ROCKFORD, Ill. – Midway Village Museum in Rockford is comprised of both a museum and a village. The museum has a section with some fascinating agricultural history. Antique farming enthusiasts will enjoy a visit to see the history and artifacts on display. One area of the museum is the “Queen City Prairies” display sharing information about the first pioneers.

This section shares, “Many people came here for the chance to buy cheap government land and start farms. Rockford grew in support of these farmers providing them with supplies and equipment, and a place to sell their crops. In those days, wheat was the main crop. It was harvesting with cradle scythes, milled into flour, and sent to market…”

The display shares examples of this type of equipment. There is a wonderful example of a chain used to survey the land. One placard explained, “…Eighty of these chain lengths equals one mile.”

Patrick O’Keefe, the executive director of the museum, said that while Rockford was known as the furniture capital from 1875-1915, prior to that, “It was a hub for agricultural equipment.”

One of the display placards states that “by the 1850s, a number of manufacturers were making machines for planting and harvesting crops. Rockford billed itself as ‘The Reaper City.’”

The company that put Rockford on the map was the Emerson Brantingham Company, or EB, but the story begins with John H. Manny. Helping his father, Pells, John created a horse-drawn reaper that reduced the labor needed to mow, gather, tie and stack wheat. The machine was successful enough that John won the Gold Medal Achievement award in New York in 1852. Moving to Rockford, John Manny set down roots, and formed the J.H. Manny Company in 1854.

This company flourished, and eventually it became the largest manufacturer of reapers in the world. The Talcott brothers joined with Manny, along with business leader Ralph Emerson, who was a cousin of the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Cyrus McCormick felt John Manny had used his patent as a basis for his design, and sued Manny for over $400,000 in patent infringements.  Fascinating is the fact that one of Manny’s lawyers was the future president from Illinois, the young country lawyer Abraham Lincoln. The trial went all the way to the Supreme Court, but eventually they won.  On display at the museum is the model of the reaper used as evidence in the lawsuit in 1855.

Sadly, Manny passed away from tuberculosis two weeks after the verdict at the age of 30. The company went on to become Talcott, Emerson, and Co. and thrived with Manny’s patents. Eventually the company became Emerson Manufacturing, until Charles Brantingham joined the company. Buying up companies, Brantingham saw an opportunity to add steam engines and gas engines and the Big Four Tractor Co. to the mix.

Eventually the big engines were no longer needed, and in 1928, Emerson Brantingham was bought out by JI Case out of Racine, Wis. In their heyday, though, O’Keefe added, “The Emersons were the pioneers in the 1890s to the turn of the century. They had European salespeople exporting equipment to Europe.”

The museum has a nice display of some EB equipment, as well as a list of the EB line, which included plows, harrows, cultivators, planters, stalk cutters, portable engines and kerosene tractors. There is a beautiful buggy made by the Emerson Carriage Co. on display as well.

The agricultural information is not only in the museum, but also in the Victorian Era Village and Historical Gardens. The buildings in this section have all been moved to the grounds. During the summer, the village is open, and some days have costumed interpreters. A few of these buildings have agricultural history that make great stops.

There is a blacksmith shop from 1905 and 1850 barn. There is a water tower, and the beautiful gardens to enjoy as well.

Besides Midway Village, to continue history that is encountered here, a stop may be in order at the Tinker Cottage. After John Manny passed away, his widow, Marry Dorr Manny, ran his company for a while, then later married Robert H. Tinker. Robert Tinker had traveled through Europe and built a cottage near the Manny mansion (which is gone today) and was inspired by the architecture of Switzerland. This beautiful cottage has agricultural history and is quite beautiful as well.