William Sanderson McCormick (November 2, 1815 – September 27, 1865) was an American businessman who developed the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company the company that became the major producer of agricultural equipment in the 19th century. The business became the International Harvester corporation in 1902a. Although he died relatively young with most of the fame going to his brothers, his extended McCormick family continued to be influential in the politics and business of Chicago.
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Life
William Sanderson McCormick was born November 2, 1815, on the family estate known as Walnut Grove, in Virginia.
His father was Robert McCormick (1780–1846) and mother Mary Ann (Hall) McCormick.
He was educated in public schools and took an interest in business. When the family farm had financial problems in the panic of 1837, he took over its management and made it profitable again. When his father died in 1846, his older brother Cyrus McCormick and younger brother Leander J. McCormick left to start a factory to produce the mechanical reapers that had been developed on the farm, while he was left to take care of the estate.