Cyrus McCormick

Cyrus McCormick

Cyrus Hall McCormick (born February 15, 1809 in Shenandoah Valley , Rockbridge County, Virginia , † May 13, 1884 in Chicago ) was an American inventor of agricultural machinery and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company . His Virginia Reaper, with which he became world famous, promoted mechanization in the grain harvest and thereby increased the productivity of American agriculture considerably.

Life

Cyrus McCormick was a descendant of Scottish-Irish Puritan immigrants who first settled in Cumberland County , Pennsylvania . His grandfather moved to Rockbridge County, where he bought Walnut Grove farmland and ran it successfully. His eldest son Robert married Mary Ann, who was called Polly, in 1808 and took over the farm from his grandfather. He worked part-time and was not very successful as an inventor and designer. Cyrus received only a very limited schooling, but his inventive mind showed at the age of 15 when he designed a compact pick-up device for the grain harvest in 1824 . In 1831 he took over the plans for the construction of a horse-drawn mower (Reaper) from his father . He had tinkered with the machine since 1815, but never brought it to a final completion. Within six weeks, his son Cyrus managed to make decisive changes to the plans for the mower, to build a first version and to test it successfully. The cutting mechanism of the horse-drawn Virginia Reaper, which was driven by the left wheel, was distinguished from the inadequate mowing devices that had been designed up to that point in that, due to its design - movable blades between so-called fingers - it was able to cut the stalks of grain while driving of the device for a short time - like a pair of scissors - between blade and finger until the actual cutting process ( cutter bar ). The black employee Jo Anderson helped him with the construction. At the end of 1831 he was able to present his "Virginia Reaper", which replaced about 12 harvest workers, to the public for the first time. After further improvements, Cyrus received the American patent for his mower on June 21, 1834 .

The McCormick "Virginia Reaper"

McCormick was unsuccessful until 1840, on the contrary, in 1839 he went bankrupt and lost his farm. But he was convinced of his invention, kept fighting and sold his first mower in 1840. The further development and marketing of his invention was only successful in the following years. In 1847, Cyrus McCormick moved his workshop to the up-and-coming Chicago in order to deliver his machines to the entire agricultural Midwest from there . The machine factory produced 500 McCormick reapers for the 1848 harvest season and more than 1,500 for the 1849 season, although the first patent protection in favor of the common good was lifted during this time and around 30 mower suppliers came onto the American market by 1850. In 1851, his horse-drawn mowers and those invented by his competitor Obed Hussey were shown at the first world exhibition in the Crystal Palace in London. In 1856, Cyrus took his brothers William and Leander into the company, creating the forerunner of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company . That year over 4,000 “Virginia Reaper” machines were sold, in 1862 33,000, by 1864 a total of 250,000 and by 1884 500,000 mowers were in use.

The McCormick machines were continuously developed over the next few years. In 1857 McCormick registered a patent for a mower with a driver's seat and in 1858 the patent for a mower with an automatic rake followed , which he had bought from the impoverished Obed Hussey, who had been his greatest adversary since 1834.

Cyrus McCormick married Nancy (Nettie) Fowler in 1858, with whom he had seven children. Outside of business, he was actively involved in the Presbyterian Church , supporting newspapers, and establishing the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, later renamed McCormick Seminary . McCormick died in Chicago in 1884, where he had spent the last years of his life. His last words are believed to have been work, work , and he left a fortune of $ 11 million. His eldest son, Cyrus McCormick II, took over the chairmanship of the company until 1902.

Organization and sales

The McCormick machines owe their economic success to various circumstances. Above all, the western expansion policy, combined with the construction of the railways, meant that the product became known and could be sold throughout the country. In addition to his technical ingenuity, McCormick also showed economic understanding. Simplified purchase price loans were set up for the buyers, which could be repaid with the increased crop yields. Written guarantees, instructions for use, extensive on-site introductions to the operation of the machines, a network of sales representatives and a farmer's magazine rounded off the McCormick brothers' sales program.

Agricultural and socio-historical importance

Westward the course of empire takes its way, with McCormick Reapers in the Van

The design of the cutter bar invented by McCormick initiated a revolution in harvesting technology. Due to the much higher area coverage than with conventional cutting technology with scythe or sickle, the need for personnel in agriculture fell considerably in the following years; the personnel that became available migrated to the cities and hired themselves out in the emerging industry.

The "Virginia Reaper" was one of the first mechanical harvesting aids and marked the arrival of the industrial revolution in agriculture .

In addition, his machine was a great help in the westward expansion during this time. The company's most famous advertisement linked Emanuel Leutzes epic painting Westward the course of empire takes its way with the slogan "... with McCormick Reapers in the Van". US Secretary of State William H. Seward said that because of this invention, "the line of civilization moves westward thirty miles each year."

Awards

Cyrus McCormick has received various prizes and awards for his inventions. In 1851 he was appointed a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences , "because he had done more for agriculture than anyone else." In 1851 he was also accepted as an officer in the French Legion of Honor . In the same year, his Reaper won the Gold Medal at the Great Exhibition in London after winning a practical competition outside the city in Tiptree Heath against two competing machines. This made him known worldwide.

Cyrus McCormick was namesake of both McCormick County in South Carolina and, located in that county, the city of McCormick .

A Liberty ship was also named after McCormick . The SS Cyrus H. McCormick was sunk on April 18, 1945 as the last Allied ship in the Battle of the Atlantic .

literature

• Casson, Herbert N .: Cyrus Hall McCormick: His Life and Work . Chicago: AC McClurg & Co., 1909.
• Lyons, Norbert: The McCormick Reaper Legend: the True Story of a Great Invention . New York: Exposition Press, 1955.
• Frances and Joseph Gies: The Ingenious Yankees. The men, ideas, and machines that transformed a nation, 1776-1886 , Crowell, New York 1976, pp. 187-201: Obed Hussey and Cyrus McCormick: Mechanization of Agriculture .

Web links

Commons : Cyrus McCormick  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography of Cyrus McCormick ( Memento of February 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
• History of McCormick Inc. ( Memento from August 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
• The great reaper war ( Memento from December 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
• Scott S. Smith: Cyrus McCormick Revolutionized Farming Worldwide With The Reaper , Investors.com, August 12, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vishal Mangalwadi: The Book of the Middle. Fontis, Basel 2014, page 436
2. ↑ antiquefarming: McCormick-Reaper ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Vishal Mangalwadi: The Book of the Middle. Fontis, Basel 2014, page 433
4. ↑ Frances and Joseph Gies: The Ingenious Yankees. The men, ideas, and machines that transformed a nation, 1776-1886 , Crowell, New York 1976, pp. 187-201: Obed Hussey and Cyrus McCormick: Mechanization of Agriculture
5. ↑ Development of the McCormick harvesters ( Memento from June 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ Vishal Mangalwadi: The Book of the Middle. Fontis, Basel 2014, page 438
7. ↑ Biography McCormick, in: Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research & Extension Center, Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (English)
8. ↑ Vishal Mangalwadi: The Book of the Middle. Fontis, Basel 2014, page 436
9. ↑ Famous Quotations
10. ↑ stauffer.cie ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ Frances and Joseph Gies: The Ingenious Yankees. The men, ideas, and machines that transformed a nation, 1776-1886 , Crowell, New York 1976, pp. 187-201: Obed Hussey and Cyrus McCormick: Mechanization of Agriculture
12. ^ Scott S. Smith: Cyrus McCormick Revolutionized Farming Worldwide With The Reaper , Investors.com, August 12, 2012
13. ^ BJ Bryan: The Ship That Never Was , p. 216