USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -But based on overlapping information from sources cited by both sides of the family, it seems likely that Cyrus and Robert both contributed to the McCormick reaper of 1831. And so did their slave, Jo Anderson, and so did a local blacksmith, John McCown.

Detailed explanation-2: -Cyrus Hall McCormick invented the mechanical reaper, which combined all the steps that earlier harvesting machines had performed separately. His time-saving invention allowed farmers to more than double their crop size and spurred innovations in farm machinery.

Detailed explanation-3: -Jo Anderson was born an enslaved person in 1808. Historians now credit him as a major contributor to the design and creation of the reaper along with his owner Robert McCormick.

Detailed explanation-4: -Similarly, it is now generally acknowledged that a slave named Jo Anderson, who belonged to the Cyrus McCormick family, is rightly considered co-inventor of the famous reaper which revolutionized American agriculture.

Detailed explanation-5: -He worked for 28 years on a horse-drawn mechanical reaper to harvest grain, but was never able to reproduce a reliable version. Building on his father’s years of development, Cyrus took up the project aided by Jo Anderson, an enslaved African-American on the McCormick plantation.