I've never been to VM, CyberJack, all I did was look at early rotary mower literature, and immediately found the State Historical Society of Missouri's paper, which was written in 1993 by Leonard E. Goodall, a descendant of the original Leonard B. Goodall. I did not find any of the much more difficult material you found - I'm not cut out to be a historian, let alone a good one.
Leonard B. was in many ways a representative example of the inventor-entrepreneur type, and seemingly a theorist rather than a businessman, as is often the case with true pioneers. His company prospered considerably immediately after WW2, but as soon as competition arose in the early 1950s, he quickly sold the company and retired. If only more inventor-entrepreneurs had the sense to do the same. I am inclined to tentatively classify Richardson as the other kind of inventor-entrepreneur: a fast-follower and improviser. Note that Goodall did a great deal of experimenting before he founded the company and began to produce a somewhat developed product.
