James Oliver

James Oliver (August 28, 1823 – March 2, 1908) was an American inventor and industrialist best known for his creation of the South Bend Iron Works, which was reincorporated as the Oliver Farm Equipment Company after his death. After buying a South Bend, Indiana, foundry with partner Harvey Little in 1855 he began experimenting with improved farm plow designs. Driven by the sales of his popular Oliver Chilled Plow, for which he registered 45 patents during his lifetime, the company grew to become one of the largest in Indiana and one of the world's largest producers of farm plows and horse drawn equipment during the late 19th century.

Early life James Oliver was born August 28, 1823, in Liddesdale, Scotland, the youngest of the nine children of Mary Irving and George Oliver. His family was Presbyterian and James was taught to read and write in a local church. His father was a shepherd but found it difficult to earn an income to support his family. An outbreak of cholera in 1832 killed most of the family flock, and George injured his leg the following year, making it difficult for him to walk. The family's oldest sons immigrated to the United States in the following years and prepared a home for the rest of the family to join them in 1835. There the family worked on a farm near Alloway, New York, that had been purchased by the sons.

Oliver took a job working on nearby farms performing manual labor and becoming acquainted with field plowing. One of Oliver's sisters married a pioneer who moved to what would become LaGrange County, Indiana. In 1836 James and some of his siblings traveled to live with them on their homestead. The family home was near Mishawaka, Indiana, where a large bog provided an abundance of iron. A number of foundries and iron works were being built in the area and Oliver took a number of jobs working on construction projects. He briefly attended George Merrifield School where he furthered his basic education. He took a job at South Bend Blast Furnace Company in 1839 where he first learned how to cast iron.

Oliver began experimenting with improved field plows. Farm plows of the time were pulled by a draft animal as the farmer walked behind. There were many common problems with the plows: muddy ground could cause soil to become stuck on the upper edges of the plow requiring the farmer to stop and clean the plow before continuing. When large stones were hit at a certain speed, they could cause the plows to break or dent them enough to make them unusable. Oliver's designs sought to resolve both of these issues. He created a molded top edge for the plows allowing it to more easily shed mud away and preventing it from lodging in the harness. He also developed a method of casting the plows in a sand mold which rapidly cooled the outer surface of the metal, causing it to be more significantly hardened, while allowing the center to cool slowly, preventing the plow from becoming brittle. The resulting plow was significantly stronger, retained its cutting edge much longer, and required less cleaning during plowing.