Cyrus McCormick
Encyclopedia
Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. (1809–1884) was an American
inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company
in 1902.
He and many members of the McCormick family
became prominent Chicago
ans.
Although McCormick is often called the "inventor" of the mechanical reaper, it was based on work by others, including his family members.
in Rockbridge County, Virginia
, in the Shenandoah Valley
on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains
. His parents were Robert McCormick (1780–1846) and Mary Ann Hall McCormick (1780–1853), both of whom were of Scots-Irish
descent.
He was the oldest of eight children, and had little or no formal education.
Although the plantation kept some slaves, every family member was expected to help during harvest. From a young age, McCormick preferred using machines to save work in the fields. In his teens he devised a scythe cradle
, and then patented plows
that could be used on hillsides and sharpened themselves. His father kept a workshop to repair and build machines, such as those for mills on the property. McCormick tried to sell a hemp brake machine to farmers in Kentucky
but made no sales.
to harvest grain; however, he was never able to duplicate a reliable version himself so his son took up the project.
A few machines based on a design of Patrick Bell
in Scotland (which had not been patented) were available in the US. The Bell machine was pushed by horses. The McCormick design was pulled and cut the grain to one side.
One of the first public demonstrations by McCormick of mechanical reaping was at the nearby village of Steeles Tavern, Virginia
in 1831.
McCormick claimed he developed a final version of the reaper in 18 months. The young McCormick was granted a patent on the reaper on June 21, 1834.
This machine also did not work in many conditions, so none were sold. Instead, the McCormick family worked on starting a metal smelting business. The panic of 1837
almost caused the family to go into bankruptcy when a partner pulled out. In 1839 he started doing public demonstrations of the reaper, but local farmers still thought the machine was not reliable. He did sell one in 1840, but none for 1841. Using the endorsement of his Father's first customer that McPhetrich built, he continuously attempted to improve the design, seven reapers were sold in 1842, 29 in 1843, and 50 in 1844. They were all built manually in the family farm shop.
He received a second patent for reaper improvements on January 31, 1845.
While he was in Washington, DC to get his 1845 patent, he heard about a factory in Brockport, New York
, where he contracted to have the machines mass-produced.
In 1847 he and his brother Leander J. McCormick
moved to Chicago
, where they established a factory to build their machines.
At the time, other cities in the midwestern United States
such as Cleveland, Ohio
, St. Louis, Missouri
, or Milwaukee, Wisconsin
were more prosperous. Chicago had no paved streets. However, Chicago offered water transportation from the east over the Great Lakes
for his raw materials, as well as railroad connections to the farther west where his customers would be.
When McCormick tried to renew his patent in 1848, the US Patent Office noted that a very similar machine had already been patented by Obed Hussey
a few months earlier. McCormick then claimed he had really invented it in 1831, but the renewal was denied.
Another reaper patent had already been issued to William Manning of Plainfield, New Jersey
in May 1831, but Manning was evidently not defending his patent.
Brother William Sanderson McCormick
moved to Chicago in 1849, and joined the company to take care of financial affairs. The McCormick reaper sold well, partially as a result of savvy and innovative business practices. Their products came onto the market just as the development of railroads offered wide distribution to distant markets. He developed marketing and sales techniques, developing a vast network of trained salesmen able to demonstrate operation of the machines in the field. William H. Seward
said of McCormick's invention that owing to it "the line of civilization moves westward thirty miles each year." A company advertisement was a take-off of the Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way
mural by Emanuel Leutze
adding to the title: “with McCormick Reapers in the Van."
In 1851, McCormick traveled to London
to display a reaper at the Crystal Palace Exhibition
. He won a gold medal, but celebration was short-lived when he learned that he had lost a court challenge to Hussey's patent.
of Rockford, Illinois
. After the Manny Reaper
beat the McCormick reaper at the Paris Exposition
of 1855, McCormick filed a lawsuit against Manny for patent infringement.
McCormick demanded that Manny stop producing reapers, and pay McCormick $400,000. The trial, originally scheduled for Chicago, Illinois in September 1855, had prominent lawyers on both sides. McCormick hired former US Attorney General Reverdy Johnson
and New York
patent attorney Edward Nicholl Dickerson.
Manny hired George Harding and Edwin M. Stanton
. Because the trial was set to take place in Illinois, Harding hired local Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln
. However, the trial was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio
. Although Manny won the case, with an opinion by Supreme Court Judge John McLean
, Lincoln ended up not contributing to the defense. Stanton had objected to Lincoln's presence, referring to him as "that damned long armed ape." After later being elected President, Lincoln chose Stanton as his Secretary of War.
In 1879 his brother Leander changed the name of the company from "Cyrus H. McCormick and Brothers" to "McCormick Harvesting Machine Company".
Leander wanted to clearly acknowledge contributions of others to the reaper "invention", especially their father.
Cyrus' work was done with the help of Jo Anderson, a slave on the plantation at the time.
The official leadership of the company passed on to his son Cyrus Hall McCormick Jr. He was buried in Graceland Cemetery
.
The McCormick factories were later the site of urban labor strikes that led to the Haymarket Square riot in 1886.
Cyrus McCormick's papers are held by the Wisconsin Historical Society
.
Numerous prizes and medals were awarded for his reaper, and he was elected a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences
, "as having done more for the cause of agriculture than any other living man." The invention of the reaper made farming far more efficient, and resulted in a global shift of labor from farmlands to cities.
A statue of McCormick is on the front campus of Washington and Lee University
, Lexington, Virginia
.
The town of McCormick, South Carolina
and McCormick County were named for him after he bought a gold mine in the town, formerly known as Dornsville.
McCormick was inducted into the Junior Achievement
U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1975.
They had seven children:
Mary Virginia and Stanley Robert both suffered from schizophrenia
. Stanley's life was dramatized in the 1998 novel Riven Rock
by T. Coraghessan Boyle
.
He was the uncle of Robert Sanderson McCormick
(son-in-law of Joseph Medill
); granduncle of Joseph Medill McCormick and Robert Rutherford McCormick; great-granduncle of William McCormick Blair, Jr.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company
International Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
in 1902.
He and many members of the McCormick family
McCormick family
The McCormick family is a family of business people and politicians from the United States.They descend from Robert McCormick and Mary Ann Hall.Below is a list of members:...
became prominent Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
ans.
Although McCormick is often called the "inventor" of the mechanical reaper, it was based on work by others, including his family members.
Early life
Cyrus Hall McCormick was born February 15, 1809 on the McCormick family farm known as Walnut GroveCyrus McCormick Farm
The Cyrus McCormick Farm and Workshop is on the family farm of inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick known as Walnut Grove. Cyrus Hall McCormick improved and patented the mechanical reaper, which eventually led to the creation of the combine harvester...
in Rockbridge County, Virginia
Rockbridge County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,808 people, 8,486 households, and 6,075 families residing in the county. The population density was 35 people per square mile . There were 9,550 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
, in the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. His parents were Robert McCormick (1780–1846) and Mary Ann Hall McCormick (1780–1853), both of whom were of Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...
descent.
He was the oldest of eight children, and had little or no formal education.
Although the plantation kept some slaves, every family member was expected to help during harvest. From a young age, McCormick preferred using machines to save work in the fields. In his teens he devised a scythe cradle
Cradle (grain)
A cradle is an agricultural tool, a form of the scythe, used to reap grain. It is a scythe with an arrangement of fingers attached to the snath, snathe or snaith , such that the cut grain falls upon the fingers and can be cleanly laid down in a row for collection.-History:As agriculture A cradle...
, and then patented plows
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
that could be used on hillsides and sharpened themselves. His father kept a workshop to repair and build machines, such as those for mills on the property. McCormick tried to sell a hemp brake machine to farmers in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
but made no sales.
Reaper
McCormick's father purchased the original design from a blacksmith, by the name of McPhetrich. As McCormick had some money and saw the potential of the design he applied for a patent for this to claim as his own, and worked for 28 years on a horse-drawn mechanical reaperReaper
A reaper is a person or machine that reaps crops at harvest, when they are ripe.-Hand reaping:Hand reaping is done by various means, including plucking the ears of grains directly by hand, cutting the grain stalks with a sickle, cutting them with a scythe, or with a later type of scythe called a...
to harvest grain; however, he was never able to duplicate a reliable version himself so his son took up the project.
A few machines based on a design of Patrick Bell
Patrick Bell
Rev Patrick Bell was a Church of Scotland minister and inventor.-Biography:Born in the rural parish of Auchterhouse in Angus, Scotland, into a farming family, Bell chose to study divinity at the University of St Andrews...
in Scotland (which had not been patented) were available in the US. The Bell machine was pushed by horses. The McCormick design was pulled and cut the grain to one side.
One of the first public demonstrations by McCormick of mechanical reaping was at the nearby village of Steeles Tavern, Virginia
Steeles Tavern, Virginia
Steeles Tavern is an unincorporated community in Augusta County, Virginia. It lies at an elevation of 1683 feet ....
in 1831.
McCormick claimed he developed a final version of the reaper in 18 months. The young McCormick was granted a patent on the reaper on June 21, 1834.
This machine also did not work in many conditions, so none were sold. Instead, the McCormick family worked on starting a metal smelting business. The panic of 1837
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...
almost caused the family to go into bankruptcy when a partner pulled out. In 1839 he started doing public demonstrations of the reaper, but local farmers still thought the machine was not reliable. He did sell one in 1840, but none for 1841. Using the endorsement of his Father's first customer that McPhetrich built, he continuously attempted to improve the design, seven reapers were sold in 1842, 29 in 1843, and 50 in 1844. They were all built manually in the family farm shop.
He received a second patent for reaper improvements on January 31, 1845.
A new city
Word kept spreading, and McCormick noticed orders were coming from farther west, where farms tended to be larger.While he was in Washington, DC to get his 1845 patent, he heard about a factory in Brockport, New York
Brockport, New York
Brockport is a village located in the Town of Sweden in Monroe County, New York, USA. The population was 8,103 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from Hiel Brockway, an early settler....
, where he contracted to have the machines mass-produced.
In 1847 he and his brother Leander J. McCormick
Leander J. McCormick
Leander James McCormick was an American farmer, inventor, manufacturer, and businessman. Although born in rural Virginia, he later owned vast amounts of real estate in downtown Chicago.-Life:...
moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where they established a factory to build their machines.
At the time, other cities in the midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
such as Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, or Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
were more prosperous. Chicago had no paved streets. However, Chicago offered water transportation from the east over the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
for his raw materials, as well as railroad connections to the farther west where his customers would be.
When McCormick tried to renew his patent in 1848, the US Patent Office noted that a very similar machine had already been patented by Obed Hussey
Obed Hussey
Obed Hussey was an American inventor, born to Quaker parents, of a farm machine called a reaper. In his youth, he was a sailor on a whaling ship, but eventually he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. He tested and patented a reaper in 1833, which placed him in fierce competition with Irish American...
a few months earlier. McCormick then claimed he had really invented it in 1831, but the renewal was denied.
Another reaper patent had already been issued to William Manning of Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population increased to a record high of 49,808....
in May 1831, but Manning was evidently not defending his patent.
Brother William Sanderson McCormick
William Sanderson McCormick
William Sanderson McCormick was an American businessman who developed the company that became the major producer of agricultural equipment in the 19th century...
moved to Chicago in 1849, and joined the company to take care of financial affairs. The McCormick reaper sold well, partially as a result of savvy and innovative business practices. Their products came onto the market just as the development of railroads offered wide distribution to distant markets. He developed marketing and sales techniques, developing a vast network of trained salesmen able to demonstrate operation of the machines in the field. William H. Seward
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
said of McCormick's invention that owing to it "the line of civilization moves westward thirty miles each year." A company advertisement was a take-off of the Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way is a 33¼ × 43⅜ inch painted mural currently displayed behind the Western staircase of the House of Representatives chamber in the United States Capitol Building...
mural by Emanuel Leutze
Emanuel Leutze
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze was a German American history painter best known for his painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.-Philadelphia:...
adding to the title: “with McCormick Reapers in the Van."
In 1851, McCormick traveled to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to display a reaper at the Crystal Palace Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
. He won a gold medal, but celebration was short-lived when he learned that he had lost a court challenge to Hussey's patent.
McCormick-Manny Case
Another McCormick company competitor was the company of John Henry MannyJohn Henry Manny
John Henry Manny was the inventor of the Manny Reaper, which was an early version of a horse-powered combine harvester.-Life:John Henry Manny was born November 28, 1825 in Amsterdam, New York. His father was Pells Manny and mother was Sarah Swart...
of Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
. After the Manny Reaper
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...
beat the McCormick reaper at the Paris Exposition
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
of 1855, McCormick filed a lawsuit against Manny for patent infringement.
McCormick demanded that Manny stop producing reapers, and pay McCormick $400,000. The trial, originally scheduled for Chicago, Illinois in September 1855, had prominent lawyers on both sides. McCormick hired former US Attorney General Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson was a statesman and jurist from Maryland.-Early life:Born in Annapolis, Johnson was the son of a distinguished Maryland lawyer and politician, John Johnson . He graduated from St. John's College in 1812 and then studied law...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
patent attorney Edward Nicholl Dickerson.
Manny hired George Harding and Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
. Because the trial was set to take place in Illinois, Harding hired local Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. However, the trial was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Although Manny won the case, with an opinion by Supreme Court Judge John McLean
John McLean
John McLean was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice on the Ohio and U.S...
, Lincoln ended up not contributing to the defense. Stanton had objected to Lincoln's presence, referring to him as "that damned long armed ape." After later being elected President, Lincoln chose Stanton as his Secretary of War.
More controversy and success
In 1861, after Hussey's patent was extended but McCormick's was not, he convinced the US Congress to step in.In 1879 his brother Leander changed the name of the company from "Cyrus H. McCormick and Brothers" to "McCormick Harvesting Machine Company".
Leander wanted to clearly acknowledge contributions of others to the reaper "invention", especially their father.
Cyrus' work was done with the help of Jo Anderson, a slave on the plantation at the time.
Death and legacy
McCormick died in Chicago on May 13, 1884; he had been handicapped for the last four years of his life.The official leadership of the company passed on to his son Cyrus Hall McCormick Jr. He was buried in Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery is a large Victorian era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road...
.
The McCormick factories were later the site of urban labor strikes that led to the Haymarket Square riot in 1886.
Cyrus McCormick's papers are held by the Wisconsin Historical Society
Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society is simultaneously a private membership and a state-funded organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of North America, with an emphasis on the state of Wisconsin and the trans-Allegheny West...
.
Numerous prizes and medals were awarded for his reaper, and he was elected a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
, "as having done more for the cause of agriculture than any other living man." The invention of the reaper made farming far more efficient, and resulted in a global shift of labor from farmlands to cities.
A statue of McCormick is on the front campus of Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
, Lexington, Virginia
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...
.
The town of McCormick, South Carolina
McCormick, South Carolina
McCormick is a town in McCormick County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,489 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of McCormick County.-Geography:McCormick is located at ....
and McCormick County were named for him after he bought a gold mine in the town, formerly known as Dornsville.
McCormick was inducted into the Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement or JA or JA Worldwide is a non-profit youth organization that was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and senator Winthrop M. Crane. JA focuses on educating kids in K-12 about the free enterprise system...
U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1975.
Family tree
On January 26, 1858 he married Nancy Fowler (1835–1923), better known as "Nettie".They had seven children:
- Cyrus Hall McCormick Jr. was born May 16, 1859.
- Mary Virginia McCormick was born May 5, 1861.
- Anita McCormick was born July 4, 1866, married Emmons Blaine on September 26, 1889, and died February 12, 1954. Her husband was the oldest son of US Secretary of State James G. BlaineJames G. BlaineJames Gillespie Blaine was a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time Secretary of State...
. - Alice McCormick was born March 15, 1870 and died less than a year later on January 25, 1871.
- Harold Fowler McCormickHarold Fowler McCormickHarold Fowler McCormick, Sr. was chairman of the board of International Harvester Company.-Biography:He was born on May 2, 1872, the sixth child of Cyrus McCormick, inventor and manufacturer of the mechanical reaper; and Nancy Fowler McCormick.He graduated from Princeton University in 1895...
was born May 2, 1872, married and died in 1941. - Stanley Robert McCormick was born November 2, 1874, married Katharine DexterKatharine McCormickKatharine Dexter McCormick was a U.S. biologist, suffragist, philanthropist and, after her husband's death, heir to a substantial part of the McCormick family fortune...
(1875–1967), and died January 19, 1947.
Mary Virginia and Stanley Robert both suffered from schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. Stanley's life was dramatized in the 1998 novel Riven Rock
Riven Rock
Riven Rock is a 1998 novel by American author T. Coraghessan Boyle. It concerns the life of Stanley McCormick, a son of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaper, and Stanley's devoted wife, Katherine McCormick, daughter of Wirt Dexter, a prominent Chicago lawyer.The locale of most of the story is...
by T. Coraghessan Boyle
T. Coraghessan Boyle
Tom Coraghessan Boyle is a U.S. novelist and short story writer. Since the mid 1970s, he has published twelve novels and more than 100 short stories...
.
He was the uncle of Robert Sanderson McCormick
Robert Sanderson McCormick
Robert Sanderson McCormick was a United States diplomat. Born in rural Virginia, his extended McCormick family became influential in Chicago.-Life:...
(son-in-law of Joseph Medill
Joseph Medill
Joseph Medill was an American newspaper editor and publisher, and politician. He was co-owner and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, and was Mayor of Chicago.-Biography:...
); granduncle of Joseph Medill McCormick and Robert Rutherford McCormick; great-granduncle of William McCormick Blair, Jr.
William McCormick Blair, Jr.
William McCormick Blair, Jr. served as U.S. Ambassador to Denmark from 1961 to 1964 and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines from 1964 until 1967. A lawyer, he also was a close associate of Adlai Stevenson....
External links
Improvement in Machines for Reaping Small Grain: Cyrus H. McCormick, June 21, 1834- Farm Equipment on Antique Farming web site
- McCormick Family Financial Records at Newberry LibraryNewberry LibraryThe Newberry Library is a privately endowed, independent research library for the humanities and social sciences in Chicago, Illinois. Although it is private, non-circulating library, the Newberry Library is free and open to the public...