| John Deere
Deere & Company is usually known by its founder and brand name, John Deere. John Deere was an established American blacksmith who invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837 & 1838 in Grand Detour, Illinois. Mr. Deere briefly entered into a succesful partnership with with Leonard Andrus in 1842 which established his first successful factory in operation until 1848. Then in 1848, Deere formed a partnership with Robert Tate and John Gould to form the Deere, Tate, & Gould Company which quickly built a new factory in Moline, Illinois to relocate manufacturing there where he had access to both the railroad and the Mississippi River. John Deere bought out Tate and Gould in 1853, and in that same year was joined by his son Charles Deere. In 1858 an economic recession took a toll on the company and in order to avoid bankruptcy, the company was reorganized. Deere sold his interests in the business to his son in law, Christopher Webber, and his son, Charles Deere. The company was later incorporated as Deere & Company in 1868. Deere & Company original stockholders were Charles Deere, Stephen Velie, George Vinton, and John Deere, who would serve as president of the company until 1886. But it was Charles Deere who effectively ran and expanded the company into new markets. Deere & Company is now a Fortune 500 American corporation based in Moline, Illinois, and is the leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world, which are usually sold under the John Deere name. The company is also a leading manufacturer of construction, landscaping and lawn care equipment.
http://www.deere.com/
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