The Galt Foundry, a building on Water Street in Galt, began operations in 1842, and went through a series of proprietors: Fisher & Lutz; Lutz, Cook & Co.; then Lutz & Co.; followed by Cameron & Co. The Foundry eventually was owned by woodworking machinery maker Cowan & Co. The full name for the foundry in its later years was the Galt Foundry, Engine & Machine Works.

Advertisement from "Railways of Canada for 1870/71"

The Galt Foundry produced woodworking machinery. Based on our very limited evidence it appears that such production did not begin until Cowan & Co. was running things.

Do you have more information?

I am especially interested in woodworking machinery manufacturers from Ontario, and particularly Cambridge, so if you have any information on relevant woodworking machinery companies and products, I strongly urge you to contact Jeff Joslin.

Information Sources

• According to an article in the 1902 Picturesque and Industrial Galt, the Galt Foundry (a building on Water Street in Galt) began operations in 1842, and went through a series of proprietors: Fisher & Lutz; Lutz, Cooke & Co. [sic]; Cameron & Co. The Foundry eventually was owned by Cowan & Co.
• The 1880 book, Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt and Settlement of Dumfries, 1880, mentions Lutz, Cook & Co. as a foundry that was in business about 1857.
• The Canada Directory for 1851, by Robert W. S. Mackay, lists Fisher & Lutz as a foundry in Galt.
• Lovell's 1857 Canada Directory has the following listing.

  LUTZ, COOK & Co., iron founders, manufacturers of stoves, tinware, reapers, threshing machines and all kinds of agricultural implements.

  Morris C. Lutz was listed as mayor.
• The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory 1869 lists "LUTZ & CO., iron founders, agricultural implement makers, &c." Morris C. Lutz, J. P., is listed separately. There is no entry under Galt Foundry or any similar name.
• Lovell's Canadian Dominion Directory of 1871 lists Lutz & Co. of Galt as a maker of agricutural implements, as a foundry, and a manufacturer of "hot pressed nuts". It was not listed as a maker of woodworking machinery; the only Galt firm listed there was Goldie, McCulloch & Co., Ltd. Listed as members of Lutz & Co. were James Cowan and Morris C. Lutz. John Cameron is listed as a machinist (we have no confirmation that John Cameron was the man behind Cameron & Co., but at this point he is the only candidate we have.)
• The Waterloo County Gazetteer and Directory for 1884-5 lists "GALT FOUNDRY, ENGINE AND MACHINE WORKS, Cowan & Co., Victoria. (See adv. back cover)." We do not, unfortunately, have a copy of that ad.
• The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory for 1884-1885 lists "Cowan & Co. (Thomas Cowan), Proprs Galt Foundry, Engine and Machine Works, n Water.".
• The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory for 1886-1887 lists "Cowan & Co. (Thomas Cowan), engine and machine works, n Water." There is no mention anywhere of the Galt Foundry.
• The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory for 1892-1893 lists "Cowan & Co. (Thomas Cowan), Proprietors Galt Foundry, Engine and Machine Works, n Water."
• Portrait and Biographical Record of Winnebago and Boone Counties, Illinois, has a biography of one Henry C. Shedd, whose father, David Shedd, worked for Fisher & Lutz roughly 1852-1856: "Mr. Shedd then went to Canada, and in Galt, Province of Ontario, acted as foreman for four years of the Fisher & Lutz Foundry. He, however, came to Rockford in 1856..."
• 1920-21 Canadian Trade Index lists The Katie Foundry, Galt, Ont., as a maker of grey iron castings, coal shutes, self-winding clothes reels, cleanout doors, soil pipe, clothesline pulleys, sash weights, and bench vises. There are separate listings for "Galt Foundry Company, Galt, Ont." as a maker of semi-steel castings, engine cylinders, boiler grate bars, "marine, stationary and rocking grate bars", and rocking grate bars.
• The 1983 book, Chauffage Domestique Au Canada: Des Origines a L'Industrialisation, by Marcel Moussette, has the following paragraph.

  Lutz, Cook & Co.Cette fonderie située à Galt, comté de Waterloo, produisait des poêles et du matériel agricole en 1858. L'entreprise fonctionnera toujours en 1871, sous la raison sociale de Lutz and Co.

  The English translation is as follows:

  This foundry, located in Galt, Waterloo County, produced stoves and agricultural equipment in 1858. The company was still active in 1871 under the name of Lutz and Co.