The W. A. Whitney Manufacturing Co. (later W. A. Whitney Corp.) was founded in 1907 by William A. Whitney to manufacture punching hand tools for which Whitney held various patents. He left the firm in 1911 and the company didn't manufacture punching tools again until 1918. Punch presses were introduced in the 1930's, but the company remained small until the mid 1950's. In 1957, the company built a new manufacturing plant to produce hydraulic punch presses. Whitney was sold to Mega Manufacturing Inc. in 2004.
More history and machine information can be found here.
See also Whitney Metal Tool Co. | Roper Whitney, Inc.