Chances are you have heard of John Deere machines before. But are you familiar with the story of how this American company came to exist? Radio legend, Paul Harvey, covered their story in his series The Rest of the Story.
The John Deere company has positioned itself as a brand committed to reliability and industry standards. But the man behind the business had a more sordid history involving leaving his wife and kids behind.
Some might argue John had no other option, but we will leave that up to you. John had to choose between staying and being imprisoned or escaping to the West.
Before he was forced into that decision, John was an established blacksmith in town. After forming a partnership with Jay Wright, he created his own smithy. Unfortunately, the blacksmith burned down.
John was determined to own his own shop, though. He and Wright partnered up once more to build another blacksmith. Sadly, this second shop burned down, too, leaving John with no choice but to join another blacksmith.
After some years, John decided to start his own blacksmith once more. Fortunately, this one was much more successful than his other ventures. But news of this success got back to Wright, and his old partner came to collect the money John owed him.
John fled to Indiana, where he found a new opportunity to create an improved plow. The rest, as they say, is history. Listen to Paul Harvey’s soothing voice tell this fascinating, complicated story.
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