HISTORY—This business was originally established by John Deere at Grand Detour, IL., in 1837, and ten years later was taken over by a co-partnership known as Deere, Tate & Gould, and removed to its present location at Moline, IL. The name of this co-partnership was subsequently changed to John Deere & Co.; in 1868 it was incorporated as Deere & Co., with a capitalization of $250,000, which was increased to $1,000,000 in 1883, to $1,500,000 in 1889, to $6,000,000 in 1902, and to $10,000,000 in 1909; all these increases represented surplus from earnings and were distributed as stock dividends. The present company was organized March 8, 1911, under Illinois laws for a period of 99 years, under title of American Implement Co., and on April 7, 1911, this title was changed to Deere & Co. The present company owns all of the capital stock of the following constituent companies:

Company owns 89.17 acres of real estate in Moline, IL., of which 21.50 acres are occupied by factory, 24.93 acres by lumber yard and 42.74 acres by experimental farm. The factory buildings have a floor area of 1,533,660 sq. ft., about 35.21 acres; also own 10 acres in East Moline, IL., on which additional factory buildings have been erected and warehouse in Spokane, Wash, (land leased), with floor area of 98,820 sq. ft. The company also owns 0.46 acre of real estate in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with a brick warehouse, having floor area of 94,445 sq. ft.; also owns one block of unimproved real estate in the immediate vicinity of the new Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. The factories of company manufacture about 85% of the products handled by branch houses. Owns hardwood timber lands in Arkansas and Louisiana. The Company is the largest manufacturer of steel plows in the United States and an important producer of other farm implements and vehicles. The company and its subsidiaries own 14 plants located at:Moline and East Moline, IL; Ottumwa and Waterloo, Ia.; Welland, Ont.; Fort Smith and Malvern, Ark.; Syracuse, N. Y.; Horicon, Wis., and St. Louis, Mo.

The business and properties of the subsidiary companies are:

Dalm Manufacturing; Co. of Iowa—Manufacturers of bay-making machinery. Owns 48.63 acres of real estate In Ottumwa, Iowa, occupied by factory buildings with floor area of 184,984 square feet.

Deere & Mansur Co.—Manufacturers of corn and cotton planters, disc harrows and beet tools. Owns 12.75 acres of real estate In Moline, IL, occupied by factory with floor area of 557,793 square feet.

Fort Smith Wagon Co.—Manufacturers of wooden farm wagons for the Southern and Southwestern trade. Owns 15.98 acres of real estate in Fort Smith, Ark., occupied by factory buildings with floor area of 167,110 square feet.

Fort Smith Timber & Land Co.—Owns valuable timber lands In Sevier County, Ark., aggregating 7,920 acres, and containing approximately 39,077,000 feet of hardwood lumber.

John Deere Plow Co. of Moline.— Owns 0.46 acre of real estate in Indianapolis, Ind. The buildings have a floor area of 31,280 square feet. Manufacturers of plows, cultivators and harrows.

John Deere Building Co.. Omaha, Neb. — See appended statement of this company.

John Deere Plow Co. of Portland, Ore.—Company occupies, with the right to purchase on favorable terms. 0.91 acre of real estate in Portland, Ore. The buildings have a floor area of 180,000 square feet.

John Deere Plow Co. of St. Louis—Owns 0.82 acre of real estate In St. Louis. Mo., occupied by factory buildings with floor area of 126,180 square feet; also 0.76 acre with buildings having floor area of 215,331 square feet.

John Deere Plow Co. of San Francisco—Company occupies, with right to purchase OS favorable terms, 0.79 acre of real estate in San Francisco, Cal. The buildings nave a floor area of 171,875 square feet.

John Deere Mfg. Co., Ltd., Welland, Ont. —A consolidation as of Aug 31, 1918, of the John Deere Plow Co. of Welland and Dain Mfg. Co., Ltd. Owns 230 acres of real estate in Welland, Ont., occupied by factory buildings with a floor area of 95,944 sq. ft. Manufacturers of hay tools, drills, manure spreaders and other implements for the Canadian trade.

John Deere Plow Co., Ltd., of Winnipeg;, Man. —Owns two pieces of real estate In Winnipeg, Improved with brick warehouses. The floor area of one of these warehouses is 84,808 square fast: the other 69,672 square feet.

John Deere Wagon Co., Moline, IL—See appended statement of this company.

Marseilles Company—See appended statement of this company.

Moline Timber Co—Owns valuable timber lands in Arkansas, aggregating approximately 25,718 acres, and containing approximately 161,800,000 feet of hardwood lumber. In 1920, the Moline Timber Co. merged the Moline Lumber Co. , which operated a saw mill at Malvern, Ark.

Reliance Buggy Co., St. Louis, Mo. —Manufacturers of buggies.

Syracuse Chilled Plow Co. —See appended statement of this company.

Union Malleable Iron Co. — Manufacturers of malleable iron castings for associated companies. Owns 9.88 acres of real estate in East Moline, IL, occupied by factory buildings with floor area of 235,744 square feet.

Van Brant Manufacturing- Co. —Manufacturers of grain drills and other seeding machinery. Owns 15.80 acres of real estate in Horicon, Wis., occupied by factory buildings with a floor area of 281,601 square feet.

Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co., Waterloo, Ia. —Manufacturers of farm tractors and gasoline engines.

Branch organizations for the sale of the products of the Company and its subsidiary companies are maintained at Minneapolis, Omaha, Sioux Falls, Moline, Milwaukee, Bloomington, Des Moines, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Denver, Indianapolis, Columbus, Lansing, St. Louis, New Orleans, Nashville, Dallas, Atlanta, Baltimore, Syracuse, Portland (Ore.), Spokane, Seattle, San Francisco, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary; an export department is located at Moline, IL.

COMPANIES CONTROLLED BY DEERE & CO.

DEERE (JOHN) BUILDING CO.—Inc. in Nov, 1908. Owns the 8-story and basement brick warehouse and office building (floor area, 344,440 sq. ft.) at Omaha, Neb., occupied by the John Deere Plow Co.; also owns another warehouse with floor area of 30,554 sq. ft.
Capital Stock.—Authorized, $500,000; issued, $335,000. All owned by Deere & Co. No funded debt.
Officers and Directors: Wm. Butterworth, Pres.; Frank Silloway, V-P; C. E. Parsons, Sec. & Treas.
Annual Meeting, first Monday in Nov.
General Office, Omaha, Neb.

DEERE (JOHN) WAGON CO.—Inc in 1872, in IL., as the Moline Wagon Co.; present name adopted in July, 1914. Manufacturers of farm wagons. Plant, located at Moline, IL., occupies 7.16 acres, and has floor area of 417,132 sq. ft. Company also owns 8,093 acres of timber lands in Franklin Parish, La., containing approximately 46,680,000 ft. of hardwood timber. Employs about 350 men. Annual output about 20,000 wagons. Merger.—This company early in 1920 sold its property to Deere & Co. and reduced its capital stock to $2,500. Property is now operated as John Deere Wagon Works of Deere & Co.
Capital Stock.—Authorized and issued, $2,500. All owned by Deere & Co. No funded debt.
Annual Meeting, third Monday in Jan. General Office, Moline, IL.

MARSEILLES CO.—Inc. Oct 31, 1910, in IL. Manufactures manure spreaders, grain elevators and corn shellers. Acquired the business of the Marseilles Manufacturing Co. , well known in the agricultural implement business, and the Western business of Kemp & Burpee Co. of Syracuse, the original manufacturer of manure spreaders. The business of both companies has been moved to the new plant at East Moline, IL., occupying 27.97 acres and having a floor area of 388,496 sq. ft.
Contracts for the entire output have been made with the branch houses of Deere & Co. at prices that assure a satisfactory profit, these being subject to annual revision in case of variation in the cost of material or labor.
Merger.—This company early in 1920 sold its property to Deere & Co. and reduced its capital stock to $2,500. Property is now operated as Marseilles Works of Deere & Co.
Capital Stock.—Authorized and issved, $2,500. All owned by Deere & Co.
No funded debt.
Annual Meeting, first Wednesday after second Tuesday in Dec.
General Office, East Moline, IL.

SYRACUSE CHILLED PLOW CO.—Inc. Aug 28, 1919, in New York; successor to a company of same name incorporated in 1876. Manufactures plows, harrows, cultivators, barrows, scrapers, trucks and other agricultural implements for the Eastern trade. Plant occupies 5.10 acres at Syracuse, N. Y., and has a floor area of 570,671 sq. ft.
Capital Stock.—Authorized and issued, $300,000; par, $100. All owned by Deere & Co. No funded debt.
Officers: W. W. Wiard, Pres., Syracuse, N. Y.; Wm. Butterworth, V-P, Moline, III.; C. A. Chase, V-P; L. B. Thurlow, Treas.. G. A. Newman, Sec, Syracuse N. Y.
Directors: W. W. Wiard, C. A. Chase, L. B. Thurlow, J. H. Choguill, Syracuse, N. Y.; Wm. Butterworth, F. R. Todd, F. Silloway, L. R. Clausen, Moline, IL.; G. W. Mixter, Buffalo, N. Y.
Annual Meeting, third Tuesday in Jan.
General Office, Syracuse, N. Y.

Deere & Co. entered the gas engine business in 1918 with the purchase of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co.

Information Sources

• 1893 Digest of Trade Marks for Machines, Metals, Jewelry, and the Hardware and Allied Trades lists trademarks registered to Deere, Mansur & Co. and Deere & Co. between 1873 and 1892.
• Moodys manual of railroads and corporation securities, Volume 1, 1922 page 279
• American Gasoline Engines Since 1872 by C. H. Wendel, Volume #1, 1983 page 121
• The Complete Guide to Stationary Gas Engines by Mark Meincke, 1996 page 112