Manny reaper

John Henry Manny laid the foundation for the reaper business of Rockford, IL. At the time of the invention of his reaper, he was farming with his father, Pells Manny, in Waddams Township, Stephenson County, Illinois, near McConnell, Illinois. They had a large crop of wheat and wanted a machine to cut it. The Manny's had heard that George Esterly, of Wisconsin, was making machines that would harvest grain. They visited Esterly to buy one of his machines but found that he would probably not be able to get one finished for them in time for their harvest. John H. Manny remained with Esterly at his shop to help him complete the "header". It was this insight into the construction of harvesting machinery that inspired the Manny family to develop their own reaper. Subsequently the Manny's conceived the idea of creating a number of additional reapers that were to be sold to neighboring farmers.

There weren't any railroads through the country at this time, except a line to Rockford, so John Henry Manny and those interested in building his machine went to Rockford in the fall of 1853. In the spring of 1854, the Talcott brothers; Wait and Sylvester along with Jess Blinn and Ralph Emerson (cousin to Ralph Waldo Emerson) organized J.H. Manny & Co. Between 1855 and 1856 this new company manufactured about 6,000 machines for harvest. John H. Manny died in 1856 of a stomach illness and the manufacturing of his machine was then carried on by the Talcott brothers and Ralph Emerson until 1860, when Mr. Emerson bought out his partners and associated himself with William A. Talcott. Following the death of Manny the firm was known as Talcott, Emerson, & Co.^{[1][not in citation given]}

References

1. ^ Ardrey, Robert L. (1894). American agricultural implements: a review of invention and development in the agricultural implement industry of the United States. Chicago: Robert L. Ardrey. p. 162. http://books.google.com/books?id=dLc6AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA98.