J.I. Case Company Eagle "Old Abe" Vignette - Famous Old Farming Machine Maker

Beautifully engraved certificate from the J.I. Case Company issued in 1965-1978. This historic document was printed by the Security-Columbian Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company's logo a Bald Eagle "Old Abe". This item has the printed signatures of the Company’s President and Secretary and is over 23 years old. In 1865, the famous eagle trademark was adopted, patterned after Old Abe, a magnificent bald eagle that was the Civil War mascot for Company C in the 8th Wisconsin Regiment.


Certificate Vignette

Jerome Increase Case 1819-1891 Jerome Increase Case founded the J I Case Company in 1842 and soon gained recognition as the first builder of a steam engine for agricultural use. During his tenure as president of the company, Case manufactured more threshing machines and steam engines than any other company in history. In addition to his innate talents as an inventor and manufacturer, Case also took an interest in politics and finance. He was mayor of Racine, Wisconsin, for three terms and was state senator from the Racine area for two terms. He was the incorporator and president of the Manufacturer's National Bank of Racine and founder of the First National Bank of Burlington (Wisconsin). Case also founded the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, was president of the Racine County Agricultural Society and president of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society.

Known in manufacturing circles as the "Threshing Machine King," Case received more popular recognition as the owner of "Jay-Eye-See," a black gelding racehorse acknowledged as the world's all-time champion trotter-pacer.

"Father, come look at this!" With these words, or others like them, was born a great industrial empire. For what young Jerome Increase Case wanted his father, Caleb, to see was an article in the Genessee Farmer about a new machine that would thrash wheat. The farmer since biblical times had cut wheat with scythes, "thrashed" it by hand with flails, and winnowed the grain from the chaff by tossing it in the air. It was back-breaking work. One person could thrash only six or seven bushels a day, creating a bottleneck that prevented farmers from expanding their acreage. Manpower in early nineteenth century America was scarce. In 1820, the year after Jerome's birth, the U.S. population was about 5-1/2 million, not including slaves. The further west one traveled the fewer people there were. Farmers on America's frontiers could count on little more than their own families for labor, which was one reason farm families tended to be large.

Young Case was born and lived during a pivotal period: During his lifetime the Industrial Revolution and expansion of the United States combined to produce one of the greatest nations the world had yet seen. Case was to become a part of this process, being one of the select few --- including Cyrus McCormick, Major Leonard Andrus, Eli Whitney and other individuals --- to use the fruits of the Industrial Revolution to transform American agriculture. By applying ingenuity and technology to farming, these men so raised production levels that the United States was to become the breadbasket of the world.