C & G Cooper & Co., Factory

      C. & G. Cooper & Co. was founded in 1833 by Charles and Elias Cooper in Mount Vernon, OH. After the death of Elias in 1848, Charles sold an interest in the firm to T. L. Clark and reorganized as Cooper & Clark. When Charles’ younger brother joined the firm in 1852, they again reorganized as C. & J. Cooper and shortly thereafter to Cooper & Co. In 1869, Elias’ son, C. G. Cooper and his son-in-law, Col. George Rogers were made partners and the name was again changed to C. & G. Cooper. They started manufacturing Stationary Steam Engines and Sawmills beginning in 1847, Portable Steam Engines in the 1860's and Traction Engines in 1875.

      An 1874 directory lists their product line: "Steam engines, saw mills, general machinery." It notes they had 200 employees.

      In 1929 Cooper merged with Bessemer Gas Engine Co. of Grove City, PA, to form Cooper-Bessemer Co. The name subsequently changed to Cooper Industries. The moved their headquarters to Houston, TX, in 1967. In 1989 they acquired Cameron Iron Works of Houston, the name of the corporation continued as Cooper Industries with Cameron operating as the Cooper Oil Tools division. In 1995, Cooper Industries spun off its Petroleum & Industrial Equipment business which included the Cooper-Bessemer and Cameron brands (among others) into a new company named the Cooper Cameron Corporation, which has since been renamed Cameron International Corporation. Cameron is in the process of selling its reciprocating compression business (which includes the Cooper-Bessemer product line, among others) to GE Oil & Gas, a division of General Electric with projected completion of the sale in 3rd quarter of 2014.

Information Sources

• American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 pages 60-63
• Listing in the 1874 work, Wiley's American iron trade manual of the leading iron industries of the United States: "Steam engines, saw mills, and general machinery. 200 hands employed."
• Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines by Jack Norbeck, 1975 page 106
• Steam Power on the American Farm by Reynold M. Wik, 1953 page 252
• American Gasoline Engines Since 1872 by C. H. Wendel, Volume #1, 1983 page 110
• The Complete Guide to Stationary Gas Engines by Mark Meincke, 1996 page 107
• The Steam Tractor Encyclopedia by John F. Spalding & Robert T. Rhode, 2011 pages 131-146