Abraham Lincoln was practicing law in Springfield, Illinois when asked to help in the defense of a reaper patent suit brought by Cyrus Hall McCormick of Chicago.
The biography of Ralph Emerson in this book has information about the involvement of Mr Lincoln in defense of the patent suit and contains other details of the many ventures of Ralph.
Ralph Emerson was an industrial owner and manager in the Rockford Illinois Water Power area located at the dam on Rock River. From the 1850's until his death in 1914, he was involved in the manufacture of reapers and other farm equipment as well as knitting machines.