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Fuller and Johnson Company

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The development of the Fuller and Johnson Company started in the 1880s to design, manufacture, and market farm machinery that would play an important role in revolutionizing agricultural methods. The charter of the company, originally named the Madison Plow Company for six short months, was established on January 14, 1880. By 1883, the company had moved into the production of a varied line of agricultural implements including three types of plows, five kinds of cultivators, harrows, mowers, and sulky rakes. Johnson, a former salesman of farm machinery, relied on his years of experience as a salesman and a farmer. 

The first pressing need Johnson pioneered was improving the plow. There was a strong need with the expansion into the Dakotas for plows that could break sod. For that need, he developed the Bonanza Prairie Breaker to break through the sod of unplowed land. He later went on to develop the Columbian plow (three-wheeled gang plow), Young America (a horse implement light enough for a boy to guide – this became so popular that the factory worked overtime to keep pace with the orders), and the Eclipse Stone Dodger (to plow rocky land). These sulky plows he developed lightened the work of the farmer. 

Improvements in Corn Planters

Nils O. Starks, with the help of Johnson, patented improvements on corn planters. On the issuance of the patent, Stark gave one-third of his right to Johnson. Stark eventually gave up his position as a teacher to work for the Fuller and Johnson Company. The planter, known as a place-drop planter, was a popular addition to the line of farm machinery sold by the company. In 1888, they sold every planter in stock. The company didn’t stop at corn planters, they eventually took up transplanting tobacco shoots as tobacco farming was common in western Wisconsin.

To help expand the company, they set up branches at strategic points including Minneapolis, Des Moines, Fargo, and Helena. Johnson’s experience in the Walter A. Wood Company and being a native of Norway helped him a great deal in these areas. To help aid in expansion, they advertised in many Norwegian-language newspapers including Skandinaven, Decorah-Posten, and Folkebladet. Johnson was a strong believer in advertising – not a surprise with his involvement in newspapers. Advertising efforts didn’t stop at newspapers. They had exhibits at state fairs and the Columbian Exposition. Johnson put in extra effort to stage an outstanding exhibit which paid off with exposure to foreign companies. 

Trials and Tribulations

Despite the panic of 1890 where there were financial issues, troubles gathering payments, and crop failures, the company held on. Despite surviving these struggles, there were conversations about moving the company. Offers came from Milwaukee, New York, and Knoxville. However, the company decided to remain in Madison at 1400 E. Washington Street. The stockholders trusted Johnson wholeheartedly – year after year they gave him a vote of confidence in unanimously electing him the chief executive. There was never another nominee. Johnson died in 1901. In 1902, his son Carl A. Johnson was elected to a three-year term as director. The company continued to do well. At a meeting that same year, the directors announced that a farm pump powered by a gasoline engine had been perfected by the Gisholt Machine Company – another company owned by the Johnson family. 

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