John Deere was born in Vermont. He was the son of William Rinold Deere who disappeared when he left Vermont in 1808. He was planning to go to England to collect an inheritance and no one ever heard from him again.

Raised by his mother and educated in a local school, John Deere later attended Middlebury College before dropping out. After leaving college, John worked under Captain Benjamin Lawrence who was a successful blacksmith in Middlebury. John learned from Lawrence before breaking into business for himself in 1825.

In 1836, John Deere married Demarius Lamb. They began raising a family together but business as a blacksmith wasn’t good for John. He sold out to his father-in-law and moved to Illinois where he continued his trade as a blacksmith.

Once in Illinois, John’s creative imagination began to drive him. His ideas for manufacturing a better plow developed and in 1837, the first Deere commercial cast-steel plow was a success. In 1838, Deere sold his fist steel plow to a farmer. The farmer, Lewis Crandall spread the word quickly and by 1841, there were orders mounting up for the Deere plow.

John Deere knew that he needed help if he was going to be able to keep the orders filled and customers satisfied so he gained a partner. His partner was Leonard Andrus but the partnership experienced complications. By the end of 1848, John Deere was out of his partnership and ready to find a better location to set up his business.

John needed to be on or near the Mississippi River and Moline, Illinois was the perfect location because of the transportation provided on the river. Thanks to the new location and a thriving business, John Deere was able to sell over ten thousand plows by the end of 1855.

John Deere became a corporation in 1868. Later in life, John Deere was able to take on a more active political and social status. He became the President of the National Bank of Moline and served as mayor of Moline. John Deere died in 1886.