Editing Cyrus McCormick (section)

{{Short description|American inventor and businessman (1809–1884)}}
{{for|his son, the American businessman|Cyrus McCormick Jr.}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Cyrus McCormick engraving.png
| birth_name = Cyrus Hall McCormick
| birth_date = February 15, 1809
| birth_place = [[Raphine, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1884|5|13|1809|2|15}}
| death_place = Chicago, [[Illinois]], U.S.
| burial_place = [[Graceland Cemetery]]
| occupation= inventor and agricultural machinery tycoon
| known_for = Founder of the ''McCormick Harvesting Machine Company''{{Paragraph break}} Co-designer of the [[mechanical reaper]]
| spouse = [[Nancy Fowler McCormick|Nancy Fowler]] (m. 1858–1884; his death)
| children = 7
| parents =  [[Robert McCormick (Virginia inventor)|Robert McCormick Jr.]]<br />Mary Ann Hall
| relations = See [[McCormick family]]
| signature = Cyrus McCormick signature.svg}}

'''Cyrus Hall McCormick''' (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the [[McCormick reaper|McCormick Harvesting Machine Company]], which became part of the [[International Harvester|International Harvester Company]] in 1902.<ref name=whs>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/ihc/cyrus.asp |title=Cyrus Hall McCormick | publisher= [[Wisconsin Historical Society]] | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070905065855/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/ihc/cyrus.asp | archive-date= September 5, 2007 | url-status= dead}}</ref> Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he and many members of the [[McCormick family]] became prominent residents of Chicago.

McCormick always claimed credit as the single inventor of the [[Reaper#Mechanical reapers in the U.S.|mechanical reaper]]. He was, however, one of several designing engineers who produced working models in the 1830s. His efforts built on more than two decades of work by his father [[Robert McCormick (Virginia inventor)|Robert McCormick Jr.]], with the aid of Jo Anderson, an enslaved African-American man held by the family.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jo Anderson |url=http://www.richmond.com/special-section/black-history/article_277b0072-700a-11e2-bb3d-001a4bcf6878.html |access-date=22 April 2015 |newspaper=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] |date=5 February 2013}}</ref> He also successfully developed a modern [[company]], with [[manufacturing]], [[marketing]], and a [[sales]] force to market his products.<ref name="McCormick_1931">{{McCormick1931}}</ref>