Jacksonville, Ill. – Donna Moody, of Jacksonville, has kept her family’s Allis Chalmers dealership intact years after it closed. Moody Implement Co. is a story both of Allis Chalmers history and of the Moody family. Donna came into the business when she came to work as a bookkeeper and fell in love with the owner’s son named Kaywn, although he went by ‘Bub’. “My father-in-law Loren Moody started the business,” Donna said.

A shop on the farm

Loren’s wife Pauline worked with him. Besides Bub, they also had a daughter, Elinor. Loren was a busy man – he farmed with his father when corn was 3 cents a bushel and he also hauled coal. “He decided to open a shop on his Dad’s farm in 1932,” Donna said. The original shop was a shed that he converted to a shop.

With a diploma from Sweeny Automotive and Electrical School in Kansas City, he could do a variety of things. The shop didn’t become an Allis Chalmers dealership though until 1934 when blockman Jesse St. John talked him into becoming a dealer. Donna still has the original contract that Loren signed. Since he was only 26 years old, his father Elmer Moody also signed as well. The contract is dated Jan. 1, 1935.

In a write up that Donna did about the business, she added, “They sold the first rubber-tired tractor in Morgan County to A. Paul Johnson in 1935.”

Move to Jacksonville.

In December 1936, after farmers had nudged Loren that he should be doing business in town, he moved to 215 S. Main St. In the current closed dealership, visitors can see a sign from this former location. Donna shared that he didn’t need his father’s signature because of his success the year before selling several tractors, including a U, UC, All Crop, WC and four AllCrop harvesters and more. It is fascinating to hear how she said the machinery arrived. “They came on railroad cars to unload them. You had to put an axle and tongue on each and then pull them home, put the  header on and finish the set up job. Loren always said he didn’t know how he sold that many, set them up and delivered them. Bub said Gramp (Elmer) helped and delivered a lot of them.

Back to the Country

After buying a farm with 80 acres three miles north of Jacksonville, Loren decided to build a block building on the farm and moved back to the country in 1939.  Donna said in 1943-1944 that Loren took flying lessons and had an airplane until 1972. Donna said he gave several people their first airplane ride and also used the plane to pick up parts. Loren was a member of the International Flying Farmers. Kaywn also followed in Loren’s love of airplanes.

Loren bought a Stinson plane and Bub soloed in it on his 16th birthday. He also got a Harley Davidson motorcycle that he drove back and forth to school. After graduation, Kawyn went to Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Okla., then joined the service. He was in the U.S. Air Force and worked on hydraulics.

Loren, Donna noted, was known for being a great mechanic and Moody’s was famous for having parts in stock. “People came from distances to get parts they were sure we’d have. If they had a problem and no one could figure out on a tractor, they’d come too. Loren would usually know what was wrong.”

The new building and current location of Moody Implement

In 1951, Moody Implement Co. would move one last time. Donna said, “They built the shop first because it was what made the money, then in 1955, they built a house.”

Living in Virginia, Ill., when the new dealership was built, Donna remembers driving past it on the way to church in Jacksonville. “I never dreamed I’d work there one day. The building was nice, it’s block with brick on the outside, heat in the floor, cool in the summer with the breeze, they moved in in 1951. They had an open house and a square dance. Pauline loved to entertain; this was up her alley.”

Donna said that Bub got to come home for the open house from the service. He was stationed in Victorville, Calif. Touring through the building you can see a few articles about police catching burglars. Donna said there had been quite a few burglaries right after they opened so they wired an alarm and caught several.

Those first few years the WD45 was the big seller.

Donna’s Story

Kawyn came home and worked primarily in hydraulics. The two met at the shop.  “Kaywn was an excellent mechanic,” Donna added.

In 1960 Loren wanted someone else to run the shop. “Loren and Bub were selling my dad a D14 and he needed a bookkeeper. Of course, dad told Loren I was a bookkeeper. Loren came to check me out. Here I am putting hay in the loft.”

Donna was Donna Stubbe back then and she lived on a farm. She was experienced with AC. “I learned to drive on an Allis C, it was the only new tractor my dad ever had.”

Loren hired Donna in 1960. She was a bookkeeper and served often as a parts lady.  “Farmers would tease Bub about taking me out, then he finally got the courage to ask me. The parents helped and it grew from there.”

Kawyn and Donna were married Oct. 21, 1962. In 1964, Loren gave the business to Bub and Donna to run, although Donna said he still came around a lot. She said that Bub was more of a mechanic than a salesman, but that they still made a good living over the years. Their son, Kawyn Kenneth Moody Jr., was born Dec. 12, 1967, and Grandpa Loren bought him his first AC garden tractor toy. Ken still is interested in AC to this day.

The business continued until 1977 when Allis Chalmers came up with the one dealership per county idea and Moody’s Implement Co. lost their AC contract. They continued to sell AC parts and became involved with the Allis Chalmers hobby. The collectibles have amounted to quite a collection that includes toys from when they were in business to parts and other collectibles. The dealership is now the Moody Implement Museum. To visit the museum, call Donna at 217-243-1530.