Inventor. Born Rockbridge County, Virginia, he was an industrialist and inventor of the first commercially successful reaper, a horse-drawn machine to harvest wheat. After a few additional modifications, he patented the invention in 1834. During the 1840s Cyrus and his family manufactured harvesting machines and sold reapers out the blacksmith shop at Walnut Grove. In 1847, he moved to Chicago and formed what became known as the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. By the early 1880s, the company had expanded into markets as far away as Russia and New Zealand. After his death, his son Cyrus Jr., became president of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company which was the leading agricultural equipment manufacturer from the 1880s to 1890s.
Inventor. Born Rockbridge County, Virginia, he was an industrialist and inventor of the first commercially successful reaper, a horse-drawn machine to harvest wheat. After a few additional modifications, he patented the invention in 1834. During the 1840s Cyrus and his family manufactured harvesting machines and sold reapers out the blacksmith shop at Walnut Grove. In 1847, he moved to Chicago and formed what became known as the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. By the early 1880s, the company had expanded into markets as far away as Russia and New Zealand. After his death, his son Cyrus Jr., became president of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company which was the leading agricultural equipment manufacturer from the 1880s to 1890s.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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