v e a bush e l of wheat to eve ry ac r e
,
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,
The un de rsi gn e d
g et
i nt o us e (if at
bi li ty
p
)
all
u on
d ete rmi ne d that th i s m a ch i n e sh oul d
it s m e r i t s a n d th erefo re upon hi s r esp onsi
,
”
.
I t i s owing to this con se rv ati sm in th e int r oduc ti on of hi s machine
i n obtainin g h is patent s that mu ch of hi s trouble in a fter year s
.
a nd
,
,
37
N 0 on e of hi s th r e e gr e a t patent s was ta ken out un til long afte r
h e ha d full y a n d carefull y e x pe ri mented an d p u t th e ma chin e a s
e n t ed i nt o public op e r ati on a n d u se
a
r ose
.
,
,
.
th e cutting a pp a rat us (F ig 8) show n in the p a t e n t of 1 84 5
wa s u se d
This y ea r seve n mach i n e s wer e s old a n d W m N Peyt on
who ha d on e of th em wrot e to the S outhe rn Pl a n ter i n Augu st 1 842
a s foll ow s :
In
1 842
.
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
b een w orke d thi s ha rv e st un d er eve ry disad va n t a ge
in conse quenc e of th e u np rece d en t e d wea t he r w e ha v e h ad
Th e r ea p e r has cut all de sc riptions of wh ea t—gr e en rip e
rust e d as b adly as wheat c ou l d have it lyi n g a nd s ta n d ing
N O w ea th e r has p revente d th e machi n e from working e x c ep t wh en the
”
gr ou n d wa s so s of t as t o the mi re the whee ls
ha s
It
.
,
,
,
.
Gen e ral Co rbi n B ra x ton al s o fu rn is h ed
an
acc oun t
of
th e operati on
of
F a rmers Regi st e r
to the
’
hi s ma c hi ne :
As soon a s th e fi rst machine was p ut togeth e r w e sta rt e d i t on a
wet d a mp d ay in very h eavy wh eat n ot yet ri p e
two m u le s
were hitch e d a n d to m y a stonishm ent it o per ated with ou t st opp a ge or
”
d i ffi cult y
,
,
,
.
Mr McCormi ck sol d tw ent y ni n e r ea p e rs a n d he ha d
I n 1 844 fi ft y
ce rt i fi ca te s l ike the a b ove f r om twe n ty s ev en of t hem
w e r e s ol d a n d ga v e th e b e st of sati sfaction an d from the w ork of th e se
ma ch ines in 1 844 M r McC ormi ck li cen s e d five bui l de r s of h i s r ea p er
at a li c e ns e fee of $20 p er ma chine B r own i n Ci n c i n n a t i wa s to build
1 00 S e ym our
M orga n at B rockport N Y i n t he e aste rn te rrit ory
a n d Fi tch Backus
C o of the s a m e pl a c e for the w este rn te rri t ory
wer e li ce n s ed F ive cou nti es were sol d i n V i rgini a a n d th e sh op s on
t he h ome f arm were t o co ntinue buildi ng un d er licen s e
In
1 843
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38
I t wa s with much d i ffi cult y th a t M r McCormi ck move d from place
to p lace over th e c oun t ry mak i ng m ost of th e j ourn eys on hor seba ck
H e was without me a n s an d dep en d en t largely upon the ass i sta n ce
of othe rs ; bu t hi s reape r w a s succe ss fu l an d th e thousand s O f them
that h e sold with th e cutting app aratu s of 1 84 2 shows concl usively
that hi s was a pra ctical mach ine year s be fore H u ssey s cutting appara
tus ha d been made a succ ess Attention i s cal le d to th e fact that M c
Cormick ha d a cle a r i dea i n 1 842 of cuttin g by a r eci pr ocating blade
that slid u pon a cu rv ed s upport t o hold the bla d e cl osel y against a
finger th us giving a sh ea r cut b y a d raw motion Hu ssey fo r yea rs i n
”
fact n eve r in the ma ch i ne s h e ma d e hims elf ha d a d ra w cut
It
”
i s th e shear dra w cut that makes th e m odern c utting apparat u s su c
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Th e drawing he rewith ( F ig 9) shows in full lin es H ussey s
long p ointed knife which form ed an angl e of but 1 8 degrees between
it s edg e and th e gua rd E ve n in th e mowing machi ne of to day the
angle i s 3 5 degrees—al most twice as great— and i n the h a rv ester it is
—
e
e
Th e line ma de in d ots shows th e
5 5 d gr es thre e time s a s great
m ower s ect i on an d that in dash e s th e h a rv est er section tha t is in use at
th e presen t ti me The most careful w ork in th e maki n g of harvesting
machiner y i s the fitting of the knives so they will recip r ocate th rough
cessful
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39
th e guards and bein g beveled on bu t on e side will fo rm with the guard
“
”
a p erfect shear cut
Huss ey s k nife bein g bevele d on both edges
l ong and straight ha d n ot a sh ear cut b eca use its edge did not strike
th e edg e of the guard nor ha d it a d raw cut be cause of its deep pitch
It was therefore n ece ssar y t o p rope l it with great speed t o make it
op e rate at all with i ts chopping cut
I n 1 85 7 McC ormi ck an swered H ussey s suit by saving that h e had
used th e vibrating knife m oving throu gh fing ers open on their lower
o
si des i n 1 8 3 1 an d on to 1 8 3 9
Judge McL ea n in hi s de cision state d
th at H u s sey s rei ssued patent was for a sca lloped bla de moving th rough
ope n fingers ; that McC orm i ck s ear lier ma ch ine ha d a strai ght blad e
with a serrated edge in O pe n fingers and the refo re did n ot anticipate
Hus sey s invention
In th e attack s made up on McCorm i ck s p os ition as invent or of th e
reap er th e w ri ters go th rough all th e early m achine s non e O f which
h a rv e st ed gra i n ; the y pick out a side draft from on e ; a sm a ll cylinde r
which they call a reel from a n other ; a long guard which th ey term a
divid e r from anothe r ; a platform from a n ewsp ap er acc oun t of a ma
chin e th at wa s neve r built ; a recip rocatin g kni fe that w ould n ot recip
“
roca t e—and then say
McCorm i ck i nvented n othing—every device
”
of hi s can be foun d in ea rlier patents
Whe n however they measure
Huss e y th e
y do n ot fi se the sam e y a rds tick with which they mea sure
McCorm i ck s i n ven ti bn I f th ey did they would fi nd H ussey s open
back gu ard in McCormi ck s early ma chine and the scalloped reci p ro
Tha s by the sa me r ul e w i th
catin g knife in Manning s patent of 1 83 1
w i zi clz t/zey mea sur ed 11% Corn zi cb H ussey i n ven ted n ot/t i ng
Judge
McL ea n said h owever that it wa s well settled l aw th at I nv entors of
a combination are a s much entitle d t o suppres s every oth er co mbi n a
”
ti on of th e same in gr edients as any other class of inventors
Summa ri zing on the cuttin g apparatus :
1
k
1
M
o
r
m
i
a
8
a
first
in
to
use
a
reciprocating
knife
c
c
w
s
C
( )
(
3 )
driven by a crank an d pitman with fixed fingers t o prevent the grain
from moving with the knife
1
8
o
b
H
u
ssey
made
in
a
recip
r
cating blade worked by a
( )
33
crank th e bl ad e fi tt ed with knives three inch es wide an d four an d on e
half inches long be vel ed on both sides with finger s ha ving sl ots into
“
which th e knive s drew trash an d damp straw b eca use of the chopping
”
cut thus making the plan a fail ure
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40
1
2
k
o
8
M
c
m
i
r
c
m
c
I
n
made
the
imp
rove
ent
on
h
is
cuttin
g
C
4
( )
appar atus shown i n his paten t of 1 84 5 serrating the bl ade fi rst on e
way an d then in the O ppo site d irection ; made large curved ope n sup
p orts for th e blade t o reciprocate i n a n d spear sh ap ed fing ers to hold
”
th e straw t o th e blade thus making a d raw shea r cut that would n ot
clog i n damp grain H e thus obtained a successful cutting a ppa ratus
that enabled hi m t o s ell thou san ds O f reapers
1
6
d
Huss
ey
in
fi
rst
built
an
d
sold
his
imp
rove
d
cutt
i
ng
app
a
8
4
( )
ratus shown in his patent of 1 84 7 ope ning th e re ar of th e upp er mem
b er of th e guard an d keeping ab out on e inch of th e rear part of the
knife flus h with th e bottom I t wa s somewhat b etter than his ori g i nal
”
plan but still was not a succe ss as it lacked th e d ra w shear cu t
1
2
i
h
e
I
n
8
M
o
r
m
k
return
ed
to
his
open
finger
n
slig
tly
c
C
c
d
a
( )
5
”
scallop ed his bla d e thus making his d raw shear cut princi ple more
e ff e ctive
S om e buil d ers of cutting apparatus similar t o Hus sey s
sh ortene d th e bla d e s a n d cease d b eveling them on th e under si de thus
”
c oming m ore closel y to Mc ormi ck s d raw sh ear cut an d making
th e Hus sey apparatus more e ff ec t i ve
e
t
h
f
Hussey
s
att
rneys
seein
g
that
his
reaper
was
a
fail
re
o
u
(
()
sal e shortly d roppi ng to ten a y ear) g ot the lea d ing p atent att orneys
of th e country to rei ssue hi s patents so a s t o c ove r a s callop e d bl a de
working in open fingers an d then for th e first time twenty fi ve y ears
after th e i nvent i on of the re a p e r by McC ormi ck d id h e have an i m
proveme nt of valu e i n h arveste rs Up on this on e min or feature (the
work of attorneys ) rests O b ed Hussey s only shadow of a clai m to the
invent i on of the fi rst succe ssful reap er
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III
.
—TR E ATME N T
MC CO R MI CK
ACCO R DE D
AN D
H USSE Y B Y
TH E
GO V E R N
KE N T
.
“
Th is subj ect ha s little i f any b ea ring on the question of who i n
”
vente d the reaper Th e fact how ev er that the Board of Com m
ission
ers for th e Extens ion of Patents refused i n 1 848 to extend McCorm i ck s
patent of 1 8 3 4 is menti one d i n th e Protest a s a point aga inst th e n ov
elty of McCormi ck s first machine
The e x tensi on of Hus sey s p a ten t was al so refused b y th e same
B oard but m e n tion of tha t fact wa s carefully omitt ed i n the Pr otest
H usse y als o applie d t o Co n gress for an extension and was refus e d
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42
be d irected to furni sh satisfactory testimony that the invention of hi s
m a chin e was prior to th e invention of a similar machine by O bed H us
sey an d th at h e be directed t o giv e du e notice to the said Husse y of
th e time an d p lace of taking of said testimony
“
Ma rch 29 1 84 8
Th e B oard met agreeably to adj ourn ment
Present : Ja s B uchanan Edmund B urke and R H G ill et t and havin g
examin ed the evidence a dduced in th e case decide d that said patent
ought not to be ext ended
Sig
e
JA
ES
BU
C
HANAN
Secretary
of
State
M
n
d
(
)
'
E D M UN D BUR KE Co mm issioner of Patents
R H G I L L ETT Solicitor of th e Treasury
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As was c omm on in extension cases the Co mmissioner of Patent s
ha d previously asked th e Examiner in th e Paten t O ffice to report on
McCormi ck s p a t ent an d this report date d January 22 1 848 state d
that :
,
’
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,
,
Th e
,
cuttin g knife and mode of operating it th e fingers to guide
th e grain an d th e revolving rack for gathering the grain were not
n ew at the time of granting said lette rs paten t The k nife fingers and
general arrangement and O p e ration of the cutting apparat us a re
foun d i n the reaping m a ch in e of O bed Hus sey p atented 3 l st o f D e
cem ber 1 8 33 Th e revolvin g rack p res ents n ovelty chi efly i n fo rm as i t s
operation is similar to th e revolving frame of Ja m es Ten Eyck pat
en t ed 2 d N ovember 1 8 2 5
R espectfull y submitted
”
CHAR L ES G PA G E Exa miner
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Pa g e
E
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,
xa miner w ho knew l ittle about reaping ma chin es
”
call e d McC ormi ck s reel a revolving rack
Ten Eyck in 1 82 5 took
a patent on a reap er wh ich pr ove d a c omplete failure I t had revolv
in g knives similar to thos e of l a wn mowers Pag e noticing that the
picture s resem b le d each oth er mist ook th e d rawing of thi s cutting a p
paratus for a reel and cite d it as an anticipation H e made a mi stake
which merely emph asiz ed h i s ignorance and lack of knowledge on th e
subj ect Th i s e rror of P age s alon e was f atal to McCormi ck S a pp li ca
tion for at that early day B uch anan a nd G illett accepted Page s O pin
—
—
ion that th e gathering reel an d th e cutting cylinder wer e i d entical con
st ructi on s having th e same functions
B urke the Co mmissioner o f
Paten ts recognized th e distinction an d wa s in favor of the extension
H e signe d the d e cisi on only because it was th e cu stom for all to unit e
i n th e r uling of th e maj orit y V iewing thi s matter in the light of fifty
’
y ea r s e x p er i enc e i t is eas y t o s e e how fatal Page s blun de r was t o t he
i nterests of McC ormi ck s extension Th e only other p oint in Page s
report wa s th e cutting apparatu s of Hus sey Havin g invented hi s
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43
reaper two years before Hu ssey McC ormi ck p roceede d to obtain ex
part e a ffi davits setting fort h th e invention and successful op eration of
his reap er in 1 83 1
Hus se y h owever wrote th e followin g letter on
F ebruary 2 1 1 848 to th e B oard of Exten sion :
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‘
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,
,
“
I wish h er eb y t o interpose my obj ection s to th e exten sion of
Cyru s H McC orm i ck s pate nt for hi s rea pin g machin e by y ou r h onor
able B oard
My obj ection s are thes e :
o
o
t
The
machin
has
prove
d
a
useful
invention
th
e
public
n
t
I
e
( )
f (2) M r McC orm i ck has b een rewarde d by sales of patent rights
an d by th e exten sive sa les of hi s machine before th e real merits of th e
machine wer e fully kn own
”
(3 ) It will be an inj ury to myself
He th en p roduced several l etters i n relation t o th e w ork of ce r
ta i n of th e hun dreds of reap ers that McC orm i ck s l icense es h a d sold
an d fi n a llv got back t o the 1 84 3 tri al that w as h eld betw een his an d
McCorm i ck s machi ne in V ir ginia in which h e was defeated a s shown
b y th e unanim ous rep ort of th e j udges H e sa ys :
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“
O
ur
m achin es came b efore the publi c si mu ltaneously and got
c r edi t in wi dé y di ff eren t location s
Th e y we re fi rst o p e rated togethe r
in R i chm on d V a i n 1 8 43 An unfai r tri al was b rought about in the
s a m e fi eld wh ere a p refer en ce was given t o McC orm i ck s ma chin e
”
wh i ch was a cci dental and sh oul d n ot ha ve be e n given
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It will be rem emb ered from th e quota ti on s a lre a dy g i ve n t ha t
Hussey had ch a lle ng ed McC ormi ck for this t rial seve ral month s befor e
th e harvest O f 1 84 3 Th e lette r furth er sa ys :
,
,
.
B y the false position in wh ich M r McC ormi ck s machine wa s
the n placed h e made ext en sive sales of his pa t ent rights which fill ed
th e countr y with machines which are n ow going out of use I nee d
n ot sa y that this state of things ha s had a disastrou s eff ect on m
i
y n
t erest s as well as on th e int ere sts of the far me rs of th e countr y which
has been fu lly develop e d sinc e that time and it i s believed that a fur
the r e x ten sion of McC ormi ck s patent will se rve t o pe rp etuate in some
d egre e th e evil eff ects on farme rs whil e it may O perate t o retard the
j ust rewa rd whi ch th e sub scriber claims for having p roduce d th e best
reapin g machine which wa s ever o ff ere d to th e w orl d which reward
h e feel s hims elf kept out of in a great m easure by th e fal se p ositi on
hi s ma chin e was plac ed in by th e award of the public committee which
has since been fully acknowledge d to be wrong
”
E
Y
Signed
B
E
D
HUSS
O
(
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What a mixtu r
e of in consisten cy and selfishness this letter sho w s "
”
McC ormi ck had fille d the country with machines H ow sh a llow
.
,
4 4:
t h erefore ,
his first obj ection that it ha d not prove d a useful i n ven
”
t ion to the public
Would farmer s h ave ma de ext ensive p u r chases
’
o f rea p ers in the 4o s
before th ey kn ew th e real mer i ts of the ma
c hi nes
F iftee n hundred McCormi ck m a c hines were made that year ne a r
ly as ma n y machines a s Hu ssey bu ilt a n d sold du rin g th e thirt y ye a r s
o f h is bu siness career
H ussey sold an d was paid for only ten ma
chi nes th a t year ; yet he writ es to t he Extension B oa rd that McCor
”
mick s ma c hi n e s a r e goi n g out O f u se
H us se y followe d this letter
b y a n othe r on e t wo days l ater d ated Washington F eb r u ary 2 3 1 848
Th e letter i s as foll ows :
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I learned ver y recently that on e O f th e strongest p oints upon
wh ich M r McCormi ck rests h is cl a im f or the extension of his patent
O ur ma
i s t hat h e i s osten sibl y t he i nventor of the r eaping mach ine
c hines being so di ff erent i t never occurred t o m e that suc h a n op ini on
could b e entertained by any on e a n d u p to t he 2 1 5 t inst t he da y
on which I became a ware of that first I h ad made n o preparation to
c ombat i t I un d er stan d als o that the Examiner i n th e Patent O ff ic e
ha s g i ven i t as his opini on that our ma chine s are simi lar
It i s natu ral
for me t o infe r that thi s Opi nion was obtain ed t o aid y ou r Honor a b le
B oar d i n d eciding j ustly for all pa rties Th e sup position that such evi
d ence ma y b e concl u d e d su fficient i n the p re sent case in th e abs en c e
o f mo r e po sitive evi dence has given me n o littl e concern
O ur ma
chines are diff e rent i n p ri n cipl e so far as regards t hese points wh ich
either of us can j ustly claim to be th e inventor of I will ad mit that
o ur m a chi n es in some respects are similar but th ose p oints of simila r
ity are p ublic prop ert y and not th e invention of either of us
I trust that b e fore your H onorable B oar d sh all deci de in McCormi ck s
f avor on t he groun d tha t our machines are si milar you will p e r mit
m e to la y b e fore you evidence t o substantiat e what I have h e r e a s
s ert ed
I h ave ma d e l i ttle m oney by m y patent O n e county
is the extent of territory w hich I have sold My d esire ha s been to
c onfine th e manu facture as much as possible withi n m y own contr ol
until I could give to th e worl d a good reaping mach ine which I h a ve
d on e j ust at th e expiration of my p a tent
With great re spect
”
B
S
i
gn
e
d
E
D
HUSS
E
Y
O
(
)
Thi s lette r c oul d n ev er h ave been written if M r Huss e y in 1 848
h a d know n hi ms el f to be th e inventor of the reap er
H e says th a t the
“
kn owle dge that th e Exam i n er i n the Pate n t O ffi c e ha d given i t as
h i s O pinio n th at our machi nes are similar has given me n o little con
”
O f course it di d wh en he knew full well tha t McC ormi ck s ma
c ern
c hine w a s built t wo years before his an d any exten sion of McC or
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45
mick s patent would cover hi s us e of a knife reciprocating th roug h
fix e d fingers driven by a crank I n the sprin g of 1 8 34 McC orm i ck
gave Huss ey public not i c e b y a l et t er in th e Me chanic s M agazine that
hi s ma ch ine had been invented and us ed i n 1 8 3 1 and that h e clai me d
th e princip le of cutting by a t oothe d instrument receivin g moti on
”
from a crank in co mbinat ion wit h iron finge rs
Th e Examine r s
st a tement that the machin es were similar in the cutting ap p a ratu s left
Hussey n o escap e u nless h e could show that our machine s are dif
”
feren t in p rinci p le
Hus sey s egotis m i s app arent by his statement
that McC orm i ck s machin e fails
while mine is tak ing it s
”
place
Nothi ng short of an hallucina t ion could assume th at his t en
”
machi n es were taking th e place of McC ormi ck s
The a d
mission in t he l etter that n ot until 1 848 coul d h e give t o the worl d a
”
good reaping mac hi ne would ex cite sy mp a thy di d it n ot tell so con
elus ively against the clai m of the pe rfe ction of hi s machine before t hat
date
F r om th e order of th e Exten sion B oard it will be seen that on
Ma rch 23 1 848 th e B oar d di rected M r McCorm i ck t o furnish s a tis
”
fa ct ory t estimo ny a n d gave him until We dne sday t he 29 t h of Ma rch
si x days i n whi ch t o O btai n i t His te stimon y a l read y fil e d was i n t he
'
fo r m of a ffi davits and th e order d irected
that d ue n otice be given to
”
th e said Hus sey of th e time an d place of takin g s ai d dep ositions
Mc
Cormick wa s th us all owe d in th e month of March when the roads
were almo st impass abl e si x da ys in which to go from W a shington t o
Steel e s Tave rn Rockb ri dge County V a a j ourney that took three
days eve n when the roads we r e good Th e goi ng and coming woul d
have cons um ed a ll t he time a ll otte d bv the B oar d McC ormi ck h ow
ever had anticip ate d this dog i n the manger attitude of Hu ssey w ho
had j us t faile d t o obtain hi s ow n exten sion Som e d avs before h e ha d
notified Hussey t o be present at th e takin g of depositions These de
position s w ere taken at Steele s Tavern on th e 1 7 t h and 1 8 th d a ys of
M arch 1 84 8 b ef ore a Justice of th e Peace by who m they were to be
s ea le d an d fo rwa r ded t o Washin gton Th e Justice as sh own by t he
postmark of th e lette rs did n ot mail them un til March 2 3 rd and th e y
’
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’
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,
’
-
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’
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’
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’
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"
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,
be considered by the B oa r d of Commis s i oners
the B oard states they di d c ons ider
to
.
.
The evi d ence whi ch
in the a ffi d a vit s
46
which Mc cormick had file d an d whi ch were to be replace d by the ev i
dence that di d not reach Was hin gton in time B ut S enator B rown
of L ouisiana referring afterwards to the matter i n t he Uni t e d S ta t es
S enate s t ated th at although t hes e a ff i d avits were exam ined th ey were
n ot deeme d entitled t o cons i deration because the y lacked t he c ertific a t e
of th e G ov ernor of th e State sh owin g the appointment a nd a uthorit y
of th e Justic e of the Peace
All th is goe s t o show that the B oa rd s
decision was base d on Page s O pinion O n th e fi rst point in that
—
—
e
T
n
f
inion
E
y
ck
s
anticip
tion
the
reel
Page m a de a mi stake
o
Op
a
—
O n th e second p oint Hus sey s priority as to the cutting appa ra tus
the facts c onclusively p rov e Pag e wa s i n error on this also
This regular tes timony was a fterwards submitted to the C ommit
te e ou Patents of th e United States Senate at the time McC ormi ck
S enator F essenden of Mai ne
a s ke d Congre ss t o extend h is patent
the ch a i rman on e of th e kee ne st lawyers of hi s day reported t o the
S enate for the committee :
.
,
,
,
’
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’
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’
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’
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,
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,
,
Th e testimony wa s taken in compl iance with the order of th e
B oa rd, a n d by the proof submi tte d on th e part of the said McCormi ck
it a ppea re d t ha t h e invente d hi s machine an d first practically and pu b
That no proof on the
l i cly teste d its op erat i on i n th e harvest of 1 8 3 1
part of th e sad H uss ey appears to have b een su bmitted to sai d B oard
as t o the date of his said invention but from t he exhibits referred to
,
.
.
.
,
you r Committee it app ears that hi s machin e wa s first constructed and
o p e rat ed in
,
Could McC ormi ck have known th e treme n do us odds against him
h e would have hesitated before starting on his trip from Steele s Tav
ern to Washin gton to a pply for his exten sion i n th e wint er O f 1 847
S ingle han de d an d alone h e undertook to obtain j ustice At th a t
48
time extension s were grante d by a B oard I t di d not take man y yea r s
for the S ecretary of State and Solicitor for th e Tre asury to be dropp ed
from this B oard B rown of Cincinnati ; S eymour Morgan and F itch
Backus
Co of B rockpo rt ; Hit e of V irginia ; Rugg o f I llinois ; Eas
t erly of Wi sconsin ; M oore
Hascall of M ichigan ; H us sey of Mar y
land ; M inturn Allen of O hi o beside s the p ropriet ors of every wagon
and blacksmi th shop in the country that wanted to build reapers a p
p ealed through their senators a n d representatives by p etitions and
word of mouth to p revent th e extension of McC ormi ck s patent His
licens ee s were ti re d of p aying $30 royalty fee for each ma ch ine an d
sa w a w a y to stop paying it by defeating th e extension
,
’
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47
B uchanan an d Gillett were politicians B uchanan w a s already a s
Secret ary of St at e trimming his sails for th e Presidential nomi nati on
Gill e tt was f i om New Y ork an d so great was the politi cal pressur e
brought t o bear upon him that h e coul d not be impart ial B urke th e
Commi ssioner of Patents an d the on e w ho from hi s position knew
s omethi ng of the j ustice of McC orm i ck s claim favore d the extension
but th e oth er tw o Opp osed it Th e inj ustic e of the refusal to gran t this
extension was commente d on i n the United States S enate by such
lawyers a s F esse n di an and Se ward O ther senators (also skilled law
n ate unhe sitatin gly d e clared
oppose
d
th
e
ext
e
nsion
in
the
Se
h
o
er
w
s
)
y
that in thi s refusal the B oa rd of Exten sion cl ea rly exceeded its pow e rs
H ussey an d McC orm i ck at once appealed t o Congress for exten
s ion s McC ormi ck es pe ciall y h ad n o chance in Congress His pat
e n t was reco gni z e d as c overing th e e ss e ntial element s of all successful
reaping machines and so strong was the pressure on the pa rt of th ose
who wi shed to c opy it that the Legi slature s of th e Stat es of New York
M ichigan I ndiana Tenn esse e an d O hio pas se d re solutions instructing
thei r rep resen tativ es in Congre ss t o Oppos e his exten sion S c a rcely
a w e ek p assed du ring th e pe n dency of McC orm i ck s bill with out long
remonst rances signe d by hundre ds of names They came from a ll
th e wheat growing state s Th e grounds of the remon stranc es were
that McC orm i ck s patent would c over ev ery reaping ma chin e ma de
a n d th u s levy a t ri bute upon the farm ers of all the grain growing stat e s
The fu rther ground wa s stat ed that McC ormi ck ha d al r ea dy mad e larg e
profits and it w a s th erefore unj ust to give him such a monop oly The
e ffect of th ese lon g re m onstrances upo n the politic i ans i s cl ea rly sh own
by th e course of Senator Douglas H e sai d :
,
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-
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’
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,
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My obj ection is n ot to M r McC orm i ck H e is a gentl em a n for
whom I h ave the high est respect I thin k he has rendere d a gr ea t
se rvic e to his c ount ry by his inventi on
I woul d do anything
t hat I could do p roperly t o serve hi m as h e has se rve d his country ; bu t
his patent having expired and th e right to ma nufacture and use th e
machine having vested in th e public I know of n o auth ority t o dive st
”
that ri ght and put it back in him
.
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
Hussey was al so an applicant be fore Congress at th e same tim e
and urged his clai m on th e groun d of his p ove rty and h is failur e t o
re ceive proper compensation
Ce rtain senators made p itifu l pleas in
hi s behalf but th ey were unsucces sful Th e sto ries of hi s pove rty were
,
.
.
,
48
admissions of the fai lur e of his machine as i s shown by this quotatio n
from a sp ee ch of Sen ator Jon e s of Tenne sse e :
,
,
“
I f M r Hus sey s wa s su c h a n exc ellent ma chin e as i s now rep re
s e nted why in the nam e of God did h e n ot make som e mon e y out
?
—
of it in fourteen years
The patent was grant e d in 1 833 twenty thre e
yea rs ago a n d i f it was thi s great machin e which my frien d s a ys it
was i s it n ot a littl e strange that h e is now so poor a s t o b e rep re
sented as worthy of th e con sideration of the S enat e on th e ground s
tha t h e has m ade no t hin g out of it ?
’
.
‘
,
,
,
-
I
,
,
,
,
It
was shortly after hi s defeat in Congress that Hussey s ubsidi z e d
th e lon g list of patent l a wy e rs h eretofore spoken of Th ey t ook up hi s
patent of 1 84 7 an d reissued it into a succes sful patent—hi s first and
only succes s in hi s long exp e ri e n c e with reap e rs
I n 1 8 5 9 Mc Cormi ck made applic a ti on t o th e Commission e r o f
Pat e nts for th e extension of h is pat e nt of 1 84 5 ; and in 1 860 h e ma d e
a p p lication for an exten si on of his patent of 1 847
Th e s e e x ten si on s
w e r e o p po sed by every build e r of reap ers in America Every loca l
reap er agent thr ough out the country ha d blanks s en t hi m whi ch h e wa s
u rged to p re sent t o the farmers for their sign a t ures p rotesting against
th e e xtension s Th e l e tt er of Lee
Fi sh er shows th e c o mbin ati on th a t
was arraye d agains t McCormi ck So p ower ful was the political pul l
p oss e ss e d by th es e oppon e nts that a bill was pa sse d in the Congres s
of th e Un ited S tates extendi n g th e protestants tim e for th e takin g of
testi mo ny si xy days thu s c arryin g the consid e rati on of th e exten sio n
t o a n e w Commi ssione r of Pat e nt s who h ad b e e n inst ru ct ed by hi s own
state I ndian a t o r e fuse th e extensi on J a mes B uchanan a s on e of
hi s last ofli ci a l acts sign e d thi s bill T h e p oliti ca l p r e ssure w a s so
gr eat upon Commissioner Holloway that h e refuse d the e xt e n sion but
sta t ed th at :
.
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’
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‘
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,
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,
Cyrus H al l M ccormi ck I S an i nvento r whos e fame whi le he i s
yet living h ad spread aro und th e world Hi s genius h as don e honor
t o h is own c ou n try a n d ha s b e en th e a dmirati on of forei gn nati ons an d
h e will live in th e grateful r e col lection of m ankin d as l ong a s th e reap
”
in g machi n e i s emp loy e d i n gathering th e h a rv e st
,
‘
.
,
,
,
.
"
.
Summari z in g on th e tr e a tm e nt of McCormi ck an d Hus sey by t he
Gov ern me nt :
r d for a n e x
k
h
B
a
oth
H
u
ey
and
o
r
m
i
ap
plied
oa
t
B
M
c
C
c
t
o
e
ss
( )
ten si on oi t he ir pat e n ts of 1 833 a n d 1 834 B oth wer e ref use d on t echn i
"
.
ca l i t i es
.
5O
M
Prov
e
s
th
e
abandonm
e
nt
th
e
doubl
e
kniv
e
s
by
C
H
c
o
f
(5 )
Cormi ck which aband onment make s it p ublic by th e pat e n t laws e ve n
if h e wer e n ot th e bona fide inv e ntor of th e same
I n the a bov e five points a re contained al l t he material point s in
”
O B ED HUSS E Y
whi ch our mac hines are said t o be similar
.
.
,
,
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.
.
Thi s quotation ca ref ully s e l e ct e d a n d s hr ew
dly p lac e d a s it i s
i n th e Prot e st is misl e adi n g I t conv e y s the id e a that H ussey and
not McCormi ck is th e inv e n to r of th es e e ssenti a l fea tu re s
The following i s quoted f r om th e s a me bri ef :
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
Several witn e ss e s t e stifi e d to th e f oll owi ng particulars in the
McCormi ck machine , whi ch app e a re d to con fl ict with mi n e :
Th e hors es d raw th e machin e a n d wal k b e sid e th e grai n
t
h
2
T
cu
te
r
i
s
move
d
by
conn
e
ction
a
c
r
ank
w
h
e
t
( )
“
.
.
wheat fall s on th e pl a tform
n e part of th e
Th
e
fin
e
r
re
at
o
n
tim
e
d
o
ubl
e
that
is
o
w
e
s
e
(
(4)
g
finger wa s abov e an d th e oth e r p a r t b e low th e e dge of the sickl e or
c utter)
r
m
i
k
M
d
T
h
e
witn
e
s
s
t
e
stifi
e
d
t
at
C
H
aban
oned
th
e
c
C
o
c
h
(5 )
do uble finger i n 1 842 or 1 843
I will n ow p r oc ee d to show by th e r ef er e n c e s that th e four point s
testifi e d t o a re n ot t he inv e nti on of Mc Cormi ck
“
—
o
First P int Th e ho r s es draw th e ma chin e For th is I refer
to R ee s N ew Cyclop a e dia wh e r e a ma chine is d e s cri bed i nvented by
Mr Plunk et a ls o t o t he Ed i n burg Cyclop edia wh ere a r e ap er is de
scribed inv e nt e d by Mr Glad st on e both of which embrac e t hi s point
“
—
S e cond Poi n t Th e cutt e r is mov e d by a cran k I refer to
Louden s Encyclop edia of Agricultur e w he re t he reap er is d escrib e d
invent e d by M r B el l d esc ribing thi s p oi n t
—
Third Point I refe r to th e s am e wo rk on the adj oi n i n g pag e
—
h
Fou rt Poin t Double fin g er s I ref e r to th e E dinburg E n cy
clop edi a now in th e libra ry of th e Pat e n t O ffic e wh er e a r e a ping ma
chine is desc r ibe d i n v e nted by M r Gladston e and i mp rov e d by M r
S c ott which i s illust ra t e d i n plat e s 4 7 8 and 479 i n which re volving
blades p as s throug h fing er s whic h supp ort th e straw agai nst th e e dg e
of th e blad e
Fig 5 plate 479 shows th e blad e s som e of wh ich are
r e pr e s e nted e nt e ring th e spac e so me l e aving it and som e with thei r
points i n th e spac e
Th e wit n ess f urth e r t e stifi e d that McC ormi ck s re ap e r has a
draw sickl e blade an d a reel for the blad e which by its r e volution s in
th e h e ads of th e wh eat i s designe d t o draw th e wheat b ack to be cut
and to deposit th e sam e on th e p la tf orm whe n cut I hav e nothing to
do with th e sickl e and r ee l h e re describe d Th ey make n o part of my
re a p er I l e av e them to M r McCormi ck whil e I wish to place in con
trast my own cutt er which i s co mp osed of a row of blades of a l a nc et
point shape and arrange d on a rod sid e by side I do n ot claim t o be
th e i n vento r of such bl a d e s I claim th e m in combi nation with and
1
he
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p
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’
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’
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"
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,
51
vibr ating through or into dou ble fingers a c ombinati on which I be
lieve to be s ubstantially my ow n inventi on and e ntirely di fferen t from
McC ormi ck s and on which my machine enti rely depen ds for its ef
Non e Of t he s e latter po ints eithe r combined or
fi ci en cy a s a r e ap e r
s ep arate are found i n MlcC orm i ck s re ap e r h e having abandone d the
”
double fingers four or fi ve years a g o
,
,
’
,
,
.
’
,
,
.
Th e reason for Huss ey s tactic s i s pla in H e had been defeat e d in
H e kne w th at McC ormi ck wa s in a p o
hi s application for e x t e n sion
sitiou where he c oul d c ontrol the buildin g O f all reap ers with a knife
recip rocated by a crank with fixed fing e rs t o prevent the grai n moving
with the knife Huss e y s only hop e the refore w a s t o destroy M c
Cormick s patent by s eeking to anticipat e it in old publications of ma
ch ines which had ne ver be en built O r if built had never O p e rated The
only way h e coul d do this was to p ick out a feature h er e and
there from th e old pi ct ur es H e t ook a c rank from on e a side draf t
from anoth e r and the doub l e fing e rs from an other Thi s pla n led him
into troubl e with his ow n machin e s a s his l a ncet point kniv e s were
Old and his d oubl e fing e rs were O ld To me et thi s di ffi cu lty h e set up
for hims elf th e claim of a comb i nation
H e did n ot min imi z e hi s ow n
invention Manning s patent sh ows the lancet shap ed kniv e s and Mc
Co rmi ck ha d the double fingers i n 1 83 1 B ut he did minimi z e M c
Cormick s I n n on e of the ma chi n es to w hi ch he ref erred n or i n a ny
ma chi n e ma de befor e Mc Cor mi ch s i s ther e a reci proca ti ng hn zf e dri ven
’
.
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,
’
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,
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’
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,
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,
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-
,
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,
,
,
’
-
,
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.
’
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’
by
vi
i
a
der ; i
s
e
r
g
there
the
n
be
w ei g ht
to
ra
si
rests
the
f
o
fi
su
de draft
p on
u
on e
a re
,
fi
i
mbi n a ti
i s ther e
n on e
n
wi th
on
di
a
di
a
vi
der ;
,
n,
on
el d
;
i
so a
s
p era te
ma chi n e w herei n
a
,
w heel
,
Mc Co mi
r
f
n or a ny o
si
the
the
maj
tha t w heel l oca ted
ch s
i
’
n ven ti on ,
the drea
de
mers
these
a nd a
a nd
a nd
n ei
.
i
ma i
nd
ther
the
the tea
B ell
,
n
n on e
n
p a rt of
or
behi
the
ne
bui lders of
fea tures
ll ow H
p
u on
ma chi
a nd
con ta i n s
the sca l e on on e
resti ng
tra cti on to o
,
ma chi n e moun ted
there a
the w ei g ht
ma chi n e
the
the w a y o
f
f
i
ma chi n e tha t
tta ched to the
out o
n on e
n
p a rt of
ci en t
,
n
;
n
the g r a i
or
p ers before Mc Ca rmi ch
men ts i
el e
ti
r oca
,
vi ng
r eel
a
co
n
hed fr om i t to the si de
Gla dston e Pl u n het
,
w i th
on
w orhi ng i
reel
r ecei ve
,
a
mbi n a ti
co
ra
w
i
x
n
n
i
r
i
v
en
a
c
h
t
h
e
d
d
h
e
b
f
y
p
fi
g
str a w fr om mo
i n n on e i s
vi ng w i th the hn i f e
reci
w heels the maj
These fea tures
r ea
a
the
r ou n d
w heel , thus g i
there
n
there
preven t
n ext
p
s
s
ther e a
s
ca n
u on tw o
i
i
pla tf orm
a
bun dl e
a
i
i
to
n
w orhi ng i
n on e
n
n on e
n
fi
cra n h
m
.
Scott
,
f ul
u n success
Pl a ce these
essen ti a
l
usse
l
o
i
o
n
o
n
c
m
n
a
t
i
e
t
h
b
y
y
52
cl a
w hi ch he
i ms to ha ve i
n ven ted , a n d
l et the
result
deter mi
ne
the q ues
f the rea p i ng ma chi n e
Summa ri z ing on Hussey s ide a O f hi s and McC ormi ck s machine s :
cC orm i ck to b e the first
t
M
a
Hus
sey
admit
ed
and therefore
( )
picked out O f his own machine a minor featu r e n ot in McCormi ck s
and ma gn ified this feature
h
e
b
All
fe
tures
common
o
th
e
two
mac
ines
he
call
d
old
and
t
a
( )
min imi z ed thei r value
( c ) H i s on e f ea t ure wh ich th e Protest has magn ified into a
m ight y reaping ma chin e ha s on invest i g ati on sh ru nk t o a shrivelled
combination of tw o old elements both O f wh i ch h ave been used before
for the s ame purpose as H ussey u sed th em
( d ) McC orm i ck s ma chine howeve r p roves H usse y s minimi z ing
t
h
e
ti on o
f
i
n ven ti on o
.
’
’
,
’
,
.
.
,
,
"
,
.
’
,
,
statements w rong a s it c ontain s the es sential el ements of the reaping
machin e wh ich were original with McC ormi ck and without wh ich n o
succes sfu l reaper can b e made even to thi s day
I t i s submitted tha t by Hussey s own s ta t eme n ts McCormi ck i s
th e i nventor
,
,
.
’
.
V
.
—I N
C O N C LUSI O N
.
is t oo soon to exp ect a n unbiased ju d gme nt Of Mc C or
m ick s invention Th e antagoni sms engender ed by a n energetic
busines s ca re er of forty ye ars are too strong ; th e de feats th a t have
been su ff ered by the ri va l reap e r build ers at every great Exp osition
that h as ever been held are still t oo fres h in m emory ; the failure of the
more than 800 di ff er ent con cern s that have unde rtaken to buil d har
vesting ma chi nes i n th e past fifty ye ars an d that h av e succumbed to
th e competition of t he MO C orm i ck ha s left ene mi es ; in a ll th ese cases
time i s n ee ded t o modify th eir ani mositie s and caus e them t o forget
t heir j ealousies Many yea rs may therefore elap se before th e cr e dit
an d honor t hat belongs to th e s ucce ssful inven tion of the reap er will
be willingly paid by th e c omp eting reap e r bui lders t o Cyru s H M c
Cormick th e man who invent ed th e fi rst pr a ctical rea pin g machin e
Disinterested Observers of th e cou r se O f eve nts howeve r have placed
on record their O pini ons and the j udgment of some Of these men O f
cl ear an d unbi ased mi nd will carry more weight tha n pages written
by rival build e rs Of reap e rs
It
’
.
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,
53
In ag riculture it ( McC ormi ck s reaper) i s in my view as i m
portant a la bor saving device a s th e spin ning j enny an d power loom
in ma nufacture I t i s on e of those grea t a n d valuable inventions
which comme n ce a n ew era in th e p rogre ss of imp roveme nt an d whose
”—
f
beneficial in fl uence is felt in all comin g time
From
th
e
report
o
(
Edmun d B urke Commissioner of Patents
Th e McC ormi ck reap er i s th e most valuable articl e contributed
t o this e x hibition and f or its o ri gi na lity and val ue and it s perfect w ork
”
r
e
in th e field it i s awar de d th e Counc il M ed a l
Ext
ract
from
th
e
(
p ort Of the Council of Juries First World s Fai r London
“
The McC orm i ck r e aper i s the typ e after which all others are
ma de and it is as well t he on e w hich worked the best in all the trials
O n th e McC orm i ck invent ion all oth er grai n cuttin g ma chin e s are
”—
ba sed an d n ot on e Of th e imitati ons equals the origi nal
( Report of
th e Jurie s O f th e Paris I nt ern at i ona l Expositi on I 8 5 5 awarding t o the
McC ormi ck reaper the Grand Gold M e dal )
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a great I n te rnational Expositi on wa s h e ld at Hamburg
Th e McCormi ck rea p e r Obtained the Grand Pri z e and th e j ury stated
that McC ormi ck wa s the inventor Of the features that gave value to
”
the reaping ma chine
O n his w a y home h e st opped in England and
the edit or Of th e No rth B ritish Agricul tu rist attacke d th e po sition Of
th e H amburg j ury urging that B ell wa s the inventor of the reaper
M r McC ormi ck an swered him in several communication s th rough his
own column s and the following quota tion fr om th e Mark Lane Ex
pres s the l ea ding agricultural p ap e r O f Engl a nd und er date of O cto
ber 26 1 86 3 will show the out come Of this controversy :
In
1 86 3
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edi tor Of th e North B ritish Agriculturi st shows much
z eal for his countryman s ( Rev Patrick B ell ) machine we must say we
th ink the facts and ar gume nts of Mr McC orm i ck a re pre sented with
a clearn e ss and force which seem unanswerabl e in es tablishin g th a t he
w as th e first t o invent th e l ea di ng feature s of the successful rea ping
machine Of th e present day ; that h e c ontinue d r egularly the imp rove
ment and prosecuti on of th e same to th e p erfection of the ma ch i n e
and that this in th e slightly va ri ed l ang ua ge of the di ff e rent sc ientific
j u ri es of the various great internati onal exposi tions O f the world con
”
sti t u t es the inven tion of the rea pin g m achine
\N hi l e the
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As an exp ert Op inion th e following is
,
of
great value :
Whi le there have bee n man y val uabl e imp rovem ent s i n detail
it may b e truthfully said that to dis pe n se with Cy ru s H McC orm i ck s
”
inve n tion woul d be t o wip e every reaper out of existence
The ori gi nal machin e of M r Mc C orm i ck embrace s th e follow
ing featu res : Th e serrated reciprocating blade Ope ra ting in fingers
or suppo rts to the grain being cut
The pl atform for rec eiving th e cut
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54
rain
deposi
ed
thereon
by
the reel a n d from which it was raked to the
t
g
side in gavels ready to bind A divide r to sep a rate th e g rain to be
”
K
D
cut fr om that lef t standing
n
ight
s
New
Mechanical
ictionary
(
L L D in charge O f th e classifications
by Edward H Knight A
a n d publications Of th e Unit e d State s Patent O ffi ce )
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Prof e sso r Ro berts O f Cornell Unive r sity p erhaps th e be st known
agriculturist in Ame ri ca an d who takes great inte rest in fa rm i mple
ments writing i n Jo hnson s Univ er sal Encyclopedia on th e re a ping
machin e stat e s :
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,
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,
In 1 83 1 th e machine O f Cyrus H McCormi ck wa s invent e d and
succes sfully O p e rat ed Thi s machi n e for th e first ti m e w as an organ
i z ed instrum e n t cont aining practical devices that have been i n corpo
rated i n ev e ry succe ssful reape r mad e since As built and tested in th e
fal l of 1 83 1 it contained the reciproca ti ng knif e m ovin g through fixe d
fingers t o s ev er th e grain the plat f orm whi ch received th e grain th e
reel to h ol d th e grai n for th e kni f e and t o inclin e it upon the plat fo rm
and th e divider proj ecting ahead of th e knife t o s e parate the grain
to be cut from that l eft standing The h orses tr a veled ah ea d O f th e
machi n e an d besid e the standi ng grain I t was mounted upo n two
whe els and th e moti on to m ove th e op era ting pa rts was derived fr om
”
th e out e r w heel
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Whil e i n Pari s in 1 878 Mr McC ormi ck was e lected a membe r
O f th e French Academy of S cienc e
having don e more for the
as
”
cause of agricultur e tha n any oth er livin g ma n
I n th e arti cl e writte n for th e M ech a nics M a ga z in e Of May 1 834
M r McCormi ck a sserte d hi s claim to the inv ention O f the reaping
ma c hin e Throughout hi s life h e defended his position wh enever
a tta cked by hi s rivals i n busin e s s
At di ff erent ti mes O gl e B ell Ran
dall and ot he rs have been p ut f orward as the i nv e ntor The latest
n am e i s that O f Huss e y H a ving show n thus fully what Hus s e y di d
it will be int e resting to learn who will n e xt b e n a med inv e ntor by
the rival man ufactur e rs of re ape r s
R B SWI FT
Chicago Ap ri l 1 0 1 89 7
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