LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 IN MHMORY (IF 
 
 STEWART S. HOWE 
 
 [OURNALISM CLASS OF 1928 
 
 STEWART S. HOWE FOUNDATION 
 
 B 
 
 D31 ?.! w 
 
 I .H.S.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 BORN IN MAINE, 1826 
 DIED IN FLORIDA, 1913 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 
 1914
 
 V. 
 
 w
 
 William Deering, in 1899, in the 
 seventy-third year of his aye 
 
 d
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 It will be obvious that this book is a com- 
 pilation made from various sources. It was 
 made immediately after Mr. Deering's death. 
 From the nature of the material and the 
 haste of the work it has been impossible 
 to avoid many repetitions, which, though 
 regrettable, were nevertheless unavoidable. 
 Inaccuracies also doubtless will be found.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 William Deering, son of James and Eliza (Moore) 
 Deering, was born at South Paris, Maine, April 25, 1826. 
 He was educated at the local schools and at the Read- 
 field Seminary, Maine. He had begun the study of 
 medicine under the celebrated Doctor Barrows of Frye- 
 burg, when his father, in charge of the woolen mill at 
 Paris, needing his assistance, he postponed the study of 
 medicine, as he then supposed, for a year. This was 
 the beginning of a long business career that proved a 
 very successful one of exceptionally far-reaching results. 
 
 Among the various business pursuits that Mr. 
 Deering followed were large dealings in the lands of 
 what was then the far and sparsely settled West. 
 With a far-sightedness that was characteristic of the 
 man, he early foresaw a great future for these fertile 
 lands, and for several years dealt heavily in them, 
 particularly in those of Illinois and Iowa. 
 
 His wife's failing health caused him to abandon the 
 business and return with her to Maine. Later, with 
 Mr. Seth M. Milliken, he founded the woolen-goods 
 commission house of Deering, Milliken &Co., of Port- 
 land, Boston, and New York, now under Mr. Milliken, 
 the largest house of its kind in the country. 
 
 In the early seventies, his health being somewhat 
 impaired, he had retired from active business when, 
 almost by accident, he entered into what proved to 
 be his main life work. The prairies of the West were 
 
 9
 
 lo WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 then better known than twenty years before, and set- 
 tlers were taking up the lands and planting them to 
 wheat and other grains. The yield was great, but 
 the harvesters were few. 
 
 For years attempts had been made to reap grain by 
 horse-drawn machinery, and Hussey, McCormick, and 
 others had invented more or less successful reapers. 
 In 1873 reaping machines for grain and mowing ma- 
 chines for grass w^ere in use, and railways were follow- 
 ing the reaping machine as fast as the western lands 
 could be rendered productive. This machine cut the 
 grain and laid it in gavels automatically, and men on 
 foot followed, binding the sheaves. 
 
 Some years previous, two brothers, Charles W. and 
 William W. Marsh, of Sycamore, Illinois, had devised a 
 machine that cut and elevated the grain to two men 
 who rode on the machine and bound the grain into 
 bundles which they threw to the ground, where it was 
 piled into shocks. This machine was bitterly opposed 
 by the numerous manufacturers of the reaper. Those 
 interested in the new device had little money, and their 
 opponents were mostly rich, prosperous, and firmly 
 established; it had been an uphill and discouraging 
 fight for the Marsh brothers and their backers. 
 
 Mr. Deering had lent a considerable sum of money 
 to a friend in Chicago who had an interest in the manu- 
 facture and sale of these machines, and, the friend's ill- 
 health necessitating a rest, he asked Mr. Deering to 
 superintend the business for three months in the sum- 
 mer of 1873. This was a turning point in the agricul- 
 tural machine business. Mr. Deering, with his knowl- 
 edge of the western country and its needs, foresaw what 
 a saving of labor and what a growth of the country this 
 machine foreshadowed if it could be perfected. 
 
 Neither inventor nor mechanic himself, he em-
 
 WILLIAM DEERING ii 
 
 ployed the best of both; the machine was improved 
 and soon was being manufactured in great numbers, 
 all of the manufacturers of reapers being compelled 
 to imitate it and follow in its manufacture. But still 
 the supply of labor was inadequate for the fast increas- 
 ing farms, and it became Mr. Deering's object to re- 
 place the human binders with automatic ones. This, 
 under his direction, was accomplished successfully by 
 a wire binder; but there were objections to wire, and 
 in his shops was perfected a binder using twine, in- 
 vented by J. F. Appleby. There was no suitable 
 twine manufactured until, through Mr. Deering's 
 persuasions, Mr. Edwin H. Fitler of Philadelphia, a 
 large manufacturer of rope, after much experimenting, 
 succeeded in spinning a single strand twine from 
 manila. This was the small beginning of what is now 
 a very large industry, and the twine thus produced, 
 after the other leading manufacturers had declined to 
 undertake its production as chimerical and as wanted 
 for a machine probably impractical, now binds the 
 grains of the civilized world and renders possible the 
 gathering of its enormous crops. 
 
 From the time of the success of the twine binder, 
 all other agricultural-implement makers imitated it 
 and followed in its manufacture. As soon as Mr. 
 Deering became familiar with his new business, he 
 became the leader of the other makers. Spurred on 
 by him, his engineers improved the machines of the 
 day and devised new ones. Wrought iron and steel 
 replaced cast iron and wood, weight and draft were 
 reduced and endurance and life prolonged; and it may 
 be said that, of all manufacturers, the farming world 
 is most indebted to him for the progress made after 
 the day of the first reapers. 
 
 Mr. Deering early saw the possibilities of the ex-
 
 12 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 plosion engine, and in 1900 exhibited at the Paris 
 Exposition the first motor-mower ever made; there, 
 for his services to agriculture, he was made an Officer 
 of the Legion of Honor by the French government. 
 
 In 1901 Mr. Deering suffered his first serious illness, 
 and soon thereafter gave the active charge of his busi- 
 ness into the hands of his two sons and his son-in-law. 
 
 At the end of his business Hfe Mr. Deering saw in his 
 employ many thousand men, and many more thousands 
 as agents for his machinery, and the business extended 
 to all parts of the world where grain is grown. His 
 company had provided for the future with its own iron 
 mines, blast furnaces, and steel mills; with vast coking 
 coal fields and still more extensive timber tracts for- 
 ested on scientific principles; and for years the company 
 had made its own large supply of binder twine. 
 
 In 1902 the Deering Harvester Company was 
 merged in the International Harvester Company. 
 
 After his illness of 1901 Mr. Deering recovered a 
 large measure of health and administered his own 
 affairs, while giving much time and wise counsel to 
 institutions of education and charity; for Mr. Deer- 
 ing's unusually active business life had not prevented 
 interest in matters of public welfare, and he had been 
 interested largely in educational and worthy charities. 
 He was many years president of the board of trustees 
 of the Northwestern University, and also of the allied 
 Garrett Biblical Institute, and he is named as founder 
 of the Wesley Hospital in Chicago. 
 
 He gave generously to works of education and 
 charity throughout his life; his gifts of one kind and 
 another to the Northwestern University and its theo- 
 logical school were large. To Wesley Hospital he 
 gave generously, as he did to all charities and good 
 works in which he was interested.
 
 WILLIAxM DEERING 13 
 
 In 1912 his health began to fail, and in the summer of 
 1913 it became evident that his robust constitution 
 was yielding to his length of years. His mind was clear 
 and his friends were known and welcomed almost to 
 his last day. He died at Cocoanut Grove in southern 
 Florida on the ninth of December, 1913, in the eighty- 
 eighth year of his life. Funeral services were held 
 at Cocoanut Grove on the tenth, and at Evanston, 
 Illinois, on the fourteenth, of December. 
 
 Mr. Deering married in 1849 Abby Reed Barbour. 
 Of this marriage was born Charles Deering, who sur- 
 vives his father. 
 
 In 1856 he married Clara Cummings Hamilton, who 
 survives him. Of this marriage were born James 
 Deering, who still lives, and Abby Deering, who married 
 Richard F. Howe in 1898 and died in 1906.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 ANOTHER HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 William Deering was born at South Paris, Maine, 
 on April 25, 1826, of a Puritan family established 
 in this country in 1634. He was educated at Read- 
 field Seminary in Maine, and began the study of 
 medicine at Fryeburg, Maine. His father, then presi- 
 dent of the South Paris Manufacturing Company, 
 engaged in making woolen cloths, needing his help, 
 he gave up the study of medicine and entered com- 
 mercial life. 
 
 In 1849 he married Abby Barbour, who died in 
 1856, leaving him one child, Charles Deering, who sur- 
 vives his father. 
 
 After some years spent in his native town as manu- 
 facturer and merchant, he became interested in western 
 farming lands, of which he became a large owner. In 
 1853 and the years following he traveled extensively in 
 the primitive western country of that day, especially 
 in Illinois and Iowa. At this time he made a number 
 of sojourns in Chicago. 
 
 After the death of his first wife he returned to South 
 Paris and engaged in business for several years. At this 
 time he married his second wife, Clara Hamilton, who 
 survives him. The children of this marriage are 
 James Deering, who survives his father, and Abby 
 Deering, who married Richard F. Howe, and died in 
 1906. 
 
 In 1865, with Seth M. Milliken, he formed in Port- 
 
 15
 
 i6 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 land, Maine, the firm of Deering, Milliken & Co., to 
 engage in the business of manufacturing and selling 
 dry goods. Branches were soon established in Boston 
 and New York. The New York business eventually 
 swallowed that of the other cities and, under its original 
 name of Deering, Milliken & Co., is one of the largest 
 dry-goods commission houses in the country. Because 
 of ill-health Mr. Deering retired from this firm in 1870. 
 
 Visiting Chicago again in this year, he met an 
 acquaintance from Maine, E. H. Gammon, who was 
 engaged in selling agricultural machinery. With him 
 he formed the firm of Gammon and Deering, which 
 later became Gammon, Deering & Steward. Lewis 
 Steward was well known in Illinois as manufacturer, 
 farm owner, and congressman. In 1879 Mr. Deering 
 became the sole owner of the business. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Gammon's chief business was the selling 
 of the Marsh harvester. In 1879 Mr. Deering was 
 the sole manufacturer of this harvesting machine. 
 The Marsh harvester was one of the great steps in 
 the evolution of harvesting grain by machinery. On it 
 two men rode to bind the cut grain into gavels, which 
 they threw to the ground. These two men did the 
 work of the six who had followed the reaper on foot to 
 bind the grain which it deposited on the ground. 
 
 To the Marsh harvester was later attached the auto- 
 matic binder, which did by machinery the work of the 
 two men who previously had been mounted on the 
 machine. It was in 1879 and 1880 that Mr. Deering, 
 at the risk of his fortune, against the advice of some of 
 his associates, and amid the jeers of his competitors, 
 manufactured and put on the market the grain binder 
 invented by J. F. Appleby, which automatically 
 bound the sheaves with twine. This machine lacked 
 much in the first years of being a complete success, and
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 17 
 
 for a time fortune hung in the balance. Mr. Deering's 
 energy, determination, and genius finally won their 
 triumph. To-day almost all of the grain harvested 
 by machinery throughout the entire world is gathered 
 by the machine that he, almost alone, said should and 
 must succeed. 
 
 This success has been very great, but it was jeop- 
 ardized in its infancy by the apparent impossibility of 
 finding a twine adapted to use on the twine binder. 
 Mr. Deering induced the late Edwin H. Fitler of 
 Philadelphia, no little against his will, to make an exper- 
 imental lot of single fibre twine from the manila fibre, 
 and thus solved the difficulty, while creating the 
 opportunity for the founding of a new and great Ameri- 
 can industry. To-day more fibre is used in binder 
 twine than in rope. To this binder and this twine, 
 together with the railways, is due the rapid, almost 
 miraculous development of the great West, where the 
 acres were many and the laborers few. 
 
 Mr. Deering, who had lived in Evanston since 1874, 
 removed his manufactory from Piano to its present site 
 at Fullerton and Clybourn avenues, Chicago, in 1880. 
 There the business grew until it employed 9CXX) people, 
 had sixty branch offices in America, and occupied an 
 army of employees in distributing its products in all the 
 civilized world where grain and grass are grown. 
 
 Mr. Deering admitted his two sons and his son-in- 
 law to partnership in the business. In 1901 he retired 
 from active work, after which he spent the larger part 
 of each year at his winter home at Cocoanut Grove, 
 Florida. In 1902 the Deering Harvester Company was 
 merged with the International Harvester Company. 
 
 Mr. Deering was endowed with the greatest gifts of 
 mind, body, and heart. He was a most ardent pro- 
 gressive, tireless and even financially extravagant in
 
 i8 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 his efforts for progress in harvesting machinery. He 
 was an endless worker, who never acknowledged fatigue 
 or failure. His gifts to education and charity, espe- 
 cially to the Northwestern University, to the Garrett 
 Biblical Institute, of whose boards of trustees for 
 many years he was president, and to the Wesley 
 Hospital, of Chicago, were very large. He was a de- 
 voted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 and was honored and beloved by all who knew him for 
 his extraordinary ability, his simplicity, and his kindly 
 nature.
 
 SERVICES 
 
 at the Funeral of 
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 held in 
 
 First Methodist Episcopal Church 
 
 in the City of Evanston, Illinois 
 
 on 
 
 Sunday, December 14, A. D. 1913 
 
 at two o'clock
 
 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL 
 
 Hymn No. 577 St. Anne 
 
 O God, our help in ages past, 
 Our hope for years to come. 
 
 Our shelter from the stormy blast 
 And our eternal home. 
 
 Under the shadow of Thy throne 
 
 Still may we dwell secure; 
 Sufficient is Thy arm alone, 
 
 And our defense is sure. 
 
 Before the hills in order stood, 
 Or earth received her frame. 
 
 From everlasting Thou art God, 
 To endless years the same. 
 
 A thousand ages in Thy sight 
 
 Are like an evening gone; 
 Short as the watch that ends the night. 
 
 Before the rising sun. 
 
 The busy troops of flesh and blood. 
 With all their cares and fears. 
 
 Are carried downward by the flood, 
 And lost in flowing years. 
 
 Time, like an ever-rolling stream, 
 
 Bears all its sons away; 
 They fly forgotten, as a dream 
 
 Dies at the opening day. 
 21
 
 22 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 O God, our help in ages past, 
 Our hope for years to come. 
 
 Be Thou our Guide while life shall last, 
 And our eternal home. 
 
 Prayer: The Reverend Dr. Charles M. Stuart 
 
 Out of the depths we cry unto thee, O Lord. Lord, 
 hear our supplication. We thank thee as the Fountain 
 of Love; and in thy love shall we see life. 
 
 We wait for thee and in thy Word do we hope. 
 Our souls wait for thee more than they that watch for 
 the morning. 
 
 O send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead us 
 and let thy divine mercy come unto us that we may 
 live; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Scripture Reading: 
 
 The Reverend Dr. Charles M. Stuart 
 
 "Blessed be thou. Lord God of Israel our father, for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and 
 the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all 
 that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is 
 the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head 
 above all. 
 
 "Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou 
 reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; 
 and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give 
 strength unto all. 
 
 "We are all the work of thy hand. 
 
 "Thine is the kingdom, and thou rulest over all. 
 
 "Thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy 
 name is from everlasting. 
 
 "Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 23 
 
 to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a 
 shadow from the heat. 
 
 "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; they rest 
 from labor and the reward of their works is with them. 
 
 " Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man 
 fallen this day in Israel.'* 
 
 "All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye 
 that know his name, say. How is the strong staff broken, 
 and the beautiful rod! 
 
 "And Job said, O that I might be as I was in the 
 brightness of my day, in the days when God watched 
 over me, when the light of heaven shone round about 
 my head, and when by his light I w^alked through 
 darkness. 
 
 " I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my judg- 
 ment was as a robe and a crown. 
 
 "When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and 
 when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: 
 
 "Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the 
 fatherless, and him that had none to help him. 
 
 "I was a father to the needy, to the fatherless also, 
 and to him that was helpless. 
 
 "I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. 
 
 "The blessing of him that was ready to perish came 
 upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 
 
 "Surely blessed is he who maketh Jehovah his trust, 
 and setteth God at his right hand. 
 
 "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle.'' who shall 
 dwell in thy holy hill.? 
 
 "He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteous- 
 ness, and speaketh the truth in his heart; who doeth 
 no evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach 
 against his neighbor; who despiseth wickedness, and 
 honoreth all who fear Jehovah: for all such shall come 
 together and sing in the height of Zion.
 
 24 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 "They shall flow together in the goodness of the 
 Lord. Their soul shall be as a watered garden; and 
 they shall not sorrow any more at all. 
 
 "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, con- 
 cerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, 
 even as others which have no hope. 
 
 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 
 even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
 with him. 
 
 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can- 
 not inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth cor- 
 ruption inherit incorruption. 
 
 "Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all 
 sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
 
 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
 last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
 shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
 
 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal must put on immortality. 
 
 "So when this corruptible shall have put on incor- 
 ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortal- 
 ity, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
 written. Death is swallowed up in victory. 
 
 "0 death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 
 victory ? 
 
 "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 "Wherefore, brethren, comfort one another with 
 these words." 
 
 Words of Tribute: Bishop William Fraser McDowell 
 
 Many of you to-day will remember the addresses 
 spoken by Dr. Little when Frances Willard and Orring- 
 ton Lunt were being buried; and we shall regret afresh 
 the too early death that took away from us the one man
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 25 
 
 best fitted by every gift and every insight and every 
 experience to speak to-day of William Deering, who 
 has now entered the life everlasting. 
 
 Indeed, the death of this man makes us conscious all 
 over again of other losses we have sustained. His 
 death not only makes its own wound and causes its 
 own sharp pain: it reopens other wounds, the wounds 
 that really never heal in this life. We see again the 
 whole circle as it was before it began to break, and we 
 feel again, as we did aforetime with him, every break 
 that came. And to-day we stand in what was our 
 ancient and noble forest of mighty men and weep over 
 the many who have fallen even while we rejoice over 
 the few still left standing almost alone. Heaven bless 
 them! 
 
 If Mr. Deering could speak, he would command me 
 to refrain from praise or eulogy of him. And we are 
 wholly unprepared to make that analysis which in 
 time may sum up our final opinion of him. We have 
 been expecting during many months that he would 
 slip away, but now that he is gone we discover that we 
 were not ready for it after all. We are carrying to-day, 
 therefore, rather a heavy cargo of emotion and sorrow; 
 we seem pressed upon by an unusual cloud of witnesses; 
 voices long silent and faces long absent are in our ears 
 and before our eyes, so that restrained and careful 
 speech is difficult and impossible. Yesterday a good 
 man sat in my home and among other things said: 
 "I would like to have witnessed the greeting Mr. Deer- 
 ing received from the others — from Dr. Davis, Mr. 
 Lunt, Mr. Gammon, Hugh Wilson, Mr. Miller, Dr. 
 Little, Dr. Bonbright and a great host besides." And 
 that suggestion does not add to one's mental com- 
 posure. 
 
 Still, while we may not praise Mr. Deering's acts —
 
 26 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 he would forbid it — yet we may say a few words for 
 our own comfort. With long Hfe God satisfied him. 
 He was permitted to see the world's advancement as 
 it is not given to many to see it. He was enabled to 
 work out his own life to an unusual degree. The things 
 he began he was allowed largely to complete. He saw 
 his personal plans come to immense success. And he 
 made his own notable contributions to that larger 
 Hfe — larger life in industry, in commerce, in education, 
 in philanthropy and in religion — which has come in the 
 years since he was born yonder in Maine, fourscore 
 and seven years ago. 
 
 In view of what he has actually achieved in the 
 line of life he followed, it is rather interesting to 
 know that more than once in these later years he 
 referred tenderly, almost wistfully and longingly, to 
 an early ambition to be a country doctor. He began 
 the study of medicine in his youth and was obliged 
 to give it up. And once at least he was heard to ex- 
 press the hope that in character and ministry to 
 human life he might have been such a physician as 
 his dear friend, the late Dr. Nathan Davis. He saw 
 in that noble man and great physician what he liked to 
 think he himself might have been. 
 
 In this long Hfe he measured himself against mighty 
 forces and able men and was not beaten by these forces 
 nor overmatched by the men he met. The industrial 
 and commercial movements of the world in the years 
 of his active life cast up on the shores many a wreck — 
 wreck of fortune, wreck of life, wreck of manhood and 
 morals. He saw many of these pitiful disasters and 
 knew the forces that had caused them. He saw men 
 yielding to the fierce pressure to win success by 
 surrender of principle, to gain wealth at the cost of 
 integrity. No man has gone through fifty or even
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 27 
 
 twenty years of modern business without feeling that 
 pressure. 
 
 In this silent presence to-day I want to thank God not 
 for him alone but for the many who have come through 
 and are coming through with hands clean and char- 
 acters unbroken. The wonder is not that so many 
 break, but that so many stand and finally ascend into 
 the hill of the Lord. 
 
 Mr. Deering had those qualities that we associate 
 with Puritan New England. Roundly speaking, the 
 first half of his life was spent in New England, the last 
 half of it in Chicago and vicinity. But his Puritan 
 principles took root in this soil, even though he was 
 transplanted when he was forty-four years of age. He 
 was never anything else in heart, through all his 
 long life, than a Puritan. He loved righteousness and 
 hated iniquity like a Puritan. He loved simplicity and 
 hated ostentation and waste like a Puritan. And he 
 applied these principles to himself even more vigorously 
 than to others. His life was long, and even to the end 
 he never quite came to see either for himself or for in- 
 stitutions certain great and inevitable changes that had 
 come. 
 
 These New England qualities are great qualities at 
 their best. He knew their limitations. We know 
 them. But it will be a bad day for the Republic when 
 the industry, thrift, integrity, and intensity of Puri- 
 tanism die among us. The Puritan regard for law, the 
 Puritan love of liberty, the Puritan belief in humanity, 
 and the Puritan faith in God have their permanent 
 place in a well-ordered life. It is easy for us to recall 
 only the narrowness and the hardness which we asso- 
 ciate with the Puritan character. Shallowness and 
 softness are a poor substitute for these stronger, even 
 though sterner, virtues.
 
 28 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Mr. Deering did not have all the qualities of all men. 
 More than once in intimate fellowship he said to his 
 friend that he lacked certain qualities which he ad- 
 mired and which he wished he possessed. 
 
 But the qualities he did have he really had; had them 
 as an oak has its qualities, or as a tall, straight pine, or 
 as a mountain of New England granite. And he never 
 pretended to be anything he was not. You can look 
 through all his long, open life for any hypocrisy and not 
 find it. We knew where we should find him and what 
 we should find when we found him. 
 
 He did not always do the things many of us wanted 
 him to do and thought he ought to do. It is rather 
 easy for us to see duty for other men; easy to have a 
 philosophy for other people's conduct, and a liberality 
 with other people's possessions. Mr. Deering lived 
 his own life, and I think we all agree that he never 
 struck a false note, a note false to his own character. 
 His life was all of one piece in public and in private. 
 
 During this long life he was vitally related not only 
 to great principles but to great movements. The in- 
 dustrial world underwent radical change in his time. 
 He was in and of that change, not as one idly floating 
 with the current, but as one helping to guide and deter- 
 mine its course. He has put his name in that short list 
 of those who have influenced industry mightily over 
 wide areas. 
 
 He has seen the philanthropy of the world in its 
 most marked development. And again he has had his 
 hand in bringing about that development. Wesley 
 Hospital would not have been built when it was and as 
 it was if it had not been for William Deering. It is 
 not hard to see again here the outcropping of that early 
 interest in medicine which remained a lifelong interest. 
 He meant to give his life to healing the sick, to the
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 29 
 
 alleviation of human suffering and the banishment of 
 disease. He might have been a country doctor of the 
 old school, leaving behind him at last the single prac- 
 titioner's list of grateful and happy patients. He 
 thought it a strange providence, rather a hard provi- 
 dence, that kept him from that career; but, in connec- 
 tion with others, he has already made, and through the 
 years will continue to make, a contribution to health and 
 the cure of disease that no single life could accomplish. 
 
 Through Wesley Hospital and in related ways he 
 has done those vastly greater things by bringing the 
 skill and service of the many to the need of the ailing 
 multitude. He has been more a physician, after all, 
 than even in his largest young dream he ever fancied he 
 might be. And this is one of God's good ways of 
 bringing compensations to men. 
 
 He held his own place among a great company. 
 Looking backward over our local history it is easy to 
 see the tall figures of the men who made that history. 
 This is no place to name them, though their radiant 
 names fairly leap to our lips. But there were giants 
 in those days — giants of faith, giants of courage, giants 
 in high endeavor. They had empires in their brains. 
 They were the pioneers in days when. pioneering was 
 hard and exacting. Things that we take for granted, 
 things that now look easy, those men achieved against 
 fearful odds. 
 
 And among that company, not himself one of the 
 earliest of them, but truly of them, William Deering, 
 by his ability, his devotion, his courage, his faith, won 
 high and honored and permanent place. His name 
 must always stand in our foremost list. 
 
 He never lost his interest in the religious life of the 
 great city whose growth he had seen and whose power 
 he had felt. Its vast population, native and foreign,
 
 30 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 deeply interested him from the rehgious viewpoint. 
 He had small confidence in certain popular measures 
 for social regeneration, but large and insistent faith in 
 the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many questions as to faith 
 arose in his own mind in later years, but never any 
 question as to the power of God's grace in a human 
 heart or the need of that grace in personal and social 
 life. He was theologically conservative, almost radi- 
 cally conservative at times, but this drove him to even 
 deeper emphasis and firmer insistence upon evangelism 
 and what is called old-fashioned religion. 
 
 He has made large contributions to the activities of 
 the Church in the city, and has left such provision as 
 will make his influence and help permanent through 
 the years. 
 
 His name stands at the head of our lists of university 
 and biblical institute trustees. There it must have 
 stood while he lived, whether he was active in service 
 or not. 
 
 He received his own education when the world was 
 young, long before the modern standards came into 
 being and power. The range and the cost of education, 
 as of everything else, were almost revolutionized in his 
 lifetime. He did not wholly appreciate nor wholly 
 approve some of these changes. But he was a noble 
 illustration of the finest thing seen in our American 
 life, the men who so believe in Christian education 
 that they build institutions far nobler than any they 
 were permitted to enjoy. 
 
 My own father put the case in a small way when he 
 proposed to send me, the first of all our family, to col- 
 lege. I can remember across the years since boyhood 
 how he said it. He had not been to college. He did 
 not know fully what a college was, or what it would do, 
 or quite what it would cost. But this he said: "You
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 31 
 
 must have a better chance than I have had. The 
 world will not let you off so easily as it has let me 
 off." And the door of the college stood straight open 
 to me after that. That is the way the world gets for- 
 ward. Not every man so concisely states the principle. 
 But to-day, with this "good gray head" laid low, with 
 Garrett and Northwestern standing in sorrow and grat- 
 itude by his bier, we must reverently thank God for 
 William Deering, and for all others like unto him who 
 have opened wider gates for the feet of youth than 
 their own ever entered; who have provided for youth 
 the better chance than they themselves ever had; who 
 have lighted the lamps of learning to shine through 
 oncoming years. 
 
 Much that I could say it is neither lawful nor pos- 
 sible for me or anyone to utter. There were personal 
 relations, intimate friendships rare and rich in their 
 content, that cannot be described in any public address. 
 
 At Mr. Lunt's funeral Dr. Little quoted the words of 
 St. Bernard, bemoaning the death of his friend: "My 
 words are charged with grief, but not with murmuring. 
 Thou gavest me my brother. Thou hast taken him 
 away. And if we mourn that he has been taken, we 
 forget not that he was given; and we render thanks to 
 Thee that we deserved to have him and wish not to 
 lament him more than is expedient." 
 
 To-day, again, for this man whom now we have loved 
 and lost a while, we render thanks that we deserved to 
 have him. He has been worth having. He was be- 
 lieved to be a man of large wealth, but the real and abid- 
 ing, the greatest, wealth in his life was in its affections, 
 its friendships, and its faith in Jesus Christ his Savior. 
 
 In his time he dealt with large affairs and marched 
 bravely up the way of life with mighty achievement in 
 his hand. He met as equals the kings and captains
 
 32 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 of modern industry and was not abashed or ashamed 
 before them. But to-day we must speak the truth, we 
 — ^just because he was what he was — must say that the 
 higher reahties of his Hfe lay in its simpHcity and its 
 integrity, in its fidehty and faith, in its unstained purity, 
 domestic tenderness, and loyalty. The best thing he has 
 left his sons, his friends, his church, his community, and 
 the world is that good name which is always better than 
 great riches. 
 
 In his later years, under stress of personal experience, 
 he was deeply interested in the question of the future 
 life. He read many books upon it. He conversed with 
 friends about it. Its mystery perplexed him. What 
 had become of those who had gone .? What soon would 
 become of him.? This life stretched behind him. Its 
 earthly end marched steadily and even swiftly toward 
 him. 
 
 Many years ago his dear friend, Mr. Lunt, gave 
 him a small volume of devotional Scripture and prayers 
 for daily use, a volume like "Daily Strength for Daily 
 Needs." And for all the years that small volume was 
 on his desk for daily use. It is well worn and well used. 
 There were certain questions he carried in his mind; 
 but faith abided even in the face of unanswered ques- 
 tions. And by now his questions are answered, for 
 "he cannot be where God is not." 
 
 Large and unfinished tasks fall from his hands into 
 ours. Please God we shall perform those tasks in a 
 fashion worthy of the great company of men "whom 
 we have loved and lost a while." 
 
 There are those here to-day who are saying over 
 together the names of Orrington Lunt and William 
 Deering, and are repeating the words of John Bunyan 
 as they do: "Now I saw in my dream that these two 
 men went into the gate, and lo! as they entered they
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 33 
 
 were transfigured; they had raiment put on them that 
 shone Hke gold, and crowns were given them in token 
 of honor; and all the bells of the city rang again for 
 joy and it was said unto them: Enter ye into the joy 
 of our Lord. And as the gates were opened to let 
 them in, I looked in after them, and behold! the city 
 shone like the sun . . . and in the streets walked 
 many men with crowns on their heads, palms in their 
 hands and harps to sing praises withal. . . . And after 
 that they shut up the gates; which when I had seen I 
 wished myself among them!" 
 
 Prayer: The Reverend Dr. Timothy P. Frost 
 
 Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we thank thee 
 for thy promises unto us; we thank thee that in the 
 midst of strife and stress and toil and tumult we may 
 have peace. 
 
 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is 
 stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee; and if our 
 trust has been shaken and our mind is not just now 
 stayed on thee, wilt thou give us such revelation of life, 
 and help us to such devotion of ourselves to the will of 
 God, as will bring peace unto our souls. We would not 
 be looking upon the things which are temporal: we 
 need not, we will not; we will not be looking at death 
 and the grave. If our vision be dim, if the heart be 
 dulled because of the excess of the worldly, because of 
 toil and care and sorrow, wilt thou touch our eyes that 
 they may see; wilt thou transform the heart that it 
 may be a new creation in Jesus Christ; that we may 
 have a vision of the things which are not seen and 
 which are eternal. 
 
 O God, we thank thee for the life that thy Son gave 
 that we might have life and have it abundantly. 
 
 We thank thee for the record that when he stood in
 
 34 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 the presence of that which we call death, he looked 
 away unto the eternal life and spoke of his Father's 
 house of many mansions, and declared that the one 
 who liveth and beheveth in Him shall never die. And 
 we thank thee that with faith in this Redeemer we 
 can look away to the realms of Hght and life. 
 
 We thank thee for the long life whose course lies back 
 of this hour. We thank thee for all that was good and 
 pure and strong in his life; that the best thing in his 
 life to him, the best thing in childhood, youth and 
 early manhood, in the New England home, the best 
 thing in the years of struggle and achievement, the 
 best in the waning time, was his faith in God, his hope 
 in Jesus Christ, and his comfort in the Gospel. 
 
 Now, as we stand here looking upward and onward, 
 may our faith be secure, and our hope be bright and 
 our comfort be deep and abiding. 
 
 O Lord, we thank thee for human friendships; we 
 thank thee for human love and human ministers. But 
 thou knowest that the years are merciless: they wear 
 out our loved ones and they are gone. We need thy 
 ministers and thy help. 
 
 We pray that thou wilt bless those to whom our 
 departed brother was the nearest and the dearest. 
 Bless them all, near and far, in thy way which is better 
 than our way, according to thy thought which is higher 
 than our thought, wilt thou bless them. "May our 
 Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, 
 who hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation 
 and good hope through Christ, comfort their hearts." 
 
 Very earnestly, most tenderly would we unite our 
 prayers for her who sits in loneliness afar off by the 
 southern sea, in the home that can never be again what 
 it has been in the past, thinking of this place and of 
 this hour, and of him whose voice she will hear speaking
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 35 
 
 the earthly language no more. Wilt thou give unto 
 her the assurance that the Eternal God is her refuge, 
 and that underneath are the everlasting arms. May 
 she be calm in the faith that "earth hath no sorrow that 
 heaven cannot heal." That sometime and somehow 
 she shall prove that Life is lord of Death, and Love can 
 never lose its own. May the peace of God which 
 passeth all understanding keep her heart. 
 
 Wilt thou bless the men who are here to-day in 
 memory of the strong man in his strength. 
 
 O God, may every man of us do a man's work in the 
 world, and may every man be accorded a man's rights 
 and a man's reward. 
 
 Some of us in a few days will follow our friend into 
 the unseen. The shadows are over us now. Death is 
 at the door. There is much work to be done, before 
 the night cometh. 
 
 O God, help us as men to be faithful, and may we do 
 our work while the day lasts. During the few remain- 
 ing stages of our journey may we live to serve. May we 
 shun every broad road which leads to destruction. 
 May we walk the narrow way which leads to life. So 
 wilt thou bring us on over thy way unto the realm 
 where all tears shall be wiped away and death shall be 
 no more. Where there shall be no more mourning, or 
 crying, or pain, because the former things have passed 
 away and we shall dwell with our God in his kingdom 
 forever. 
 
 All this we ask and offer in the name of our Lord and 
 Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
 36 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Hymn No. 615 Homeland 
 
 The Homeland! Oh, the Homeland! 
 
 The land of souls free born! 
 No gloomy night is known there, 
 
 But aye the fadeless morn: 
 I'm sighing for that country. 
 
 My heart is aching here; 
 There is no pain in the Homeland 
 
 To which I'm drawing near. 
 
 My Lord is in the Homeland, 
 
 With angels bright and fair; 
 No sinful thing nor evil, 
 
 Can ever enter there; 
 The music of the ransomed 
 
 Is ringing in my ears. 
 And when I think of the Homeland, 
 
 My eyes are wet with tears. 
 
 For loved ones in the Homeland 
 
 Are waiting me to come 
 Where neither death nor sorrow 
 
 Invades their holy home; 
 O dear, dear native country! 
 
 O rest and peace above! 
 Christ bring us to the Homeland 
 
 Of His eternal love. 
 
 Amen.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 37 
 
 BENEDICTION 
 Chant: A Cappella Choir. 
 
 "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make 
 his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 
 the Lord hft up his countenance upon thee, and give 
 thee peace." Amen. 
 
 The grave is at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. 
 The following were the pall-bearers: 
 
 ACTIVE 
 
 B. A. Kennedy, J. F. Steward, 
 
 C. H. Haney, J. H. Pitkin, 
 H. N. Kennedy, George Rice, 
 
 J. C. McMath, John G. Young, 
 
 G. F. Steele, M. H. McKinstry. 
 
 HONORARY 
 
 E. H. Gary, Dr. N. S. Davis, 
 N. W. Harris, Sam Brown, Jr., 
 C. H. McCormick, Dr. M. S. Terry, 
 M. E. Holton, John F. Appleby, 
 A. W. Harris, Charles W. Marsh, 
 Milton Wilson, Dr. James Rowe, 
 
 F. P. Crandon, Judge O. H. Horton, 
 Perley Lowe, John C. Shaffer, 
 
 S. M. Milhkin, H. H. Hitchcock, 
 
 F. A. Chamberlain.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING— A SKETCH 
 
 William Deering's grandfather was a master ship- 
 builder in Saco, Maine. His father removed from the 
 coast some sixty miles into what then seemed the re- 
 mote interior. There William Deering was brought up 
 in the struggle with difficulties that went with a barren 
 and unsubdued land, a rare and uncertain currency, and 
 a feeble and struggling industry. 
 
 His father more than once told the boy that he had 
 seen a letter exposed in the post-office for himself, but 
 that not having the necessary twenty-five cents to pay 
 for it and not being able in the village to find so much 
 ready money, he had been obliged to look wistfully at 
 it and pass on. 
 
 His father, with others, established a manufactory of 
 various things, but especially of woolen cloths. This was 
 ruined by one of the sudden and violent changes of the 
 tariff laws of those days, though it was afterwards 
 re-established. 
 
 In the time and place of his boyhood it was frugality or 
 starvation. He never lost the simplicity and personal 
 frugality of his youth. He freely spent millions to 
 build and enlarge his great works, to establish his 
 branch houses throughout America and foreign countries, 
 to send his representatives wherever m the world gram 
 and grass were grown, to buy iron mines or timber 
 forests; he gave away millions, but for himself the most 
 modest expenditure was ample. 
 
 When the automobile first appeared on the horizon, it 
 struck his insatiable love of progress so forcibly that 
 he had several of the first automobiles ever made in 
 America, invented and designed in his own works. 
 
 39
 
 40 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Moved by the love of progress he rode about several 
 times in various of these primitive automobiles. But he 
 gave it all up ''because the vehicle scared the horses so," 
 and he loved dumb animals. 
 
 Progress was a passion with him, and for it more than 
 once he risked his fortune; and at the age of seventy and 
 eight he still chafed that it did not go fast enough and 
 that he could no longer personally push it on. The 
 newest in everything in invention and in manufacturing 
 was not new enough for him. 
 
 In his personal adornment, on the other hand, the 
 oldest fashion that his tailor would recognize was too 
 new for him. This simplicity lay at the very root of 
 his character and life. It gave him a directness, sin- 
 cerity, and frankness that sometimes surprised and even 
 wounded those who did not know him or were unable 
 to understand those virtues. 
 
 But it bound to him by ever stronger ties those who 
 came to know him and to learn that truth, honesty, and 
 purity were the warp and woof of his nature. His word 
 was the truth, his promise was his bond, and none ever 
 had to go beyond these. 
 
 During his Hfe in Maine, and previous to 1870, he 
 had been merchant in country and city, manufacturer, 
 and banker, all with marked success. Without doubt 
 he had felt in all of these something lacking to his inner 
 spirit, his inmost craving. 
 
 He had known the West, and with his unerring fore- 
 sight had recognized the vast dominion awaiting its 
 conquerors. And so it was that when William Deering 
 found himself fairly embarked in the business of making 
 harvesting machinery all the faculties of his mind and 
 character awakened, perhaps for the first time, in all 
 their fullness. And everything that God had given 
 him he gave to his work.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 41 
 
 It was the great pride of his Ufe that he could employ 
 an army of men. He often counted them up and, com- 
 puting a given family to each worker, rejoiced to think 
 that he was affording support to a large city full of 
 people. Then he gloried in the fact that he and all his 
 workers were striving for those who go to the bottom 
 of the world's necessities — for those who stand under 
 all others and raise the food for all. 
 
 And so it was that his industry never flagged, that 
 his interest never abated in the effort to give these 
 farmers the best that could be made for them, to lighten 
 and render ever more effective their toil and its results. 
 
 From a few hundred in 1870 his working people came 
 to number nine thousand in 1900, the year before he 
 retired from active business. He had sixty branch 
 warehouses in the United States alone, and his business 
 extended over the civilized world, with a large army 
 engaged in selling its products. This had been the 
 work chosen by God's providence for him. Into it 
 he put all his heart. 
 
 As a merchant his life was not complete; as a banker 
 there was something lacking. But as one to whom it 
 was given to aid and stimulate the progress of the whole 
 world, to make food cheaper and the world happier, he 
 felt that every faculty that had been given him, of mind 
 or body, was not too much to give — that he had found 
 a high mission in life. 
 
 That the possession of wealth for the sake of its per- 
 sonal possession had small attraction for him is shown 
 by the fact that for himself he spent almost none of it, 
 that during his own lifetime he gave millions of dollars 
 to good works, and that on his retirement from active 
 work he gave his business to his sons and son-in-law. 
 
 His relations with those associated with him in his 
 business were perhaps extraordinary. It is probable
 
 42 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 that no one of them ever really questioned his good 
 faith or sense of justice. The humbler the worker, the 
 quicker the attention given to him and the speedier 
 the justice, if justice were needed. 
 
 Yet he never sought by any art or grace to win pop- 
 ularity among his workers. All knew him as a friend 
 who felt himself to be, as they felt him to be, the center 
 of all their activities; and he worked harder than any of 
 them. And so in a wonderful measure he was recognized 
 by them all to be the sun of the entire system, around 
 which in different orbits they all revolved, to whom they 
 all looked with faith and devotion, and whose character 
 shone out over the entire system to give it truth, 
 industry, and devotion. 
 
 There never was a real strike of the workmen in his 
 works, and only one feeble attempt at a strike. The 
 higher grade, more highly paid men might look out for 
 themselves more or less, but the poor laborer was looked 
 out for by William Deering and he would never permit 
 the wage of such to sink below a reasonable level. As 
 has been already said, he never thought or strove to 
 gain personal popularity among those who worked with 
 him. He simply gave them his own kindness, his own 
 brotherhood, his own simple dignity and example. 
 
 The wonderful and touching demonstration of grief 
 that followed upon his death is proof of the return of 
 the bread that he cast on the waters in these many years 
 and among these many thousands. Telegrams came 
 from all quarters of the globe. Thousands of the men 
 in the Deering works begged to be allowed to attend 
 the funeral services. The church was small and this 
 right was granted only to those who had seen twenty 
 years of service, and between five and six hundred of 
 these, proud and sad, appeared. 
 
 He was honored and respected by his competitors in
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 43 
 
 business. One of them, himself a good judge, once re- 
 marked that William Deering was the ablest business 
 man he had ever known. 
 
 In return he respected his competitors whose business 
 integrity and ability had weathered the storms of many 
 years. His own honor and integrity have never been 
 questioned by competitors or others. He could never 
 understand how any person or any government could 
 believe that men who had proved their uprightness by 
 many years of unquestioned business probity could, by 
 the mere fact of combining their interests and their 
 capital, become at once less honorable. 
 
 It was a joy to him to know and have the world know 
 that in the suit of the government against the business 
 that he had done so much to make great, not one single 
 accusation had been proved or even attempted to be 
 proved except that the business was very large. That it 
 was large he knew; that it had been and still was one of 
 the greatest and most beneficent of the world he knew; 
 that it was honorable and conducted on the highest 
 principles of justice and commercial good will toward 
 others he knew. And he rejoiced to see all this proved 
 in the courts, to which he thought it had been unfairly 
 brought. 
 
 He did great things and did them in a large way. He 
 covered the earth with his activities. He lavished the 
 money that he earned on efforts to do better and larger 
 things. 
 
 He was himself as simple as a child — earnest, un- 
 selfish, kindly, and courteous. He had a noble soul, 
 a noble mind, and a noble body. He shed at all times 
 and in all places an ennobling influence which will 
 spread out through time into eternity. 
 
 The noble body has gone to rest; the noble soul is still 
 with us.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING AS I KNEW HIM 
 By John F. Steward 
 
 The West, to William Deering, was full of promise, 
 and at an early date he made various trips of observa- 
 tion, partly on horseback, over the great prairies. 
 
 His experience during early manhood had led him 
 into manufacture and, incident thereto, into mercantile 
 lines. The manufacture of woolen goods generally 
 and for army clothing during the Rebellion, and also 
 army clothing from cloth of his own manufacture, led 
 him into broader fields that, becoming wider still, 
 resulted in the establishment of his first dry-goods house, 
 in Portland, dealing in cotton goods in addition to the 
 product of his woolen mills. 
 
 The woolen-goods business enlarged from a single 
 factory to several, from the time he began in the little 
 factory as an employee. Enlargements of the mercan- 
 tile branch of the business spread to Boston, New York, 
 and Chicago, until the year 1870, when he severed his 
 connection with Deering, Milliken & Co. 
 
 One of the prominent characteristics of Mr. Deering 
 is well illustrated by the manner in which he severed 
 his connection with the business so well founded by 
 him. What has sometimes seemed to me hasty action, 
 action on the spur of the moment, was not such in fact. 
 His withdrawal, in this instance, is a case in point. 
 
 Walking one morning into the establishment at New 
 York, he asked his principal partner what he would give 
 for his interest. Reply was made, and the offer ac- 
 cepted. So thoroughly in mind was the business, as 
 
 45
 
 46 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 had been his affairs during his whole business career, 
 that to promptly accept the offer was the result, not 
 of a moment's thought, but of a clear comprehension 
 of well-considered conditions. The deal was consum- 
 mated, and he was thus released from business cares. 
 Whatever may have been his intentions, he was not 
 content with the leisure, which soon became a burden. 
 
 He had read the promise of the broad prairies, had 
 witnessed the increase of the immense fields of grain of 
 the West, and had watched with keen eyes the develop- 
 ment of agricultural machinery. For years he had 
 been associated with an acquaintance to whom he had 
 advanced money in an infant enterprise that later, 
 when solely in his hands, influenced every civilized 
 nation of the globe. 
 
 The writer knows the story — he shared in its trials 
 and its triumphs. The story of years may, however, 
 be outlined in few words. 
 
 Two Canadian brothers, possessing Yankee ingenuity, 
 had conceived the idea of providing the necessary de- 
 vices to enable two men to ride upon a reaping machine 
 and bind the grain cut by it into bundles before deposit- 
 ing it upon the ground. Before this time the self-raking 
 reaper had succeeded the hand-rake reaper, on which a 
 man rode and raked the grain to the ground, there to 
 be bound by five or six men, laboriously following it. 
 Charles Wesley and William Wallace Marsh were the 
 brothers. They made their experiments in 1857, and 
 later attempted, unaided, to perfect their machine at 
 their farm shop in Dekalb County, Illinois. 
 
 In an adjoining county was a mechanic, John F. Hol- 
 lister, and a farmer, Marcus Steward, brothers-in-law, 
 who had built a harvester in 1843 that had cut large 
 harvests every year for fourteen years. The Marsh 
 brothers sought the advice of Mr. Steward, who saw
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 47 
 
 the experimental machine operate for a few rods, when 
 it broke down. He told them he believed their principle 
 was right, and that Mr. Hollister could build a machine 
 for them that would not break. They accepted the ad- 
 vice. A machine was made, and after it had successfully 
 operated during three harvests a copartnership arrange- 
 ment was entered into between Steward Brothers and 
 C. W. Marsh. 
 
 Later E. H. Gammon, the acquaintance of Mr. Deer- 
 ign above referred to, became interested, and it was 
 mainly through him that early in the seventies Mr. 
 Deering acquired an interest in the business. 
 
 Harvesting methods once ripe for revolution, a 
 leader only had been necessary, and now one became 
 available. A merchant, both by nature and by training, 
 was a new thing in the business, and Mr. Deering's 
 influence became instantly felt. The trade increased 
 rapidly, and manufacturers of reapers soon learned 
 that the Marsh harvester had come to stay. Some 
 foresaw that disaster was inevitable unless they at once 
 took up the manufacture of the then wonder of the 
 great grain fields. 
 
 The patents covering the Marsh harvester had been 
 badly taken out, and to make matters worse the im- 
 portant one had been reissued without sufficient war- 
 rant for doing so. The defeat of the patent monopoly, 
 so dearly earned by years of labor and industrial trials, 
 was the result of the decision of the Supreme Court in 
 Miller vs. Bridgeport Brass Company, which was, for a 
 time, a blow to practically all reissues of patents. 
 
 The suits were brought before Judge Drummond, and 
 he withheld his decision for many months. When 
 finally rendered, he admitted to complainants that if he 
 had rendered his decision before the Supreme Court case 
 referred to had been decided, it would have been in
 
 48 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 favor of the patent sued on. This delay of Judge 
 Drummond and the result of the delay opened wide the 
 gate for competing manufacturers, and they were not 
 slow in rushing into the new field. 
 
 After fifteen years on the part of the inventors of the 
 Marsh harvester and their associates in reducing the 
 inventions to practice and developing a trade, with 
 their gains and losses incident to seasons of plenty and 
 seasons of crop failures, their patent rights were lost. 
 Competition became general, yet the business of the 
 httle company, now fully under control of a master 
 mind, grew by leaps and bounds. 
 
 No sooner had Mr. Deering become associated with 
 the founders of the business than he learned of the 
 eflPorts on the part of inventors to manufacture an 
 automatic binder. As early as 1850 efforts had been 
 made, and from that time nearly all had attempted to 
 apply a binding attachment to a mere reaping machine, 
 only to fail. 
 
 The success of the Marsh harvester, which was 
 adapted to elevate the cut grain and deliver it to a 
 receptacle in which it might be bound, led inventors 
 into a newer field, and immediately success seemed not 
 far distant. 
 
 During the years 1871-2-3 various semi-automatic 
 binders had been applied to the Marsh harvester. The 
 degree of success was sufficient to encourage Mr. Deer- 
 ing. Other members of the company opposed the 
 expenditure of any money directed to the development 
 of binding attachments. Nevertheless, a binder was 
 applied to one of the machines in 1874 which promised 
 well, and Mr. Deering favored placing the hke on the 
 market. 
 
 One of Mr. Deering's characteristics was well ex- 
 pressed, in later years, by one of the partners who had
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 49 
 
 most opposed the proposed innovation. He said to the 
 writer, his brother, that what the company had so long 
 needed was a man possessed of mercantile instincts and 
 training at its head; that in 1874, when he was opposing 
 the manufacture of binding attachments very vigorous- 
 ly, Mr. Deering, then the largest stockholder, had said 
 that the binders must be put out in the West, even 
 though they ultimately found their way into the Mis- 
 sissippi River. "The course followed," said the nar- 
 rator, "pro^^d to be the right one"; but it was years 
 afterward that he fully appreciated the foresight of his 
 partner, William Deering. 
 
 Marsh harvesters with binding attachments were 
 advertised and put out for the year 1875, but so un- 
 receptive was the farmer of that day that while many 
 thousand harvesters were ordered, only one hundred 
 and thirteen binders were required to supply the de- 
 mand. They worked fairly well, but the farmer was 
 not educated in the use of complicated machinery. 
 Certain defects were discovered, partly in principle 
 and partly in the matter of details. The one hundred 
 and thirteen binding attachments were gathered in and 
 rebuilt, with the result that for the harvest of 1876 all 
 that were rebuilt operated successfully, and several 
 hundred more were made and sold. None found its 
 way into the Mississippi River. 
 
 At that time but one competing binder had found its 
 way into the field — that fostered by Walter A. Wood. 
 Both binders employed wire as band material. The 
 attachment, when thus applied, mainly through Mr. 
 Deering's efforts, to the Marsh harvester, had operated 
 so successfully that infringers of the Marsh patents 
 were incited to strenuous efforts, and within two years 
 began to manufacture binding attachments to be ap- 
 plied to their Deering-Marsh harvesters.
 
 50 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 The business increased under the management of 
 Mr. Deering, and in 1879 he became its sole owner. 
 
 The use of wire as a binding material was found to 
 be objectionable, as fragments remaining in the grain 
 were injurious to millstones in the grinding of wheat. 
 Bits of wire were sometimes taken into the stomachs of 
 cattle, and it became apparent that twine must ul- 
 timately be resorted to. 
 
 A manually operated twine binder, attached to a 
 reaper, was patented in 1850, and many others fol- 
 lowed; but none had approached absolute success until 
 the year 1875, when John F. Appleby, who had invented 
 the knotting device that now binds the grain of the 
 world (in 185S), had placed upon the Marsh harvester, 
 built by Parker & Stone, of Beloit, Wisconsin, an at- 
 tachment that seemed full of promise. 
 
 Mr. Deering received a letter from Mr. Appleby's 
 associate. Dr. Bishop, in 1876, and from that time he 
 never lost faith that the twine binder must come. 
 Parker & Stone had manufactured Marsh harvesters 
 for the owners of the Marsh harvester patents, and 
 had thus become familiar with the advantages of the 
 machine. 
 
 Mr. Appleby had endeavored to apply a binder to an 
 ordinary reaper, but Parker & Stone foresaw clearly 
 what merely appeared promising to Mr. Appleby. 
 They were not a strong company, and Mr. Deering, 
 finding that arrangements were possible whereby he 
 could acquire an interest in the Appleby patents and 
 aid in perfecting the machines, was not slow in arrang- 
 ing with that company and Mr. Appleby, with the 
 result that two Appleby binders were manufactured for 
 him and sent to the early harvest fields in Texas. 
 
 Early in that year, before the binders had begun to 
 show their mettle, Mr. Deering had acquired rights to
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 51 
 
 manufacture under the Appleby patents yet to be 
 granted. 
 
 "In William Deering, of Chicago, Illinois, formerly of the 
 firm of Gammon & Deering, I found a man far-sighted enough 
 to see the importance of my invention. To him belongs the 
 credit of forcing my binder onto the market with sufficient 
 energy to convince the farmer of its practicability. His 
 demonstration of the practicability of the invention soon led 
 other manufacturers to adopt it. 
 
 "(Signed) John F.Appleby." 
 
 For the harvest of 1879 discouragements were met 
 with, notwithstanding the fact that improvements had 
 been made. Twine suitable for binding could not be 
 procured, and farmers were slow in comprehending the 
 principles of the machine and necessary care in operat- 
 ing the same. The machines fell into a few hands, 
 however, competent to operate them, and dealers in 
 agricultural machinery were at once aflame with antici- 
 pations of immense demands for the Deering machines. 
 
 The wire binders had not been strictly automatic in 
 their action. They bound each bundle at the will of 
 the operator, who, by placing his foot upon a pedal, 
 put them into action. The Appleby binder was pro- 
 vided with means whereby the accumulated grain for 
 each bundle tripped a clutch into action, thus making 
 the binding of bundles uniform in size wholly auto- 
 matic. This automatic feature had been invented as 
 early as 1870, and Mr. Deering acquired rights under 
 the patents covering same. 
 
 Suitable twine had not yet been found, and it was 
 later discovered that the machines that had worked so 
 indiif'erently in 1879 gave little trouble after suitable 
 twme had been procured. 
 
 The demand for the Deering-Marsh harvesters with 
 binding attachments became a clamor to such an ex-
 
 52 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 tent that for the harvest of 1880 three thousand were 
 made. The writer often said to Mr. Deering that, had 
 he previously met defeats in his business career as had 
 the older builders of agricultural machinery, he would 
 not have dared the risks incident to the harvest of 1880. 
 
 In the writer's business career of more than forty- 
 eight years, first with the Marsh harvester in its in- 
 fancy and during the following years in the same 
 lines and with the same associates, he has never known 
 a bolder stroke than that of William Deering during 
 the early part of 1880. 
 
 The majority of machines demanded for the year 
 1880 were simply straight Deering-Marsh harvesters, 
 mainly with wire binding attachments; the remaining 
 ones had the three thousand Appleby binding attach- 
 ments applied, and this constituted an amazing venture. 
 Every wheel of the factory (then still at Piano, Illinois) 
 was turned with greater speed and longer hours, in an 
 effort to accomplish the output for the year. 
 
 Another prominent characteristic was shown early 
 in the season. The writer and another of the principal 
 mechanics went with Mr. Deering to an early rye field 
 at Alton, Illinois. The writer was busied in putting 
 up and starting other types of machines, while his as- 
 sociate had erected a harvester with twine binding at- 
 tachment and started it in the field of rye, with exceed- 
 ingly indifferent success. He attempted to adjust the 
 knotting devices, but merely threw them out of ad- 
 justment, with the result that when the writer reached 
 that part of the field the knotting devices and the 
 tripping mechanism, which should have rendered the 
 binder automatic, were seriously inoperative because 
 of misadjustment. The mechanics had not become 
 expert in the operation of the machines, and perfect 
 twine had not yet been produced.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 53 
 
 The writer and his associates labored the last half 
 of the day, with feelings of anxiety that cannot be de- 
 scribed. Round after round was cut, resulting often- 
 times in no complete bundles, at times in bundles of 
 dimensions sufficient for a half-dozen of the size in- 
 tended, and at other times choking down completely. 
 During those hours the anxiety of Mr. Deering was 
 little reflected in his countenance, and only a few words 
 showing discouragement were uttered. At nightfall 
 efforts were reluctantly given over for the day. 
 
 After the return to the hotel, and supper being over, 
 Mr. Deering announced that he felt he must return 
 to Chicago, as business affairs in his office were very 
 pressing. While waiting for the train he expressed 
 himself as follows: "Boys, if we do not succeed better 
 than w^e have, it means the loss of a million dollars." 
 (A loss of that amount to him at that time would 
 have been akin to disaster.) 
 
 The writer finally succeeded in persuading him to 
 remain another day, saying that another knotter that 
 had not been misadjusted could be applied to the 
 binder, and he felt sure the bundle-sizing devices could 
 be corrected. 
 
 The hotel was crowded and the party of three was 
 given a double room. The experiences of that night 
 to the writer, whose interest was only that of an em- 
 ployee, but one who had exerted every eflPort toward 
 the perfecting of harvesting machinery, cannot be 
 described, nor can the feelings of his companion, the 
 superintendent, be expressed. Not a wink of sleep 
 was the lot of either. What had been the cause of the 
 trouble and what remedies to apply were discussed, and 
 all that time Mr. Deering slept soundly, having closed 
 his eyes a few moments after reaching his bed. 
 
 After over thirty-three years, since that time, added
 
 54 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 to the many previous years of association with Mr. 
 Deering, the writer is still unable to comprehend the 
 mental make-up of a man who, like few generals in 
 other than industrial wars, could calmly drop cares so 
 burdensome. His faith in human ingenuity and 
 ultimate success, the result of incomprehensible fore- 
 sight, did not fail him. 
 
 The hope of the writer that better success awaited 
 them on the morrow proved to be well founded, as 
 the machine, once again put in order, behaved beau- 
 tifully. 
 
 Under the fostering influence of William Deering 
 for two years, the Appleby binder had reached a de- 
 gree of perfection that, so far as principles and opera- 
 bility are concerned, has not been excelled up to the 
 present time. It had come to stay, and the success of 
 the year 1880 was such that the manufacturers of 
 reapers and other harvesting machines rushed into the 
 field. Within four years a score of manufacturing con- 
 cerns were building the Deering-Marsh harvester with 
 the Appleby binder as an indispensable part thereof. 
 
 The years 1878 and 1879 had shown the necessity of 
 a better twine than had been made of jute, flax, or hemp. 
 All had their faults. The sharpest knife was necessary 
 in the knotting devices for severing the completed band 
 from the ball, and the inequalities of the twine made 
 it difficult for the holding devices to operate as in- 
 tended. 
 
 Mr. Deering had foreseen the necessity of something 
 better, and early in the year 1880 had conceived the 
 idea that it might be possible to make rope yarn of 
 sufl&cient fineness to serve as binding material. He 
 visited various rope factories, principally in the East, 
 only to meet with discouragement, until, calling upon 
 Mr. Fitler of Philadelphia, a very extensive manufac-
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 55 
 
 turer of ropes, the latter was induced, only after con- 
 siderable effort, however, to undertake experiments. 
 
 He at first said he could not afford to go into the 
 matter, but later stated that if a sufficient order could 
 be given him he would undertake rearrangement of 
 his machinery with a view to possible success. Mr. 
 Deering at once replied that he was ready to give an 
 order for one hundred tons. This opened Mr. Fitler's 
 eyes, and the experiments were undertaken. 
 
 Early in the harvest of 1880 a single ball had been 
 sent to the writer in Texas. It was applied to a ma- 
 chine that the day before had given much trouble, but 
 the new twine ran perfectly. The satisfaction of the 
 writer found expression in a telegram of two words — 
 "Manila splendid." 
 
 Of little less value to the world than the Appleby 
 binder was the production of modern binder twine, for 
 which Mr. William Deering must be given credit.
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF AN ASSOCIATE 
 
 One of Mr. Deering's characteristics that always struck 
 me most forcibly was what I may call his intuitive good 
 judgment. Sometimes apparently without reflection I 
 have seen him reach conclusions as to present and es- 
 pecially as to future events that have astonished me. 
 I once asked him how he succeeded in looking so far 
 into the future, and his reply was that often he could 
 not himself tell and often he had been surprised to see 
 events working out so exactly as he had foreseen them. 
 He had in a marked degree that balance of faculties 
 which we call common sense, perhaps because it is so 
 uncommon. 
 
 His youth's desire was to be a doctor, and for a brief 
 time he studied medicine. The very balance of facul- 
 ties of which I have spoken would, in my opinion, have 
 given him success in any career that he might have 
 chosen. His unusual ability to throw all of his heart 
 and mind into any cause or work that he took up would 
 certainly have made him a great lawyer, as his notable 
 ability to plan for the future would have made him a 
 great general. He was a merchant in a variety of 
 lines, a manufacturer in a variety of lines, a banker; and 
 in all his success was equal. 
 
 Another very notable characteristic was his passion- 
 ate love of progress. In his business of manufacturing 
 harvesting machinery the very newest was not too new, 
 and I think it is within bounds to say that during his 
 active career the amount of money that he spent in 
 striving for new inventions and improvements on his 
 product nearly, if not quite, equaled the sum spent by 
 
 57
 
 S8 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 all his competitors together. It is certainly true that 
 a very large share of the advances made in his line of 
 business during his active lifetime was fostered by and 
 due to him. 
 
 His capacity for work and the physical and mental 
 concentration that he put into what he had to do were 
 always a wonder to me. He never in business or do- 
 mestic life allowed anyone to do for him what he could 
 do himself. This was not because he had not capable 
 assistants, but because he loved the activity, the doing. 
 
 He was one of the last of important business men to 
 employ a stenographer, and he never employed that 
 institution so universal nowadays, the private secre- 
 tary. No one that I have ever met exemplified more 
 completely the phrase, *'This one thing I do." 
 
 His capacity for self-denial was great. No evening 
 entertainment, however tempting, was allowed, when he 
 could help it, to take the strength that he needed for 
 the morning. His journeys of pleasure were always too 
 few. He was often solicited and even tempted to 
 make investments outside of his business, but, realizing 
 that his growing affairs required all his capital, he was 
 accustomed to turn a deaf ear to suggestions involving 
 large and speedy profits. 
 
 A characteristic that always struck me forcibly was 
 the fact that in any business transaction the best 
 terms were always had from him by the person who 
 put himself in his hands. When he felt that some one 
 was striving to get the advantage of him, this result 
 rarely occurred. His confidence, once won, was given 
 very strongly. 
 
 His self-reliance was another notable characteristic. 
 He always wished to direct his own affairs himself, and 
 on only one occasion did he have a partner for any 
 length of time until his sons were taken into his business.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 59 
 
 Though not a trained mechanic and not an inventor, 
 his judgment on mechanical and inventive matters was 
 almost unerring. He spent much time in the harvest 
 field, and his inventors and mechanics always declared 
 that when his judgment on the working of some experi- 
 ment or invention had been given it was the best that 
 was to be expected. 
 
 He never allowed his judgment of business or other 
 matters to be distorted by the trivial or the unessential. 
 When to others a matter appeared one of infinite detail 
 he would at once and unerringly pick out the few essen- 
 tial considerations and base his judgment on them. 
 
 Born of a long line of Puritan ancestry, and himself 
 a Puritan in spirit and life, no one could be more tender 
 in suffering or distress than he. In his business life 
 he expected every man to do his best, and judged his 
 employees by their success. Oftentimes a neglectful or 
 incompetent man suffered judgment at his hands. If, 
 however, it were a question of some humble employee — a 
 janitor or an office boy, for example — his patience, for- 
 bearance, and good nature seemed never-ending. 
 
 His love and tenderness for animals and birds, his love 
 for flowers and plants, exceeded that of any person I 
 have ever known. 
 
 His patience in suffering sometimes struck me with 
 wonder, and has even caused me to reproach him when 
 I knew that he had purposely concealed from his family 
 continued suffering that might, as others thought, have 
 been mitigated. 
 
 I often remarked of him that he knew neither physi- 
 cal nor moral fear. With this went a modesty and a 
 shrinking from any publicity that are rare indeed. He 
 never desired public office and never held any except 
 during his younger years in Maine, when he was for a 
 time one of the seven councilors elected to advise the
 
 6o WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 governor of the state, and when at another time he was 
 alderman in the city of Portland, dechning to become 
 a candidate for mayor. 
 
 An example of his courage, that knew no thought of 
 danger, came under my eye. The only strike that ever 
 occurred in his works during his career was at the time 
 of the bomb-throwing in Chicago in 1886. It probably 
 is true that no factory in Chicago escaped a strike at this 
 time. The one that occurred at his works was, I think, 
 the last to be declared and the first to end. 
 
 A committee consisting of two persons from each 
 department of the works was appointed, and Mr. 
 Deering addressed this committee of eighty or ninety 
 men and several women, making suggestions for some 
 changes in conditions. The committee accepted the 
 suggestions, the strike was declared off, and work was 
 actually started the next morning. 
 
 The mass of the strikers, however, were not satisfied 
 with the terms. The result was that while part of the 
 workmen re-entered their employment in the morning, 
 the larger part did not. A mob of five or six thousand 
 men, including many of the rough element of the city 
 who were not employees, gathered in a vacant lot not 
 far from the works. 
 
 All at once this mob came rushing down the street. 
 There could be no other thought than that they intend- 
 ed to break down the gates of the factory and to drive 
 away and injure the men actually at work. I had been 
 called away from Mr. Deering's office, and at this mo- 
 ment returned, to find it empty. Looking out in the 
 street I saw the advancing mob, and Mr. Deering stand- 
 ing alone in front of the barred gates of the works. 
 His habitual stoop was gone and he stood erect, with 
 flashing eyes. A few moments later a large platoon of 
 pohce appeared on the scene and the mob was scattered.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 6i 
 
 I asked him what his purpose had been in placing 
 himself in front of the gates. He replied that he had 
 done so in the belief that respect for him would hold the 
 mob in check long enough to permit the men working 
 in the factory to obey the signal that had been hastily 
 given for them to leave by the gate at the other end of 
 the works. His thought evidently was that no matter 
 what injury might be done to himself, the mob would 
 be detained while inflicting this injury, if only for a 
 brief time. 
 
 His modesty prevented on every occasion possible 
 his making public speeches, yet I personally fully be- 
 lieve that by nature he was a man of extraordinary 
 eloquence. Two illustrations of this I will give. 
 
 I accompanied him to the meetingwith the committee 
 of striking employees. Never have I heard more cogent 
 and seductive reasoning, more truth, honesty, and 
 sincerity than in his address. Every element de- 
 scribed in Emerson's essay on eloquence was present, 
 including that great essential, the high character of the 
 speaker, and honesty of purpose. The men were swayed 
 like children, and I myself sat spellbound. The result, 
 as already stated, was that the strike was declared off, 
 and that those people who had not heard the address 
 could not understand how the terms had been accept- 
 ed, so the committee was repudiated. 
 
 Another example was recounted to me by his friend, 
 Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hatfield. It occurred at some large 
 and important church gathering where an election was 
 to occur. Mr. Deering and all of his associates were con- 
 vinced that a certain man was entitled to this election 
 without discussion. They found, however, that, as I 
 recollect, some cabal had made this election apparently 
 impossible. Mr. Deering addressed the meeting, and 
 his candidate was elected. Dr. Hatfield more than
 
 62 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 once assured me that his eloquence exceeded anything 
 that he, Dr. Hatfield, had ever heard, and he added 
 that he had heard every great pulpit or other orator 
 of the country during the years of his long life. 
 
 His tenderness for those who could not look out for 
 themselves was shown in the hard years following the 
 panic of 1893. In Chicago common laborers were 
 hired for one dollar a day. In Milwaukee and other 
 smaller cities they were paid as little as eighty-five and 
 even seventy-five cents a day. Mr. Deering issued an 
 order that no man in his employ should receive less than 
 one dollar and thirty-five cents a day, for, said he, "No 
 man can bring up a family of children to be decent 
 American citizens on less." It is needless to say that 
 this sum was then vastly larger in buying power than 
 now. 
 
 I never knew, either of my own knowledge or by 
 hearsay, of his honor in business or private life being 
 attacked but once. Innocent as he was, he was bowed 
 with grief and shame at the mere suggestion. The 
 accusation was all the more bitter to him because it 
 was made by a member of his own church and a 
 neighbor who sought the ears of other neighbors. 
 After some months of litigation the presiding judge 
 declared that Mr. Deering had been, from first to last, 
 not simply just, but even generous to his accuser. 
 This, I know, was one of the greatest gratifications 
 of Mr. Deering's hfe.
 
 A Few Typical Telegrams, Letters and 
 Resolutions
 
 TELEGRAMS 
 
 Chicago, 111., Dec. lo, 1913. 
 Mr. Charles Deering, Cocoanut Grove, Fla.: — 
 
 It was man}' years ago, in trying times, that I learned to 
 know and appreciate the great character and beautiful 
 nature of your father. In his death I mourn the loss of a 
 good friend. I sympathize with your mother and you all 
 in your irreparable loss. Mrs. Cyrus McCormick. 
 
 Pasadena, Calif., Dec. 10, 1913. 
 Charles Deering, Cocoanut Grove, Fla.: — 
 
 Thanks for telegram repeated from Chicago. I consider 
 it an honor for my name to be used as pall-bearer at your 
 father's funeral, although I cannot be present personally. 
 One of our greatest and best of men has well finished his 
 life work, and may his sweet and loving spirit continue as a 
 blessing to us all. N. W. Harris. 
 
 New York, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1913. 
 W. J. Louderback, care Int. Harv. Co.: — 
 
 I regret I cannot be personally in attendance at Evanston 
 on Sunday. My s\'mpathies are with the family and all the 
 friends of William Deering, who was one of the highest 
 types of men I ever knew, E. H. Gary. 
 
 Chicago, 111., Dec. 10, 1913. 
 Charles and James Deering: — 
 
 Mrs. McCormick and I send you our deepest sympathy. 
 Your father's life and influence constitute one of the greatest 
 of examples of successful achievement which our country 
 affords. All your and his friends here will grieve with you 
 in your great loss. Please convey to your mother our heart- 
 felt sympathy. C. H. McCormick. 
 
 Chicago, 111., Dec. 10, 1913. 
 James Deering, Cocoanut Grove: — 
 
 All our executive men unite with me in expressing to you 
 and }our mother our heartfelt sympathy in your great loss. 
 Your father's life was marked at every stage by exceptional 
 
 65
 
 ee WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 energy and ability; his great enterprise and success in busi- 
 ness was coupled with a strong and constant support of 
 educational and religious institutions. He made a distinct 
 and beneficent impression on his time, the memory of 
 which will be his enduring monument. The central office 
 and the Deering works will be closed on Saturday as a 
 tribute of respect to your father. Many of the company 
 employees will desire to attend the services here, therefore 
 I suggest that you have a church service. 
 
 Cyrus H. McCormick, 
 Pres. International Harvester Co. 
 
 New York, Dec. lo, 1913. 
 Charles and James Deering, Cocoanut Grove, Fla.: — 
 
 It is given to few men to be of the great practical help to 
 his fellow-men that your father was, and those of us who 
 were fortunate enough to know something of the splendid 
 service he rendered realize that a truly great American has 
 been taken from' us. Please remember me, with deepest 
 sympathy, to your mother. Geo. W. Perkins.
 
 LETTERS 
 
 The following letter is from one of the inventors of the 
 Marsh harvester: 
 
 DeKalb, III,, December 13, 1913. 
 
 Messrs. Charles and James Deering, Chicago, 111.: 
 
 Dear Friends: — Your selection of me for one of the pall- 
 bearers at your father's funeral is highly appreciated, and 
 I much regret that ill-health will prevent my attendance. I 
 have nearly completed my eightiethyear, and Illinois weather 
 in the winter, even when so mild as now, bears rather heavily 
 upon me. I am very sorry I cannot go, for I want to manifest 
 my respect for you and 3our father; and now I would say a 
 few words about him and our connection with him. 
 
 In i860 my brother and I were trying unsuccessfully to 
 introduce our recently invented harvester. At that time 
 the trade was represented by several classes of machines, and 
 the pioneers or leaders — each in his class — were so intent 
 upon the development and improvement of their distinctive 
 and established lines, that it was almost impossible to in- 
 terest them in anything outside — especially an innovation 
 so radical as was the Marsh harvester. Hence we and our 
 associates were slow in getting a start in the trade; and when, 
 in 1870, Mr. Deering became interested in the machine it had 
 hardly become recognized as a considerable competitor upon 
 the general market by the leaders in other lines. At that 
 time the trade was substantially monopolized by the Mc- 
 Cormicks, the Whiteleys, the Woods, the Millers and the 
 Osbornes — men of great ability, experience and wealth, 
 whose names were household words in the agricultural world. 
 But the Marsh harvester then began to forge ahead, and it 
 made such progress that by the middle of the "seventies" it 
 had conquered on the fields of the Great West, and the old- 
 time leaders were building it or adopting its plan. Mr. Deer- 
 ing, though without previous experience in this business, 
 soon took the lead in such conquest, as also in the develop- 
 ment and successful application of automatic binders to the 
 
 67
 
 68 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Marsh harvester, until the Appleby binder was fully estab- 
 lished on the market in 1880, since when, under various 
 modifications, this combination has become the harvesting 
 machine of the world. It was a wonderful achievement on 
 the part of Mr. Deering. 
 
 During this period common interests brought me into 
 intimate relations with Mr. Deering. I was soon impressed 
 by his strength and power, by his great executive ability, 
 combining rigid system and close attention to details as well 
 as to the business in general, and by his broad and progressive 
 views of the trade; and I learned to look up to him as the 
 leader in our line, with a feeling such as one would have for 
 a wise older brother. His great success later demonstrated 
 the correctness of these early impressions, and though our 
 common interests ceased with the expiration of the Marsh 
 patents in 1879, "^7 estimation and my friendly regard for 
 him and for you, his sons, have never changed. I have often 
 said that he was the ablest man that was ever engaged in the 
 industry, and I knew them all. 
 
 With kindest regards and much sympathy, 
 
 I am yours sincerely, 
 
 C. W. Marsh. 
 
 South Bend, Ind., Dec. 16, 1913. 
 My Dear Mr. Deering: — 
 
 The wonderful life record of your honored father, Mr. 
 William Deering, so recently brought to a peaceful close, 
 has made more than a passing impression on me. I can 
 see so many things in his history that remind me forcibly 
 of my father's life and passing, that I feel qualified to write 
 you in the spirit that I now do. 
 
 You and all of his relatives and friends have much to be 
 proud of in reviewing the accomplishments of his eventful 
 career, and you have the consolation of knowing that the 
 world mourns with you. 
 
 I realize that words count for but little in the face of such 
 a bereavement, but I offer to yourself, your brother Charles, 
 and the other members of your family, my heartfelt sym- 
 pathy in the loss you have sustained. 
 
 A man in every sense of the word has gone from among us. 
 
 Most sincerely yours, 
 
 Jos. D. Oliver.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 69 
 
 Englewood, Blackball, Midlothian, Scotland 
 
 Dec. 17, 1913. 
 Dear Mr. Deering: — 
 
 Please allow me to express my sympathy with you and 
 the other members of your family in the sorrow that has 
 overtaken you. 
 
 I bad the privilege and pleasure of meeting your father 
 on two occasions, and the impression he made on me was 
 that he was just a quiet, thoughtful, sagacious Scotsman, 
 although be was born in the state of Maine. 
 
 The farm workers of all nations will ever be bis debtors — 
 and be stands in the front rank of epoch-making men. 
 
 He was greater in his life than any Caesar or Napoleon, 
 and through his efforts mankind has been blessed with 
 peace and plenty to an extent unknown before. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Wm. Poole. 
 
 Racine, Wis., Dec. 15, 1913. 
 Dear Mr. Deering: — 
 
 I am pained to learn of the recent passing away of the 
 head of your house. 
 
 His life meant much to me, as in my younger days I bad 
 the honor of meeting him and the great pleasure of listening 
 to bis wise counsel. 
 
 Those impressions and thoughts have been lasting, and 
 have helped me in my business life. I wish to extend to you 
 my sympathy. Sincerely, 
 
 Frank K. Bull. 
 
 New York, Dec. 15, 1913. 
 Dear Mr. Deering: — 
 
 Among the many letters of kind sympathy I received when 
 death took my father was one from you. Now your turn 
 has come. 
 
 Your father was universally loved and respected because he 
 was an unusually strong and wise man and was never known 
 under any circumstances to be otherwise than fair and 
 decent and large-mmded. He was an old friend of my father. 
 
 Please believe me when I say that in this real sorrow you 
 have my sincere sympathy. Yours sincerely, 
 
 T. M. Turner.
 
 70 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Boston, Dec. 15, 1913. 
 Dear Mr. Deering: — 
 
 I have just learned of the death of Mr. William Deering 
 and it comes to me very personally — very intimately. 
 
 Ever since I left the Deering Company I have had a 
 growing admiration for him, although I thought I appreciated 
 him fully while under him. Many, many times I have had 
 a great desire to see him and talk with him, and express the 
 gratitude I felt for the many evidences of his consideration 
 while I was in your employ. 
 
 It may be out of place to say all this to you now, but I 
 can't help it; it comes to me as something that I must say, 
 but with the great regret that I cannot tell him and thank 
 him. 
 
 For his judgment and his courage in trying times I have the 
 most profound regard, but the thing I most prized was the 
 atmosphere of "family-feeling" that extended even to many 
 of the workmen — a sense of close relationship and of com- 
 munity of interest that was inspired by his personality. 
 
 That feeling continues with me still; it is the feeling of 
 hundreds of others who, like me, came under his influence — 
 a feeling that made us ready to fight for the Deering name 
 in the best way we knew how. 
 
 I cannot tell you of the feeling of indebtedness I have for 
 him. I appreciate it more and more as I realize what my 
 Deering experience has meant to me. 
 
 I shall always honor and revere that wonderful man whose 
 passing has stirred me as though he were my own, and if it 
 were possible I would be at the services, with the Old Guard, 
 to whom he was an inspiration. 
 
 Very sincerely, 
 
 I. W. Litchfield. 
 
 Evanston, Illinois, Dec. 27, 1913. 
 My Dear Mr. Deering: — 
 
 I loved your father sincerely, though I was always a bit 
 in awe of him, even my somewhat assertive light-heartedness 
 being properly subdued while with him. I could not forget, 
 however, as I never can forget, that it was your father who 
 substantially made my career for me. My relations to this 
 school, past and present, were made possible by his generous 
 friendship. It was by his encouragement also that the policy
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 71 
 
 of expansion for the school was entered upon, which gave 
 promise, with his help, to put the school in the front rank, 
 not simply of the schools in our own denomination, but 
 also among the schools of American Protestant Christianity. 
 Just what we shall be able to do now that he is gone, I do 
 not know and, at present, cannot think. In a very intimate 
 sense, the school feels that in his death "the strong staff is 
 broken and the beautiful rod." 
 
 I cannot say just how deeply indebted I feel to the mem- 
 bers of your family for the privilege of being asked to share 
 in the last honors to him whom I reverenced so deeply; 
 but for that and for their friendship I am thanking you to-day, 
 and shall have gratitude always. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 Charles M. Stuart, 
 President Garrett Biblical Institute. 
 
 Auburn, N. Y., December 10, 1913. 
 My Dear Mr. Deering: 
 
 I was not surprised to receive your telegram advising of 
 your father's death. Your recent letter told of "his fading 
 away." I am most sorry that owing to my late illness, it 
 will be quite impossible to attend his funeral. 
 
 Your father was the most commanding figure ever en- 
 gaged in the harvester business. No man ever accom- 
 plished so much. No man ever made so large a fortune in 
 the manufacture of machinery for gathering the grain crops 
 of the world. His life work was devoted to this one purpose 
 and his profits all came from that one source. 
 
 It has been said of him that he was a great merchant — of 
 this there is no question; he was more; he was a great manu- 
 facturer as well because he seemed instinctively to know 
 what was needed of him and his machinery to meet the re- 
 quirements of the entire agricultural world. He was a 
 great organizer, and when his organization put before him a 
 mower, a reaper or a harvester, he knew when and 
 how to tell them, "That is what we will build for the next 
 harvest." His mind had the largest grasp of a subject in 
 which he was vitally interested. He had the greatest 
 courage, the largest mental resources, with infinite tact, 
 with which to reach his ends of any man I ever knew. 
 
 The devotion of his sons to him and his welfare, their
 
 72 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 absolute confidence in his purposes, their great love for him 
 and his devoted love for them and all his family were 
 among the chiefest of his accomplishments, I beg to extend 
 to you all my sincerest sympathy in your great loss. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 G. W. Allen.
 
 RESOLUTIONS 
 
 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF 
 DIRECTORS OF THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COM- 
 PANY OF NEW JERSEY, HELD DECEMBER 12, I9I3. 
 
 On motion, duly made and seconded, the following 
 resolution was adopted: — 
 
 Whereas, After a long, useful, and upright career, crowded 
 with the satisfaction of honorable achievement, William 
 Deering, one of the first directors of this company, died at 
 Miami, Florida, December 9, 1913, at the age of eighty- 
 seven years, and 
 
 Whereas, The members of this Board, his former associ- 
 ates, deem it meet and proper that some record should here 
 be made testifying to his worth and to the loss we feel, and 
 bearing to those who were near and dear to him some evi- 
 dence of our sympath}-; therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That, knowing William Deering and his life work 
 with such knowledge as comes through years of business and 
 personal association, we feel that by his death the nation 
 has lost one of the strongest and most useful pioneers in 
 an industry that has ever made for the benefit of mankind; 
 that the state and community have lost an honorable, right- 
 minded, and generous citizen; and that this company has lost 
 a friend and adviser of rare ability and wisdom, and be it 
 further 
 
 Resolved, That to Mrs. Deering and to our associates on 
 this Board, Charles Deering, James Deering, and Richard 
 F. Howe, we extend our deepest sympathy. 
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Among other works of public benefit, due wholly or in part 
 to the benevolences of William Deering, not the least im- 
 portant is Wesley Hospital. It may be said without dis- 
 paragement to other noble and generous men and women 
 who have aided in this great enterprise that but for the 
 
 73
 
 74 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 liberality of Mr. Deering and his wise counsel in planning, 
 the hospital, if existing at all, would be very far from having 
 attained the magnificent proportions which distinguish it 
 to-day. To him more than to any other person is due the 
 success of this institution, which has already conferred 
 inestimable blessing upon thousands of suffering and is 
 destined to continue, with enlarging facilities for helpfulness, 
 to heal and comfort the afflicted in all the years to come. 
 
 As long as Wesley Hospital stretches forth a beckoning 
 hand to the sick and suffering of every creed and condition, 
 it typifies the large-hearted sympathy of its founder, whose 
 sole motive in the giving of his wealth was the saving of life 
 and the alleviation of the "ills that human flesh is heir to." 
 
 It is, therefore, fitting that the trustees and friends of 
 Wesley Hospital should place on record their grateful appre- 
 ciation of the kindly interest and generous gifts of Mr. Deer- 
 ing and place a wreath of unfading flowers on the casket of 
 him who in this work of benevolence has followed the exam- 
 ple of the Master whom he served, causing the lame to walk, 
 the blind to see, and the sick to be made whole. Therefore 
 be it 
 
 Resolved, First, that in the death of Mr. Deering, Wesley 
 Hospital has lost a generous benefactor, a wise counselor, 
 and a faithful supporter and friend. Second, that a memo- 
 rial tablet bearing a suitable inscription be placed in the 
 reception parlor of the hospital in grateful recognition of his 
 invaluable service to his fellow-men. 
 
 Perley Lowe, J. Shelley Meyer, 
 
 Edwin L. Wagner, Oliver H. Horton, 
 
 Arthur Dixon, F. J. Thielbar, 
 
 William A. Dyche, H. G. Eckstein, 
 
 E. S. GiLMORE, 
 
 Executive Committee. 
 
 Whereas, It has pleased All-wise Providence to remove 
 from this transitory habitation to a place of eternal rest and 
 peace, Mr. William Deering, and 
 
 Whereas, we realize that his family has lost a true and 
 kind husband and father, the city one of its best and most 
 respected citizens, and the world a real benefactor of 
 mankind, therefore be it
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 75 
 
 Resolved, That the Piano Works Foremen's Club extend 
 to the bereaved family of Mr. William Deering its sincere 
 and heartfelt sympathy and condolence in this hour of sor- 
 row, trusting that they can find consolation in knowing that 
 the world is better because Mr. Deering lived in it, that his 
 life, his character, his noble and steady purpose of mind are 
 a shining example for others to follow, and that his many 
 good and charitable deeds will never be forgotten. 
 
 W. H. Lydamore 
 Geo. E. Kennedy 
 Martin Anderson 
 Committee Piano Works Foremen s Club. 
 
 Dated at West Pullman, this 12th day of December, 1913. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased Almighty God to remove from 
 our midst Mr. William Deering, who passed away at Miami, 
 Florida, December 9, 1913, at the age of eighty-seven years; 
 
 And Whereas, at a meeting of the old employees of the 
 Deering Harvester Company held at the office of the Deer- 
 ing works. International Harvester Company of New Jersey, 
 Chicago, Illinois, December 11, 1913, the following preamble 
 and resolutions were unanimously adopted; 
 
 And Whereas, we, the former employees of William Deer- 
 ing who have seen this business grow practically from its 
 infancy and developed into a far-reaching and world-wide 
 organization under his guidance, and that in recognition of 
 the fact that in his removal from this earthly sphere the coun- 
 try has lost one of its strongest pillars in the manufacturing 
 and educational world, his employees a true friend, and his 
 family a model husband and father; therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That it is but a just tribute to the memory of 
 William Deering to say that in regretting his removal from 
 this plane of life, we mourn for one most worthy of our 
 greatest respect and regard, and that we, his old employees, 
 extend our heartfelt S}'mpathy to the bereaved widow and 
 family in their loss, and feel that it may be a source of com- 
 fort to them to know that the great number of employees who
 
 ^d WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 worked for him during the early struggle for success feel a 
 kindred sorrow in his death; and be it further 
 
 Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be published in 
 the Chicago papers, and a suitably engrossed copy thereof be 
 presented to the bereaved family. 
 
 George W. Lincoln G. L. Phelps 
 
 J. E. Merrion J. W. Latimer 
 
 H. F. Stemman Edward Keenan 
 
 J. K. Grill P. Wittlinger 
 
 M. A. Rink W. R. Howe 
 
 Committee
 
 To 
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 on His Seventieth Birthday, 
 April 25th, 1896, 
 
 from 
 
 The Trustees and Faculty of 
 
 Garrett Biblical Institute
 
 The Trustees and Faculty of Garrett Biblical Institute to their 
 honored President and faithful frietid, William Deering, 
 Greeting: — 
 
 We welcome gladly the opportunity given us by the com- 
 pletion of your seventieth year to assure you of our high 
 esteem and our grateful regard. 
 
 We rejoice in your strength and in your prosperity, in 
 your remarkable activities and in your thoughtful benevo- 
 lence. 
 
 For sixteen years you have served us as Trustee, our stead- 
 fast, sagacious, energetic friend, wise in counsel, prompt and 
 generous to help. 
 
 We bring you our earnest wishes for your future happiness. 
 May you abide among us many years and may the Father of 
 mercies make your days abound in tokens of His kindness 
 and in pledges of His unfailing care.
 
 s?' 
 
 THE DEERING WORKS, CHICAGO. IN igoi WHEN MR, DEERING RETIRED FROM ACTIVE WORK
 
 To 
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 on His Seventieth Birthday 
 
 from 
 
 The Board of Trustees and the Faculty 
 
 of 
 Northwestern University
 
 ADDRESS OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES 
 
 To Mr. William Deering, Our Associate, Comrade, Friend: — 
 Your associates on the Board of Trustees of Northwestern 
 University on the occurrence of your seventieth birthday 
 anniversary send you kindly greetings, messages of good 
 cheer, and heartfelt congratulations — greetings expressive ot 
 a profound, sincere, and permanent regard which is the neces- 
 sary sequence of years of personal acquaintance and associa- 
 tion, greetings commemorative of those delightful associa- 
 tions due to our common interest in an enterprise of such 
 merit and value as the establishment of a great university; 
 messages which bear to you assurances of our sincere and 
 earnest desire for your continued good health, comfort, and 
 prosperity; congratulations that a life so replete with 
 deeds of kindness and benevolence has reached that 
 station which sentiment and tradition unite to render 
 notable, possessed of such abundant physical and intel- 
 lectual resources, and endowed with so enviable a family 
 history as to afford a well-grounded assurance that its prog- 
 ress is to be indefinitely extended. 
 
 Grouping these delightful memories, pleasant associations, 
 and bright anticipations, we find abundant reason to rejoice 
 and be glad, and thus rejoicing do we gratefully bring to you 
 these messages of love and hope and of good cheer. 
 
 The m.ore than quarter of a century of service which you 
 have given to the interests of Northwestern University covers 
 the most eventful period of its history. During these years 
 its resources, its work, and its influence have so expanded and 
 developed that it now takes its position not only as the most 
 important educational institution of Methodism, but right- 
 fully claims to rank with the foremost universities of our 
 land. This growth and expansion are the result of a vigor- 
 ous and wise administration of university affairs. Aided in 
 no small degree by your generous contributions, the crises 
 in its history seem to have been safely passed and a future of 
 ever increasing usefulness and power seems to be thoroughly 
 assured. Your contributions have been varied and have 
 
 83
 
 84 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 been often repeated. They embrace generous gifts of money 
 which were frequently so aptly timed that their real value 
 far exceeded the commercial terms in which they find expres- 
 sion on the books of the Corporation Treasurer. Added to 
 these have been gifts of time and thought and care and busi- 
 ness acumen and skill, without which the gifts of money 
 might perhaps have failed in their purpose and mission — 
 and all of these have been supplemented and emphasized 
 by a personal influence and support, the value of which it is 
 impossible to estimate. 
 
 Right worthily is your name grouped with those of Lunt 
 and Evans in a trinity which will ever challenge the love and 
 the reverence of the friends of Northwestern University. 
 
 Only a few of the names which constituted the Muster 
 Roll of University Trustees when you first entered its service 
 now appear upon the record. At each successive roll-call 
 some of the older names drop out and new names appear 
 upon this list. Some are so new to the work that they 
 scarcely yet feel themselves to be adjusted to their positions 
 or equipped for the duties to which they have been assigned. 
 But in the heartiness of these congratulations, in the sin- 
 cerity of their friendships, in their admiration of your per- 
 sonal worth and character, and in their appreciation of the 
 splendid services you have rendered to Northwestern Uni- 
 versity, the veterans and the recruits are united in a harmony 
 that discloses no discordant note. 
 
 That a life so rich in good works and kindly deeds may 
 be long prolonged, and that the years may come to you laden 
 with health, honor, peace, love, and joy, will be the constant 
 and oft repeated prayer of those of your friends whose privi- 
 lege it is to unite in this address. 
 
 Orrington Lunt N. S. Davis, Jr. 
 
 O. H. HoRTON Wm. a. Dyche 
 
 Frank P. Crandon J. W. Doane 
 
 Geo. H. Foster Lyman J. Gage 
 
 John B. Kirk H. H. C. Miller 
 
 F. M. Bristol Henry S. Towle 
 
 James H. Raymond Alexander H. Revell 
 
 Henry Wade Rogers James B. Hobbs 
 
 J. J. Parkhurst H. N. Higginbotham 
 
 Nathan S. Davis Arthur Edwards 
 
 Charles Busby
 
 ADDRESS FROM THE FACULTIES OF 
 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 
 
 To Mr. William Deering on the seventieth anniversary of his 
 birth, greetings and congratulations from the Faculties of 
 Northzcestern University: 
 
 The Faculties cannot allow this occasion to pass without 
 an expression of their admiration of your character and their 
 appreciation of your services to the University with which 
 you have been for many years connected. 
 
 The ability, energy, and industry which have won for you 
 fortune and honor, your strict integrity and your faithful- 
 ness in all the relations of life, command their high regard. 
 The modesty that shrinks from all public acknowledgment 
 of your gracious deeds, and the love for letters which has 
 characterized you even in the midst of your active business 
 career, have attracted their attention and won their esteem. 
 
 They congratulate themselves on your many benefactions 
 to the University. They recall with gratitude your gifts 
 to the cause of education. Because of what you have done 
 it has been made possible for many to become wiser and more 
 useful men and women. Wealth can be devoted to no better 
 purpose than to expend it as you have done for the education 
 of the youth, thus fitting them for honorable and useful 
 service. 
 
 The Faculties thank you for your devotion to all the inter- 
 ests of the University, for the wisdom of your counsel and 
 for your support of whatever has promised to make the 
 University great. They are glad to acknowledge that its 
 growth and prosperity have been made possible in large 
 measure by the interest you have manifested in its affairs. 
 
 They congratulate you on having attained the age of sev- 
 enty years. The steps of a good man are ordered by the 
 Lord, and as you have been led in times past, so may you 
 continue to be led in the time to come. 
 
 The Faculties wish you health, happiness and length of 
 days.
 
 86 
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 "May Age steal on 
 With softly cadenced feet." 
 
 May yours be 
 
 "A life of leisure and broad hours 
 To think and dream 
 
 To wander like a bee among the flowers 
 Till old age find you weary, feet and wings 
 Grown heavy with the gold of many thoughts." 
 
 The Faculties offer you this address and beg you to 
 accept it as an expression of their grateful appreciation of 
 the services you have rendered to the University and to the 
 cause of learning as well as in evidence of their affectionate 
 regard. 
 
 May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon 
 you and give you peace. 
 
 Henry Wade Rogers 
 
 Daniel Bonbright 
 
 Oliver Marcy 
 
 Herbert F. Fisk 
 
 RoBT. L. Cumnock 
 
 Robert Baird 
 
 C. W. Pearson 
 
 RoBT. D. Sheppard 
 
 A. V. E. Young 
 
 G. W. Hough 
 
 James T. Hatfield 
 
 Chas. B. Atwell 
 
 Henry Crew 
 
 J. Scott Clark 
 
 John H. Gray 
 
 George A. Coe 
 
 Emily F. Wheeler 
 
 A. R. Crook 
 
 Henry S. White 
 
 Thomas F. Holgate 
 
 H. C. Stanclift 
 
 William Caldwell 
 
 Wm. a. Tracy 
 
 Emily Huntington Miller 
 
 Hiram B. Loomis 
 Henry Cohn 
 Arthur H. Wilde 
 Mary L. Freeman 
 
 WiNFIELD S. NiCKERSON 
 
 E. A. Bechtel 
 
 L. R. HiGGINS 
 
 Nathan S. Davis 
 Jno. E. Owens 
 E. C. Dudley 
 J. B. De Lee 
 
 T. B. SWARTZ 
 
 N. S. Davis, Jr. 
 Frank Billings 
 Frank Seward Johnson 
 Weber Van Hook 
 Geo. W. Webster 
 H. Grade E 
 Elbert Wing 
 WiNFIELD S. Hall 
 Stanley P. Black 
 Dr. Joseph Zeisler 
 S. J. Jones 
 Arthur R. Edwards
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 87 
 
 E. Wyllys Andrews 
 
 Ralph N. Isham 
 
 A. E. Halstead 
 
 Otto L. Schmidt 
 
 Geo. S. Isham 
 
 W. E. Casselberry 
 
 John H. Long 
 
 John Ridlon 
 
 }. D. Rawlings 
 
 Frank X. Walls 
 
 S. C. Plummer 
 
 Isaac A. Abt 
 
 Chas. F. Weir 
 
 Edward Avery Harriman 
 
 Blewett Lee 
 
 Harvey B. Hurd 
 
 John H. Wigmore 
 
 Edwin Burritt Smith 
 
 James De Witt Andrews 
 
 Julian W. Mack 
 
 Oscar Oldberg 
 
 Edgar D. Swain 
 
 Edmund Noyes 
 
 G. V. Black 
 
 Geo. H. Gushing 
 
 Thos. L. Gilmer 
 
 A. E. Matteson 
 
 Geo. W. Haskins 
 
 D. M. Cattell 
 
 L. B. Hayman 
 Geo. J. Dennis 
 Elgin MaWhinney 
 Wm. G. Stearns, 
 
 W. W. We NT WORTH 
 
 Frederick Menge 
 H. P. Wadsworth 
 
 C. E. Sayre 
 P. C. Boomer 
 P. F. Burns 
 Franklin R. Houston 
 Chas. W. Richardson 
 Frederick B. Noyes 
 W. S. Bagley 
 
 L. a, Edwards 
 I. N. Danforth 
 
 D. R. Brower 
 
 David Wilson Graham 
 
 E. Fletcher Ingals 
 Marie J. Mergler 
 Jerome H. Salisbury 
 Eliza H. Root 
 John Edwin Rhodes 
 Rachel F. Carr 
 George Frank Butler 
 Leonard L. Skelton 
 George H. Weaver 
 James C. Gill 
 Franklin C. Wells
 
 To 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 on His Seventieth Birthday 
 
 from the 
 
 Pastor and Official Members 
 
 of the 
 
 First Methodist Church 
 
 of 
 
 Evanston, Illinois
 
 TO WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 April twenty-sixth, 1896 
 
 Mr. William Deering. 
 
 Beloved Brother: The First Methodist Episcopal Church 
 of Evanston, Illinois, represented by its pastor and official 
 members, desires on the approach of this your seventieth 
 birthday to extend to you most affectionate salutations and 
 hearty congratulations. 
 
 For twenty-five years of the happy and useful seventy 
 with which God has favored you we have been blessed with 
 your fellowship and counsel. You have gone in and out 
 among us exemplifying those virtues which it is the mission 
 of the Church to set forth as the richest adornment and high- 
 est reward of Christian character. Having early chosen the 
 Wisdom which is from above, you have lived to prove that 
 "length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand 
 riches and honor." 
 
 Your natural and manly aversion to personal laudation, 
 even from those who love }ou as a brother and honor you as 
 a benefactor, will not, we trust, prevent your accepting, in 
 the spirit with which it is sent, this expression of our admira- 
 tion of the high integrity and humaneness which have dis- 
 tinguished your prosperous business career and of our ap- 
 preciation of the benevolence and philanthropy which, 
 though as unostentatious as they have been generous, have 
 reflected honor upon the Church of which you are a member 
 and upon the community of which you are a citizen. 
 
 We rejoice that having reached a good age }ou are still in 
 the enjoyment of the health and vigor which promise you 
 many years of useful activity and happiness. 
 
 Ma\' the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, which has been 
 the inspiration of your life, fill all your future days with light 
 and peace! In the love of God and in the love of men may 
 you ever enjoy the reward of faith and faithfulness. It is 
 our prayer, honored and beloved brother, that in the strength 
 of a mighty faith, in the joy of a glorious hope, in the sweet 
 
 91
 
 92 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 satisfaction of an abounding charity and in the sanctifying 
 fellowship of the Church and of the Son of God you may 
 prove to life's end — to life's triumphant end — that "the 
 path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more 
 and more unto the perfect day." 
 
 Labor and Sorrow, wrote the Psalmist's pen, 
 This is the sum of all life brings to men. 
 Swift as the weaver's shuttle, day by day. 
 Fly, with their bootless tasks, his years away. 
 
 But they whose years with blessing crown their length. 
 To youth immortal go from strength to strength; 
 And he whose toil to God and man is given, 
 In life's swift loom shall weave the robes of heaven. 
 
 Emily Huntington Miller.
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 from the 
 
 Board of Trustees 
 
 of the 
 
 Chicago Home Missionary and 
 
 Church Extension Society
 
 TO WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 On His Seventieth Birthday 
 
 As Trustees of the Chicago Home Missionary and Church 
 Extension Society, we desire to express our recognition of an 
 event in the life of one to whom our hearts go out in earnest 
 love. We appreciate the fact that it is an important occa- 
 sion in any life to reach the allotted period of threescore and 
 ten, but to have fifty of such years spent in the work of the 
 Master, as well as in advancing the cause of education, and 
 in a most earnest and successful endeavor to uplift and better 
 the condition of mankind, adds a luster to the occasion, 
 which is incapable of expression in words. All this and 
 much more can be said concerning our brother and associate, 
 William Deering, who has been the President of the Board of 
 Trustees of this Society since its organization. Without his 
 generous contributions, a very large portion of the work 
 accomplished by the Society could not have been done. He 
 will in a few days reach the age of seventy years, the period 
 usually allotted to human activity, but, in his case, not the 
 climax of usefulness, for the gathered sheaves which mark 
 his path have each year increased in number, as well as in 
 wealth of golden grain. 
 
 Therefore, as an expression of our very high apprecia- 
 tion of this marked event in the life of our esteemed Presi- 
 dent, and as an assurance from us of our great respect for 
 him and for his noble life work, be it by us, as a Board of 
 Trustees, unanimously 
 
 Resolved, That we hereby extend to our President, 
 William Deering, our most earnest congratulations upon 
 his having attained the age of threescore and ten years, and 
 express our high appreciation of the great work which he 
 has accomplished in behalf of the cause of Christ, of missions, 
 of the alleviation of human suffering in the encouragement of 
 medical science, of the growth of university education, of 
 the establishment of libraries, building of churches and gen- 
 eral betterment of the condition of mankind. 
 
 95
 
 96 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Resolved, further. That it is our most earnest and prayer- 
 ful hope that a kind Providence may vouchsafe to him many 
 years of health and happiness, so that our Society may have 
 the benefit of his wise counsel, as well as the inspiration of 
 having with us one whose life and whose life work afford such 
 an example of the amount of good which can be done in be- 
 half of the cause of Christ and humanity by one person with- 
 in the years which have been allotted to man. 
 
 Resolved, further, That this action of our Board be spread 
 upon the records of our Society; also that an engrossed 
 copy be delivered to our beloved President, after being signed 
 by the Trustees in attendance on the adoption hereof. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 James B. Hobbs, D. J. McMullen 
 
 Vice-President Lewis Curts 
 
 Luke Hitchcock J. H, Manny 
 
 M. H. Wilson Henry S. Towle 
 
 H. N. HiGGINBOTHAM HoRACE A. GOODRICH 
 
 Hiram J. Thompson Frank P. Crandon 
 
 H. G. Jackson N. W. Harris 
 
 G. F. Swift Charles Busby 
 
 John Farson R. E. Brownell 
 
 A. D. Traneller R. P. Hollett 
 
 William Henry Burns D. W. Potter 
 
 Robert W. Vasey James S. Harvey 
 
 O. H. Horton Geo. W. Chamberlin 
 
 Edmund W. Burke
 
 To 
 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 on his retirement from the presidency 
 
 of the 
 
 Board of Trustees 
 
 of 
 
 Garrett Biblical Institute
 
 MEMORIAL OF TRUSTEES OF GARRETT 
 BIBLICAL INSTITUTE 
 
 Evanston, December 20, 1899. 
 Mr. William Deering, 
 
 Dear Sir and Friend: — 
 The secretaryship of the Board of Garrett BibHcal Insti- 
 tute Trustees secures to me the privilege of transmitting to 
 you the accompanying testimonial of the sincere regard and 
 esteem of your associates. 
 
 A more grateful service, or one which could yield me 
 a greater pleasure, could not have been assigned to me, and 
 in requesting your acceptance of our token of good will, 
 I avail myself of the opportunity to add to an official mes- 
 sage my personal assurance of an appreciation which no 
 form of testimonial can adequately express. 
 
 Ever and always yours, 
 (Signed) Frank P. Crandon, Secretary. 
 
 The associates of Mr. William Deering in the Board of 
 Trustees of Garrett Biblical Institute, yielding only to his 
 urgent and repeated requests, have with almost unspeakable 
 reluctance acquiesced at last in his desire to retire from its 
 presidency. So intimately has Mr. Deering's personality 
 become interwoven with the history of the Institute that any 
 action modifying, however slightly, his relation to its inter- 
 ests must be assented to with hesitation and accepted with 
 poignant regret. 
 
 The term of his service on the Board of Institute Trustees, 
 antedating that of any of his present colleagues, brought 
 him at its beginning into official relations with the founders 
 of the school. In 1S87, as successor to the Hon. Grant 
 Goodrich, he accepted the office that he this day resigns. 
 The presidency of William Deering and that of Grant Good- 
 rich cover the entire period that has elapsed since the 
 Institute was founded. Modern Methodism furnishes no 
 other group of laymen so notable, so representative of the 
 
 99
 
 loo WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 sagacity, loyalty, hopefulness, and well-grounded faith in 
 which the noblest church enterprises have ever been under- 
 taken as the little company of men to whom Garrett Biblical 
 Institute is indebted for its organization, who fostered its 
 beginnings and who formulated and maintained the policy 
 by which its financial interests have been furthered and 
 firmly established. They brought to the administration of 
 its affairs a devotion, a sagacity and a Christian zeal that 
 have seldom been equaled. Unostentatiously, with un- 
 faltering faith and patience, they set about the work of 
 helping to establish the kingdom of God among men. They 
 wrought under the inspiration of the Divine Spirit; the bless- 
 ing of the Lord rested upon their labors, and in the fruition 
 of their toil we to-day rejoice and are glad. The pages of 
 the Institute records are marked repeatedly with the names 
 of Lunt and Evans, Goodrich and Deering, and others to 
 whom Methodism is indebted for much of that which con- 
 stitutes the sum of its resources, its material wealth, and its 
 spiritual power. 
 
 Mr. Deering alone remains to represent this remarkable 
 group. No one of them was either worthier or more dis- 
 tinguished than he; no one of them has blended more happily 
 the wise conservatism and the progressive enterprise that 
 have characterized at every step the management of the 
 Institute. To Garrett, Mr. Deering has given of his best. 
 He has made direct gifts to its treasury; he has provided 
 from time to time for increasing and diversifying its depart- 
 ments of instruction; he has notably increased its library by 
 generous and invaluable contributions. But he has en- 
 riched it also wnth his personal supervision, bringing to 
 the administration of its aflPairs and to the development of 
 its possibilities a business acumen and skill which in the 
 commercial world stand almost unrivaled, and throughout 
 the years of his connection with the school he has made it 
 practicable by his beneficence for earnest Christian men of 
 slender means to avail themselves of the advantages offered 
 by the Institute for ministerial training, so that many of the 
 efficient pulpits of to-day are eloquent witnesses of his wise 
 and discriminating liberality. So gracious and so kindly has 
 been his administration of the office which he now relin- 
 quishes that in all our official relations we seemed to forget 
 the president, in the presence of an ever genial, helpful,
 
 WILLIAM DEERING loi 
 
 sympathizing associate and friend; and although his title 
 now necessarily passes to another, so long as he remains 
 with us, he must in a most important sense continue to be 
 our chieftain as well as our faithful counselor and almost 
 unerring guide. We are grateful for the vigorous manhood 
 which justifies our anticipation that to Garrett will he long 
 continued the helpfulness of his counsels and the inspiration 
 of his presence. We remind ourselves that throughout the 
 church and in many lands his name is a synonym for Christian 
 excellence, and we unite in assuring him that among the 
 hosts of admirers who here and elsewhere delight to do 
 him honor, there are none more appreciative, none more 
 sincere, and none who hold him in greater reverence and 
 esteem than do his associates on this board of trustees. 
 
 (Signed) Robert Sheppard, 
 Oliver H. Horton, 
 Frank P. Crandon, 
 Amos W. Patten, 
 Charles J. Little, Trustees.
 
 Some Press Comments on the Death 
 
 of 
 
 William Deering
 
 PRESS COMMENTS ON THE DEATH 
 OF WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Miami {Fla.) Metropolis, December lo, igij 
 
 William Deering, whose name has become familiar 
 throughout the world through his connection with the man- 
 ufacture of harvesting implements, died at eleven o'clock 
 last night in the modest little home at Cocoanut Grove 
 where he spent several winters and to which he came some 
 six weeks ago in the hope that the mild climate would sus- 
 tain his life for a while longer. 
 
 With his wife and his two sons, Charles and James, and 
 the attending physician, Dr. P. T. Skaggs, at his bedside, 
 the end came quietly and peacefully. It had been expected 
 at any moment for the last two days. Arrangements are 
 being made for a special car to take the body to Evanston, 
 Illinois, where the funeral services will be held. 
 
 Mr. Deering was a man of simple tastes, unostentatious 
 life, and kindly character. His long life he attributed to 
 his simple mode of living. 
 
 Chicago Post, December lo, 1913 
 
 All Evanston is in mourning to-day over the death of 
 William Deering, the veteran harvester manufacturer, who 
 died last night at his winter home in Miami, Florida. Rev. 
 Dr. A. W. Patten, chaplain at the Northwestern University, 
 spoke of Mr. Deering's life in the chapel services this morn- 
 ing, and the work at the university will be stopped either 
 to-morrow or Friday while services will be held. 
 
 As a tribute of respect to the memory of William Deering, 
 the Deering works a|id the general offices of the International 
 Harvester Company of New Jersey will be closed all day on 
 Saturday. 
 
 His rise in the business world is considered miraculous by 
 close friends. Late in life he entered the harvester business, 
 of which he knew nothing at all, and, due to his business 
 
 105
 
 io6 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 instincts, was able to amass a fortune. He was a member of 
 the old school of financiers. 
 
 Mr. Deering went into a new business when his associates 
 who had grown up with him were retiring on modest incomes. 
 He was then fifty years old. Other things he was able to do 
 puzzled his physicians late in his life. It is said he survived 
 three generations of family doctors, including those practicing 
 in his childhood. The last generation of them confessed 
 him "a physiological miracle." He grew stronger with the 
 passing years and his business competitors declared his 
 shrewd brain was keener after he had passed the threescore 
 and ten mark than ever before. 
 
 The Deering company was finally merged with the Inter- 
 national. Mr. Deering was seventy-five years old, and he fell 
 ill. Any illness is thought grave at that age, and Mr. Deering 
 was convinced by sheer logic of his years that he could not 
 long survive. He disposed of his property, therefore, giving 
 it all, undivided, to his two sons and son-in-law, Richard 
 Howe. The merger was made after that — and William 
 Deering got well. 
 
 In 1900, after he had exhibited his automobile harvesting 
 machine in Paris, he was made an officer of the Legion of 
 Honor. He also received an official certificate of honor, 
 the grand prize, and six gold medals. His machine took 
 more prizes than any other exhibit of its kind at the expo- 
 sition. 
 
 Although Mr. Deering never sought public office, he had 
 served in the councils of Governors Perham and Chamberlin 
 of Maine. He v/as well known for his knowledge of public 
 affairs. 
 
 Up to the time of his death he was honorary president of 
 the board of trustees of the Northwestern University and 
 Garrett Biblical Institute. 
 
 Chicago Journal, December 10, igij 
 
 Miami, Fla., Dec. 10. — On a special car, starting from 
 this tov.-n to-day, the body of William Deering, founder of the 
 Deering Harvester Company, will be transported from this 
 place to his home in Evanston, Illinois. 
 
 The death of the pioneer promoter of the enormous reaper 
 industry centering about Chicago occurred at his winter
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 107 
 
 home, Cocoanut Grove, about five miles south of here. The 
 milUonaire passed away in a modest cottage facing Biscayne 
 Bay. 
 
 Faith in the efficiency of a twine binder to replace the old 
 wire binder, "fiber fingers" and a New England trading 
 instinct piled up the fortune that William Deering amassed 
 in Chicago, ajid which his death will distribute among his 
 heirs. 
 
 A business extending over the entire world and one of 
 the largest industrial plants in the United States is the heri- 
 tage left by a man who went to work in his father's mill when 
 he was 16 years old, beginning with a salary of ^f^iS a month, 
 and remaining there until he went into partnership in a little 
 dry-goods store in Portland, Maine. 
 
 Both in his home in Evanston, where he had lived since 
 1874, ^"<^ ^^ ^^^ summer cottage at Paw Paw Lake, Michigan, 
 Mr. Deering lived very simply, although it is estimated that 
 he gave over a million dollars to Northwestern University. 
 He was one of the leading members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church in the United States, and the Garrett Biblical 
 Seminar)' was one of his especial interests. Fisk Hall, which 
 he built at a cost of $80,000, was named after a president of 
 the university only after Mr. Deering had positively refused 
 to allow it to be named for himself. 
 
 Chicago American, December 10, igij 
 
 William Deering's life and achievements found universal 
 praise in Chicago to-day. His career, according to opinions 
 voiced by Chicagoans prominent in business and professional 
 life, was remarkable, even in an age notable for its successful 
 business men and the enterprises they have created. 
 
 Mr. Deering's biggest success was made after he was 
 fifty years old. This fact, pointed out to-day by David R. 
 Forgan, president of the Nationaj City Bank, was looked 
 upon by many as the most extraordinary lesson of his life. 
 
 "William Deering was of a former generation, and I knew 
 him but slightly, but he was a man whose works brought 
 him fame," sajd Mr. Forgan. "I alwa}s have considered 
 the fact that he made his biggest success after the age when 
 many men are ready for the shelf as one of the truly ex- 
 traordinary features of his career. His was a splendid, honor-
 
 io8 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 able record. His life should teach American boys that 
 persistency must and will win success." 
 
 Professor U. S. Grant, executive in charge of Northwestern 
 University in the absence of President Harris and Dean 
 Holgate, said: 
 
 "Mr. Deering had been known for years as one of the 
 stanchest friends of Northwestern. He was president of 
 the board of trustees and later president emeritus of the 
 board. He gave liberally of his great wealth for the better- 
 ment of the university and his influence was strongly felt in 
 the progress of the last twenty-five years." 
 
 "He was a most estimable gentleman who lived a clean, fine 
 life," declared Ernest Hamill, president of the Corn Exchange 
 National Bank. "He stood high in the Methodist Church. 
 Sticktoitiveness was the mainspring of his character." 
 
 President Darius Miller of the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy Railroad said: 
 
 "Although I knew Mr. Deering but slightly, I am familiar 
 enough with his career to realize that he was a remarkable 
 man. 
 
 "He was faithful to the ideals handed down to him by his 
 Puritan ancestors. Obstacles and adversities could not 
 make him yield. He is entitled to a place among the build- 
 ers of the West." 
 
 For many years Mr. Deering occupied a position as one of 
 Chicago's most picturesque millionaires. 
 
 Mr. Deering did not invent the harvesting machine with 
 which his name and his millions are so intimately con- 
 nected, but he did finance the first company that made the 
 harvester practical. 
 
 It was his proudest boast that a harvester and binder to 
 which he supplied the backing, and later the twine that 
 facilitated its operation, beat the railroads into the North- 
 west by eighteen years. 
 
 In twenty-one years, or while babes were growing to their 
 majorities, Mr. Deering had fathered the largest manufactur- 
 ing plant in the world and was ready to retire from business. 
 He was then seventy-five years old. 
 
 Spartansburg (S. C.) Herald^ December 12, IQ13 
 
 Miami, Fla., Dec. 11. — The body of William Deering, 
 pioneer harvester rnanufacturer, who died here last night,
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 109 
 
 will be taken to Evanston, Illinois, to-day. Funeral services 
 will be held there Saturday or Sunday. 
 
 Mr. Deering's name stands at the forefront in the develop- 
 ment of harvesting machinery. He staked his fortune thirty 
 years ago on the automatic binder device for wheat har- 
 vesters. Its success revolutionized the method of harvest- 
 ing the crop. 
 
 Chicago Inter Ocean, December 11, IQIJ 
 
 The body of William Deering, millionaire manufacturer 
 and founder of the Deering Harvester Company, who died 
 Tuesday night at his winter home five miles from Miami, 
 Florida, will be brought to Evanston for burial Saturday. 
 The body will arrive on a special train over the Chicago & 
 Eastern Illinois railroad accompanied by the members of the 
 immediate family, who were at the bedside. 
 
 Classes were suspended at the Northwestern University 
 yesterday. Mr. Deering had long been president of the board 
 of trustees of the institution and one of its principal bene- 
 factors. Since the disposal of his large interests in the 
 International Harvester Company in 1902 the major portion 
 of his income was devoted to charitable institutions. 
 
 Mr. Deering's life and work found universal praise in 
 Chicago yesterday. As a tribute to his memory the Deering 
 works and theoffices of the International Ha,rvester Company 
 will be closed all day Saturday. Cyrus H. McCormick, 
 president of the International Harvester Company, gave out 
 the following statement regarding Mr. Deering: — 
 
 "William Deering was in every sense a pioneer. He 
 created and built up a vast business in harvesting machinery 
 out of the most modest beginnings. He had great foresight, 
 untiring energy, admirable business judgment. He proved 
 himself a successful manufacturer, and also a successful 
 merchant — a rare combination of talents for one man. 
 
 "He was one of the men who had a great vision of the 
 future possibilities of our country's development; and by his 
 business he helped to promote the rapid growth of American 
 agriculture and the prosperity of American farmers. 
 
 "Mr. Deering's name and influence will continue to live 
 in the annals of Chicago and of the nation. His philan- 
 thropies, extending over his entire business life, marked him
 
 no WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 as a man of broad and humane sympathies. And above all, 
 his natural modesty made him unwilling that his benefactions 
 should be known." 
 
 Rochester {N. Y.) Times, December lo, igij 
 
 Miami, Fla., Dec. lo. — The body of William Deering, 
 Chicago millionaire, who died here last night will be sent this 
 afternoon to his former home in Evanston, Illinois, in a private 
 car for burial. Funeral services will be held there either 
 Saturday or Sunday. 
 
 William Deering, inventor and manufacturer of harvest- 
 ing machinery, and patron of Northwestern University, was 
 born in Oxford County, Maine, in 1826, of English colonial 
 stock, and was educated in the local district and a high school 
 of Readfield, Maine. 
 
 Entering business, his great ability soon became apparent. 
 He was manager of a woolen mill, then in several enterprises 
 of his own, and in 1871, having gone to Illinois, became inter- 
 ested in the making of farm machinery. He founded the 
 Deering Harvester Works, now part of the combine, in 1879. 
 When Mr. Deering retired in 1901, there were 7,000 men 
 employed there and to-day Deering, the village around the 
 plant, is part of Chicago. 
 
 In recent years, Mr. Deering lived in Evanston, Illinois, 
 near Northwestern University, of which he was the principal 
 support. He was deeply religious and of an approachable, 
 kindly nature. He leaves two sons. Modesty was also a dis- 
 tinguishing characteristic. He would not have Northwestern 
 named Deering University, as was proposed. He never 
 sought public office, although he was a member of two gov- 
 ernors' councils in Maine. His benefactions to humanity 
 were great. Machines devised by him are at work in the 
 fields of Siberia and South Africa to-day. 
 
 Nezo York Herald, December 11, igij 
 
 Miami, Fla., Wednesday. — Mr. William Deering, one of 
 the founders of the harvesting machine business in this coun- 
 try, whose death was announced in a late edition of the 
 Herald this morning, arrived here with his family several 
 weeks ago, hoping to escape the first cold weather of a
 
 WILLIAM DEERING in 
 
 northern winter. He failed to improve and died early this 
 morninc;, with his family gathered about his bed, in his winter 
 home here. Mr. Deering was eighty-seven years old. 
 
 Descended from a Puritan family that was established in 
 New England in 1634, Mr. Deering early joined his father 
 as a manufacturer of woolens in Maine. His profits from 
 this business he invested in western land, and at one time, 
 a few years ago, he held thousands of acres of valuable 
 property in many western states. 
 
 With Mr. Seth Milliken he founded the firm of 
 Deering, Milliken & Co., at Portland, Maine, and New York 
 city, and it soon became one of the largest dry-goods com- 
 mission houses in the country and continues as such. 
 
 While in Chicago in 1870 Mr. Deering met Mr. E. H. 
 Gammon, an old Maine acquaintance who was selling agri- 
 cultural machinery, then a new thing. Mr. Gammon told 
 Mr. Deering that what was needed was a machine that 
 would bind the sheaves of wheat as they were cut, and 
 Mr. Deering set to work upon this, and with employed 
 machinists, including J. F. Appleby, made the binder 
 that still is in use. He founded the Deering Harvester Com- 
 pany at Piano, Illinois, moved it to Chicago in 1880, and in 
 1902 consolidated it with the International Harvester 
 Company. 
 
 Mr. Deering made a large fortune in all his ventures. 
 His home had been in Chicago for many years, but he had 
 spent his winters in Florida. 
 
 He had taken no active interest in the manufacturing 
 business since his company became a part of the "trust," 
 turning the care of his interest over to his two sons and his 
 son-in-law. 
 
 New York Post, December 10, iQij 
 
 William Deering, of Chicago, founder of the Deering 
 Harvester Company, died last night at his winter home in 
 Miami, Florida. 
 
 Mr. Deering was born at South Paris, Maine, April 25, 
 1826, the son of James and Eliza Moore Deering. 
 
 Visiting Chicago in 1870, Mr. Deering met E. H. Gammon, 
 an old Maine acquaintance, who was engaged in selling 
 agricultural machinery. With him he formed the firm of
 
 112 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Gammon & Deering. Nine years later, Mr. Deering became 
 the sole owner of the business. 
 
 In 1879 2"<I 1880 Mr. Deering, at the risk of his fortune, 
 put on the market a grain-binder, invented by J. F. Appleby, 
 which automatically bound the sheaves with twine. This 
 machine lacked much in the first years of being a complete 
 success, but to-day almost all of the grain harvested by 
 machinery is gathered by it. His success was jeopardized 
 for a time by the failure to find a twine adapted to the use 
 of the binder, but a suitable twine finally was manufactured 
 from manila fiber. 
 
 In 1874 the Deering factory was moved from Piano, Illinois, 
 to Chicago, where 9000 operatives are now employed. 
 Under his direction it has become one of the greatest single 
 manufacturing plants in the world, the output of the com- 
 pany being about 1300 harvesters a day. In 1902 the Deer- 
 ing interests were merged with the International Harvester 
 Company. 
 
 Mr. Deering admitted his two sons and his son-in-law to 
 partnership, and in 1901 he retired from active work, spend- 
 ing a large part of each year at his winter home. Many 
 educational institutions have been endowed by Mr. Deering, 
 notably Northwestern University, of whose board of trustees 
 he was the president for several years. Fisk Hall, com- 
 pleted in 1898 at a cost of ^80,000, was given to Northwestern 
 by him, and it is estimated that his gifts to that university 
 have exceeded $1,000,000. 
 
 Galeshurg (III.) Register, December 10, igij 
 
 Chicago, Dec. 10. — William Deering, founder of the 
 Deering Harvester Company, who died at his summer home 
 near Miami, Florida, could not tell the difi'erence between pig 
 iron and steel when he entered the harvester business, his 
 former associates said to-day. 
 
 "Deering started work in his father's woolen mills in 
 Maine at $18 a month," said one of his friends. "He was 
 in the dry-goods business until 1870 when he bought a three- 
 quarters interest in a harvester business. For a long time 
 he could not recognize his own machines when he saw them 
 and when he went out to buy pig iron he had to confess he 
 didn't know what kind he wanted."
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 113 
 
 Deering staked his success on an idea that twine could be 
 made small enough and strong enough to replace wire as a 
 binder, and in the face of ridicule he carried out the scheme 
 that built his fortune. 
 
 Anderson (Ind.) Bulletin, December 10, 1913 
 
 Chicago, Dec. 10. — William Deering, inventor and man- 
 ufacturer of harvesting machinery, died at his winter home 
 in Miami, Florida, last night, according to information re- 
 ceived here. 
 
 Mr. Deering was born in Oxford County, Maine, in 1826, 
 of English colonial stock, and was educated in the local 
 district school and a high school at Readfield, Maine. 
 
 Entering business his great ability soon became apparent. 
 He was manager of a woolen mill, then in several enterprises 
 of his own, and in 1871 when in Illinois, became interested 
 in the making of farm machinery. He founded the Deering 
 Harvester Works, now part of the combine, in 1879. When 
 Mr. Deering retired in 1901 there were 7,000 men emplo}'ed 
 there. Deering, the village around the plant, is now part of 
 Chicago. 
 
 In recent years Mr. Deering lived in Evanston, near 
 Northwestern University, of which he was the principal 
 support. He was deeply religious and of an approachable, 
 kindly nature. He leaves two sons, having been married 
 twice. 
 
 Modesty was one of his distinguishing characteristics. He 
 would not have Northwestern named Deering University, 
 as was proposed. He never sought public office, although he 
 was a member of two governor's councils in Maine. 
 
 Evanston {III.) Index, December 20, igij 
 
 A notable funeral was that of William Deering, Sunday 
 afternoon. The First Methodist Church could not hold all 
 the friends who desired to participate in the services, several 
 hundred being unable to gain admission and every seat in 
 the large auditorium being taken. Employees of the 
 harvester company came from the vicinity of the great 
 works to the south in a special train and, when seated in the 
 church, almost filled the south side seats on the lower floor.
 
 114 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 They brought with them as a floral offering a reproduction 
 in carnations and violets of the original harvester manufac- 
 tured by Mr. Deering. It attracted much attention where 
 it was placed in the vestibule. Other floral tributes were 
 so many that a number of automobiles were required to take 
 them to Graceland, where the remains were privately interred 
 after the ceremony. 
 
 Bishop McDowell oflSciated, assisted by President Charles 
 M. Stuart of Garrett Biblical Institute and Dr. Timothy 
 P. Frost, pastor of the church. Appropriate music was 
 furnished by Professor Lutkin's A Cappella Choir under 
 his direction. 
 
 Bishop McDowell was visibly affected and his address 
 was marked by great feeling and earnestness. It was an 
 eloquent tribute to the passing of a dear friend whose career 
 gave opportunity for words of highest praise. 
 
 Chicago Inter Ocean, December ii, iQij 
 
 The life of William Deering, which ended in its eighty- 
 eighth year on Tuesday, illustrated the versatility of the 
 American business man of what may now be called the "old 
 school," since we seem destined to have fewer examples of 
 it under the modern and, perhaps, necessary pressure for 
 specialization. 
 
 For so many years that most people have forgotten he was 
 ever anything else, William Deering was a leading figure in 
 the manufacture of harvesting machinery. From his works 
 went out the "twine binder" which has become the standard 
 reaping machine wherever wheat is grown. 
 
 Yet William Deering intended in youth to be a physician, 
 became a manufacturer of textiles and a dry-goods merchant, 
 had reached middle age, and had retired from business with a 
 competent fortune on account of supposedly failing health 
 before he even began to take interest in harvesting ma- 
 chinery. 
 
 To a Methodist minister who had lost his voice and in 
 consequence had retired from the pulpit down in Maine is 
 traced Mr. Deering's entrance into the harvester business. 
 He had come west on his retirement from dry goods to make 
 investments in lands, met this minister, an old friend, and 
 found him enthusiastic over the prospects of the harvester
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 115 
 
 which the Marsh brothers of Piano were making and "dem- 
 onstrating." 
 
 As a result Mr. Deering put his money into a harvester 
 factory instead of lands and became ultimately one of the 
 central figures in what has well been called "The Romance of 
 the Reaper." The elder McCormick was then the great 
 figure in that trade, had very strong convictions about his 
 rights as inventor, and was a resolute fighter for them. 
 
 Well-meaning friends warned Mr. Deering that going into 
 reapers meant "a fight with McCormick" and asked why 
 at his age, with all he had to lose, without inventions that 
 were really revolutionary, he was going to attempt this 
 hazard of fortune. With characteristic modesty he an- 
 swered: "Well, perhaps we can make a better machine." 
 
 Though not an inventor nor even a machinist himself, 
 before his harvester career ended William Deering had paid 
 out over ^2,000,000 to inventors, much of it just to keep them 
 at work experimenting and working out their ideas. It was 
 thus that J. F. Appleby produced the "knotter" which is the 
 essential device of the twine binder and enabled it practically 
 to displace all other types of grain harvester. 
 
 With all his business success and wealth William Deering 
 never lost his interest in the finer things of life. He was al- 
 ways a good citizen who never sought to become conspicu- 
 ous. His benevolences were many, and especially to educa- 
 tion. Northwestern University owes him much as a bene- 
 factor and as a most capable manager of its property and 
 business interests. 
 
 Chicago Record-Herald, December 10, iQij 
 
 The death of Willia,m Deering cannot but bring back to 
 mind the early da}s of one of America's most important and 
 vital industries. The harvester had its genesis on a northern 
 Illinois farm a^nd reached its highest development in the 
 outskirts of Chicago. Truly a local product in all its 
 aspects, the harvester, containing within itself the power of a 
 real and compelling organism, spread out and conquered the 
 world. 
 
 In this long and victorious process William Deering took 
 his full share. He was active, aggressive. Later on he be-
 
 ii6 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 stowed the rewards of success with due regard to his New 
 England ancestry and his Puritan training. Wide and well- 
 judged gifts to charity and education adorned his latter 
 years. His death removes at once a good citizen and a 
 notable factor in the country's industrial advance. 
 
 Northwestern Christian Advocate, December 77, /p/j 
 
 Mr. William Deering of Evanston, Illinois, founder of the 
 Deering Harvester Company, supporter of every good cause 
 and generous benefactor of Northwestern University and 
 Garrett Biblical Institute, died at his winter home in Cocoa- 
 nut Grove, Florida, on Tuesday night, December ninth, in his 
 eighty-eighth year. 
 
 Mr. Deering came to Evanston in 1874. From the 
 first he identified himself actively with the Church and the 
 Church's educational and philanthropic interests. He 
 became trustee of Northwestern University, of Garrett 
 Biblical Institute, of Wesley Hospital, and of the Chicago 
 Home Missionary and City Church Extension Society, to 
 all of which enterprises he gave liberally, besides giving a 
 service of counsel and direction which no money could buy. 
 
 He was constantly drawn upon for benevolent enterprises 
 of every kind and to every appeal he gave personal considera- 
 tion. . As few men of his position do he followed the objects 
 of his giving with an intelligent and sjmpathetic concern. 
 His affection for the Church was warm and constant. Even 
 in the anxious days when business matters were pressing 
 heavily upon him he found surcease from care in prompt and 
 regular attendance at class and prayer meetings and in the 
 teaching of a large bible class. 
 
 Of religion he had a definite and relishable experience. 
 To this experience he witnessed frankly and modestly. It 
 gave glow and savor to his conversation; it directed his 
 reading and recreation; it determined his manner of living. 
 Mr. Deering was reputed to be rich, but he lived simply and 
 without ostentation, and no employee of his ever worked 
 harder or through longer hours. He dealt justly with every 
 man. In all business relations he was sensitively scrupulous. 
 He was not easily imposed upon, and for any form of 
 equivocation he had swift and terrible wrath. He made
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 117 
 
 friends and kept them; they loved him unselfishly and with 
 the best love they had, for only so could they meet and 
 mate his own utterly frank and sincere nature. 
 
 Mr. Deering was not greatly impressed by the agitation 
 against business "combinations." He believed the agitation 
 to be in great part a method of the politician to acquire 
 political capital. In "combination" he saw only a chance 
 for cheaper production and distribution. Of the inherent 
 right of business men to combine for protection and economy 
 in administration he had not the slightest doubt. 
 
 And if men of Mr. Deering's character and caliber were in 
 the majority in every trust directorate the world might see 
 how helpful such combinations could be. For the inequity, 
 not to say iniquity, of certain kinds of combinations Mr. 
 Deering had only a frank intolerance; but such inequity in 
 his mind was not in "combinations" as such, but in the 
 dishonest administration of them. It is easy to differ from 
 Mr. Deering's view of the business situation; but there can 
 be no question that Mr. Deering held his view in perfect 
 integrity of heart. 
 
 Mr. Deering was well informed in science and theology, 
 for the literature of which he had special fondness. He 
 thought less than well of the modern trend in biblical 
 criticism. He was frank enough, however, to admit that 
 the issue was one for specialists and he had undisturbed 
 faith that the Bible could amply take care of itself. 
 
 Of Mr. Deering's business genius it is not necessary to write 
 here. What the Church feels most is the loss of a sincerely 
 devout disciple of stainless character and exalted gifts, who 
 loved his Master in utter sincerity and truth and who sought 
 earnestly to promote the kingdom of God in its twofold task 
 of bringing men and women into that noblest of fellowships 
 of adoring love and loyalty for the King and of helpful 
 sympathy and devotion for the common good. 
 
 Funeral services were held a,t First Church, Evanston, on 
 Sunday afternoon last. Hundreds of the employees of the 
 harvester company were in attendance, as were also rep- 
 resentatives of the trustees and faculties of Northwestern 
 University and Garrett Biblical Institute, The service was 
 in charge of the pastor, Dr. Timothy P. Frost, assisted by 
 President Stuart of Garrett Biblical Institute. Bishop 
 McDowell made the address.
 
 ii8 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Central Christian Advocate, Kansas City, Missouri, December 
 
 This distinguished Methodist layman and philanthropist 
 died at his winter home in Miami, Florida, December ninth. 
 The date and place of his birth were South Paris, Maine, 
 April 25, 1826. He came of a Puritan family, which was 
 established in America in 1634. 
 
 He commenced life with no other advantages than those 
 enjoyed by thousands of other boys in New England and 
 elsewhere in this country. But he made for himself a name 
 which is as widely known and universally and deservedly 
 honored as is the name of any other Methodist layman. 
 Everywhere for many years his name has been the synonym 
 for rare business skill and enterprise, for an integrity which 
 no breath of envy or suspicion has ever assailed, and for a 
 devout and unswerving loyalty to the principles of the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 His life aptly demonstrated that while there may be no 
 royal road to fortune or to an honorable fame, both of these 
 rewards await the one who promptly recognizes and wisely 
 interprets the opportunities of the business life, and with 
 unflinching integrity and courage prosecutes those plans, 
 which, having previously received the approval both of the 
 conscience and business judgment, are not modified to suit 
 temporary conditions or exigencies. 
 
 Since early childhood Mr. Deering was an earnest and 
 exemplary Christian. Modest and retiring in his disposition, 
 it is said that he, without ostentation or display, imitated 
 the Master, of whom it is recorded that "He went about 
 doing good." 
 
 Although Mr. Deering was a devout member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, his sympathies and benevo- 
 lences were cosmopolitan. Scattered everywhere and in 
 many lands are churches which he has helped to build, 
 hospitals which his generosity has aided, schools or univer- 
 sities which he has helped to establish and endow. Upon 
 Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, his largest and 
 chief benefactions have been bestowed, while Garrett Biblical 
 Institute and Wesley Hospital, Chicago, and other local 
 institutions have been the recipients of large gifts from his 
 generous purse. 
 
 The funeral took place in Evanston, Illinois.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 119 
 
 The Continent, December iS, iqij 
 
 William Deering, one of the nation's noted manufacturers 
 and a stalwart la\man of the Methodist Church, died on the 
 ninth instant at his winter home near Miami, Florida, aged 
 eight}'-seven years. 
 
 A dozen years ago he retired from active work after 
 a life full of varied and useful activities. Northwestern 
 University, Garrett Bihlical Institute, and Wesley Hospital, 
 all in or near Chicago, owe much to his generosity, for he 
 gave to them not only of his wealth but also of his time and 
 exceptional business ability. Up to three years ago his 
 gifts to the university aggregated nearly a million dollars. 
 He built a school for orphans and was a large yearly contribu- 
 tor to home missionary and church extension work. The 
 total of his benevolences is not known. 
 
 Mr. Deering is described as "a good citizen who never 
 sought to become conspicuous," a high grade American of the 
 old school. 
 
 The Epzvorth Herald, December 20, 1Q13 
 
 A ripe old age, a quiet, unostentatious life, a generous 
 heart toward many holy causes — these were the things by 
 which William Deering of Evanston was known to the new 
 generation. 
 
 But the old generation knew him as the business man with 
 a courage that had in it more than a touch of genius, with the 
 vision to perceive and the will to dare when lesser men were 
 all for prudence. That and his relation to some notable in- 
 ventions in reaping machinery made William Deering's for- 
 tune, and set him alongside Cyrus McCormick as one of the 
 American farmer's greatest benefactors. 
 
 And Methodism will remember this captain of industry as 
 a simple-hearted Christian, worshiping God without hypoc- 
 risy and serving his fellows without arrogance. We shall 
 long be beneficiaries of his gifts to education at Northwest- 
 ern University, to evangelism in the Chicago City Mis- 
 sionary Society, and to the ministry of pity in the Lake BlufF 
 Orphanage and elsewhere. 
 
 It has been a quiet satisfaction to Methodism that such 
 men as William Deering, coming to great wealth, have main-
 
 I20 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 tained their Christian faith and their loyalty to the Church 
 which nurtured them and have held their possessions as 
 sincere stewards of the gifts of God. 
 
 Zion's Herald, December 17, iqij 
 
 One of the most princely givers in American Methodism 
 went to his heavenly reward on Tuesdaj^ December ninth, 
 when Mr. William Deering, of Chicago, noted as the million- 
 aire manufacturer of harvesting machinery, died at his 
 country home in Miami, Florida. Mr. Deering had been ill 
 for some time, following upon a paralytic stroke which he 
 suffered several months ago. He was eighty-seven years of 
 
 In his death there is removed from the ranks of Methodism 
 one of her most loyal sons, a man who was interested in every 
 good work, giving liberally to church, to education, and to 
 charity. Mr. Deering came of old Puritan stock. He was 
 born in South Paris, Maine, and held to his dying day a warm 
 place in his heart for the community of his early youth. 
 
 Some years ago he made possible, through one of his gen- 
 erous gifts, the erection of a beautiful structure in that town, 
 which is a gem of church architecture. His largest gifts were 
 bestowed upon Northwestern University and Garrett Biblical 
 Institute, of w^hose boards of trustees he had been president 
 for many years. He also remembered most generously 
 Wesley Hospital in Chicago. 
 
 We are pleased to be able to publish at this time a tender 
 tribute from the pen of Frederick A. Noble, of Evanston, who 
 had known Mr. Deering from his early youth. As the two 
 families lived in neighboring towns in Maine, just a few 
 miles from each other, and were brought frequently into con- 
 tact one with the other, both being loyal Methodists, the 
 fathers learned to esteem and to love each other in the faith, 
 and now out of the fullness and ripeness of their affection, one 
 of the sons pens these lines to the memory of the other: 
 
 An oak, once stately, sinewy and strong, 
 
 Lies prone; the strain of years has taken toll. 
 A man with oaken fiber in his soul — 
 Clear brained and stout of will, averse to wrong, 
 With small desire for merriment and song,
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 121 
 
 But eminent in gifts for wide control — 
 Has heard the call to act in higher role, 
 And vacant now the place he filled so long. 
 He wrought that toil might yield the toiler more; 
 That school and church might cast their beams afar; 
 That life in all might pulse with nobler aim. 
 His character and deeds increased the store 
 Of human gains, and made his name a star 
 To shine with steady light of lasting fame. 
 
 The Christian Advocate, December iS, 191 J 
 
 Willia^n Deering, whose name is indelibly connected with 
 the industrial history of the age in America, died at his winter 
 home, Miami, Florida, December ninth, at the age of eighty- 
 seven years. He w as of sturdy Maine lineage, born at South 
 Paris, Maine, in 1826. 
 
 He was manager of a woolen mill at eighteen, founder of the 
 great textile commission house of Deering, Milliken & Co., 
 first of Portland, Maine, and now of this city, and from 
 1870 a manufacturer of agricultural implements at Piano and 
 Chicago, Illinois. The Deering Harvester Works employed 
 thousands of men and their product reaps the crops of every 
 land on the globe. About ten }ears ago the business was 
 merged in the International Harvester Company. 
 
 His success in business was paralleled by his humanity 
 and justice in dealing with his workmen, who were most 
 loyal, harmonious and contented because of the friendly 
 relations which Mr. Deering maintained with them. 
 
 Mr. Deering's affiliations had been with the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church from early life, and as his means increased 
 he liberally supported its local and world-wide enterprises. 
 At Evanston, Illinois, where he had long resided, he had been 
 the leader of the group of friends who have done so much 
 for Northwestern University and Garrett Biblical Institute. 
 He gave long service on their boards of trustees, holding the 
 most responsible offices and contributing more largely than 
 any other man to their financial strength. 
 
 His benefactions, general and special, in buildings, libra- 
 ries, endowments, have never been publicly listed and prob- 
 ably never will be, but the known gifts amount to several 
 millions of dollars. Mr. Deering was a member of the Gen- 
 eral Conferences of 1892 and 1900.
 
 122 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 The Implement Age, Springfieldy Ohio, December 20, igi^ 
 
 William Deering, of Chicago, one of the founders of the 
 farm machine industry, and for many years one of the 
 largest manufacturers of farm machines the world has ever 
 known, died at his winter home, five miles south of the city 
 of Miami, Florida, on the evening of December ninth. 
 
 Mr. Deering's life was characteristic of so many of the 
 early New Englanders who broke away from their home 
 towns and amassed great fortunes during the tremendous 
 growth of the middle West. At that time it was customary 
 for most well-educated young men to enter one of the learned 
 professions. This was Mr. Deering's early ambition, but 
 his father, who was then president of the South Paris 
 Manufacturing Company, engaged in making woolen cloths, 
 needed his help at that time, and young William gave up 
 medicine and entered commercial life. 
 
 Mr. Deering became a manufacturer and merchant in 
 his native town, dividing his interest between his business 
 and the development of western farm lands, of which he 
 became a large owner. 
 
 At the age of forty-four, about the time that most men 
 are contemplating leaving actual service, William Deering 
 began the work of his life, for which he will probably be re- 
 membered throughout the coming century, and which has 
 made his name one of the best known names throughout 
 the entire world. 
 
 There is practically no country in which agricultural work 
 is carried on that is not familiar with the word "Deering." 
 In 1870, William Deering, the woolen merchant, came 
 from Maine to Chicago with $40,000 to invest in Chicago 
 real estate. Instead of this he met an old friend, a retired 
 Methodist preacher, E. H. Gammon, who with J. D. Easter, 
 as partner, had procured a license to make what is now his- 
 torically known as Marsh harvesters. The Gammon and 
 Easter combination had established a plant at Piano, Illinois, 
 and the year that Mr. Deering came west had sold 1000 
 machines, but owing to the lack of capital, they were 
 unable to expand. Mr. Deering advanced this capital. 
 
 In 1872 he was made a partner in the business, and in 
 1873 he took charge. For five years he manufactured the 
 Marsh harvester, competing with the McCormick Company,
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 123 
 
 which, up to 1879, ^^'3s selling the most up-to-date machine 
 of that period, with the Sidney B. Withington wire binder. 
 
 In 1S78 Mr. Deering saw a twine binder that John F. 
 Appleby, a farm mechanic, had invented. This binder used 
 string instead of wire, and it so impressed Deering that he 
 arranged to majce it. He risked his entire fortune of ap- 
 proximately one million dollars in turning out 3000 of these 
 machines for the harvest of iSSo. Luckily, the binders were 
 a success, and the next year the demand was so great for 
 them that he bought out Gammon's interest, and moved the 
 plant from Piano to Chicago. 
 
 This was the beginning of the present Deering plant. 
 There were only three binder-twine makers in the United 
 States upon whom he could call for twine. The multiple- 
 ply string was so expensive that, although the twine 
 binder had saved the farmers great sums in the cost of 
 cutting their wheat, they protested at buying the twine. 
 Mr. Deering was convinced that a single-strand twine 
 could be made which would not only be cheap, but at the 
 same time do the work better than the twisted strands. 
 
 He approached E. H. Fitler, a famous cordage man, at 
 one time ma\'or of Philadelphia, and gave him such an order 
 that Mr. Fitler boasted to his dying day that he "made 
 a million-dollar deaj with Deering in two minutes." Some 
 years after this Mr. Deering established his own twine 
 mills, and in his eagerness to give the American farmer as 
 cheap a twine as could be made, he spent i^i 5,000 in trying 
 to perfect a grass twine; $35,000 for a paper twine; $43,000 
 on a straw twine, and $165,000 on a flax twine. 
 
 From adoption of the twine binder the Deering plant 
 expanded and grew until atthe formation of the International 
 Harvester Company it was turning out two complete 
 machmes every minute of the working day and thirty miles 
 of twine per minute. During the past ten years it has 
 kept pace with the other plants of the International 
 Harvester Company. Its product is shipped to every corner 
 of the habitable world; its physical properties are the most 
 modern possible, and its efficiency standard is in the foremost 
 rank of industry. 
 
 There are now employed an average of about 9000 
 employees at its works. It covers a land area of eighty acres, 
 and has an annual capacity for turning out 300,000 machines,
 
 124 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 consisting of binders, reapers, mowers, rakes, drills, and corn 
 machines. Its twine mills have capacity to turn out 45,000 
 tons of twine each year. 
 
 In 1901 Mr. Deering retired from active work and 
 devoted his time to other things. His gifts to education and 
 charity, especially to the Northwestern University, the 
 Garrett Biblical Institute, of whose boards of trustees for 
 many years he was president, and the Wesley Hospital of 
 Chicago, were large. He has constantly contributed to 
 help in the erection of churches and met appeals that came 
 from all sections of the country. 
 
 One of the best appreciations of Mr. Deering's work is 
 found in a book recently written by Edwin L. Barker, entitled 
 "Creeds of Great Business Men." Mr. Deering is included 
 in this work, and here are Mr. Barker's apprecative words 
 of him: 
 
 "William Deering did his greatest work after he thought he 
 had retired from business. It is the way of life — to aim 
 at one thing and hit something else. Columbus did it when 
 he discovered America; Daguerre went forth to sketch the 
 landscape, and came home lugging photography; Bell was 
 working to make the deaf hear when he produced the tele- 
 phone. 
 
 "Mr. Deering was a New England woolen manufacturer. 
 He was born in Maine, and there he lived and worked 'in 
 wool,' as we say in trade, for near on to fifty years. First, 
 he made woolen goods, and then, to better sell them, he 
 opened stores in various parts of the country. Later, to 
 form a complete line and to better serve the public and 
 himself, he added cotton fabrics. 
 
 "Then it was that he decided to retire. He figured that 
 he had made money enough. He had yet to learn that men 
 who can aflTord to retire seldom do. The ceaseless urge that 
 puts us at the top generally holds us there. The clang of 
 business keeps most men in harness to the end. They are 
 like conductors, who take vacations and then spend the 
 time in riding up and down the road with other conductors. 
 
 "After he thought he had retired, Mr. Deering went west 
 to see the sights. There he remained to build sights for 
 others to see. He took up the work started by McCormick, 
 and added the finishing touch, as it were. 
 
 "It all happened in a very simple way. At Chicago, Mr.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 125 
 
 Deering met an old friend, E. H. Gammon, who was buildinj; 
 Marsh harvesters. C. W. Marsh, of Dekalb, Illinois, invented 
 his harvester to relieve the stoop and strain of followinj^ the 
 reaper and binding the sheaves. Again the aim was good, 
 but the Marsh harvester did more than the inventor had 
 planned for it. It suggested the self-binder. 
 
 "Gammon needed money, so Deering accommodated him. 
 When the note fell due, Deering was persuaded to invest the 
 amount in stock. Later he was asked to help out in the 
 management of the business, and before he knew it he was 
 doing a work which was to carry him to leadership in the 
 harvesting machine industry. 
 
 "Mr. Deering looked ahead. Looking ahead was one of 
 the things he did best. In the distance he saw the approach 
 of the self-binder. At first wire was tried, but it failed. 
 Then came John F. Appleby with a binding attachment 
 which would tie twine. Mr. Deering decided to use twine 
 in the three thousand binders which he had made for the 
 harvest of 1880. 
 
 "But where was he to get the twine? He went from rope- 
 maker to twinemaker, and from twinemaker to ropemaker. 
 They could not see that one day the making of binder twine 
 would be a great industry; that more than 150,000 tons 
 would be used to tie the annual grain crops of the world. 
 
 "Let it here be set down that the knowledge we gain in one 
 line often helps us to succeed in an entirely different line. 
 Mr. Deering remembered his wool-spinning experience. 
 So, after much work, and with an enduring faith in human 
 ingenuity, he finally succeeded in producing the first hard- 
 fiber binder twine ever used. Since that day harvesting 
 has been done more easily and quickly, and so wheat crops 
 have grown better and larger. 
 
 "Again Mr. Deering looked ahead. He saw that if the 
 machines were to do their best work the manufacturer 
 of binders must be the manufacturer of the twine used in 
 the binders. To-day we know that this business man did 
 not look ahead in vain. 
 
 "He and the experts he employed studied improvements. 
 No man ever knew the law of competition better than Wil- 
 liam Deering. And what is the law of competition.'' It is 
 this: Make your goods a little better to-day, or your com- 
 petitor will overtake you to-morrow."
 
 126 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Farm Machinery, December j6, IQ13 
 
 Mr. Deering was not an inventor himself, nor was he even 
 a mechanic, but he was probably the greatest patron of 
 inventors the world has ever known. It has been reckoned 
 that he spent over two million dollars during his period of 
 active business life in improving and designing farm ma- 
 chines. The tradition is that he kept one man on a salary 
 for twenty years until he perfected what is now the Deering 
 corn picker. 
 
 Mr. Deering's watchword in his business administration 
 was "system and centralization;" in the manufacturing 
 end his slogan was "perfection in every detail." So 
 successful was he that his name became a byword, not only 
 in the United States and Canada, but in every part of 
 the world, for harvesting machines which could withstand 
 the strain and stress of years of operation. Even now, a 
 decade after his retirement from business, accounts are 
 still being received of how Deering binders and mowers are 
 working after thirty years of service. 
 
 Farm Implement News, Chicago, Illinois, December ii, IQ13 
 
 At the ripe age of eighty-seven William Deering, founder 
 of the great Deering harvester industry, now a part of the 
 International Harvester Company, passed away December 
 ninth. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Deering became interested with E. H. Gam- 
 mon in the manufacture and sale of Marsh harvesters. 
 
 The manufacture of harvesters continued under the com- 
 bination with some changes until the fall of 1875, when 
 Gammon & Deering purchased all the other interests in these 
 shops and became the sole owners of the institution. The 
 business had greatly increased; the Marsh harvester had 
 won a front place among grain-cutting machines; other 
 manufacturers, one by one, had fallen into line, and harves- 
 ters, as a class, had taken precedence over reapers in the great 
 grain-growing sections of the country. 
 
 During this period also the first successful steps were taken 
 toward the introduction of automatic binders. Inventors 
 many years before had succeeded in making the twist and in 
 tying the knot, but practical delivery to and from the
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 127 
 
 binder had not been obtained until the Marsh harvester 
 showed the way. The Gordon brothers, Locke, Withington, 
 Gorham, Appleby, Holmes, and others revived old devices 
 and invented new, applying them to this harvester with vary- 
 ing but progressive success, until even at that time (1875) 
 several wire binders had been sufficiently perfected to be put 
 upon the market as "attachments" to harvesters; and two 
 or three twine binders were making annual strides toward 
 practical operation. 
 
 Although the trade in harvesters continued good, Mr. 
 Deering, with prescient eye, watched all these movements. 
 Gammon & Deering were among the first to test the market 
 with binders, having already put out Gordon wire binders; 
 and during the years immediately following 1875 they made 
 and sold large numbers. At the close of 1877 occurred the 
 failure of J. D. Easter & Co., whose creditors, in the settle- 
 ment of their affairs, turned the territory they had supplied 
 with Marsh harvesters over to Gammon & Deering. The 
 latter firm then became the principal owner of the Marsh 
 harvester interests and the leader in the trade. 
 
 Mr. Deering had been closely watching Appleby's efforts 
 and progress with his twine binder, and believing that twine 
 would supersede wire as material for binding — providing the 
 knotting devices could be made practically operative — he 
 interested himself in Appleby. Gammon & Deering in 1879 
 built and put out a considerable number of these twine 
 binders, which operated successfully. In the fall of that year 
 the firm dissolved partnership, Mr. Gammon retiring. 
 
 The year 1880 was a memorable one in the annals of the 
 harvesting machine business. The old hand binding harves- 
 ter had been pushed from its place in the market by the child 
 of its adoption, the automatic binder, several stales of 
 which, binding with wire, were being built and successfully 
 put upon the market to supply a large and growing demand. 
 
 Mr. Deering was now the sole representative of the vast 
 interests of the old concern, and he was making two bold 
 movements: he was building new shops in Chicago and re- 
 moving his works thereto from Piano, and he was preparing 
 to make a charge directly upon the center of the opposing 
 wire binder hosts. The position was dangerous and re(|uired 
 a leaderof judgment, nerve, great executive ability, and force 
 of character. These attributes Mr. Deering possessed.
 
 128 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 The year 1880 was indeed a memorable one; his Appleby 
 binders, of which 3000 were made and sold that year, swept 
 everything before them. The harvest of that year was a 
 Waterloo defeat for the wire binders, and immediately there- 
 after practically all harvester manufacturers rushed for cover 
 under the Appleby patents. Mr. Deering won a complete 
 victory; he established twine binding machines as the grain 
 harvesters of the time and of the future, and himself as the 
 acknowledged leader in the movement. 
 
 Mr. Deering was not satisfied with the work of the only 
 twine the market then afforded. He conceived the idea of a 
 single strand twine made from manila fiber, and induced 
 Edwin H. Fitler, a Philadelphia cordage manufacturer, to 
 make a quantity of such twine at Mr. Deering's risk. How 
 well this and twine made from other hard fibers have met the 
 requirements is well known. 
 
 From 1880 and onward Mr. Deering's progress was steadily 
 and sweepingly upward. The shops were enlarged year after 
 year, and new departments added until the plant became 
 one of the largest and most complete institutions of the kind 
 in this or any other country. In 1883 Mr. Deering had the 
 business incorporated under the title Wm. Deering & Co., 
 and subsequently the name Deering Harvester Company was 
 adopted. At the time Mr. Deering retired the company 
 employed about 9000 operatives at its Chicago plant, to say 
 nothing of the army of general agents, traveling salesmen 
 and other employees connected with its branch houses scat- 
 tered all over the world. 
 
 Mr. Deering came into the harvester business later than 
 most of his competitors, and without any former training as a 
 manufacturer of agricultural implements; consequently his 
 success, by which in comparatively a few years he became a 
 leader in a line of business requiring special aptitude, experi- 
 ence, and good management, was remarkable. But his father 
 was a mechanic and his early interests and associations were 
 such as to form his mind for this great work. He had mani- 
 fested unusual capacity to make combinations and manage 
 large enterprises successfully before he engaged in the manu- 
 facture of harvesters, and his successful career as a business 
 man after all was simply the result of the prompt application 
 of energy, good judgment, and strong will to good opportu- 
 nities.
 
 William Deennfj, in the summi^fPTSBIlIFhis death, 
 
 with his son, his grandd ul-Iui r. and 
 
 his great granusua
 
 128 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 The year 1880 was indeed a memorable one; his Appleby 
 binders, of which 3000 were madt and sold that year, swept 
 everything before them. The harvest of that year was a 
 Waterloo defeat for the wire binders, and immediately there- 
 after practically all harvester manufacturers rushed for cover 
 under the Appleby patents. Mr. Deering won a complete 
 victory; he established twine binding machines as the grain 
 harvesters of the time and of the future, and himself as the 
 acknowledged leader in the movement. 
 
 Mr. Deering was not satisfied with the work of the only 
 twine the market then afforded. He conceived the idea of a 
 single strand twine made from manila fiber, and induced 
 Edwin H. Fitler, a Philadelphia cordage manufacturer, to 
 make a quantity of such twine at Mr. Deering's risk. How 
 well this and twine made from other hard fibers have met the 
 requirements is well known. 
 
 From 1880 and onward Ml '' as steadily 
 
 and sweepinglv. upward. Tl .;|i;ear after 
 
 year, aiVS^Iv^'4l??f#ftiief[W'^t.? nSnt became 
 
 one of the largfeflfe ^twilgii:rfibcai8i ' ■'iiUs of the kind 
 
 in this or any other ^oj^^ytf^^iuVr • L)eering had the 
 
 business incorporated unoer V.\l ., . .n. Deering & Co., 
 and subsequently the name Deering Harvester Company was 
 adopted. At the time Mr. Deering retired the company 
 employed about 9000 operatives at its Chicago plant, to say 
 nothing of the army of general agents, traveling salesmen 
 and other employees connected with its branch houses scat- 
 tered all over the world. 
 
 Mr. Deering came into the harvester business later than 
 most of his competitors, and without any former training as a 
 manufacturer of agricultural implements; consequently his 
 success, by which in comparatively a few years he became a 
 leader in a line of business requiring special aptitude, experi- 
 ence, and good management, was remarkable. But his father 
 was a mechanic and his early interests and associations were 
 such as to form his mind for this great work. He had mani- 
 fested unusual capacity combinations and manage 
 large enterprises successi ore he engaged in the manu- 
 facture of harvesters, and his successful career as a business 
 man after all was simply the result of the prompt application 
 of energy, good judgment, and strong will to good opportu- 
 nities.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 129 
 
 During his residence in Maine, Mr. Dcering, without heing 
 a politician, took an active part and interest in charitable and 
 public affairs, occupying several unsought positions under 
 the government of the state and also of the city of Portland. 
 After coming to Illinois his business cares and perhaps also 
 his inclination prevented him from giving much personal 
 attention to political matters, except such as his duties as a 
 citizen enjoined. He was largely interested in church, 
 educational, and charitable objects, to all of which he gave 
 generously of his time and means. 
 
 Portland {Me.) Evening Express and Daily Advertiser^ 
 December 10, 1913 
 
 Miami, Fla., Dec. 10. — William Deering, founder of the 
 Deering Harvester Company, who for some time has been 
 ill here, died at a late hour last night. Members of his im- 
 mediate family were with him at the time of his death. 
 
 It was in 1865 that Mr. Deering, with Seth Milliken, formed 
 in this city the firm of Deering, Milliken & Co., which be- 
 came one of the largest dry-goods commission houses in the 
 country. On the site at the corner of Middle and Market 
 streets, a few years ago the scene of one of Portland's most 
 disastrous fires, the new firm commenced business in August, 
 1865, as successors to Storer, Cutler & Co. The following 
 year the firm sufl^ered by the big fire of July 4, 1866, which 
 swept their young establishment away. 
 
 Undaunted by the discouraging experience, the new firm 
 found quarters for the succeeding nine months at the corner 
 of Commercial and Franklin streets. These were less com- 
 modious warerooms, but this proved no barrier to the exten- 
 sion of the firm's trade, which kept steadily increasing so that 
 when they returned to their original site, on which a commo- 
 dious building had been erected, in this respect the young 
 merchants were ready to meet the demands which the in- 
 creased trade was making upon them. 
 
 Mr. Deering retired from the firm in 1S69, and the fol- 
 lowing \ear he went to Chicago, engaging in the sale of farm 
 machinery.
 
 130 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 Among the benefactions of Mr. Deering was a generous 
 contribution to the Methodist Episcopal Church in South 
 Paris, where the last session of the Maine Conference was 
 held last April. As the result of his gift a fine stone church 
 edifice was built, this being named the Deering Memorial 
 Church, in memory of Mr. Deering's father. 
 
 The Custer County Chief, Broken Bozv, Nebraska, December 
 
 26, 1913 
 
 The death of William Deering, which occurred in Miami, 
 Florida, a few days ago, removes one of the nation's great 
 financiers and a man who has no doubt done more to 
 develop and perfect the grain harvester than any other one 
 man. 
 
 It will be of interest to the readers of the Chief to know 
 that Mr. L. H. Jewett, of the Security State Bank, of this 
 city, commenced his business career in the office of William 
 Deering. 
 
 Mr. Jewett spoke of William Deering as a man of great 
 foresight. "He seemed to have a clear conception of the 
 future possibilities of the development of this country. 
 At the time I occupied the position of cashier, Mr. Deer- 
 ing was worth probably ten millions of dollars, and at the 
 time of his death his fortune had reached much larger 
 figures. 
 
 "I recall an instance where he left the city on the day previ- 
 ous to pay day. He had forgotten to arrange his money 
 matters so I could draw seventy-five thousand dollars and 
 pay the help. Mr. Deering discovered the oversight while 
 on the train in the middle of the night, and he got out of the 
 sleeping berth and at the next station took another train 
 back to Chicago that the men should not be disappointed on 
 pay day. 
 
 "Mr. Deering always gave for charitable purposes when he 
 was sure that the cause was a worthy one. It was my duty, 
 during the greater portion of my association with him, to 
 guard his door, my desk being in the room adjoining his, and 
 those who reached him had to first pass me. Mr. Deering 
 was a great Methodist, but notwithstanding this fact he left 
 standing orders that Sisters of Charity should always enter 
 his room unannounced. I recall asking him one day why it
 
 WILLIAM DEERIXG 131 
 
 was that he, being a Methodist, made a rule to always give 
 to the Sisters, and he told me that in contributing to them 
 he was sure that the money would be well expended. It will 
 thus be seen that he injected business judgment into his 
 charity work. 
 
 "I recall that at one time fire wiped out a portion of the new 
 factory and the entire north side fire department was called 
 out. It was a bitter cold night, and by the time the flames 
 were extinguished the firemen were encased in mud and ice. 
 Mr. Deering was a very temperate man, but on this occasion 
 he seemed at once to realize what was the proper thing to do, 
 and he instructed me to see that no firemen paid for anything 
 that was purchased over the bars of the saloons in that part 
 of the city during that night. He requested, however, that 
 refreshments be served with coflf^ee instead of intoxicating 
 liquors, and his suggestion was gracefully accepted by both 
 saloon-keepers and firemen. 
 
 "The fire occurred the very night that the firemen received 
 their monthly pay, and during the progress of the fire one 
 of the firemen lost his money, amounting to seventy dollars. 
 Mr. Deering heard of this and replaced the amount, and also 
 instructed me to draw a check to be turned into the fire- 
 men's relief fund. 
 
 "In 1 88 1, during the terrible smallpox siege in Chicago, Mr. 
 Deering provided a hospital for those in his employ who got 
 the disease. He stood the funeral expenses of those who died 
 and provided for the families of those of his men who suc- 
 cumbed to the disease. 
 
 "It was while I was with Mr. Deering that Mr. Appleby 
 was perfecting the twine binder. He was given a corner 
 in one of the factory rooms to work on his new invention. 
 
 "When Mr. Appleby completed his invention, Mr. Deering 
 arranged with him to secure full control of the patent. Mr. 
 Gammon, who was then a partner of Deering, objected 
 to this deal; and, owing to the delay occasioned thereby, 
 Appleby secured other offers. Later on, Mr. Deering 
 was able to secure only a shop right. This transaction 
 has since impressed me with the wonderful foresight of 
 William Deering. It was, no doubt, Mr. Gammon's ob- 
 jection to the consummation of this deal that finally led 
 to the dissolution of partnership, which followed shortly 
 after.
 
 132 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 "It is not to be wondered at that, after my years of intimate 
 association with William Deering, I was deeply touched when 
 I learned of his death." 
 
 Portland {Me.) Argus, December 12, 1913 
 
 Of the late William Deering, founder of the Deering Har- 
 vester Company and one of the founders of the International 
 Harvester Company, the New York World says: 
 
 "Tothenameof Deering, as to that of McCormick,mustbe 
 assigned a conspicuous place in the development of the 
 United States as a wheat-growing country. Without the 
 self-binder it is difficult to imagine how the western harvests 
 could ever have been gathered. 
 
 "It was the machine that solved the problem of labor on the 
 prairies, where the supply was certain to be always short at 
 the critical season of the year. It was the machine that made 
 it possible for the farmer to sow more acres and to reap larger 
 crops than he could ever have harvested otherwise. In his 
 hands it was the key to prosperity. How much it has con- 
 tributed to the wealth of the nation is not to be calculated, 
 nor in what measure it has helped in the feeding of the world." 
 
 Among the sons of Maine who have added to the wealth 
 and welfare, material or intellectual, of the country, the name 
 of William Deering will hold a conspicuous place. 
 
 Racine {Wis.) Call, December ij, 1913 
 
 The death and burial of William Deering this week recalls 
 to all older men and women the early days in the history of 
 American farming. Fifty years ago many farmers in Wis- 
 consin were reaping large areas of wheat with the sickle, 
 wielded by their own hands. What an advance when the 
 sickle was made to move back and forth by machinery, and 
 man was saved many a weary day's work with the rude hand 
 tool ! 
 
 But the old hand-raking machine! Who does not imagine 
 what it means to bend over an upright post and almost 
 at arm's length remove the bundle from the platform? 
 Then came the self-raker, in one case a sort of endless chain 
 which carried a set of forks so arranged that they gathered 
 the straw into bundles and threw them to the ground. But
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 133 
 
 that was too primitive for American ingenuit}-, and now we 
 are taken to the harvest field when we want to see some of the 
 crowning achievements of the human brain. 
 
 But Mr. Deering was something more than a wide-awake 
 manufacturer of farm machinery. He loved his fellow-men 
 and saw to it that while alive others shared with him the 
 profits of his hand and brain. It is a good record connected 
 with the name of Deering. 
 
 The Economist, Chicago, Illinois, December ij, igij 
 
 In the death of William Deering this city and vicinity 
 loses one of the most prominent and most highly respected 
 citizens. His life began April 25, 1826, and he came of Puri- 
 tan stock. He was a native of Maine, and, coming west, 
 acquired his great fortune and his standing as a citizen by 
 intelligent and persistent labor in his chosen line, which was 
 the manufacture of agricultural implements. In that de- 
 partment of industry he was one of the two or three famous 
 men in the world. He was a man of large charities and all- 
 around usefulness. In recent years he has been in retire- 
 ment. The business of which he was the head passed into 
 the International Harvester Company in 1902. 
 
 St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, December 11, iqij 
 
 William Deering, the multimillionaire ha,rvester manu- 
 facturer who died at Miami, Florida, Tuesday night, left 
 property in Minnesota. 
 
 Mr. Deering owned the fee title to the Security National 
 Bank building in Minneapolis at Second Avenue South and 
 Fourth Street. He also held a mortgage on the Radisson 
 Hotel in Minneapolis, and was possessed of considerable 
 other property in that city and throughout the state. 
 
 "Mr. Deering was the type of a man who did not wish to 
 evade taxes," said a prominent man yesterday. "The man- 
 ager of his property in Minneapolis told me that when the 
 Security Bank building was constructed he was advised to 
 form a corporation and transfer the title to it in order to 
 relieve the estate of the inheritance tax upon his death. He 
 refused to do this, saying that he had made much of his 
 money in Minnesota and did not object to leaving some of it 
 here on his death."
 
 134 WILLIAM DEERING 
 
 London Times 
 
 A Reuter telegram from Chicago announces the death of 
 Mr. William Deering, the founder of the harvester business. 
 
 Mr. Deering, who was born in 1826, was for a time en- 
 gaged in the wholesale dry-goods business at Portland, 
 Maine, but in 1870 he entered the business established for 
 the manufacture of the Marsh harvester and greatly extended 
 it by new patents and the use of improved manufacturing 
 methods. The business was removed from Piano, Illinois, 
 to Chicago in 1880, and was ultimately merged in the Inter- 
 national Harvesting Company. Mr. Deering retired from 
 active business in 1901. 
 
 Le Figaro, Dimanche, 14 December 191 3 
 
 Nous apprenons la mort de Mr. William Deering, de 
 Chicago, decede dans sa propriete d'hiver dans la Florida. 
 
 Mr^ Deering est une des plus grandes figures industrielles 
 des Etats-Unis. Fondateur de la celebre industrie des 
 machines agricoles qui porte son nom, il fut avec son contem- 
 porain Cyrus McCormick, un des plus puissants facteurs 
 du formidable developpement agricole de son pays. 
 
 La fusion des grands fabricants americains avait donne 
 naissance a la "International Harvester Company," c'est- 
 a-dire la plus considerable agglomeration d'usines de ma- 
 chines agricoles au monde et dont les etablissements indus- 
 triels, en dehors des Etats-Unis, comprennent ceux du Can- 
 ada, de la France, de I'Allemagne, de la Russie, etc., etc. 
 C'etait la derniere grande oeuvre a laquelle William Deering 
 fut associe. La severite de sa vie, autant que sa bonte fut 
 proverbiale. Mr. William Deering etait officier de la Le- 
 gion d'honneur. 
 
 Melbourne {Australia) Herald, December 12, 1913 
 
 The Times to-day reports the death of Mr. William 
 Deering, founder of the harvester business, at the age of 
 eighty-seven. Death occurred in Florida. Mr. Deering as 
 a youth was engaged in a woolen mill, a;nd later in the dry- 
 goods business. He established his harvester works at Piano, 
 Illinois, in 1873. H^ was president of the Deering Harvester 
 Company and of William Deering & Co., and a director of 
 the International Harvester Company.
 
 WILLIAM DEERING 135 
 
 Scientific Americariy December 20, igij 
 
 In the death of William Deering, one of the founders of the 
 International Harvester Company and himself long the 
 head of the Deering Harvester Compan\-, the American 
 machinery industry loses one of its most conspicuous figures. 
 
 Originally a dry-goods manufacturer and merchant, 
 Mr. Deering eventually migrated to Chicago, where in 1870 
 he met E. H. Gammon, who had bought the rights to manu- 
 facture a harvester. Three years later Mr. Deering became 
 the active head of the enterprise. Gammon told Deering 
 that a machine was needed which would bind sheaves of 
 wheat as they were cut. Deering began work upon this, and 
 with J. F. Appleby produced the binder that is still in use. 
 
 Deering is one of the men to whom America should be 
 grateful for his achievements. It was his self-binder that 
 made it really possible to harvest wheat without the aid 
 of much manual labor and that places the name of Deering 
 beside that of McCormick. How much the Deering binder 
 has contributed to our agricultural prosperity no one can 
 even guess.