Jesse G. Lindeman

Oct. 12,1899 – Sept. 10, 1992

On October 12, 1899, Joseph & Elisabeth Lindeman had their first child and named him Jesse George on a farm in Cass Co., Iowa.  The oldest of 4 brothers and 2 sisters Jesse was spared working the land on the farm.  At a young age he had a natural knowledge of the farm machinery and was in-charge of keeping it in good working order.  He was to become a very prominent name in the John Deere family.

When he turned 19 he joined the Army and was in the intelligence division.  He was partly color blind and could see through the camouflage netting.  He would joke that when he wasn’t flying he was in the Mess Hall cooking.  His stay in the armed forces was short.  The war ended, and he was released from duty in July of 1919.  After returning home, he could not envision himself as a “farmer”.  He moved to Yakima and was hired as a farm implement salesman at Rovig Lumber Company. He started to work on the first working day in January of 1920.

He and his younger brother Harry who had also moved to Yakima started a small Implement manufacturing company first named it the Holt Tractor Agency, later to rename it Lindeman Power Equipment Co.  They eventually became the John Deere dealer.

They added tracks to 3 or 4 Model D’s and 29 GPO’s then came the tractor that his name would be always remembered for, the little BO that would put John Deere into the crawler business