David Benton Sears could be considered the father of Moline, Illinois.
It would not be long before immigrants,.
Grain and lumber mills were the first, but farm implement and related factories soon found prominence after John Deere moved his plow-making business here in 1848.
It was because of his brush dam on the Mississippi River between the Moline shore and Rock Island known today as Arsenal Island that significant industry began to develop.
It was upon his land that Moline was platted in 1843.
David Benton Sears could be considered the father of Moline, Illinois