Omaha daily bee., 1884-05-16
THE END OF A NOBLE LIFE.
Death OF Cyrus Ii. McCormlck-Brie
sketch ofthe Career of One of
the Worlds Benefactors.
Chicago Herald.

A good man and true was at rest yes.
terday when Cyrus FL. Mccormick closed
his eyes in the sleep of death. 1t was
the end of a life of the highest order of
human nobility-a king who never wore
a crown. In the death of the man Amer.
lea loses a grandly representative citizen.
Plain, u~npretending man as he was, ho
had been the guest of emperors and
kings and had been named chevalier of
the imperial order of the Legion of Honor.
His were the victories OF peace. To his
fertile brain the world is indebted for one
of the most valuable of labor.saving
inventions. To his industry, gener-
oslty and enterprise, Chicago owes
a debt which money is powerless
to liquidate. To his ernest adherence to
his convictions, grounded in the relig-
ious faith of his forefathers, a great de-
nomination is indebted for timely and
constant practical assistance. In his ex-
ample and teachings the members of the
political party to which he gave his ad-
herence may find help and inspiration.
Mr.. Mccormick had been an invalid for
some time. During the past year he had
not been able to leave his room, but
though physically powerless to meet the
demands of active business connections
he had full possession of his mental pow
ers until a short time before his decease,
which occurred at z o'clock yesterday
morning. He died in the seventy fifth
year of his age.
Cyrus Hall Mccormick was born Feb.
10, 1909, in Rockbridg County, Vir'
ginia. His father, Robert Mccormick,
was born in Rockbridge County. His
mother, Mory Ann Hall, WAS a native of
Augusta County, in the same state. The
parents were both from Scotch-Irish de-
scent, and rank among the most reput-
able residents of Virginia. The elder
Mccormick was a farmer of more than
ordinary mental and financial %our
He owned valuable tracts of land, which
were carefully, intelligently and profta-
bly, cultivated. He owned saw and grist
mills, blacksmith shops, carpenter and
machine shops, and gave to all his per-
sonal supervision. With such surround
ings it is nc matter of surprise that the
subject of this notice should have early
laid the foundation for that eminently
practical and useful career upon which it
was decreed hs should enter. Deprived
of the advantages of a professional train
ing, his mind expanded in an inventive
direction. His father was an inventor
and a successful one, and the letters
patent which he held represented only
labor-saving devices. When still in his
teens Cyrus saw that his father had been
foiled in his attempts to invent a
reaping machine. Both realized that a
reaper would not only be a be~nefaction
to humanity of surprising utility, but
would also bring to the inventor wealth
and worldwide fame. While the father
built models only to east them aside as
worthless, the son devoted days and
nights to study. He felt certain that the
great problem before them must be first
worked out mentally. As he once ex-
pressed it when talking to an assemblage
OF agricultural men in the East II
built the first reaper in my imagination,
i destroyed it and constructed another
OH an entirely different principle in the
Workshop" Tho second reaper was
equipped with a crank which gave the
requisite lateral motion to the cutting
blade. Satisfying himself as to the practi-
cal utility of this invention young McCor.
mick devised apparatus for collecting and
handling the grain, holding it until taken
by the rake and deposited into sheaves.
In 1881, when Cyrus was about TWEEN
ty-two years of age, the reaper to which
he had given years of thought became an
accomplished fact. 1t stood every practical
test and in the section where he resided
the young inventor wal regarded with
wonder and admiration. A few years
later he became interested in iron-smelt-
ing. In this branch he made some sub
~stantial improvements. He would prob
ably have given his ideas of invention
wider scope in this line if it had not been
for the disastrous panic of 1887. The
remarkable depreciation in values OF that
period left MIR. Mccormick a peer man.
Before retiring from the iron'smelting
industry, however, he paid his personal
debts and l~iquidated the obligations OF
his partner. His integrity cost HIM his
fortune, but Cyrus Mccormick was an
honest man.
Three years before his financial re
verses overlook him he had patented his
reaper. He determined to place his in
%yention before the American public, and
accordingly gave himself vi, to TINS busi,
mss with characteristics enthusiasm and
siugleness of purpose. In the year lS4o'
securing another patent upon the reaper,