| John Henry Manny | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 28, 1825 Amsterdam, New York |
| Died | January 31, 1856 Rockford, Illinois |
| Cause of death | tuberculosis |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois |
| Occupation | Inventor |
| Known for | Manny Reaper |
| Spouse | Mary Dorr (m. 1853–1856) |
John Henry Manny (1825–1856) was the inventor of the Manny Reaper, which was an early version of a horse-powered combine harvester.
John Henry Manny was born November 28, 1825 in Amsterdam, New York. His father was Pells Manny and mother was Sarah Swart. Siblings included Josiah Manny, Eliza Manny, Rebecca Ann Manny, and Gabriel Manny. He moved to Waddams Township in Stephenson County, Illinois, in the early 1850s.[1] The Mannys visited George Esterly (1809–1893) who was manufacturing some of the first mechanical grain harvesting machines in Heart Prairie, near modern-day Janesville Wisconsin a short distance to the north.[2] Manny helped in the shop to produce one and brought it back with him.[3]
Manny married Mary Dorr in 1853, and by the fall of 1853 moved to Rockford, Illinois. There he could have more reapers manufactured by the firm Blinn & Emerson, and have them transported on the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad line. In 1854 he formed J.H. Manny & Company with investors Wait and Sylvester Talcott. In the summer of 1854 Jess Blinn and Ralph Emerson (1831–1914) joined the company.[3]
Cyrus McCormick filed a lawsuit against Manny for patent infringement in 1855.[4] McCormick demanded that Manny stop producing reapers, and pay McCormick US$400,000. The trial, originally scheduled for Chicago, Illinois in September 1855, had prominent lawyers on both sides. McCormick hired former US Attorney General Reverdy Johnson and New York patent attorney Edward Nicholl Dickerson. Manny hired Edwin M. Stanton who hired local Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln. However, the trial was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Although Manny won the case, with an opinion by Supreme Court Judge John McLean,[5] Lincoln ended up not contributing to the defense. After later being elected President, Lincoln chose Stanton as his Secretary of War.[6]
After Manny's death on January 31, 1856, McCormick appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court. McCormick lost again.[7] The firm meanwhile had continued to manufacture reapers as Talcott, Emerson & Company. In 1860 Emerson bought out the other partners, and then the name was changed back to Talcott, Emerson & Company about 1874.[3] Emerson (who was a cousin of poet Ralph Waldo Emerson) ran the company until it became Emerson-Brantingham in 1909 under the leadership of Charles S. Brantingham. The company purchased a number of other manufacturers, but by 1915 ran into financial difficulties. After a merger with the former D. M. Osborne company, in 1928 it was bought by J. I. Case Company, now Case Corporation.[8]
Manny's widow married Robert Hall Tinker in 1870 and lived the house now called Tinker Swiss Cottage. John Henry Manny is sometimes confused with John Pels Manny, a cousin.[1]