The perfect machine for a one-armed farmer

lupaglupa

Major
Forum Host
Joined
Apr 18, 2019
Location
Upstate New York
HawkeyeCultivator.png

Image source: Library of Congress

The majority of soldiers, North and South, were farmers and after their service was over, most returned to the farm. Farming in the 19th century was hard, manual labor which required strength and agility. Men who returned from the War wounded found themselves limited in what they could do. Limitations were especially severe for the thousands of men who had lost a limb. Farming was tough enough for the able-boded; to those who struggled to walk or do basic daily tasks, it must have felt impossible.

Enter the Hawkeye Riding Cultivator. John Deere had developed the riding cultivator during the War and begun selling the machine in 1863. Like many of the mechanical inventions of the era, the Hawkeye Cultivator made farming easier for the farmer. As wounded veterans soon noticed, it made cultivating - historically back breaking work - not only easier but possible for those who had lost a limb. The Deere company took notice and began to advertise the Hawkeye as a machine easy enough for a one-armed or one-legged man to use. What was good business for Deere must have seemed a life saver for the veterans - a device that enabled them to support their families and keep pace with their neighbors, despite the sacrifices their service caused.
 
Last edited:
Years ago, I worked for a farm safety extension program in Kansas. The huge John Deere safety manual was always my first go-to reference. I appreciated -- and was hugely impressed by -- the way Deere was always out there ahead of the pack on safety. Deere set the standard, and the other manufacturers raced to keep up. That was 30 years ago, so things may have changed, but I always love seeing those green and yellow machines out in the fields.
 
I wonder how much one of those machines cost in the immediate postwar years? The Southern soldiers I research as part of my cemetery studies were almost all scratch farmers.
 
I wonder how much one of those machines cost in the immediate postwar years? The Southern soldiers I research as part of my cemetery studies were almost all scratch farmers.
The Prairie Farmer from 1866 says the Hawkeye cost $60, which was similar to the price of the other cultivators they mentioned. That's roughly $1,000 today. But I think you are right that it would have been a stretch for most Southern farmers right after the War.
 
Back
Top