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The Moline Plow Company Building was designed and built by Kansas City Architect Asa Beebe Cross in 19o2. The building operated under the John Deere Company until the early 4o’s, when it was sold to the Sears Roebuck Company to be used as a warehouse for local and regional distribution. Just following the sale to the Sears Roebuck Company, the Building was annexed and leased by the U.S. Army in April 1943 as a temporary Midwest headquarters; following the evacuation of their bivouac in Penn Valley Park, and the resale of their headquarters at the Midwest Hotel at 1925 Main Street back to the original Owner, Mrs. Stella Parke. After the War, the Moline Building was re-annexed by the Sears Roebuck Company and remained in their possession until the 197o’s or 8o’s. No information was received by the Kansas City Office of Deeds on the Purchaser or a purchase price for the building. It is their speculation that the building sat empty for some time, and was transferred in a large Land Trade sale in the 198o’s. The building has remained a light use storage facility since that date. In 1858, Asa Cross relocated to Kansas City where he opened A.B. Cross & Co., a lumberyard, in partnership with George Rippey. Cross gradually shifted his business emphasis from lumber sales to building as an architect and contractor. He was joined in business by his stepson, William E. Taylor, Jr. who specialized in railroad construction. The collection at the UMKC archives includes account books for the Cross lumber yard, correspondence from family members, and a volume of business related letters pertaining to the career of William E. Taylor, Jr. Photographs include portraits of the Cross family and friends. Also included are papers relating to Cross family members and to the descendants of A.B. Cross through Catherine Cross Barnes, including her son, Alfred E. Barnes, Jr., who became a partner in the architectural firm of Hoit, Price, and Barnes, which built a number of prominent Kansas City buildings. Of note are diaries kept by Kate Cross before her marriage detailing daily activities of the Cross family and incidents in the Kansas City area. Kate Cross also maintained clipping books related to Cross and Taylor architectural projects, as well as more personal items. ca. 1855-1940. Asa Beebe Cross designed and executed construction of the Court House, Gillis Opera House, Coates Block, Insurance Exchange, James Block, Huilling Block, Times Building, Moline Plow Works Building, Union Depot, Keith & Perry Building, and the building of the National Bank of Commerce, considered the finest in its architecture, both externally and internally, in Kansas City. The Moline Plow Company Building was completed after his death in 1897. The making of Moline and the battle for branding With his decision to relocate his budding plow business here in 1847, John Deere can certainly take credit for putting Moline, Illinois, on the map
In fact, his famed invention would earn Moline the nickname of "Plow City," which it celebrated proudly in its centennial year of 1948. What's in a name? With farmers in the Midwest, John Deere’s designs quickly became known as "Moline plows." However, a challenging hometown competitor sought to take advantage of that fact by confusing customers with a similar name and product —Ýanother Moline Plow. It started in 1866 with a catalog from Candee, Swan & Company that practically mirrored Deere’s own, duplicating the product line almost model for model. Even prices and model numbers were identical! And perhaps, worst of all, Candee & Swan copied the Deere trademark logo almost to the letter.
It didn’t take long for this confusion to cause concerns with farmers and dealers in the field. Deere alleged that Candee & Swan dealers were deceptively marketing the products using Deere’s solid reputation. Deere considered the Candee & Swan plows an "inferior imitation" and did his best to spread the word about the counterfeit company in advertising. However, this did not seem to be enough, as Deere took Candee, Swan & Co. to court in 1867. It was a landmark case in trademarks for the fact that it set the precedent whether or not a company could claim "ownership" of a town’s name after advertising it heavily. To add insult to injury, one of John Deere’s former employees had been fired and went to work for Candee & Swan. Andrew Friberg became a pawn in the fierce fight between the two companies. Oddly enough, Candee, Swan & Company was experiencing severe financial difficulties at this time. In mid-1868, the company was bought out and renamed "The Moline Plow Company." Because of the similar names of the two companies, even mail was delivered erroneously between them both! The case concluded in November 1869 with a sweeping victory for Deere & Company. The defendants were "forever restrained and enjoined" from calling themselves "The Moline Plow Co." and were not to infringe on the trademark, model names, or product line of Deere. Unfortunately, the case was appealed to the Illinois State Supreme Court in 1871 and the initial decision reversed, causing Deere a temporary setback and giving The Moline Plow Company a big boost on its way to becoming a major manufacturer. This acclaimed enemy would drag Deere down again during a prolonged bid process in 1889 from a British syndicate who wanted to buy Deere & Company, Deere & Mansur, and the Moline Plow Company. Eventually, the deal fell through, but not before Charles Deere himself ended up owning shares of his competitor’s stock. Later, Deere would compete with his rivals in plow (Flying Dutchman) and tractor (Moline Universal) manufacturing as well. Employees also switched sides, leading to multiple clashes in court over design patents, branch battles, slanderous attacks, and such. As it turns out, Deere seriously considered buying the Moline Plow Company’s tractor plant in 1924, but it was sold to the International Harvester Company instead. The Moline Plow Co. was then renamed the Moline Implement Company, which eventually consolidated into the Minneapolis-Moline business. Next week, The Green Girl takes a break from the Related Companies series to hype her upcoming book, John Deere Collectibles. Plus, The Green Girl will be returning from Italy with a full report of any Deere sightings abroad!
1904 Plow trials: Regulations which governed the plow trial held at the Missouri Agricultural College were as follows:
Plows were entered in the following classes, according to their construction: Sulky Plows, Sulky Attachments, Walking Plows, Gang Plows, Reversible Plows, Subsoil Plows, Prairie Breakers and Sod Plows. The Committee of Arrangements consisted of G.C. Swallow, Dean of Agricultural College, J.P. McAffee, Master of Boone Grange, W.L. Victor, W.T. Hickman, S.B. Spence, from Boone Grange, and J.G. Potts, J.L. Sterne, J.C. Gillaspy from the Boone County Agricultural and Mechanical Association. First Place Prizes were awarded to: Sulky Plows in Bluegrass Sod: Starling, Princeton Manufacturing Co., Princeton, Ill. Prairie Breakers in Bluegrass Sod: Evans, Moline Plow Co., Kansas City, Mo. Walking Plows in Bluegrass Sod: Speer Walking Plow, A. Speer and Son, Pittsburg Pa. Sulky Plows in Old Bottom Soil: Hughes, Hughes Plow Co., St. Louis Mo. Sulky Attachments in Old Bottom Soil: Slusser, L. Yinger, St. Louis Mo. Walking Plows in Old Bottom Soil: Moline Walking Plow, Moline Plow Co., Kansas City, Mo. Reversible Plows in Old Bottom Soil: Hillside Plow, Laur and Hartman, Louisville, Ky. Gang Plows in Old Bottom Soil: Gang Plow, B.F. Avery and Sons, Louisville, Ky. The Dynamometer tests were judged on draft per square inch of furrow section, area of section of furrow, draft in pounds, depth and width of furrows, and width of plow. On the Monday succeeding the plow trial, May 21st, there was an interesting trial of cultivators in the bottom cornfield on the Agricultural Farm. The Evans sulky prairie breaker was a dandy. It was a fourteen inch walking plow that could be pulled by two horses.
He [Asa Cross] designed and executed construction of the Court House, Gillis Opera House, Coates Block, Insurance Exchange, James Block, Huilling Block, Times Building, Moline Plow Works Building, Union Depot, Keith & Perry Building, and the building of the National Bank of Commerce, considered the finest in its architecture, both externally and internally, here." |
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