John Deere was born in 1804 in Vermont, where he learned the blacksmith trade. He moved to Grand Detour, Illinois, in the 1830's and opened his own blacksmith shop. In 1837 he invented the self scouring plow - which was the first successful plow designed to break cleanly through the rich alluvial earth of the Midwest. In 1848, John Deere moved his operation 70 miles south to Moline, taking advantage of the water power and transportation offered by the Mississippi River. In 1868, Deere's business was incorporated under the name Deere & Company. John Deere died in 1886, but his heirs were to lead the company for most of the next century and make it into the world's largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment.
When John Deere moved to Illinois from Vermont, he learned that the commonly used cast-iron plows of the day performed poorly in the sticky soil of the Midwest. Convinced that a plow with a highly polished surface would clean, or scour itself as it moved through the field, Deere fashioned just such an implement in 1837, using steel from a broken saw blade. In 1848 John Deere moved his operation to Moline, Illinois, to take advantage of the water power and transportation the river offered. From there, Deere & Co. is now one of the oldest companies in the U.S. and the world headquarters are still located in Moline. Factories are still located in the Quad Cities region and they make a only portion of the equipment Deere produces, including combines, tractors, planters, seeders, and hydraulic cylinders.