The Beginnings of a John Deere
In the beginning John Deere was the man who made for the first time a commercially available and successful, self-scouring steel plow. John Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont in 1804. John grew up and spent his childhood up until his young adulthood in the Middlebury, Vermont area, and this is where he received his common schooling and his apprenticeship in the blacksmith trade. He acquired popularity as a blacksmith and in 1825 he started his professional career as a journeyman blacksmith. John Deere very quickly gained popularity for his thrifty craftsmanship and inventiveness.
John was making polished hay forks and shovels that became in high demand throughout the Western Vermont area. As business conditions worsened in the Vermont area and even became depressed in the mid- 1830's, it looked like John Deere had a very gloomy future ahead, even for John who was a really ambitious young blacksmith. Many people from Vermont were leaving and going to the west to search for golden opportunities, and as news of this made its way to John, he decided to get rid of his business and join up with the others who emigrated west.
John Deere left his wife and family behind, who were to come back together at a later time. John left with a pack of tools and a small sum of money. John would travel for many weeks by canal boat, lake boat and stagecoaches until he finally reached his destination, Grand Detour, Illinois. This area had already been settled by other people from his native Vermont. John found when he arrived, the need for someone with his blacksmith skills was needed greatly, and within two days of his settlement in 1836 he had built a forge and he went to work answering the calls of this new community.
