After World War I, some automobile manufacturers were looking to produce tractors. Henery Ford's company began producing Fordson tractors, General Motors produced the Sampson tractor and the Moline Plow Co. was courted by manufacturer John N. Willys. Mr. Willys purchased Moline from the owners, the Stephens family, and so his automobile company began producing the Universal tractor. Mr. Willys had as his partners in the tractor trade: George N. Peek (a well known farm equipment executive) andGeneral Hugh Johnson (later a famous NRA administrator). Willys produced the Moline Universal tractor into the 1920's. In the 1920's when the tractor boom subsided, Willys withdrew from Moline and sold out to his partners. General Johnson became President and R.W. Lea became Vice President of Moline Plow Company. Both then retired and their associates took over and operated as the Moline Implement Co. which it remained until the M-M organization in 1929.
