Someone had managed to gather together about 60 farm implements and wagons and has decided to put them on display. The vast majority of the farm implements are very old horse drawn machines. The collection includes plows, cultivators, harrows, discs, mowers, corn planters, farm wagons, potato diggers and planters, a hay loader, a manure spreader and two road graders. The display is immediately north of the highway and appears to be accessible 24/7/365, at no charge.
This is the only one of five in this collection that we were able to identify positively, it was made by the
P&O Company of Canton, IL. P&O, or the Parlin & Orendorff Company, which was organized in 1860. It is one of the planters which offers a choice of four seeding rates, determined by which driven sprocket the drive chain is put on.
The first steel plow in Canton was made by William Parlin in this foundry in 1842. He continued making plows in this location until 1847, when the shop was destroyed by fire. Mr. Parlin soon set up shop in the foundry of John Culton, who had succeeded to R. C. Culton's foundry. This was located on Elm Street between Second and Third Avenue--which became the future location of the International Harvester Company-Canton Works.
A Partnership Is Formed Within the Family
By 1852, the demand for Parlin's plows had increased to such an extent that he took into partnership his brother-in-law, William Orendorff. This proved to be a winning combination, for Mr. Orendorff was the sales and office manager, while Mr. Parlin controlled the manufacturing and development of the business. This company was first known as William Parlin & Company until 1860, when the name changed to the Parlin & Orendorff Company, and incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois.
The newly formed corporation's first successful products were the new Clipper Plows which were first advertised in 1865, and Parlin's Cultivator, and cornstalk cutter. This cornstalk cutter, an invention of Parlin, was nothing more than a log to which cutting knives were attached. Other inventions credited to Mr. Parlin were the disc harrow or disc plow, the double plow, known as the "lister", or "double mouldboard plow."
William Parlin's contribution to the advancement of agriculture reached its climax on January 21, 1917, when his picture was placed in the Illinois Farmer's Hall of Fame in Urbana, Illinois.
Parlin & Orendorff Company
During the forty-year period from 1860, when the Parlin & Orendorff Company was organized, to 1900, great manufacturing advances were made in this company.
In 1919, the Parlin & Orendorff Company was sold to the International Harvester Company.
From Canton Illinois