Born in 1911, Carroll Abbey spent the last twenty years of his life collecting farm tools that were, by all accounts, on the verge of being lost forever. In time, his collection grew to include over 4,000 items, from farrier tools and reapers to tractor seats and plows. By developing a network that spanned Pennsylvania to Nebraska, he was able to find a wide range of innovative tools. These tools, taken together, tell the story of early America, the difficulty of early agricultural life, and the ingenuity of the country’s farmers.

Currently, the Abbey Collection overflows 18,000 square feet in pole barns that Abbey himself erected between 1981 and 1997. To Abbey, the collection wasn’t just an assemblage of tools, it was a work of art. Calling it ‘the art of the human spirit at work,’ he believed that rural ingenuity should be saved for future reference and appreciation. At Tillers International, we are proud to house his collection and to play some small part in the continuance of this noble mission.