Cyrus Hall McCormick
N 37° 47.237 W 079° 26.576
17S E 637104 N 4183355
Cyrus McCormick is known for inventing the mechanical reaper on his farm near Raphine, Virginia. This statue of Cyrus stands on the campus of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Waymark Code: WM1782
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 02/09/2007
Views: 95
Robert McCormick (the grandfather of Cyrus McCormick) moved from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1779 with his wife Martha and their 5 children. They bought a log house and 450 acres near the Rockbridge/Augusta County line near the community of Raphine. Her Robert constructed and operated a gristmill. His son, also named Robert, (Cyrus’s father) was born on the farm in 1780.
In 1808 the younger Robert had married Mary Ann Hall (called Polly) of Augusta County and lived on the property, which, included a sawmill, a cider mill, a distillery, two-grain mills, and a smokehouse. One of Robert's sons, Cyrus, was born in 1809. During the early year of their marriage Robert and Polly lived with Robert's father in the old log house until they built the brick manor house in the summer of 1822. Polly filled the house with splendid mahogany furniture from the stores in Lynchburg and Richmond.
Cyrus Hall McCormick conceived plans for his reaper, built and tested it, and then remodeled it for public trial, all within six weeks time. McCormick worked far into the night to complete the world's first reaper for the harvest of 1831. A trusted negro helper, Jo Anderson, assisted him in the shop. By the end of the 1831 harvest, Cyrus had the first successful demonstration of his reaper. Cyrus further refined his reaper, and finally took out a patent in 1834.
In 1847, he moved to Chicago to serve the vast prairie grain fields of the Midwest. Shortly thereafter he sent for his brothers William and Leander, who became partners with Cyrus. By 1856, Cyrus was famous the world over. McCormick's "Virginia Reaper" hastened the westward expansion of the United States, and this expansion produced new markets for the reaper. In 1851, the reaper won the highest award of the day, the Gold Medal at London's Crystal Palace Exhibition, and Cyrus McCormick became a world celebrity.
Cyrus lived a very prosperous life in Chicago and died there on May 13, 1884 and was buried at Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery.
Today the McCormick Farm in Raphine, Virginia is owned by Virginia Tech. The 5-arce historic site includes the McCormick Gristmill, blacksmith shop, which houses a life size replica of the original reaper. For more information on the McCormick Farm: (
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