Cyrus McCormick
1
Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus Hall McCormick
Born
February 15, 1809
Rockbridge County, Virginia
Died
May 13, 1883 (aged 75)
Chicago, IL
Known for International Harvester
[1]
Net worth
USD $11 million at the time of his death (approximately 1/1072nd of US GNP)
Spouse(s)
Nancy “Nettie” Fowler McCormick (m. 1835–1923)
Children
Cyrus Hall McCormick Jr.
Harold Fowler McCormick
(4 others)
Parents
Robert McCormick
Marry Ann Hall
Relatives
Leander J. McCormick, brother
William Sanderson McCormick, brother
Signature
Cyrus McCormick
2
Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. (1809–1884) was an American
inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine
Company, which became part of International Harvester Company
in 1902.[2] From the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he and
many members of his family became prominent residents of
Chicago.
Although McCormick is credited as the "inventor" of the
mechanical reaper, he based his work on that of many others,
including Scottish and American men, more than two decades of
work by his father, and the aid of Jo Anderson (slave), a slave held
by his family. Cyrus McCormick filed patents for the invention,
and his achievements were chiefly in the development of a
company, marketing and sales force to market his products.
Cyrus Hall McCormick portrait, held by the National
Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Life Story
Cyrus McCormick was born February 15, 1809 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia as one of several sons. His
father purchased the original design for a mechanical reaper from a blacksmith named McPhetrich. As the elder
McCormick saw the potential of the design, he applied for a patent to claim it as his own invention. He worked for
28 years on a horse-drawn mechanical reaper to harvest grain; however, he was never able to reproduce a reliable
version.
His son Cyrus took up the project.[3] He was aided by Jo Anderson (slave), an enslaved African American on the
McCormick plantation at the time.[4] A few machines based on a design of Patrick Bell of Scotland (which had not
been patented) were available in the United States in these years. The Bell machine was pushed by horses. The
McCormick design was pulled by horses and cut the grain to one side of the team.
Cyrus McCormick held one of his first demonstrations of mechanical reaping at the nearby village of Steeles Tavern,
Virginia in 1831. He claimed to have developed a final version of the reaper in 18 months. The young McCormick
was granted a patent on the reaper on June 21, 1834.[5]
Because the machine could not handle varying conditions, none was sold. The McCormick family worked together
on starting a metal smelting business. The panic of 1837 almost caused the family to go into bankruptcy when a
partner pulled out. In 1839 McCormick started doing more public demonstrations of the reaper, but local farmers still
thought the machine was unreliable. He did sell one in 1840, but none for 1841.
Using the endorsement of his father's first customer for a machine built by McPhetrich, the younger McCormick
continuously attempted to improve the design. He finally sold seven reapers in 1842, 29 in 1843, and 50 in 1844.
They were all built manually in the family farm shop. He received a second patent for reaper improvements on
January 31, 1845.[5]
Move to Chicago
As word spread about the reaper, McCormick noticed orders arriving
from farther west, where farms tended to be larger. While he was in
Washington, DC to get his 1845 patent, he heard about a factory in
Brockport, New York, where he contracted to have the machines
mass-produced.
Sketch of 1845 model reaper
Cyrus McCormick
3
In 1847 he and his brother Leander J. McCormick moved to Chicago, where they established a factory to build their
machines. At the time, other cities in the midwestern United States, such as Cleveland, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri,
and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were more prosperous. Chicago had no paved streets at the time, but the city had the
best water transportation from the east over the Great Lakes for his raw materials, as well as railroad connections to
the farther west where his customers would be.[6]
When McCormick tried to renew his patent in 1848, the US Patent Office noted that a similar machine had already
been patented by Obed Hussey a few months earlier. McCormick claimed he had really invented his machine in
1831, but the renewal was denied.[7] William Manning of Plainfield, New Jersey had received a patent for his reaper
in May 1831, but at the time, Manning was evidently not defending his patent.[5]
His brother William Sanderson McCormick moved to Chicago in 1849, and joined the company to take care of
financial affairs. The McCormick reaper sold well, partially as a result of savvy and innovative business practices.[3]
Their products came onto the market just as the development of railroads offered wide distribution to distant
markets. McCormick developed marketing and sales techniques, developing a wide network of salesmen trained to
demonstrate operation of the machines in the field.
William H. Seward said of McCormick's invention that owing to it, "the line of civilization moves westward thirty
miles each year." A company advertisement was a take-off of the Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way
mural by Emanuel Leutze; it added to the title: “with McCormick Reapers in the Van."[8]
In 1851, McCormick traveled to London to display a reaper at the Crystal Palace Exhibition. He won a gold medal,
but his celebration was short-lived after he learned that he had lost a court challenge to Hussey's patent.[9]
McCormick-Manny Case
Another McCormick Company competitor was that of John Henry Manny of Rockford, Illinois. After the Manny
Reaper beat the McCormick version at the Paris Exposition of 1855, McCormick filed a lawsuit against Manny for
patent infringement.[10]
McCormick demanded that Manny stop producing reapers, and pay McCormick $400,000. The trial, originally
scheduled for Chicago in September 1855, featured prominent lawyers on both sides. McCormick hired the former
US Attorney General Reverdy Johnson and New York patent attorney Edward Nicholl Dickerson. Manny hired
George Harding and Edwin M. Stanton. Because the trial was set to take place in Illinois, Harding hired the local
Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln.
But, the trial was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Manny won the case, with an opinion by the State Supreme Court
Judge John McLean.[11] Lincoln did not contribute to the defense. Stanton had objected to Lincoln's presence,
referring to him as "that damned long armed ape."[12] After later being elected President, Lincoln chose Stanton as
his Secretary of War.[12] See Abraham Lincoln's patent.
More controversy and success
In 1861 Hussey's patent was extended but McCormick's was not. He
decided to seek help from the US Congress to protect his patent.[13]
In 1879 his brother Leander changed the name of the company from
"Cyrus H. McCormick and Brothers" to "McCormick Harvesting
Machine Company".[14] He wanted to acknowledge the contributions
of others in the family to the reaper "invention" and company,
especially their father.[4]
McCormick reaper and twine binder in 1884
Cyrus McCormick
Death
McCormick died in Chicago on May 13, 1884; he had been handicapped for the last four years of his life due to a
stroke causing paralysis of the legs.[15] He was buried in Graceland Cemetery.[16]
The official leadership of the company passed to his son Cyrus Hall McCormick Jr. The company factories were the
site of urban labor strikes that contributed to the Haymarket Square riot in 1886.
Legacy and honors
Cyrus McCormick's papers are held by the Wisconsin Historical Society.[2] Numerous prizes and medals were
awarded for his reaper, and he was elected a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences "as having
done more for the cause of agriculture than any other living man." The invention of the reaper reduced human labor
on farms while increasing productivity. It contributed to the industrialization of agriculture and migration of labor to
cities in numerous countries.
• A statue of McCormick was erected on the front campus of Washington and Lee University, at Lexington,
Virginia.
• The town of McCormick, South Carolina and McCormick County in the state were named for him after he bought
a gold mine in the town, formerly known as Dornsville.[17]
• 1975, McCormick was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.[18]
• The city of Plano, Illinois has regarded itself as the "Birthplace of the Harvester", with the local High School
having the mascot of the Reapers, and the school using an image of the McCormick Harvester Reaper for its logo.
Cyrus McCormick actually tested his harvesters in Plano, as well as having a small manufacturing facility in
Plano, leading to the city's eventual industrial beginnings.
• McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago was named after him. He had served as a member of the seminary's
board of trustees.
• 3 Cent US Postage Stamps were issued in 1940 to commemorate Cyrus Hall McCormick. See Famous Americans
Series of 1940.
• The government of France named him an Officier de la Legion d'honneur in 1851.
Family tree
On January 26, 1858 he married Nancy Fowler (1835–1923), better known as "Nettie".[19] They had seven children:
1. Cyrus Hall McCormick Jr. was born May 16, 1859.
2. Mary Virginia McCormick was born May 5, 1861.[19]
3. Anita McCormick was born July 4, 1866, married Emmons Blaine on September 26, 1889, and died February 12,
1954. Her husband was the oldest son of the US Secretary of State James G. Blaine.[20]
4. Alice McCormick was born March 15, 1870 and died less than a year later on January 25, 1871.[19]
5. Harold Fowler McCormick was born May 2, 1872, married Edith Rockefeller, and died in 1941.
6. Stanley Robert McCormick was born November 2, 1874, married Katharine Dexter (1875–1967), and died
January 19, 1947.
Mary Virginia and Stanley Robert both suffered from schizophrenia.[21] Stanley McCormick's life inspired the 1998
novel Riven Rock by T. Coraghessan Boyle.[22]
Cyrus McCormick was the uncle of Robert Sanderson McCormick (son-in-law of Joseph Medill); granduncle of
Joseph Medill McCormick and Robert Rutherford McCormick; and great-granduncle of William McCormick Blair,
Jr.[19]
4
Cyrus McCormick
5
Robert
McCormick
(1780–1846)
Nancy Fowler
McCormick
(1835–1923)
Cyrus
McCormick
(1809–1884)
Cyrus
McCormick Jr.
(1859–1936)
Harold Fowler
McCormick
(1872–1941)
Robert Sanderson
McCormick
(1849–1919)
Joseph Medill
McCormick
(1877–1925)
Ruth Hanna
McCormick
(1880–1944)
Mary Ann
Grigsby
(1828–1878)
Mary Ann Hall
(1780–1853)
William
Sanderson
McCormick
(1815–1865)
Joseph Medill
(1823–1899)
Leander J.
McCormick
(1819–1900)
L. Hamilton
McCormick
(1859–1934)
Kate Medill
(1853–1932)
William Grigsby
McCormick
(1851–1941)
Ruby
McCormick
(1860–1882)
Robert R.
McCormick
(1880–1955)
Chauncey Brooks
McCormick
(1884–1954)
William
McCormick
Blair
(1884–1982)
Brooks
McCormick
(1917–2006)
William
McCormick
Blair, Jr.
(born 1916)
References
[1] Klepper, Michael; Gunther, Michael (1996), The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates—A Ranking of the Richest Americans,
Past and Present, Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, p. xiii, ISBN 978-0-8065-1800-8, OCLC 33818143
[2] "Cyrus Hall McCormick" (http:/ / www. wisconsinhistory. org/ libraryarchives/ ihc/ cyrus. asp). Wisconsin Historical Society. . Retrieved
2007-08-26. "Cyrus H. McCormick (1808-1883) was an industrialist and inventor of the first commercially successful raper, a horse-drawn
machine to harvest wheat. He was born at the family farm (Walnut Grove) in Rockbridge County, Virginia on February 15, 1809. His father
Robert experimented with a design for a mechanical reaper from around the time of Cyrus' birth."
[3] Daniel Gross; Forbes Magazine Staff (August 1997). Greatest Business Stories of All Time (First ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
pp. 24–32. ISBN 0-471-19653-3.
[4] Patricia Carter Sluby (2004). The Inventive Spirit of African Americans: Patented Ingenuity (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=Wz-DTSXeLRYC& pg=PA282). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-275-96674-4. .
[5] George Iles (1912). "Cyrus H. McCormick" (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/ leadingamericani00ilesrich). Leading American Inventors
(2nd ed.). New York: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 276–314. .
[6] Herbert Newton Casson (2009) [1909]. Cyrus Hall Mccormick: His Life and Work (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=itgpAAAAYAAJ).
BiblioBazaar, LLC. ISBN 1-110-23294-2. .
[7] Follet L. Green, ed. (1912). Obed Hussey: Who, of All Inventors, Made Bread Cheap (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=eMhHAAAAIAAJ). The Rochester Herald publishing Company. .
[8] Michael Adas (2006). Dominance by design: technological imperatives and America's civilizing mission (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=yHh6gwshyKIC& pg=PA79). Harvard University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-674-01867-9. .
[9] "England: Closing of the Great Exhibition—The Ballon Hoax—Egyptian Railroad—Mr. McCormick's Reaping Machine" (http:/ / query.
nytimes. com/ mem/ archive-free/ pdf?res=F10B13FC3E5A147A8EDDAC0894D9415B8189F0D3) (PDF). New York Times. November 5,
1851. . Retrieved January 18, 2011.
[10] Sarah-Eva Carlson (February 1995). "Lincoln and the McCormick-Manny Case" (http:/ / www. lib. niu. edu/ 1995/ ihy950230. html).
Illinois History Magazine. . Retrieved December 26, 2010.
[11] John McLean (1856). "Cyrus H. McCormick v. John H. Manny and Others" (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=sCq3AAAAIAAJ&
pg=PA539). Reports of cases argued and decided in the circuit court, Volume 6. H. W. Derby & Company. pp. 539–557. . U.S. District Court
of Ohio record
Cyrus McCormick
[12] Doris Kearns Goodwin (2005). Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=CqjBCWV6Eu4C& pg=PA173). Simon and Schuster. pp. 173–175. ISBN 978-0-684-82490-1. .
[13] "The McCormick Reaper Patent" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 1861/ 07/ 06/ news/ the-mccormick-reaper-patent. html). New York Times.
July 6, 1861. . Retrieved January 18, 2011.
[14] "The McCormick Family and their Mechanical Reaper" (http:/ / www. astro. virginia. edu/ research/ observatories/ 26inch/ history/ reaper.
php). Leander McCormick Observatory Museum. . Retrieved December 28, 2010.
[15] "Cyrus H. McCormick Dead" (http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ mem/ archive-free/
pdf?res=9907EED7113BE033A25757C1A9639C94659FD7CF) (PDF). New York Times. May 14, 1884,. . Retrieved 2007-08-21. "The Hon.
Cyrus Hall McCormick died at his home in Chicago at 7 o'clock A.M. yesterday. He had been an invalid for the past three or four years, his
troubles being caused by paralysis of the lower limbs. For two years he has not been able to walk..."
[16] William Thomas Hutchinson (1935). Cyrus Hall McCormick: Harvest, 1856-1884 (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/
cyrushallmccormi000264mbp). 2. New York: D. Appleton, The Century Company. .
[17] "History of Education in McCormick County" (http:/ / www. mccormick. k12. sc. us/ History. html). McCormick County School District. .
Retrieved December 26, 2010.
[18] "Cyrus H. McCormick" (http:/ / www. ja. org/ hof/ viewLaureate. asp?id=107& induction_year=1975). U.S. Business Hall of Fame
Induction year 1975. Junior Achievement. . Retrieved December 26, 2010.
[19] Leander James McCormick (1896). Family record and biography (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=QC83AAAAMAAJ).
pp. 303–304. .
[20] "Emmons Blaine Married; His Wedding with Miss Anita M'Cormick; Many Distinguished Guests Witnessed the Ceremony at Richfield
Springs Yesterday" (http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ mem/ archive-free/ pdf?res=FB0C1EFC3F5E1A738DDDAE0A94D1405B8984F0D3) (pdf).
New York Times. September 27, 1889. . Retrieved January 5, 2011.
[21] Miriam Kleiman (Summer 2007). "Rich, famous, and questionably sane: when a wealthy heir's family sought help from a hospital for the
insane" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ publications/ prologue/ 2007/ summer/ mccormick. html). Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives
and Records Administration 39 (2): 38–47. .
[22] T. Coraghessan Boyle. "Riven Rock" (http:/ / www. tcboyle. com/ page2. html?2,11). author's web page. . Retrieved December 29, 2010.
Further reading
• Casson, Herbert Newton, Cyrus Hall McCormick, his life and work, Chicago, A. C. McClurg & co., 1909.
• William Thomas Hutchinson (1935). Cyrus Hall McCormick: Harvest, 1856-1884 (http://www.archive.org/
details/cyrushallmccormi000264mbp). 2. New York: D. Appleton, The Century Company.
• Aldrich, Lisa A.,Cyrus McCormick and the Mechanical Reaper, Morgan Reynolds Publishing, 2002. ISBN
978-1883846916.
• Welch, Catherine A. , Farmland Innovator: A Story About Cyrus McCormick, 21st Century, 2007. ISBN
978-0822568339.
• Alef, Daniel, Cyrus McCormick: Bread for the Masses, Titans of Fortune Publishing, 2009.
External links
• U.S. Patent X8277 (http://www.google.com/patents?vid=X8277) Improvement in Machines for Reaping Small
Grain: Cyrus H. McCormick, June 21, 1834
• Farm Equipment (http://www.antiquefarming.com/machinery.html) on Antique Farming web site
• Cyrus McCormick (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/9049662) at Encyclopædia Britannica
• Cyrus Hall McCormick (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=694) at Find a Grave
• "McCormick-Guggenheim-Morton-Medill family of Illinois" (http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10643.
html). The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
• "Our History" (http://www.mccormick-intl.com/mccormick/brand_page/en-US/8605/Our_History.aspx).
McCormick - Argo Tractors S.p.A.. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
• "Cyrus Hall McCormick" (http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/101.html). inventor profile. National
Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
• McCormick Family Financial Records (http://www.newberry.org/collections/FindingAids/mccormickfamily/
McCormickFamily.html) at Newberry Library
6
Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
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Wyss, XJamRastafire, 624 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Cyrus McCormick engraving.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cyrus_McCormick_engraving.png License: Public Domain Contributors:
Cyrus_McCormick_engraving.jpg: George Smillie derivative work: — raeky (talk
File:Cyrus McCormick signature.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cyrus_McCormick_signature.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Cyrus McCormick
Created in vector format by Scewing
File:Cyrus Hall McCormick at National Portrait Gallery IMG 4390.JPG Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cyrus_Hall_McCormick_at_National_Portrait_Gallery_IMG_4390.JPG License: Creative Commons Zero Contributors: Billy Hathorn
File:McCormick Reaper, 1845.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:McCormick_Reaper,_1845.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Cyrus McCormick
File:McCormick Twine Binder 1884.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:McCormick_Twine_Binder_1884.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Probably
McCormick Harvester Company advertisement
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