Career
In his youth, he was a sailor on a whaling ship, but eventually he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. He tested and patented a reaper in 1833, which placed him in fierce competition with inventor Cyrus McCormick of Chicago, Illinois. Both men made several patented innovations to the reaper, until Hussey was finally driven out of business.
He sold the rights to McCormick in 1858.
Two years later, attempting to board a train in Exeter, New Hampshire, he fell beneath the cars and died. (Verify photo Obed Hussey wore an eye patch on his left eye and was thinner than the man pictured).