Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
CHAMBERLAIN PLOW COMPANY
CHAMBERLAIN PLOW COMPANY. Pioneering agricultural implement manufacturer. The future manufacturing giant began as a small blacksmith shop in Orfordville, Wisconsin. H.H. Sater, later the superintendent of the NORWEGIAN PLOW COMPANY, made plows with a small anvil. A larger shop was constructed in Brodhead, Wisconsin by C.W. Mitchell and others which utilized machinery.
In 1877 William C. CHAMBERLAIN purchased an interest in the Wisconsin business and opened a branch office and salesroom in Dubuque. The name of the company at that time was Chamberlain, Mitchell & Company. In 1879 George Stephens and others joined the firm. A stock company incorporated under Iowa laws was established in 1879, the Norwegian Plow Company.