Cyrus McCormick

Cyrus McCormick
Born
Cyrus Hall McCormick

February 15, 1809
DiedMay 13, 1884(1884-05-13) (aged 75)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Resting placeGraceland Cemetery
Occupation(s)inventor and agricultural machinery tycoon
Known forFounder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company
Co-designer of the mechanical reaper
SpouseNancy Fowler (m. 1858–1884; his death)
Children7
Parent(s)Robert McCormick Jr.
Mary Ann Hall
RelativesSee McCormick family
Signature

Cyrus Hall McCormick (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902.[1] Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he and many members of the McCormick family became prominent residents of Chicago. McCormick has been simplistically credited as the single inventor of the mechanical reaper.

He was, however, one of several designing engineers who produced successful models in the 1830s. His efforts built on more than two decades of work by his father Robert McCormick Jr., with the aid of Jo Anderson, an enslaved African-American man held by the family.[2] He also successfully developed a modern company, with manufacturing, marketing, and a sales force to market his products.[3]

  1. ^ "Cyrus Hall McCormick". Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 5, 2007.
  2. ^ "Jo Anderson". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  3. ^ McCormick, Cyrus Hall III (1931), The Century of the Reaper, Houghton Mifflin, LCCN 31009940, OCLC 559717.

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