Search Site   
News Stories at a Glance
Deere 4440 cab tractor racked up $18,000 at farm retirement auction
Indiana legislature passes bills for ag land purchases, broadband grants
Make spring planting safety plans early to avoid injuries
Michigan soybean grower visits Dubai to showcase U.S. products
Scientists are interested in eclipse effects on crops and livestock
U.S. retail meat demand for pork and beef both decreased in 2023
Iowa one of the few states to see farms increase in 2022 Ag Census
Trade, E15, GREET, tax credits the talk at Commodity Classic
Ohioan travels to Malta as part of US Grains Council trade mission
FFA members learn about Australian culture, agriculture during trip
Timing of Dicamba ruling may cause issues for 2024 planting
   
Archive
Search Archive  
   
The early corn planter’s inventor battled his competition in court

Don McKinley’s “Evolution of the Corn Planter” display at the Gathering of the Green last month included his rare George Brown wooden corn planter. (The article about the display is also in this issue of Farm World.)

Not many of these machines are around, and it took a bit of research for Don – who co-owns a Depression-era museum along with his wife, daughter and son-in-law – to come up with all the history of this unique machine.

Knox County Historical Society information states, “George W. Brown was a farmer and carpenter by trade. In 1848 he conceived the idea of turning a cultivator into a corn planter. After several years of experimenting with different designs, he used his invention in 1852 to plant 16 acres of corn for himself and 8 acres for a neighbor.

“Brown sold everything he had to secure patents for his invention and started building planters by hand. In 1853, he completed 12 machines, one that planted 300 acres of corn that season. His business grew rapidly, with 100 machines made in 1854 and 300 made in 1855.”

Brown patented his planter and eventually moved the business to Galesburg, Ill., in 1878, averaging 8,000 machines per year. It is a heavy wooden contraption that revolutionized corn planting.
“The wheels were made by a cooper into a barrel formation,” Don said of this rare machine.

When others began making corn planters, Brown took action and filed lawsuits. He won an early suit against competitors; according to the Knox County Historical Society, “In May 1874, the Supreme Court of the United States declared him the inventor of the corn planter. This gave him the right to collect royalties on all machines manufactured, and in July 1878 he won $200,000 in a suit against Keystone Manufacturing Co. in Rock Island, Ill.”

While successful against some competitors, it was not so when Deere & Mansur developed its corn planter. Author Brenda Kruse wrote an article stating that Charles Deere paired up with Alvah Mansur to form the Deere & Mansur Co. “The duo began building an early corn planter that would eventually lead Deere to industry leadership in this category,” she explained.

“While the Deere & Mansur corn planter was not the first, it would be hard to dispute that it didn’t later become the best. The fist corn planter came from George W. Brown in the 1850s and 60s. Brown battled many competitors with patent protection on key parts of his invention.

“However, the unique rotary drop mechanism on the Deere & Mansur planter did not infringe on Brown’s slide-drop version. Still, there were a few tense years of legal scuttlebutt between both sides.”

Recently, one of the Brown corn planters was exhibited at the Illinois state Museum as part of the “From Humble Beginnings: Lincoln’s Illinois 1830-1861 – Rare 1855 Corn Planter and Artifacts Excavated from Lincoln Era Privies” exhibition. It was noted as the first commercially successful horse-drawn corn planter in the country.

“We are excited to be able to include Brown’s corn planter in the Illinois State Museum’s exhibition,” said Angela Goebel-Bain, curator of the display. “This is a treasure from the Illinois State Museum’s collection, and this is the first opportunity the museum has had to present this artifact.

“Brown’s planter, along with John Deere’s self-scouring plow (also on display), are terrific examples of the technological innovations taking place in Illinois in the years Abraham Lincoln lived here. These inventions are key parts of the story of agricultural expansion in Illinois and the West.”

Knox County history of 1912 shares that the company grew and made other machinery besides corn planters: corn shellers, rakes, cultivators, discs and other farming implements. In 1886 Brown purchased a ranch at Riverside, Calif., and spent a great deal of the winter months in his western home.

He eventually died in the spring of 1895 after contracting a cold which developed into pneumonia. His son, James Brown, took over the company, at that time called Brown & Co. Planter Works.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.

4/7/2010