John M. Westcott started the Hoosier Drill
Company in Milton, Indiana in 1858 and incorporated it in 1873.
He moved the company to Richmond in 1878. John M. Westcott was
the president, and he surrounded himself with his three sons-in-law
as officers. At least in 1899, it could claim to be the largest
factory in the world devoted entirely to the manufacture of seeding
machines.
In 1903, Hoosier Drill Co.
became part of the American Seeding Machine Company, with
factories in Richmond and Springfield, Ohio.
In 1906, the company petitioned Richmond
City Council to vacate 14th Street north of E so that it could
expand. Council agreed and over the next few years American
Seeding almost doubled its capacity and employment.
In 1920, American
Seeding became the Richmond Unit of the International Harvester
Company. During World War II it produced war material instead
of farm implements. The factory closed in 1957.