LeTourneau University offered less grant aid to undergraduates than both the average private not-for-profit 4 year college in Texas and the average college in Texas. Similarly, fewer undergraduates took out federal student loans than the average private not-for-profit 4 year college in Texas, but more than the average college in Texas.
E.E. Hoag used these feathers to invent the first feather duster. Using a short broom stick and splitting the feathers with a pocket knife, the duster was found to be too stiff for use. In 1874, the Hoag Duster Company was founded, which became a pioneer of feather dusters in the U.S. state of Iowa.
Melville Bissell developed an early carpet sweeping machine to aid in cleaning the crockery shop he and his wife Anna owned and operated. The device was patented as the Bissell Carpet Sweeper in 1876. In 1883 Bissell built the company's first manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids. By the 1890s the company had an international presence and was producing 1000 sweepers per day. Melville Bissell died in 1889, and his wife Anna took over as leader of the company.