Nettie F. McCormick wife of Cyrus 'Vaulted Advisor'

by Patricia R. James
published August 2003
                                     

     Nancy Maria FOWLER, the daughter of Melzar and Clarissa, was born on Feb. 8, 1825 at Brownville.  Raised as a Methodist, she followed the Presbyterian faith in her adult years.  Her father died in an accident when she was only 7 months old.  The mother nevertheless went ahead with the construction of a new home in Depauville.  Clarissa Fowler died at 29 years of age when her daughter was at the tender age of 7 years old.  "Nettie" as she was affectionately called, remembered her mother's funeral with great clarity recalling that many, many people attended.

     Nettie went to Clayton to live with her grandparents, Anson and Maria FOWLER, in 1833.  When she was 22 years old, she visited Chicago.  The year was 1847 and Cyrus McCORMICK had just relocated his business in Chicago after meeting with famed Illinois senator and presidential candidate, Stephen A. DOUGLAS.  Previously, Cyrus' father, Robert, had worked for two decades to invent a machine that would cut grain down more proficiently at harvest time.  When the father gave up, the son continued experimenting and patented the Reaper in 1834.  Selling from his Virginia plantation, the business did not do well. Only 100 machines had been sold by 1846.  The move to Chicago would prove to make all the difference in more ways than one.     

     Although he was 26 years her senior, Nettie married Cyrus in 1859.  Their union of 26 years ended with Cyrus' death in 1884.  During that time, Nettie and Cyrus had 6 (one source says 7) children.  She must have been a woman for whom 'cleanliness was next to godliness' for today there is an annual celebration at Tusculum College in TN called "McCormick Day."  Begun in 1913 and held on her birthday is a contest in which students industriously do volunteer service work cleaning up their dorm rooms and sprucing up campus. Kicking off the event is a recollection of Nettie in which a speaker relates how she would in the early years put on white gloves to inspect dorm rooms for dust!                        

     What a life Nettie and Cyrus must have led!  In 1851 at the World's Fair, Cyrus' machine won the recognition of a Gold Medal.  Later, at the French Academy of Sciences, he was credited for "having done more for agriculture than any other living man."                                       

     Having been mentored by a mother with a strong will, Nettie is described as a "valued adviser, almost partner" to her husband.  A short story will illustrate the truth of this.  W.C. GRAY (grandfather of well-known architect, William Gray PURCELL) was a publisher with a great interest and involvement in promoting missionary tracts of the Western Tract and Book Society.  When the Great Fire of Chicago burned nearly 18,000 building in 1871, he volunteered to help with the printing of such materials and to be the interim editor of The Interior.  Out of such a temporary assignment, he was persuaded to continue permanently as editor.  However, the politics of publishing financially hampered the success of this enterprise and W.C. found it necessary to find a benefactor.      

    W.C. Gray was already familiar with the reputation of the inventor of the reaper.  Cyrus McCormick was a man who did not smoke, drink or curse and whose last words were purported to be, "Work!  Work!"  When Gray went to call on the magnate at the Rush Street mansion, it was not Cyrus who received him that day, but Nettie (Cyrus was not at home?)  She listened as he explained the situation.  Over the course of her lifetime, she would be known for her philanthropic gifts but for now, she simply assured Gray that his worries were over.  Not long after, Cyrus bought the newspaper, thus relieving Gray from financial woes and personality conflicts. 

     Nettie would eventually contribute to more than 40 schools and colleges as well as gain a reputation as a deeply religious woman who promoted the spreading of the gospel through missionary organizations.  A library at the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago is named in honor of one of her daughters who suffered from mental illness.  Jane ADDAMS, founder of the Hull House in Chicago, asked for her contribution in building a third floor at the mansion.  Nettie encouraged the work of Henry Winters LUCE, a missionary to China around the turn of the 20th century who was instrumental in founding Christian colleges.          

     When her husband died, he left an estate of ten million dollars - quite a sum in 1884!  Nettie, however, saw her wealth as a sacred trust.  She was often 'reluctant to discuss her gifts and often preferred to be anonymous.'  Nevertheless she 'screened and supervised her charities with great care.'  She gave to big and small organizations alike.  The bell at the Depauville Methodist Church was one of her gifts.

The material for this brief biography was taken from several sources found on the internet and
"The Changing Years: A History of Depauville."