This firm was organized on 1880-02-14 as the De La Vergne Refrigerating Machine Co. In 1897 (give or take a year) the "Refrigerating" was dropped from the company name. In 1917 they were acquired by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co. By 1948 The De LaVergne operation was a wholly owned subsidiary of Baldwin Locomotive Works. De LaVergne Machine Co. specialized in refrigeration equipment, gas engines, diesel engines and steam engines.

Advertisement from the November 1905 "Cassier's"

In 1893, De LaVergne began building Hornsby-Akroyd gas engines under license.

Information Sources

• 1890 catalog of refrigration machinery, Mechanical refrigeration: Processes and apparatus of the De La Vergne Refrigerating Machine Company. The front matter includes a lovely drawing of the office and factory.
• A report on the Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane, dated October 1, 1897, has the following.

  ...After which proposals [on a new cold storage system] were invited, and the contract was finally awarded the De LaVergne Machine Co., of Now York, for a plant with a capacity for making six tons of pure ice every twenty-four hours, and in addition a refrigerating capacity of six cold storage rooms, containing in the aggregate 13,000 cubic feet.

• The August 1905 American Electrician carried the following news item.

  KOERTING GAS ENGINES. De LaVergne Machine Company, New York.—This is the 1905 catalogue devoted to the Koerting two-stroke cycle gas engine and also containing illustrations of the Koerting four-stroke cycle engine and the Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine built by the De LaVergne Company. The catalogue is liberally illustrated and handsomely executed.

• The 1906-07-28 issue of Engineering and Mining Journal lists new catalogs, including

  De LaVergne Machine Company, New York City. Hornsby-Akroyd Oil Engines. Pp. 82; illustrated; paper, 10 by 6 in. 1906.

• The December 1913 issue of The Colliery Engineer lists new catalogs, including

  De Lavergne Machine Co., foot of East 138th St., New York, N. Y. The "De La Vergne" Oil Engine "FH," 15 pages.

• The 1917-11-29 issue of The Iron Trade Review has the following news item.

  Buys Machine Plant—William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co., has purchased the entire property of the De LaVergne Machine Co. of New York. It is understood the Cramp company will use the De LaVergne plant for the manufacture of marine engines and refrigerating machinery.

• From a 1918 issue of The Sibley Journal of Engineering comes the following snippet.

  The De LaVergne Machine Company of New York, which has recently been purchased by Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Co., of Philadelphia

• From a 1931 edition of Internal Combustion Engines comes the following snippet.

  ...built by the De LaVergne Machine Company from designs by the Koerting Brothers, Hanover, Germany. The 1000-hp. engine was 24-J in. in diameter by 43f in. stroke and was direct-connected to an electric generator...

• From a 1948 issue of Diesel and Gas Turbine Progress comes the following snippet:

  First Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine in US, built in 1893 by De LaVergne Machine Company, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Baldwin Locomotive Works. This engine is in the Smithsonian Institute.

• A biography in a 1950 issue of Diesel Power provided the following snippet.

  Mr. Schwenk was employed by De LaVergne Machine Company from 1927 until 1935...

• American Gasoline Engines Since 1872 by C. H. Wendel, Volume #1, 1983 pages 123-125