Early life Deering was born April 25, 1826, in
South Paris,
Maine. In 1850, he moved to
Plano, Illinois and
Iowa and invested in the farmland of the area. In 1856 he returned to Portland, Maine, and in the early 1860s he secured a contract producing uniform coats and pants for the Union Army. This was apparently a successful venture, and after the war Deering opened a dry goods business called
Deering, Milliken & Company.
Marriages William Deering married Abby Reed Barbour who gave birth to
Charles in 1852. Abby died when Charles was only four and Deering went on to marry Clara Barbour Cummings Hamilton in 1857. The couple had two children,
James and Abby.
Deering Harvester Company Around 1870, Deering left that business and partnered with Elijah Gammon, providing $40,000 in funding for the production of a horse-drawn grain harvester developed by brothers William and Charles Marsh. By 1872 the company showed $80,000 in profits, and in 1873 the name was changed to Gammon & Deering Co. to reflect Deering's management role. Along with the Marsh harvester, the company pioneered a harvesting
reaper incorporating an automatic
twine binder invented by
John Appleby of
Beloit, Wisconsin. He was the father of
Charles Deering (1852–1927) and
James Deering (1859–1925). The
Deering Library at Northwestern is named for the family. An 1899 portrait of him by
Anders Zorn hangs in the library. He was buried at
Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. ==Legacy==