By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

GRAND DETOUR, Ill. — Today, John Deere is a household name, but it wasn’t always that way. While many know of the “Deere” stops in Moline, Ill., he actually began his illustrious career in the humble town of Grand Detour.

Now it is barely a bend in the Rock River, but once this was a thriving town that Deere helped put on the map. The John Deere Historic Site opened there May 1, and is a great family getaway that will help a junior agriculture historian understand about why John Deere is so important.

It all connects back to a plow – a self-polishing plow that could cut through the thick, sticky, muck that made up the Prairie soil.
Picking up a discarded saw blade after arriving at Grand Detour, Deere shaped it into a plow, and the rest is history. But what brought him in 1836 all the way from his home in Vermont, to Illinois?

The choice was financial. Deere was born in Rutland, Vt., on Feb. 7, 1804, and raised in nearby Middlebury. His father was lost at sea when he was only four and it was his mother, Sarah, who raised John and his five brothers and sisters.

Times were tough for the Deere family. With only a sparse education, his luck increased when at the age of 17 in 1821, he became a blacksmith apprentice to Captain Benjamin Lawrence. During the four-year apprenticeship he learned to shoe horses, produce pots, pans and skillets and furnish ironwork for stagecoaches and mills.

Deere married Demarius Lamb and they began a family. With many blacksmiths in the area and twice losing his shop to fire, he found himself deep in debt and possibly facing debtor’s prison. So, he left his family behind and headed to the Midwest, where rumor was there was work and a need for the talents of blacksmiths. He soon developed the first self-polishing plow and became a success.
Coming this July 31-Aug. 2 there will be a Two-Cylinder Show for antique tractor buffs to enjoy. The Historic Site is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. May 1-Oct. 31, and is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Special group tours can be arranged during the winter months. Admission is $5 for visitors ages 12 and older. To arrange for a tour, call 815-652-4551 or visit www.deere.com/en_US/attractions/historicsite