Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus Hall McCormick was born in 1809 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, where he grew up on his family’s farm. His father, Robert McCormick, worked on agricultural machinery. Cyrus continued this work and developed a practical mechanical reaper based on his father’s efforts and the work of other inventors.
In 1831, at the age of 22, McCormick demonstrated the reaper that would make his name famous. The horse-drawn machine could harvest wheat far more efficiently than traditional hand tools. While McCormick did not invent the basic idea of mechanical harvesting on his own, he succeeded in developing and promoting the first commercially successful reaper.
Building a Chicago Business
McCormick brought his business to Chicago in 1847, establishing his first factory in the growing city. Chicago’s connections to the agricultural Midwest and its expanding transportation network made it an ideal location for manufacturing and distributing farm equipment.
The business eventually became the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company (later became International Harvester), and McCormick became one of Chicago’s prominent industrialists. He was also an innovator in marketing and distribution, including the use of installment purchasing that allowed farmers to buy his machines on credit. His approach helped make expensive agricultural machinery available to a much larger market.
McCormick’s success had an impact well beyond Chicago. His harvesting machines helped farmers increase productivity and contributed to the mechanization of American agriculture. The company he built would later become part of the agricultural machinery industry that developed into International Harvester.
Death
Cyrus McCormick died in 1884 at the age of 75. He is buried in the Ridgeland Section, Lot/Pathway 4, Space 1.