Deere, John

Related Category: Business Leaders

1804–86, American industrialist, manufacturer of agricultural implements, b. Rutland, Vt. He was one of the pioneers of the steel plow industry. A blacksmith by trade, he established (1837) a shop at Grand Detour, Ill. There he was associated with Leonard Andrus in making (1837) the first Grand Detour steel plow. In 1843, Deere and Andrus formed a partnership for the manufacture of plows. The partnership was terminated in 1847, when Deere moved to Moline, Ill. There he established a factory that in time made other farm implements as well as plows and became known throughout the world. The firm was incorporated in 1868 as Deere and Company.