Renfrew Machinery Co. was incorporated in 1909, though they may have existed in an earlier form before then. They made cream separators and gas engines. They also sold gas engines manufactured by Christensen Engineering Co. of Milwaukee, WI, Sta-Rite Engine Co. of La Crosse, WI, and Stover Manufacturing Co. of Freeport, IL. Renfrew Machinery seems to have shut down in the mid to late 1930s.

Information Sources

• The 1910-03-28 Industrial World lists this firm in their "Charters to New Corporations":

  The Renfrew Machinery Company; head office, Renfrew; $250,000; W. T. Guest, a director.

• The 1914-09-03 Iron Age has this news item:

  The Renfrew Machinery Company, Ltd., Renfrew, Ont., manufacturer of cream separators, etc., has increased its capital stock from $250,000 to $1,000,000.

• The 1915-06-24 American Machinist has this news item:

  Fire recently damaged the factory of the Renfrew Machinery Co., Renfrew, Ont. Loss, $3000.

• Who's Who and Why for 1915-16, ed. B. M. Greene, lists one Thomas Andrew Low, president of Renfrew Machinery, Ltd. "Organized Renfrew Machinery Co., 1909, manufacturing cream separators and gasoline engines, employing 350 hands; organized Renfrew Manufacturing Co., manufacturing sash, doors, and blinds, and general contractors, 1904; organized Renfrew Flour Mills, 1902; Organized Renfrew Electric Mfg. Co., 1913. ..."
• A 1915 edition of Canadian Engineer has this news item:

  Renfrew, Ont.—The Renfrew Machinery Company has completed its building for the manufacturing of shrapnel shells for the British War Office. The machinery, largely automatic, has been installed and work commenced...

• The 1916 edition of the Farm Implement News: Tractor Field Booklists this firm as a distributor for La Crosse Tractor Co.
• From the 1985 book, Harvest of Stones: the German Settlement in Renfrew County:

  One of the most devastating blazes, in March 1916, destroyed the Renfrew Machinery Company's Shell Factory, which had been operating twenty-four hours a day. The loss was estimated at $100,000, the cause unknown.

• The September 1918 Tractor World had this tidbit in an article on the Fourth Annual Tractor Farming Demonstration, held at Cobourg that month:

  It was interesting to note the tendency to show full lines of tractor-operated machinery. Such organizations as the Renfrew Machinery Co., makers of Renfrew Cream Separators, and distributor in Eastern Canada for Happy Farmer tractors, was on hand with a full line.

• The 1919-10-30 Automotive Industries has this news item:

  ...The Cluff interests at Toronto, which were engaged largely with munition work during the war, have been transforming their plant into a tractor factory. One of the new models, the Chase tractor, was on exhibition and was demonstrated at the recent plowing meet. The Renfrew Machinery Co. also is planning to make similar arrangements. This concern will make the Canadian replica of a well-known American tractor, the Happy Farmer model, it is declared.

• The July 1921 issue of The American Exporter lists Renfrew Machinery Co. as a maker of hand trucks (warehouse and factory), cream separators & dairy machinery, scales,
• A 1935 edition of Agricultural and Industrial Progress in Canada has this snippet:

  Owing to a growing demand for electric stoves, the Renfrew Machinery Company is adding a new plant unit to its establishments.

• Listed as a maker of cream separators and scales in the 1938 edition of Marconi's International Register.
• From the 1938 Official Report of Debates, House of Commons

  If this particular recommendation is acted on and the duty is removed from cream separators, it will mean the closing up of the Renfrew Machinery Company. That will mean that 225 mechanics will be thrown out of employment and they and ...

• Mentioned in a 1943 edition of American Foundryman:

  Renfrew Machinery Co., Ltd., Renfrew, Ont. (E. Vandross, Fdry. Supt.)

• This firm is listed in Charles H. Wendel's Encyclopedia of American Farm Implements & Antiques. Wendel cites a 1917 ad, and correctly points out that although the company's location was given as Milwaukee, "the parent company was actually located in Renfrew, Ontario, Canada." He says that by the late 1930s, repair parts were being provided by someone in Nebraska.