The Deerings of International Harvester (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781979586603)

Ray Burhop was born in Chicago and is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He served for many years as a project engineer for a large manufacturing corporation and as a consultant for the packaging industry. He and his wife have resided in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Florida. His interest in American history led Ray to author his first book, "The Twenty Fourth Illinois Infantry Regiment" which is the true story of a Civil war regiment from Chicago. His grandfather's experience in the building and first voyage of the Titanic generated Ray's interest in this great ship and led Ray to become the Chief Docent for the Titanic exhibit during the nine months stay at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Fl. Ray then became associated with Cracker Country, the living history museum at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, FL where he served as a tour guide, docent and "unofficial volunteer historian". The objective of this living history museum is to provide the public the experience of a Florida Cracker community of the period of 1890 to 1910. The railroad depot originally located at Okahumpka, Florida is a very dominate feature at Cracker Country and generates many questions about the depot and the town of Okahumpka. This led Ray to write his second book entitled "Okahumpka", The History of a Florida Cracker Community". Ray grew up on a farm in Northwest Illinois. His father's farm had an International Harvester model "A" and a model "H" tractor which yielded lifelong fond memories. One day in 2012, Ray visited Paquette's International Harvester Tractor Museum in Leesburg, Florida and saw two tractors just like the ones that were on his father's Oak Hill Farm in Cary, Illinois. Ray became a volunteer tour guide at the museum and eventually became the museum's historian. This led to Rays third book entitled, "The McCormicks of International Harvester", which is the true story of one of the two families responsible for the creation of the mega corporation named International Harvester. Rays next book was the story of an Immigrant, Civil War veteran, and Arizona pioneer. That book is titled "The Five Lives of Paul Vogel. Now Ray Burhop offers his most recent book, "The Deerings of International Harvester" which is the story of the other family associated with the creation of International Harvester Corporation.