Name/Title
PlowEntry/Object ID
2017.631.0001Description
This is a fully restored Oliver 1914 3 hitch single plough owned by John's inlaw (Louis and Grace Brown) who purchased in 1920 in Pennsylvania and used on their 40 acre farm . They have been the only owners.
John restored the plough over the last 4 years everything is authentic except 2 nuts that he could not selvage
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The Oliver Corporation
In June 1857, James Oliver received his first patent, Number 76,939.1 It covered the essential features of the chilled iron plow and in February of the following year, he was granted another patent that covered the unique chilling process, which Mr. Oliver had developed.2 By 1868 the small Oliver factory was incorporated and renamed as the South Bend Iron Works. The stockholders of this newly formed company included George Milburn (of the Milburn Wagon Company, Mishawaka, Indiana), his son-in-law Clement Studebaker (of the Studebaker Manufacturing Company), and a few other important businessmen of South Bend.
The South Bend Iron Works built a new foundry, warehouse, machine shop, and a wood shop. The factory, in addition to making plows, kept busy by making castings for Singer Sewing Machine Company, casting wagon skeins for Studebaker, and making numerous other castings on order. Oliver continued making wagon skeins for Studebaker until 1874, by which time the volume of plow orders had grown so much that Oliver then devoted full time to making the Oliver Chilled Plow.
In 1870 the Oliver trademark was adopted and would, from then on, appear on every Oliver Chilled Plow produced. The South Bend Register commented in 1871 that Oliver “…[if he keeps on improving his plow] it will soon have no rivals in the country. The popularity of the Oliver Chilled Plow is almost unprecedented in the history of plows.”3 In 1871 the factory sold 1,500 plows, three years later the company made and sold 17,000 plows and had outgrown their factory. In 1874 Mr. Oliver bought about 40 acres of property in the southwest portion of South Bend (the property started at the northwest corner of Sample and Chapin Streets).4 Not only did the factory increase in size, the Oliver product line began to increase as well. Clement Studebaker thought Mr. Oliver was spending too much money and sold his shares back to the Oliver family. The Oliver family now owned 1,713 of the original 2,000 shares the company issued. The Oliver company had 200 employees.
By 1877 the company had established branch houses (dealerships of Oliver equipment) in Mansfield, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Rochester, New York; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and San Francisco, California. In 1879 the company began to export the Oliver plow to Scotland. Also, the plant expanded and railroad tracks were extended into the plant. By 1881 James Oliver had purchased the remaining stock, which made the company a completely family owned business. The plant was producing 600 plows per day and employed 900 people.
However, in 1885 there were problems. Labor strikes, riots, and disputes plagued the factory. On January 12, 1885 a great strike and riot started when men forcibly entered the Oliver plant and forced the employees to stop working. The next day at 7:00 a.m. 200 men armed with clubs and iron bars assembled at the front gates and refused admittance to the factory. There is a story that a South Bend resident by the name of Captain Nicar, an old Civil War veteran, forced his way into the office after receiving several wounds on his head and arms. Captain Nicar was forced to draw his revolver and held the mob at bay. A policeman that was answering Mr. Nicar’s call for help was severely beaten.5 The mob then entered the factory and 100 men went through the building breaking windows and plow bases. Nicar called in the veteran guard, which arrived with about 50 men (with fixed bayonets). The crowd was dispersed with no further bloodshed. Twelve deputy sheriffs were called in to protect the factory throughout the night. All firearms were removed from the local gun shops in South Bend and locked up in the South Bend Court House.6 Ten men were arrested on charges of riot, assault and battery.
The factory remained closed until March 3, 1885. James had seriously considered moving the plant and plow operations to another city, leaving South Bend altogether. On February 21, 1885 there was a mass meeting at the courthouse, called by the mayor, to try and persuade the Olivers to remain in South Bend. Resolutions were adopted and presented to the Olivers who relayed the pledges made would be considered.7 On March 3, 1885, James wrote in his journal, “have determined to start the factory tomorrow.”8 Several of the rioters that were arrested were fined $100 and given 30 to 60 days in jail.
In 1887 the Oliver company began exporting plows to South America, which resulted in thousands and thousands of Oliver plows sold that year. The plow market then expanded to include Africa, Australia, and France. The phrase “Plowmakers for the World” was adopted as a trademark of the Oliver plow.
In 1901 the South Bend Iron Works was incorporated and the name was changed to the Oliver Chilled Plow Works with all 5,000 company shares held by members of the Oliver family.9 By 1905, James Oliver had been in the plow business for 50 years. This was also the most productive and successful year for the Oliver Chilled Plow Works.
The following year, at the age of 83, James was granted the last of his 45 patents. He had been successful in making the plow a useful and strong farming instrument. In a U.S. Senate report to Congress it was stated that if, for a single year, all the farmers in the United States would use the Oliver Chilled Plow instead of regular steel or iron plows, the savings in labor would have totaled the sum of $45,000,000 (and this was the early 1900s)!10 In 1910 it required 135 man-hours to produce 100 bushels of corn. Through the innovations of James Oliver, that amount of time had decreased to 23 man-hours by 1960.11
In 1908 James Oliver died at the age of 85. His son, Joseph Doty Oliver (J.D.), replaced him as President and J.D.’s son, James II, became Director. The company was continuing to grow and by 1909 there were 2,600 employees working at the Oliver Chilled Plow Works in South Bend. More branch houses (dealerships) were established in St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; Billings, Montana; and the expansion of a new plant in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. From 1913 to 1914 sales began to drop and business was becoming slow. However, it was a temporary slow down, because business began to increase in the years leading up to 1918. Business had increased so much that the Oliver company built plant number two (a little south and west of plant #1) for the purpose of building tractor plows. Motorized, internal combustion engines were now becoming accessible to the general farmer.
The Oliver Chilled Plow Works had been the sole producer of tractor plows for Henry Ford’s tractor (the Fordson). However, Henry Ford was beginning to show more interest in his automobile business than tractor production. J.D. realized that if Ford pulled out, they would lose a large portion of their business. The Oliver company started to experiment with the creation of a tractor of their own. The first tractor they produced was called the Oliver Chilled Plow Tractor. There were only about 20 manufactured and distributed throughout the United States, where it was well-received.12
J.D. was now getting older, but he still had the incredible ability to peer into the future of agriculture and farming. He knew that the Oliver Chilled Plow Works needed to offer a full-range of farming equipment to remain a competitive company. In order for this to happen, it would require a huge expansion and a lot of money and capital. The only option available to the Oliver company was to merge with other companies to make a full-line company. The result was the merger of four companies. These four companies were:
Hart-Parr Tractor Works
Nichols&Shepard Company
Oliver Chilled Plow Works
American Seeding Company