J.D. Plaque

[trlong]

Just thought some J.D. fans might enjoy this. I went to the Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, VT today to see the travelling "John Deere" exhibit (actually took 1/2 a day off /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif). Nice little museum and the exhibit provided a lot of the history of the company (mainly of J.D. himself and the "pre-tractor" years).

Sorry for the quality of the pic. A friend took it with a cell phone/cam. I forgot to bring a camera /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

In case you can't read it, the plaque says "John Deere Inventor of "The Plow That Broke The Plains" John Deere learned the blacksmith trade here as an apprentise in the shop of Capt. Benjamin Lawrence from 1821 to 1825. The shop was located below this spot on Mill Street in what is known as "Frog Hollow". In 1836 Deere removed to Grand Detour, Illinois where, in 1837, he built the world's first steel moldboard plow."

For those who don't know, he refashioned a large saw blade for that moldboard.

BTW, great burger and draft at the tavern just down the street! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Cheers,

Tom

 

[beenthere]

Thanks
That's a darn good pic for a cell phone, IMO.
I guess the Illinois prairie soil was very difficult to turn, as the plows would not 'scour' but would just gum up. I've read of people not even staying there to farm as that land was so tough to plow. They came to Wisconsin, where there were more rocks in the soil. Little did they know, but John Deere came up with a plow that would scour, saving the day for those who stayed.

 

[trlong]

Glad the pic came out alright.

When I work the soil around here and stone walls, and deal with multitude of rocks still in the land, I can't imagine plowing it without a real good plow.