Iowa farmer still owns two of the first John Deere plows ever made; the plows 'forever changed agriculture and America'

The plows are almost 200 years old.
(Photo by Sam Shaff via The Daily Scoop)

 

A tale of two plows begins in Germany, travels to Wisconsin territory, and ends in Sam Shaff's "unassuming garage" in rural Iowa," reports Chris Bennett for The Daily Scoop. "Twin grails that changed U.S. history — a pair of steel, moldboard plows crafted in the flesh by the hands of John Deere and bought directly from the American titan’s Illinois shop in 1839 and 1840 . . . . Purchased by Shaff’s great-great grandfather, Heman Shaff, the 1839 specimen was the first Deere plow on Iowa farmland, and possibly the first to break dirt on the far side of the Mississippi River during America’s westward expansion."

Shaff told Bennett, “My family bought the plows directly from John Deere, and the accounts I was told all said that Deere was an extremely busy, but very nice gentleman. The first plow cost $24, and all the neighbors wanted a turn to use it.”

Bennett writes, "On 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans in eastern Iowa’s Clinton County, a stone’s throw from the Mississippi River outside Camanche, the oldest continuous farm in Iowa is overseen by seventh-generation producer Sam Shaff. Shaff told him, “Like with a lot of people, my family history gets richer the older I get.” 

The "intrepid" Sam Shaff and his wife, Mary
(Shaff Family Farm photo via Daily Scoop)

"In 1732, the year of George Washington’s birth, the Shaff family departed Germany for colonial shores. . . beckoned by westward opportunity, 19-year-old Heman Shaff loaded his widowed mother, two sisters, and a younger brother into two covered wagons — generally bound for the vast, five-state expanse of Wisconsin Territory, but specifically zeroed on what would become the state of Iowa," Bennett writes. "In 1838, Heman moved the Shaff family across the Mississippi River and broke virgin soil on 240 acres of Camanche dirt. . . . Heman heard accounts of a plow wonder made by an innovative blacksmith — Mr. John Deere."

In 1836, financially strapped Deere moved from Vermont to Illinois and set up a blacksmith business in northwest Illinois’ Grand Detour. Bennett reports, "In 1837, inside a 26’-by-31’ shop on the Rock River, Deere solved the plow riddle. His solution? Sleek, polished steel. . . . Deere built a self-scouring steel plow — an answer to the drag of cast iron and sticky prairie soils of the Midwest. . . .In 1837, he produced a single steel plow. In 1838, he made two plows. . . . In 1839, he quintupled production to 10 plows. And that same year — 1839 — Heman Shaff crossed the Mississippi River, rode 60 miles, and knocked on Deere’s door, anxious to buy one of 10 magical moldboards."

Sam Shaff is a seventh-generation producer.
(Shaff Family Farm photo via Daily Scoop)

“Heman went all the way to Grand Detour and bought the plow personally from Deere," Shaff told Bennett. "Loaded onto his wagon, Heman returned to Camanche with the first Deere steel moldboard used on Iowa farmland—and possibly the first Deere steel plow used west of the Mississippi River. . . . The neighbors couldn’t get over how well it worked, and they borrowed it at night, literally plowing by lantern light. It worked so well that Heman went back to Deere’s shop in Grand Detour in 1840 and bought another. . . I have the oldest farm in Iowa. . . . I’m protecting two of Deere’s plows—personally made by him and personally sold by him almost 200 years ago.” Bennett adds, "Simply, Shaff owns steel that forever changed agriculture and America."