Lewis Steward
| Lewis Steward | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois' 8th district |
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In office March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893 |
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| Preceded by | Charles A. Hill |
| Succeeded by | Robert A. Childs |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 20, 1824 Wayne County, Pennsylvania |
| Died |
August 27, 1896 (aged 71) Plano, Illinois |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Farmer and businessman |
Lewis Steward (November 20, 1824 – August 27, 1896) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. He also co-founded Marsh, Steward & Company, a company that later merged to become International Harvester.
Lewis Steward was born on November 20, 1824 in Hollisterville in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of nine children born to Marcus and Ursula Steward. In 1838, the family moved to Little Rock Township, Kendall County, Illinois. His father purchased a farm and built mills on Big Rock Creek. Lewis would help his father with his work, eventually starting a farm of his own.
In 1853, Steward was able to convince surveyors from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to build a station near his homestead. Once built, Steward platted the territory around the station, forming the town of Plano. He studied law in his free time and was admitted to the bar in 1860, but never practiced.
C. W. and W. W. Marsh approached Steward in 1862, offering an investment opportunity in their harvesting machine operation. Stewart worked with the Marshes to perfect their prototype, and by 1863, they had established the Plano Harvester Works as Marsh, Steward & Company. In their first year of operation, the company sold 100 machines. By the mid 1870s, they were producing 10,000 a year. In 1875, investor William Deering purchased the company and moved it to North Chicago, renaming it the Deering Harvester Company. In 1902, the company merged with the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company to form International Harvester.
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