Jerome Case
Encyclopedia
Jerome Increase Case was an early American
manufacturer of threshing machine
s. He founded what became the Case Corporation
and raised champion race horses. He was a mayor of Racine, Wisconsin
, and a member of the Wisconsin State Senate
.
in Oswego County, New York
.
His father was Caleb Case (1787–1874) and mother Deborah Jackson (1789–1833). He was one of seven children.
Through his mother he claimed to be related to Andrew Jackson
.
His father sold some primitive "ground hog" machines (imported from England
) that helped speed up the separation of grain after it was harvested. In 1840 he started a small business threshing his neighbors' crops with the horse-powered devices. In the summer of 1842, he bought six of the machines on credit and traveled first to Chicago
by ship. On his way north to Rochester, Wisconsin
he sold five and kept one for his own business.
Through the winter he worked on improvements to the thresher, but the new model was not ready for the 1843 harvest.
By May 1844 the new model which did a better job of fully separating the grain was working. Since Rochester did not have water power available, he moved to Racine, Wisconsin
.
.
A new vibrator process introduced in 1852 was so successful he was selling throughout Illinois
, Indiana
, and Ohio
by 1853.
By 1855 the plant covered several acres, including a private boat dock on Lake Michigan
.
In 1856 he was elected mayor of Racine, declined the re-nomination the next year, but was elected again in 1858 and 1860.
He often financed the machines with high interest rates. This worked until the panic of 1857
and unreliable state-issued paper money caused many customers to default. Case accepted animals, supplies, and land instead of cash. At the start of the American Civil War
, farmers would often walk away from their debts to enlist, sometimes not returning.
The labor shortage combined with increased demand for food (with no imports from the south) resulted in a growing business in the 1860s.
Massena B. Erskine, Robert H. Baker and Stephen Bull (his brother-in-law) became partners when J. I. Case Company was officially organized in 1863.
Case was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate
in 1865 and served one two-year term.
Also in 1865 he happened to meet up with a company of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
returning from the war. He adopted the mascot of the regiment, an eagle named Old Abe
, as company symbol.
In 1871 he was a founder of Manufacturers' National Bank of Racine and the First National Bank of Burlington. He was an early investor in the Northwestern Life Insurance Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
. In 1876 he started another company to make plows, licensing the "center draft" technology from Ebenezer G. Whiting.
Initially called Case, Whitney & Company, when he became sole owner in 1878 it became the J. I. Case Plow Company, and J. I. Case Plow Works in 1884.
He was a founder of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, and president of the Racine County Agricultural Society. Some time in the 1870s he had one of the rare two-story houses built on Main Street in Racine.
was the sport of choice among the wealthy in the 1880s.
One of his favorite horses was named Jay-Eye-See, a pun on Case's initials.
The black gelding
, foaled in 1878, broke the mile trotting
record of 2:10 at Narragansett Park in 1884.
After winning many other races, the horse was injured and retired in August 1889.
However, Jay-Eye-See was retrained by Edwin D. Blither to race with a new gait, and three years later set a pacing record of 2:06.25 in 1892 at Independence, Iowa
. Both records were quickly broken; the trotting mark on the next day, and the pacing mark in a subsequent heat of the same race.
However, the feat of two records was unique enough that the horse became a celebrity. Currier and Ives
did a series of prints and the horse's image was used to advertise products by the Case company for years.
The horse outlived Case and died in 1909 at the age of 31.
The horse "known the country over" had its obituary printed in national newspapers such as the New York Times.
Jay-Eye-See was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame
in 1990
and the Wisconsin Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1996.
ships, a winter home in California
, a ranch in Texas
, and a stock farm in Kentucky
.
In 1849 he married Lydia Ann Bull, daughter of DeGrove Bull of Yorkville, Wisconsin
. He died on December 22, 1891 in Racine, less than a year before the comeback of his favorite horse.
His widow, born August 6, 1826, died December 9, 1909.
They had four children live to adulthood: one son and four daughters.
Henrietta Case was born March 3, 1858 and married Percival Strong Fuller (1858–1896).
Jessie Fremont Case was born April 17, 1861 and married Mitchell Wallis.
Amanda Case was born October 01, 1862 and married Jonathan James Crooks of San Francisco. Following in the footsteps of her horse-loving father, in 1926 she was instrumental in the survival and then success of the Pendleton Round-Up, the huge and still thriving Pendleton, Oregon rodeo.
Jackson Irving Case was born October 23, 1865, married Henrietta May Roy on May 25, 1886, and had four sons. He was elected mayor of Racine when he was only 26, but died January 8, 1903 before he was 38.
Three other children died young.
The family continued its interest in racing, but times had changed. The company sponsored a team of racing cars, led by driver Lewis Strang
until he died in 1911. Around 1912, they named a car after Jay-Eye-See, driven by Louis Disbrow
. One of the largest at the time, it had a 290 horsepower engine, and a streamlined shape that looked like an upside-down canoe
.
Jerome I. Case High School
, located in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin
, is named in his honor.
It is in what is now suburban Racine, near the site of his farm. Most of Hickory Grove Farm is now developed, except for a small open space at 42°41′56"N 87°48′0"W named Case-Harmon Field.
Jay-Eye-See Avenue at 42°42′18"N 87°48′10"W was named for his horse, a block away from Case Avenue which intersects Jerome Boulevard.
A planned marble monument to Jay Eye See was never erected, and the horse's grave site neglected for almost a century. After a developer planned to build a parking lot over the suspected grave, local historians located and removed the bones in July 1997.
The remains were proposed to be re-interred in the Case family mausoleum at Mound Cemetery.
However, by 2003 the bones were still stored in a box at the historian's home waiting for funding for the memorial.
In 2008, Case was inducted into the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
Hall of fame.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
manufacturer of threshing machine
Threshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
s. He founded what became the Case Corporation
Case Corporation
Case Corporation was a manufacturer of construction and agricultural equipment. In 1999 it merged with New Holland to form CNH Global, a Fiat Group division...
and raised champion race horses. He was a mayor of Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
, and a member of the Wisconsin State Senate
Wisconsin State Senate
The Wisconsin Senate, the powers of which are modeled after those of the U.S. Senate, is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature, smaller than the Wisconsin State Assembly...
.
Early life
Jerome Increase Case was born December 11, 1819, in WilliamstownWilliamstown, New York
Williamstown is a town in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 1,350 at the 2000 census.The Town of Williamstown is on the county's east border.- History :The Town of Williamstown was created in 1804 from the Town of Mexico....
in Oswego County, New York
Oswego County, New York
Oswego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 Census, the estimated population was 122,109. The City of Oswego and the Village of Pulaski serve as the dual county seats in a two shire system of government...
.
His father was Caleb Case (1787–1874) and mother Deborah Jackson (1789–1833). He was one of seven children.
Through his mother he claimed to be related to Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
.
His father sold some primitive "ground hog" machines (imported from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) that helped speed up the separation of grain after it was harvested. In 1840 he started a small business threshing his neighbors' crops with the horse-powered devices. In the summer of 1842, he bought six of the machines on credit and traveled first to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
by ship. On his way north to Rochester, Wisconsin
Rochester, Wisconsin
Rochester is a village in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,149 at the 2000 census. The village was located within the old Town of Rochester. On November 4, 2008, the village of Rochester voted to consolidate with the town of Rochester.-History:Chances, a restaurant/bar...
he sold five and kept one for his own business.
Through the winter he worked on improvements to the thresher, but the new model was not ready for the 1843 harvest.
By May 1844 the new model which did a better job of fully separating the grain was working. Since Rochester did not have water power available, he moved to Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
.
Racine
He first manufactured the machines in a small shop in Racine, and then built a three-story brick factory in 1847 on the Root RiverRoot River (Wisconsin)
The Root River is a river that flows to Lake Michigan at the city of Racine in southeastern Wisconsin in the United States. Racine and Racine County are named for the river, as racine is the French word for root.-Course:...
.
A new vibrator process introduced in 1852 was so successful he was selling throughout Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, and Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
by 1853.
By 1855 the plant covered several acres, including a private boat dock on Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
.
In 1856 he was elected mayor of Racine, declined the re-nomination the next year, but was elected again in 1858 and 1860.
He often financed the machines with high interest rates. This worked until the panic of 1857
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
and unreliable state-issued paper money caused many customers to default. Case accepted animals, supplies, and land instead of cash. At the start of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, farmers would often walk away from their debts to enlist, sometimes not returning.
The labor shortage combined with increased demand for food (with no imports from the south) resulted in a growing business in the 1860s.
Massena B. Erskine, Robert H. Baker and Stephen Bull (his brother-in-law) became partners when J. I. Case Company was officially organized in 1863.
Case was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate
Wisconsin State Senate
The Wisconsin Senate, the powers of which are modeled after those of the U.S. Senate, is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature, smaller than the Wisconsin State Assembly...
in 1865 and served one two-year term.
Also in 1865 he happened to meet up with a company of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 8th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 8th Wisconsin's mascot was Old Abe, a bald eagle that accompanied the regiment into battle.-Service:...
returning from the war. He adopted the mascot of the regiment, an eagle named Old Abe
Old Abe
Old Abe , a bald eagle, was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. It later was depicted as the screaming eagle mascot on the insignia of the U.S...
, as company symbol.
In 1871 he was a founder of Manufacturers' National Bank of Racine and the First National Bank of Burlington. He was an early investor in the Northwestern Life Insurance Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. In 1876 he started another company to make plows, licensing the "center draft" technology from Ebenezer G. Whiting.
Initially called Case, Whitney & Company, when he became sole owner in 1878 it became the J. I. Case Plow Company, and J. I. Case Plow Works in 1884.
He was a founder of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, and president of the Racine County Agricultural Society. Some time in the 1870s he had one of the rare two-story houses built on Main Street in Racine.
Horses
As he turned over the business to other partners, he spent more time on breeding race horses on his Hickory Grove Farm. Harness racingHarness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...
was the sport of choice among the wealthy in the 1880s.
One of his favorite horses was named Jay-Eye-See, a pun on Case's initials.
The black gelding
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...
, foaled in 1878, broke the mile trotting
Trot (horse gait)
The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait of the horse, where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time. There is a moment of suspension between each beat....
record of 2:10 at Narragansett Park in 1884.
After winning many other races, the horse was injured and retired in August 1889.
However, Jay-Eye-See was retrained by Edwin D. Blither to race with a new gait, and three years later set a pacing record of 2:06.25 in 1892 at Independence, Iowa
Independence, Iowa
Independence is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,966 in the 2010 census, a decline from 6,014 in the 2000 census...
. Both records were quickly broken; the trotting mark on the next day, and the pacing mark in a subsequent heat of the same race.
However, the feat of two records was unique enough that the horse became a celebrity. Currier and Ives
Currier and Ives
Currier and Ives was a successful American printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives . Based in New York City from 1834–1907, the prolific firm produced prints from paintings by fine artists as black and white lithographs that were hand colored...
did a series of prints and the horse's image was used to advertise products by the Case company for years.
The horse outlived Case and died in 1909 at the age of 31.
The horse "known the country over" had its obituary printed in national newspapers such as the New York Times.
Jay-Eye-See was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame
Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame
The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame is a museum in Goshen, New York. The museum collects and preserves the history of harness racing and serves as a hall of fame for trotter horses....
in 1990
and the Wisconsin Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1996.
Death and legacy
Case also owned some Great LakesGreat Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
ships, a winter home in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, a ranch in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and a stock farm in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
In 1849 he married Lydia Ann Bull, daughter of DeGrove Bull of Yorkville, Wisconsin
Yorkville, Wisconsin
Yorkville is a town in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,291 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Sylvania is located in the town.-Geography:...
. He died on December 22, 1891 in Racine, less than a year before the comeback of his favorite horse.
His widow, born August 6, 1826, died December 9, 1909.
They had four children live to adulthood: one son and four daughters.
Henrietta Case was born March 3, 1858 and married Percival Strong Fuller (1858–1896).
Jessie Fremont Case was born April 17, 1861 and married Mitchell Wallis.
Amanda Case was born October 01, 1862 and married Jonathan James Crooks of San Francisco. Following in the footsteps of her horse-loving father, in 1926 she was instrumental in the survival and then success of the Pendleton Round-Up, the huge and still thriving Pendleton, Oregon rodeo.
Jackson Irving Case was born October 23, 1865, married Henrietta May Roy on May 25, 1886, and had four sons. He was elected mayor of Racine when he was only 26, but died January 8, 1903 before he was 38.
Three other children died young.
The family continued its interest in racing, but times had changed. The company sponsored a team of racing cars, led by driver Lewis Strang
Lewis Strang
Lewis Strang was an American racecar driver. Strang was pole sitter for the inaugural Indianapolis 500. He was killed in a testing accident, becoming the first Indy 500 veteran to die....
until he died in 1911. Around 1912, they named a car after Jay-Eye-See, driven by Louis Disbrow
Louis Disbrow
Louis Disbrow was an American racecar driver.-Life:Louis Disbrow was born on March 24, 1888 in Indianapolis, Indiana.He died on July 9, 1939 in his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Indy 500 results:-References:...
. One of the largest at the time, it had a 290 horsepower engine, and a streamlined shape that looked like an upside-down canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
.
Jerome I. Case High School
Jerome I. Case High School
Jerome I. Case High School is located in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, a suburb of Racine in the United States...
, located in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin
Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin
Mount Pleasant is a village in Racine County, Wisconsin, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 26,000.-History:...
, is named in his honor.
It is in what is now suburban Racine, near the site of his farm. Most of Hickory Grove Farm is now developed, except for a small open space at 42°41′56"N 87°48′0"W named Case-Harmon Field.
Jay-Eye-See Avenue at 42°42′18"N 87°48′10"W was named for his horse, a block away from Case Avenue which intersects Jerome Boulevard.
A planned marble monument to Jay Eye See was never erected, and the horse's grave site neglected for almost a century. After a developer planned to build a parking lot over the suspected grave, local historians located and removed the bones in July 1997.
The remains were proposed to be re-interred in the Case family mausoleum at Mound Cemetery.
However, by 2003 the bones were still stored in a box at the historian's home waiting for funding for the memorial.
In 2008, Case was inducted into the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
Association of Equipment Manufacturers
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers is a trade association for companies that manufacture equipment for industries such as agriculture, construction, mining, and utility. AEM is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.-Hall of fame:...
Hall of fame.