Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co. Bryan Sulky Plow Seat & Footrest
SSC MUSEUM COLLECTION
Catalog No. SSC-BRYAN-SLK-001
Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved | Cast Iron Seat & Footrest | Bryan, Ohio
c. 1883–1890 • The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co. • Bryan, Williams County, Ohio
Mounted display: the Bryan Sulky Plow seat (top) and footrest (bottom) as acquired, preserved together on their original painted wood board. The board maintains the components’ original spatial relationship to one another — seat above, footrest forward and below — exactly as they sat on the plow.
The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co. of Bryan, Ohio manufactured some of the most competitively documented sulky plows in the post-Civil War American agricultural implement trade. These two pieces — the cast iron seat and footrest from a Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved — are what remained when the plow itself was gone: the interface between the man and the machine, the components that carried the plowman across thousands of furrows through the black soil of Ohio, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania.
A sulky plow is a riding plow — a single-bottom wheeled implement that allowed the operator to sit rather than walk. Before the sulky, plowing meant walking ten or twelve miles behind a horse team every day the field was worked. The sulky changed that. In the fierce implement competition of the 1870s and 1880s, Morrison & Fay’s Bryan Sulky Plow earned a documented record of performance that placed it at the front of the field — ahead of John Deere’s Gilpin, the Casaday, the Syracuse, and the Wiard — in independent dynamometer trials. These are the parts of that plow that carried the man who drove it.
The Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved
Catalog page 11 of 17: “The Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved” from the 1886 Illustrated Catalogue of the Bryan Plows, The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co., Bryan, Ohio. Source: Iowa State University Library Digital Collections, Lawrence H. Skromme Agricultural Machinery Literature Collection, RS 21/7/227, Box 15, Folder 26.
The 1886 Illustrated Catalogue of the Bryan Plows — the company’s primary sales document, printed by Short & Forman of Cleveland — devotes two full pages to the Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved. The catalog is direct about its ambitions: the plow “embodies all the essential features requisite to Strength, Durability, Simplicity, Ease of Management and Lightness of Draft.” It then lists six specific advantages over every competing sulky on the market.
First among them: lightest draft, conclusively demonstrated by dynamometer in “many hotly contested trials.” Second: easier on the team than any walking plow doing equal work. Third: both wheels independently adjustable, making it workable on side-hills and uneven ground that would defeat other sulkies. Fourth: a Power Lift system so light that “a boy only eleven years old” could operate it, requiring as little as five pounds of force to throw the plow in and out of gear. Fifth: so well balanced it produces no more side draft than a wagon. Sixth: the driver is never disturbed in his seat by the plow striking a stone — the flexible attachment absorbs impact rather than transmitting it to the operator.
That sixth point is worth sitting with. The catalog is describing an engineering decision about the seat and its relationship to the plow frame: the rider is isolated from shock. The seat and footrest that form this collection entry were not incidental hardware. They were the delivery mechanism for a specific product promise.
A Proven Performer: The Competitive Record
Catalog page 13 of 17: Testimonials — Fair Trials and Diplomas. The Orleans County Fair trial results appear in the center of the page, listing draft measurements in pounds per 100 square inches of furrow for seven competing sulky plows. The Bryan Sulky’s result of 367 pounds beat the Gilpin Sulky’s 417 pounds by 50 pounds — the lowest draft of any plow in the trial.
The 1886 catalog’s testimonials section is among the richer primary-source windows into how the Bryan Sulky performed in public competition. Morrison & Fay was not a company content to make claims without evidence, and the catalog documents the evidence in detail.
The centerpiece is the Orleans County Fair trial in New York — identified by the catalog as “The Largest Sulky Plow Trial Ever Held in the State of New York.” Seven competing sulkies were submitted to independent dynamometer testing, with draft measured in pounds per 100 square inches of furrow turned. The results, reported by the committee of Wm. H. Bendry, A. Wood, and M. Hubbard, were as follows:
Bryan Sulky Plow: 367 pounds — Gilpin Sulky: 417 — Wiard Sulky: 429 — Syracuse Sulky: 441 — Castile Sulky: 445 — Casaday Sulky: 453 — Sandusky Sulky: 591
The Bryan Sulky drew 50 pounds less than the Gilpin — John Deere’s own flagship, the most recognized sulky of the era — and 224 fewer pounds than the worst-performing machine in the trial. Additional diplomas came from the Onondaga County Agricultural Society in Syracuse, New York (September 1883), and from the Farmers and Mechanics Institute of Northampton County, Pennsylvania (Easton, September 1883). A Michigan customer wrote to Morrison & Fay in May 1884 confirming: “Your Sulky Plow is peculiarly adapted to the wants of the Michigan farmers… I am highly pleased with it; don’t see where it can be bettered.”
To beat the Gilpin in a documented, independently judged dynamometer trial was a genuine competitive achievement for a foundry in Bryan, Ohio — a town of fewer than 3,000 people in the far northwest corner of the state. It speaks to the engineering seriousness behind the product, and to the ambition of the men who built it.
The Seat
The seat from above, showing the scalloped dome profile, open kidney-form drainage opening, and cast markings on the interior surface. The raised perimeter rim forms the actual seating surface. Two mounting screw holes visible at the base flange attach the seat to its spring bracket on the plow frame.
The seat is a scalloped dome design characteristic of late-19th-century agricultural implement seating. The profile is a flattened hemisphere: a raised perimeter rim forms the sitting surface, open at the center with a roughly kidney-shaped aperture that serves for both drainage and ventilation. The scalloped outer contour — the rhythmic lobes around the rim’s edge — is both decorative and functional, breaking up a large flat surface that would otherwise pool standing water.
Underside of the seat showing the double-lobed mounting flange, screw holes, and partial casting marks. The center divider of the double-lobe flange and the positioning screw hole at right are clearly visible. The casting marks on the interior dome surface are partially legible and remain under active research.
On the underside and interior surface of the seat, casting marks are present. They are consistent with the Morrison & Fay / Bryan Plow attribution — the company’s 1886 catalog explicitly instructed buyers: “See that the name ‘The Bryan’ is plainly stenciled on the plow you buy and you will make no mistake.” Full identification of the casting text, including any patent date or number, is subject to ongoing research; high-resolution imaging under raking light is the recommended next step. The double-lobed mounting flange at the base carries two screw holes through which the seat is secured to its spring support bracket on the original plow frame.
The Footrest
The footrest from above, showing the full fan/shell form with radiating spoke pattern and boldly scalloped outer perimeter. The spokes create open channels for drainage and grip. The three-hole mounting flange is visible at the base — two outer screw holes and one center hole — securing the footrest to the plow’s forward bracket.
The footrest is, purely as a piece of cast iron work, the more visually arresting of the two components. Its form is a broad fan or shell shape: a radiating spoke pattern emanates from a central point at the mounting base, framed by a boldly scalloped outer perimeter. The spokes create generous open channels that drain water and provide grip even under muddy field conditions. But the visual effect is something considerably beyond the functional — it is the kind of confident, ornamental ironwork that places this object squarely in the high Victorian tradition of decorative industrial casting.
Front-angle view of the footrest showing the full depth of the spoke array and the mounting flange base. In operation, the plowman rested both feet on the forward ledge, the spoke pattern providing grip through the working day.
In operation, the plowman rested both feet on the footrest’s forward ledge while seated above on the dome seat, governing the plow’s depth and direction with the levers to hand. The footrest attached forward and below the seat via the three-hole flange at its base. Together, the two components defined the operator’s position on the implement — the seat above, the footrest forward and below, creating a stable riding platform that the Morrison & Fay catalog claimed would not be disturbed even when the plow struck a stone.
Rear profile of the assembly showing both components in their relative positions as mounted on the board. The smooth dome of the seat and the open spoke array of the footrest read as a coherent unit — they were designed and cast to work together.
The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co., Bryan, Ohio
The roots of this company go back to 1862, when Robert Park of Fairfield, Huron County, Ohio established the Bryan Foundry at the corner of Beech and Butler Streets in Bryan, Williams County. In 1865 — the year the Civil War ended — the operation was reorganized as Morrison, Fay & Company. Through subsequent years it evolved into The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co., the name under which it issued its 1886 Illustrated Catalogue. By approximately 1890, the operation had reorganized again as the Bryan Plow Company, operating from the same South Beech Street facilities it had occupied for decades. In 1919, the company sold its patterns, inventory, and business to Parker Plow Company of Richmond, Michigan, which continued manufacturing under the Bryan name and serviced thousands of Bryan plows still in the field.
Bryan, Ohio — the “Fountain City,” named for its remarkable network of cold artesian wells — was a logical if unlikely home for a major implement maker. Platted in 1840 and incorporated in 1849, the town had grown slowly until the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad arrived in May 1855. Rail access transformed the economics of manufacturing: raw material could come in cheaply, finished plows could go out quickly, and markets that had been unreachable were suddenly viable. By 1875, the Morrison & Fay operation employed 35 workers and produced approximately 3,000 plows and 1,500 corn shellers annually. The 1886 catalog, written for that customer base, opens with a note of earned confidence: the plows on offer are “the results of 26 years of experience in the manufacture of plows.”
The catalog notes — and it is worth noting — that the company made not only plows but also sugar cane crushers, corn shellers, harrows, steam engines, and cultivators. This was not a narrow specialist but a general agricultural implement foundry, the kind of operation that served the full calendar of the farming year. The Bryan Sulky Plow was its flagship riding implement, but it was made alongside a full line of walking plows and specialty equipment. Two of the original brick foundry buildings on South Beech Street still stand in Bryan today.
Dating and Attribution
Attribution to the Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co. is supported by the casting marks visible on the seat’s interior surface, the overall design language consistent with the Bryan Sulky Plow as documented in the 1886 catalog, and the provenance description associated with the eBay listing, which identified the pieces as Bryan Plow Co., Ohio.
Establishing a tighter date requires understanding the company’s naming history. The Morrison & Fay era runs from approximately 1865 to 1890; by 1890 the company had reorganized as the Bryan Plow Company and continued under that name until 1919. The Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved was well established by 1883 — when competitive diplomas were awarded at the Onondaga County and Northampton County fairs — and appears in the 1886 catalog as a mature, proven product. The seat and footrest design visible here is consistent with mid-to-late 1880s Morrison & Fay production.
A conservative date range of c. 1883–1890 is supportable for the Morrison & Fay era. The possibility of Bryan Plow Company-era production (post-1890) cannot be fully excluded, as the company may have continued casting these components with the same tooling after the name change. The casting marks, once fully legible, may narrow this window considerably.
Patent Research Note
The Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved carried patents. The 1886 catalog specifically identifies the Vibrating Bail — described as “the greatest improvement known in a Sulky” — and the Power Lift mechanism as the plow’s signature patented features. The casting marks on the seat’s interior surface may include a patent date or number; their full content has not yet been definitively read.
The specific U.S. patent or patents covering the Vibrating Bail and Power Lift mechanisms of the Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved have not yet been identified in available patent databases. A comprehensive search of USPTO records from the late 1870s through the late 1880s under the Morrison & Fay name, and under the likely inventors associated with the Bryan foundry operation, remains in progress. SSC will update this record when patent attribution is confirmed.
Piece Details
Manufacturer
The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co., Bryan, Williams County, Ohio
Piece Type
Bryan Sulky Plow, Improved — Cast Iron Seat & Footrest (matched set, 2 pieces)
Seat Form
Scalloped dome design; raised perimeter rim forms sitting surface; kidney-form central drainage opening; double-lobed mounting flange with two screw holes at base
Footrest Form
Fan/shell form; radiating spoke pattern from central base point; boldly scalloped outer perimeter; three-hole mounting flange at base (two outer, one center)
Material
Gray cast iron; original surface patina throughout
Mounting
Both pieces presented on original painted wood mounting board preserving their spatial relationship
Casting Marks
Partial marks present on seat interior surface; consistent with Bryan / Morrison & Fay attribution; full text subject to ongoing research
Patent Status
Plow carries patents on Vibrating Bail and Power Lift mechanisms (per 1886 catalog); specific patent numbers not yet identified; research ongoing
Date of Manufacture
c. 1883–1890 (Morrison & Fay era; Bryan Plow Co. by c. 1890)
Place of Manufacture
Bryan, Williams County, Ohio
Condition
Good — iron body structurally sound on both pieces; no cracks detected; all surface features intact; age-appropriate oxidation and wear consistent with period use
Acquisition Source
eBay — Seller: eavesman
eBay Item No.
306813631998
Order No.
10-14474-27528
Acquisition Date
April 8, 2026
SSC Catalog No.
SSC-BRYAN-SLK-001
Collection Category
Ohio Cast Iron — Agricultural Implements
Reference Catalog
Illustrated Catalogue of the Bryan Plows, Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co., Bryan, Ohio, 1886. Iowa State University Library Digital Collections, Lawrence H. Skromme Agricultural Machinery Literature Collection, RS 21/7/227, Box 15, Folder 26. Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/87292/w91z41x85
Why This Piece Matters
The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co. was not a large firm. Bryan, Ohio in the 1880s was a town of fewer than 3,000 people in the northwest corner of the state, far from the major implement centers of Moline, Springfield, and Canton. But Morrison & Fay built a sulky plow that beat John Deere’s Gilpin in a documented public trial, that earned agricultural society diplomas across New York and Pennsylvania, and that was praised by Michigan farmers who had tried every sulky on the market. This was a genuine competitor, producing genuinely good iron, in a part of Ohio that has not been well served by the existing collector literature.
The seat and footrest matter as the most personal components of that plow. They are what the operator touched, what bore his weight for the length of a long Ohio plowing day. They carry the design thinking of an engineer who understood that a rider who is comfortable and protected from shock will plow more acres, more accurately, more willingly, than a rider who fights the implement all day. The catalog’s sixth advantage — “the driver is never disturbed in his seat” — was a promise made in iron. These pieces are where that promise was kept.
They matter because the Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co. is underdocumented. The company does not appear in the standard hollow ware references. Its history survives in a single 1886 catalog, in a handful of newspaper notices, in two surviving brick buildings on South Beech Street in Bryan, and in pieces like these — found on an eBay listing, mounted on a painted board, attributed to Ohio, waiting for someone to write the story down.
The iron endures. The markings tell the truth. The story deserves to be told.
Sources & Further Reading
Physical examination of pieces: scalloped dome seat with kidney-form drainage opening and double-lobed mounting flange; fan/shell footrest with radiating spoke pattern and scalloped perimeter; partial casting marks on seat interior surface; both pieces mounted on original painted wood board. Six seller photographs examined prior to acquisition.
The Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co. Illustrated Catalogue of the Bryan Plows. Bryan, Ohio: Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co., 1886. [Printed by Short & Forman, Cleveland.] Iowa State University Library Digital Collections, Lawrence H. Skromme Agricultural Machinery Literature Collection, RS 21/7/227, Box 15, Folder 26. Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/87292/w91z41x85. Primary source for company identity, plow specifications, competitive record, diplomas, and testimonials. SSC copy compiled April 2026.
Maynard, Kevin. “Kevin Maynard Presents Bryan’s Industrial History to Rotary Club.” The Village Reporter (Bryan, Ohio), May 15, 2021. Primary source for company founding date (1862), Morrison Fay & Co. name adoption (1865), 1875 employment and production figures, 1919 sale to Parker Plow Company of Richmond, Michigan.
“Manufactures and Employees — Bryan, Williams County, Ohio.” Ohio Labor Statistics Report, 1887. Reprinted in Williams County history at freepages.rootsweb.com. Confirms Bryan Plow Co. at 32 employees as of 1887 state report; corroborates scale of operation.
eBay acquisition record — Order No. 10-14474-27528, seller: eavesman, April 8, 2026. Item: ANTIQUE BRYAN PLOW CO OHIO TOOL FARM RARE OLD VINTAGE MACHINERY WOOD CAST IRON (item no. 306813631998).
Farm Collector. “Best Cast Iron Seats in the House.” February 17, 2012. https://www.farmcollector.com/equipment/cast-iron-seats-zmbz12aprzbea/. General context for cast iron seat and footrest collecting; taxonomy of sulky plow components.
Farm Collector. “King of the Sulkies: Gilpin Plows.” September 2024. https://www.farmcollector.com/equipment/gilpin-sulky-plows-zm0z24onzbro/. Context for the Gilpin Sulky Plow (John Deere) against which the Bryan Sulky competed in documented trials.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office historical records — Patent search for Bryan Sulky Plow Vibrating Bail and Power Lift mechanism patents, Morrison & Fay Mfg. Co., Bryan Ohio, 1870s–1880s. Ongoing. Specific patent numbers not yet identified; SSC collection record will be updated upon identification.
SSC Internal Collection Records — Ohio Cast Iron / Agricultural Implements category. SSC-BRYAN-SLK-001 is the first Morrison & Fay / Bryan Plow Co. riding implement component in the SSC collection; patent research and casting mark study ongoing.
About Steve’s Seasoned Classics
Steve’s Seasoned Classics is an online museum dedicated to preserving and documenting the heritage of American cast iron, with a focus on Ohio foundry pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The SSC collection features over 130 pieces with detailed provenance, historical research, and photography for each item.
