He would have to be less than human to cede to his son, without a struggle, his rights and interests in the invention on which he had expended his brain and muscle for a whole generation, and which only now was beginning to show some promise of success. “That the idea would appeal to Cyrus she felt certain, but she was not so sure that Robert would readily accede to it. The plant would have to be enlarged, and the young promoter might conceivably see his dreams of fame and fabulous wealth come true without leaving the homestead. “If he could make a success of the machine, if he could cause the farmers of the country to use it, the Walnut Grove shops could not begin to meet the demand. If she could induce her husband to give Cyrus an invention or two, particularly the one in which the whole family had the greatest faith and confidence-the reaper-that might deter him from straying far afield in order to find a fitting instrument to realizing his life’s ambition. She must manage, somehow or other, to keep Cyrus at home. “Without her beloved son Cyrus at her side, Polly McCormick knew the declining years of her life would be empty and dreary.
Here’s Norbert Lyons’ telling of how the gift transaction from parents to son occurred: Cyrus patented his first version of the reaper in 1834. According to multiple accounts from family members and close friends, Robert had already invented the reaper after years of working on it, ran initial test trials in 1831, and gave it to his son Cyrus as a gift. According to research compiled by Norbert Lyons, Cyrus’ mother Polly encouraged her husband Robert to give Cyrus his inventions as a gift and allow Cyrus, the assertive and most business minded member of the family, to make the most of it.
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