Cyrus McCormick

Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr.
Born	February 15, 1809 Rockbridge County, Virginia
Died	May 13, 1884(1884-05-13) (aged 75) Chicago
Known for	International Harvester
Spouse	Nettie Fowler McCormick ​ ​ (m. 1835⁠–⁠1923)​
Parent	Robert Hall McCormick
Relatives	Leander J. McCormick, brother William Sanderson McCormick, brother

Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) of Rockbridge County, Virginia was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.

Early life and Family

He was born on the McCormick family farm in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. His parents were Robert Hall McCormick and Mary Ann Hall McCormick, both of whom were of Scots-Irish descent. He was the oldest of eight children and siblings included Leander J. McCormick and William Sanderson McCormick. He and members of the family became prominent Chicagoans. He was the uncle of Robert Sanderson McCormick (son-in-law of Joseph Medill); granduncle of Joseph Medill McCormick and Robert Rutherford McCormick; great-granduncle of William McCormick Blair, Jr. He was influenced by his father, who patented early versions of the reaper, which were unsuccessful.hhhhhhh

Reaper

The McCormick Reaper

McCormick's father worked for 28 years on a horse-drawn reaper. However, he was not able to finish his project and stopped developing it. In 1830, when McCormick turned 21, his father gave him the deed to the reaper. McCormick developed a final version of the reaper, with the help of Jo Anderson, a slave, in 18 months. The reaper was demonstrated in tests in 1831 and was patented by McCormick in 1834.

In 1847 he and his brother Leander moved to Chicago, where they established large centralized works for manufacturing agricultural implements; they were joined by their brother William in 1849. The McCormick reaper sold well, partially as a result of savvy and innovative business practices. Their products came onto the market just as the development of railroads offered wide distribution to distant market areas. He developed marketing and sales techniques, developing a vast network of trained salesmen able 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." One of the company's most famous advertisement featured an epic painting by Emanuel Leutze with the slogan, “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way with McCormick Reapers in the Van."

Awards

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 made farming far more efficient, and resulted in a global shift of labor from farmlands to cities. In 1851, the reaper won the highest award of the day, the Gold Medal at London's Crystal Palace Exhibition. A statue of McCormick is on the front campus of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia.

Mr. McCormick was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1975.

The town and county of McCormick South Carolina was named after him after he bought a gold mine in the town, formally known as Dornsville.

Lincoln and the McCormick-Manny Case

In the 1850s, two different companies in Illinois made reapers. The Cyrus McCormick Company of Chicago was larger and older. The Manny Company of Rockford was the McCormick company's only competitor. At this time field competitions between reapers and other farm implements were popular. After the Manny Reaper beat the McCormick reaper at the Paris Exposition of 1855, Cyrus McCormick filed suit against John Henry Manny for infringement of patent. McCormick argued that the Manny reaper was a copy. Manny denied this.

If McCormick won, Manny would have had to stop producing his reapers plus pay McCormick $400,000. One of the McCormick employees in 1855 said, "I should not be willing to pay costs in this case for one of the best patents in the country." The case was to be heard in Springfield, IL at the end of September. Some of the country's best lawyers were on either side. McCormick retained Edward N. Dickerson, a patent lawyer from New York, and Reverdy Johnson, one of the leaders of the American Bar.

Manny was heavily in debt at the time, but still managed to hire George Harding of Philadelphia. Harding was partially responsible for the establishment of the fundamental doctrine of the United States patent law. Manny also hired Edwin M. Stanton of Pittsburgh, and P. H. Watson.

Judge Drummond of the Northern District of Illinois was to hear the trial in Springfield. Manny decided it was worth the effort to hire a lawyer from Springfield to help influence Judge Drummond. With the other lawyers being expensive, Manny wanted a cheap lawyer and chose Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had heard about this trial and was excited when Watson asked him to take part. Lincoln was deeply in debt. The $500 advance helped him accept. Lincoln was forty-six years old and had failed politically in 1854. Here was his chance to make himself known. Lincoln immediately accepted.

With enthusiasm, Lincoln began working on his brief. He knew little about patent law or reapers. Lincoln worked for months. He traveled to Rockford to learn more about the Manny reaper. He studied the case and took many notes. Lincoln wrote to Watson, his associate council, asking for updated information. He received no answer. Then he heard that the trial was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Lincoln continued to try to reach Watson.

While Lincoln was searching for Stanton, Harding, and Watson, these lawyers were having second thoughts about including Lincoln in the case. With the trial moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, they did not need or want Lincoln. They decided that "the mere sight of him might jeopardize the case," as one historian put it. Stanton also said that he would not associate with "such a damned, gawky, long-armed ape as that."

On the first of September, Lincoln sent an inquiry to Manny and Company:

Since I left Chicago about the 18th of July I have heard nothing concerning the reaper suit. I addressed a letter to Mr. Watson at Washington requesting him to forward the evidence from time to time as it should be taken but received no answer from him. Is it still the understanding that the case is to be held at Cincinnati on the 20th inst.? Please write me on receipt of this. A few days later Lincoln left to find Watson in Cincinnati. He arrived dressed in his best suit. When Stanton saw him, he asked, "Where did the long-armed baboon come from?" He then described him as "A long, lank creature from Illinois, wearing a dirty linen duster for a coat and the back of which perspiration had splotched wide stains that resembled a map of the continent."

In the courtroom, Lincoln paced the floor listening to the judge. Then Stanton announced that only two arguments would be made even if he could not speak. Stanton slyly suggested to Lincoln that he should speak. Lincoln properly replied that Stanton should speak instead. Stanton agreed. Picking up his hat, he announced he would now prepare his speech.

Lincoln wandered blindly out of the room, not knowing what to do or think. He immediately sent his brief to Harding, asking him not to show it to Stanton. As soon as Harding received the brief, he threw it in the wastepaper basket without even looking at it. Even though Lincoln was supposed to be one of Manny's lawyers, he was not allowed on the court floor and had to sit in the audience. Lincoln continued to attend the trial, listening to each speaker. Lincoln also visited some of the other courtrooms, including Room Number 1 of the Superior Court. Bellamy Storea was the judge in this courtroom. Lincoln liked the way Storea used a careless but direct method of working. He added many jokes into his cases. Lincoln said, "I wish we had that judge in Illinois. I think he would share with me the fatherhood of legal jokes of the Illinois bar." Lincoln also made a new friend by the name of Everson. When Lincoln left Cincinnati, he told Everson that he was going back home to Springfield to study law. Lawyers from the East were coming west to continue their practice. "They have got as far as Cincinnati now; they will soon be in Illinois. I will be ready for them."

Lincoln returned home after the Manny Company's victory. Watson then sent Lincoln a $2000 check. Lincoln returned it, saying that he had not contributed enough to deserve the payment. Watson was having second thoughts about what had happened. He felt bad about turning Lincoln down. He again sent the check. This time Lincoln kept it, only because he had many debts to pay. He split it between himself and his partner, Herndon.

This trial changed Lincoln. He was hurt. One of the Cincinnati lawyers, W. M. Dickson, said, "Mr. Lincoln had prepared himself with the greatest care; his ambition was to speak in the case and measure words with the renowned lawyer from Baltimore. He came with the fond hope for making fame in a forensic contest with Reverdy Johnson. He was pushed aside, humiliated and mortified." Lincoln worked hard to recover from this wound. He studied. He prepared his speeches more carefully. Without this experience, he might never have tried to improve.

Through this case, Lincoln met his future Secretary of War. Although his pain had not healed. President Lincoln asked Stanton to be his Secretary of War. At Lincoln's deathbed, the rude but serious Stanton, with tear-stained eyes, realized who was greater. He uttered those true words: "Now he belongs to the ages."

The Manny Case did not bring Lincoln fame, but it taught him to achieve his goal. He gained courage. Lincoln's contact with the eastern lawyers and their treatment influenced him. He learned from the little things in his life. Those little things changed the outcome of Lincoln's future and the nation he served.

Death

McCormick died in Chicago in 1884; he had been handicapped for the last four years of his life. His last words, before passing into unconsciousness, were "It's all right. It's all right. I only want...." The company passed on to his grandson, Cyrus Hall McCormick III. The McCormick factories were later the site of urban labor strikes that led to the Haymarket Square riot in 1886.

Cyrus McCormick's papers are held by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

See also

• Cyrus McCormick Farm

Bibliography

• Casson, Herbert Newton, Cyrus Hall Mccormick: His Life and Work, BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009, ISBN 1110232942

External links

• McCormick Reaper
• Cyrus McCormick at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Template:Cyrus Frisch
• Iles, George (1912), Leading American Inventors, New York: Henry Holt and Company, pp. 276–314