Hiram Deats

Hiram Deats (April 12, 1810 – November 22, 1887) was an American businessman from Hunterdon County, New Jersey. He was known for manufacturing agricultural equipment, especially the Deats plow, and became the first millionaire in Hunterdon County.[1]

Hiram Deats
Born(1810-04-12)April 12, 1810
DiedNovember 22, 1887(1887-11-22) (aged 77)
Known forManufacture of the Deats Plow

Life and family

Hiram Deats was born on April 12, 1810 to John Deats (1769–1841) and Ursula Barton (1767–1853). His first marriage was in 1838 to Rebecca Higgins (1820–1862) of Hillsborough Township. They had four children, including Lemuel Madison Deats (1845–1879). His second marriage was in 1865 to Elmira Stevenson (1830–1908) of LaSalle County, Illinois.[2][3][4] They had one son, Hiram Edmund Deats (1870–1963), who was born in the Brookville section of Stockton.[2][5]

He died on November 22, 1887 and is buried in the Cherryville Baptist Cemetery.[2][3]

Business
Patent Diagram for the Deats Plow

In 1831, he started to make the Deats plow, first patented by his father in 1828, and again in 1831.[6] In 1836, he built a foundry at his farm near Quakertown, New Jersey for both plow and stove castings. In 1845, following the death of his father, as administrator, he was granted a reissue of the 1831 patent.[7][8] In 1852, he expanded his operations by moving stove casting to Stockton and building a new machine-shop at Pittstown to produce other agricultural equipment. In 1859, he moved to live in Pittstown and built a foundry there, moving operations from Quakertown. There he manufactured agricultural equipment: threshing machines, mowers, corn shellers, and reapers. In 1866, he founded the firm Deats, Case & Co. with partners William J. Case, Rhutson Case and his son, Lemuel M. Deats. The firm became known as L. M. Deats & Co. later.[4] His nephew, Hiram Deats Jr. (1853–1928), son of his brother, Gilbert Deats (1808–1870), ran the company until 1904.[2][9][10][11]

Legacy

In 1929, his son, Hiram Edmund Deats, donated several pieces of agricultural equipment, including a Deats plow, made by the Deats company to Rutgers University for their museum, which later became the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture. Additional ones are on display at the Red Mill Museum Village in Clinton and the Holcombe-Jimison Farm Museum in Lambertville.[12]

References
  1. "A Brief History of Franklin Township, Hunterdon County". Franklin Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
  2. Chambers, Theodore Frelinghuysen (1895). The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies. Dover Printing Co. pp. 323–4.
  3. Campanelli, Dan; Campanelli, Marty; Jones, Lara (2010). Franklin Township, Hunterdon County. Arcadia Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 9-780-7385-7226-0.
  4. Snell, James P. (1881). History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey. Everts & Peck. pp. 444–445.
  5. Bierman, Stanley M. (1985). "Hiram E. Deats: the Philatelic Farmer From Flemington" (PDF). The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues. U.S. Philatelic Classics Society. 37 (1): 14–17.
  6. US patent 6883X, John Deats, "Improvement in Plows", published 1831-12-28
  7. US patent RX70, Hiram Deats, of Quakertown, New Jersey, administrator of John Deats, deceased, "Plow", published 1831-12-28
  8. Keller, Charles M. (1846). "American Patents". Journal of the Franklin Institute. p. 263.
  9. Ramsburg, Bernard F. (2014). "Industry, 1964". The First 300 Years of Hunterdon County, 1714–2014. Flemington, New Jersey: Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission. p. 129. LCCN 2013957213.
  10. Deats, Hiram, Jr. (September 1889). "Advertisement". The Jerseyman. A Quarterly Magazine of Local History. Flemington, N. J.: H. E. Deats. 1 (2): 22. We make the Original Deats Plow which has been extensively used for the past 60 years.
  11. Brecknell, Ursula (August 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Pittstown Historic District". National Park Service. Section 8, Page 8. With accompanying 50 photos
  12. Barth, Linda J. (2018). "Deats Plow". New Jersey Originals: Technological Marvels, Odd Inventions, Trailblazing Characters & More. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-1-4671-3926-7.
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