John Samuel Rowell

John Rowell saved his money and at the age of 18, traded his earthly possessions for plow castings, borrowed some carpenters tools and axes, went into the timber, and by himself, chopped down the trees, hewed and scored the sills and framework and constructed his first foundry and factory.

In 1861, he built a combination seeder-cultivator with a "Slip Tooth" to prevent breakage when hitting rocks while cultivating, which he patented; this was to guarantee his success.

JS Rowell held 25% interest in the company, with each of his sons Samuel W. and Theodore B. each owning 25%, nephew Ira 12.5% and the remaining 12.5% divided up among his grandchildren.

Rowell also invented the "Force Feed" for grain drills, harrows, hay rakes, fanning mills, and Tiger Threshing machines.

He also had an unsuccessful run for the US House of Representatives for Wisconsin US Congressional District 2 on Nov. 7, 1882, in which he lost by 1,801 votes to Daniel H. Sumner (a Democrat).

Like a number of men of his time, he achieved success in the agricultural implement world with no opportunity other than those produced by his own efforts.

[1][2] When Rowell died, the mayor of Beaver Dam, M. J. Jacobs, proclaimed, “For over sixty years [Rowell] has been an upright, enterprising, industrious, patriotic, public spirited and continuous resident of our city, and at all times prominently identified with its industrial development and business life.

Furthermore, Mayor Jacobs requested “…that all business places, manufacturing concerns, and official places of business be closed during the afternoon of his funeral on Wednesday, October 23, 1907 from 1 until 4:30 o’clock, and that the city flag during all of said be displayed at half mast, and that all our citizens who can conveniently do so, attend the funeral of one of the most worthy and esteemed citizens who has ever resided in our midst.”