John Deats Explained

Birth Date:	1 February 1769
Known For:	Invention of the Deats plow

John Deats (February 1, 1769 – May 1, 1841) was an American wheelwright and inventor of the Deats plow from Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

Life and family

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).^{[1] [2]}

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.^[1] He died in Newark, Ohio in 1841.^{[2] [3]}

Deats plow

After experimenting in building plows, Deats was issued a patent for an improved plow in 1828.^{[1] [4]} 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.^[5] After his death, his son, Hiram Deats, as administrator, was granted a reissue of this 1831 patent on May 16, 1845.^{[6] [7]} The plow was successfully manufactured and sold by Hiram for many years.^[8] The improved moldboard was said to scour better than others.^[9] Hiram's nephew, Hiram Deats Jr. (1853–1928), son of Gilbert Deats (1808–1870), later ran the company at Pittstown until 1904.^{[4] [10] [11]}

Legacy

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.^{[8] [12]} This collection became important in the creation of the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture in 1990.^[13]

Notes and References

1. Book: Snell . James P. . History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey . Everts & Peck . 1881 . 444–445.
2. Book: Chambers . Theodore Frelinghuysen . The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies . 1895 . Dover Printing Co. . 323–4 .
3. Book: Deats . Edwin R. . The Deats Families (Also Teats, Teets, Dates, Deets, Dietz and Deitz) . 1973 . 4 .
4. Book: The First 300 Years of Hunterdon County, 1714–2014 . Industry, 1964 . https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty/page/n133 . Bernard F. . Ramsburg . Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission . Flemington, New Jersey. 2014 . 129 . 2013957213.
5. US . 6883X . Improvement in Plows . patent . 1831-12-28 . John Deats . John Deats .
6. US . RX70 . Plow . patent . 1831-12-28 . Hiram Deats, of Quakertown, New Jersey, administrator of John Deats, deceased . Hiram Deats .
7. Book: Journal of the Franklin Institute . 1846 . 263 . American Patents . https://books.google.com/books?id=ri45AQAAMAAJ&pg=243.
8. Book: Barth . Linda J. . New Jersey Originals: Technological Marvels, Odd Inventions, Trailblazing Characters & More . 2018 . . Deats Plow . 978-1-4671-3926-7 . 26–27 .
9. Book: The First 300 Years of Hunterdon County, 1714–2014 . Agriculture, 1964 . https://archive.org/details/First300YearsOfHunterdonCounty/page/n49 . Bernard F. . Ramsburg . Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission . Flemington, New Jersey. 2014 . 45 . 2013957213.
10. Deats . Hiram Jr. . Advertisement . The Jerseyman. A Quarterly Magazine of Local History . September 1889 . 1 . 2 . 22 . . Flemington, N. J. . We make the Original Deats Plow which has been extensively used for the past 60 years..
11. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=90001483}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Pittstown Historic District ]. National Park Service. Ursula . Brecknell . August 1989 . Section 8, Page 8. With
12. News: Soul . Louise . State Agricultural Museum: A Collection Without a Home . December 14, 1986 . The New York Times.
13. News: Mautner . Lyn . New Museum's Focus Is Agriculture . The New York Times . December 17, 1989.