John Deats#Deats plow

John Deats was born in 1769 to William Deats (also spelled Deitz), a German immigrant, and wife Mary at their home about four miles northwest of Flemington. He married Ursula Barton (1767–1853) and they had four children: Elisha Deats (1800–1862), Rhoda Deats Thurston (1803–1880), Gilbert Deats (1808–1870), and Hiram Deats (1810–1887).{{cite book|last1=Snell |first1=James P. |title=History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey |publisher=Everts & Peck |date=1881 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924104752518|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924104752518/page/n505 444–445]}}{{cite book |last1=Chambers |first1=Theodore Frelinghuysen |title=The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies |date=1895 |publisher=Dover Printing Co. |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4h46AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA323 323–4] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4h46AQAAMAAJ}}

He was a wheelwright, like his father, and worked in that trade. After designing a plow and unable to find a manufacturer locally, he moved west. He died in Newark, Ohio in 1841.{{cite book |last1=Deats |first1=Edwin R. |title=The Deats Families (Also Teats, Teets, Dates, Deets, Dietz and Deitz) |date=1973 |page=[https://archive.org/details/deatsfamiliesals00deat/page/4 4] |url=https://archive.org/details/deatsfamiliesals00deat}}

File:J. Deats' Patent Drawing for a Plough - NARA - 159160269.jpg

After experimenting in building plows, Deats was issued a patent for an improved plow in 1828.{{cite book |title=The First 300 Years of Hunterdon County, 1714–2014 |url=https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty |chapter=Industry, 1964 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty/page/n133 |first1=Bernard F. |last1=Ramsburg |publisher=Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission |location=Flemington, New Jersey|date=2014 |page=[https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty/page/n137 129] |lccn=2013957213}} He was issued another patent in 1831, which detailed improvements in the moldboard, main landside, bottom landside, cutter, share, plate of iron under the share, and clevis.{{cite patent| country=US |number= 6883X |title= Improvement in Plows |status=patent |pubdate=1831-12-28 |invent1=John Deats |inventorlink1=John Deats | url= https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=X0006883}} After his death, his son, Hiram Deats, as administrator, was granted a reissue of this 1831 patent on May 16, 1845.{{cite patent| country=US |number= RX70 |title= Plow |status=patent |pubdate=1831-12-28 |invent1=Hiram Deats, of Quakertown, New Jersey, administrator of John Deats, deceased |inventorlink1=Hiram Deats | url= https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=RX00070}}{{cite book |title=Journal of the Franklin Institute |date=1846 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ri45AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA263 263] |chapter=American Patents |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ri45AQAAMAAJ&pg=243}} The plow was successfully manufactured and sold by Hiram for many years.{{cite book |last1=Barth |first1=Linda J. |title=New Jersey Originals: Technological Marvels, Odd Inventions, Trailblazing Characters & More |date=2018 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |chapter=Deats Plow |isbn=978-1-4671-3926-7 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PBJaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 26–27] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBJaDwAAQBAJ}} The improved moldboard was said to scour better than others.{{cite book |title=The First 300 Years of Hunterdon County, 1714–2014 |url=https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty |chapter=Agriculture, 1964 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty/page/n49 |first1=Bernard F. |last1=Ramsburg |publisher=Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission |location=Flemington, New Jersey|date=2014 |page=[https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty/page/n52 45] |lccn=2013957213}} Hiram's nephew, Hiram Deats Jr. (1853–1928), son of Gilbert Deats (1808–1870), later ran the company at Pittstown until 1904.{{cite journal |last1=Deats |first1=Hiram Jr. |title=Advertisement |journal=The Jerseyman. A Quarterly Magazine of Local History |date=September 1889 |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=22 |url=https://archive.org/details/jerseyman14deat/page/30 |publisher=H. E. Deats |location=Flemington, N. J. |quote=We make the Original Deats Plow which has been extensively used for the past 60 years.}}{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=90001483}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Pittstown Historic District |publisher=National Park Service|first1=Ursula |last1=Brecknell |date=August 1989 |at=Section 8, Page 8}} With {{NRHP url|id=90001483|photos=y|title=accompanying 50 photos}}

In 1929, his grandson, Hiram Edmund Deats, donated several pieces of agricultural equipment, including a Deats plow, made by the Deats company to Rutgers University for their agricultural museum under the care of Professor Wabun C. Krueger.{{cite news |last1=Soul |first1=Louise |title=State Agricultural Museum: A Collection Without a Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/14/nyregion/state-agricultural-museum-a-collection-without-a-home.html |date=December 14, 1986 |newspaper=The New York Times}} This collection became important in the creation of the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture in 1990.{{cite news |last1=Mautner |first1=Lyn |title=New Museum's Focus Is Agriculture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/17/nyregion/new-museums-focus-is-agriculture.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 17, 1989}}

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Category:1769 births

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Category:People from Hunterdon County, New Jersey

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Category:Inventors from New Jersey