AN EARLY GIANT Acme Co.
Years ago, I corresponded with someone who has an Acme horsedrawn mowing machine. Acme isn’t exactly a household name among old iron enthusiasts, but during the late 1800s and the first decade of the 1900s, the Acme Hay Harvester Co., Peoria, Illinois, was a significant player in the Midwest grain belt.
Starting with a sleigh
The origins of the Acme Harvester Co. lie with an Ohio native named Jonathan Haines who settled in Tazewell County, Illinois, in 1826. Although I can find no patent, Haines apparently invented a steam-powered sleigh. During the winter of 1835, he took the sleigh to Galena, Illinois, a Mississippi River town, where he hoped to get a contract to carry
