Newbold Plow - cast iron plow by Charles Newbold
The Newbold Plow
The plow evolved from the all-wood designs of antiquity, to the use of iron parts. In 1720, the first English patent for a wooden moldboard sheathed with iron was issued to Joseph Foljambe. From that the evolution to plows made with cast iron moldboards and shares occurred in Scotland in 1785 by James Small. These cast iron plows were then imported to the U.S.
Charles Newbold, born in Chesterfield, NJ (1780), spent his teenage years investigating the use of cast iron to improve on the heavy iron-clad wooden plow then available. He was issued the first US patent for a plow on 26 Jun 1797. The plow was cast as one piece—the moldboard, share, and land-side all cast together—with wooden handles and beam added.