The Parker & Stone Reaper Company was organized in Beloit; the first year it made twenty-five machines.

The evidence

• “Parker ^f Stone Reaper Company. — Capital, $150,000 ; commenced manufacturing in 1849, making farming implements and doing jobbing work generally, till 1855, when the Reaper Company was organized. The first year (1855), Messrs. Parker & Stone made twentyfive machines ; they have, some years since, made as high as 1,000 machines, and employed 100 men.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/15-rock-county-ch09-beloit.md, PDF p. 619

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources