Cooper-Bessemer Corporation Records
name: label: Creator
content: Cooper-Bessemer Corporation (Mt. Vernon, Ohio)
label: Former owner
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
topic: label: Topic
content: Air-compressors
label: Topic
content: Engines
label: Topic
content: Diesel motor
label: Topic
content: Furnaces
label: Topic
content: Marine engines
label: Topic
content: Steam-engines
label: Topic
content: Refrigeration and refrigerating machinery
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by the Cooper-Bessemer Corporation, through Robert S. Warren, Manager of Advertising and Public Relations, in 1965 and 1969.
creator: label: Creator
content: Cooper-Bessemer Corporation (Mt. Vernon, Ohio)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Cooper-Bessemer Corporation Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: These records document the activities of the Cooper-Bessemer Corporation of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and Grove City, Pennsylvania, manufacturers of steam, gas, and oil engines, compressors, and furnaces.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: C. & G. Cooper Company was founded by Charles (1811-1891)  and Elias Cooper (1814-1848)  in 1833 in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Situated in Central Ohio, abundant supplies of coal, iron and natural gas were available to the Cooper brothers as well as proximity to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines. Previously, the brothers opened a coal mine in 1832 and then a foundry for casting metals. Their principal products were plows, carding machines, and special power machinery. In 1848, Elias Cooper died and Charles Cooper sold an interest in the Company to T.L. Clark and the firm changed its name from to C. & E. Cooper to Cooper & Clark. In 1852, John Cooper (1824-1916), the younger brother of Charles and Elias, joined the company and became known as Coopers & Clark. T.L. Clark retired in 1853 and the company became C. & J. Cooper. 

In 1852, the company built its first blowing engine and with the growth of the railroad system and a demand for railroad equipment, the company responded with manufacturing steam locomotives. In 1865, F.L. Fairchild (d. 1912) joined the company as a partner and the firm became known as C.& J. Cooper & Company. J.C. Debes, a mechanical engineer formerly of the George H. Corliss Works, began working for the company in 1865 designing Corliss engines that came to market in 1869.  Corliss engines would become a principal product of the company by 1886. Colonel George Rogers (son-in-law of Elias Cooper) joined the company when John Cooper retired and the name once gain changed to C. & G. Cooper & Company. By 1881, Desault B. Kirk (son-in-law of Charles Cooper) and son, C.F. Cooper (d. 1894) along with E.H. Fairchild and B.F. Williams became active partners in the company. In 1929, Cooper merged with Bessemer Gas Engine Co. of Grove City, Pennsylvania, to form Cooper-Bessemer Corporation. Cooper Machinery Services is the current equipment manufacturer for Cooper-Bessemer engines.

During World War One and World War Two, the company made munitions—steel shells, special purpose lathes, surface grinders and multiple-head cutting off machines—to aid the Allies. Its work contributed to faster and more efficient production for the war effort and earned it the Maritime "M" and Army/Navy "E" Awards. Over the years, the company's products included: simple and compound Corliss engines, gas and diesel engines, rolling mill engines, marine engines, compressors, and power units for ice and refrigeration, cotton-ginning and oil-milling.
 

Sources

Cooper Machinery Services (last accessed on April 12, 2022 https://www.cooperservices.com/our-company/heritage/cooper-origins/the-history-of-cooper-bessemer/)

C. & G. Cooper Company, Seventy-Five Years of Engine Building, Mount Vernon, Ohio, 1900. 

100 Years of Power, Cooper-Bessemer, 1833-1933, 1933.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 27 Cubic feet (68 boxes, 1 map-folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1870-1961
custodhist: label: Ownership and Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from Division of Work and Industry, 2006.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0961
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Advertising
label: Type
content: Airbrushing
label: Type
content: Cashbooks
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Catalogs
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Financial records
label: Type
content: Letterpress copybooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Price lists
label: Type
content: Newsletters
label: Type
content: Trade literature
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into eleven series.

	
Series 1: Background Materials, 1895-1944

 
Series 2: Correspondence, 1866-1961	

 
Series 3: Financial Materials, 1888-1929

 
Series 4: Newsletters, 1917-1942

 
Series 5: Product and Sales Materials, 1870-1961

 
Series 6: Advertising Materials, 1921-1945	
 
 

Series 7: Printed Materials, 1902-1953


 
Series 8: Photographs, 1881-1930s	

 
Series 9: Air Brushed Photographs/Renderings, 1909-1930s, undated

 
Series 10: Glass Plate Negatives, 1906-1913, undated	

 
Series 11: Drawings, 1906-1944
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2022.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Advertising
label: Genre/Form
content: Airbrushing
label: Genre/Form
content: Cashbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 1900-1950
label: Genre/Form
content: Catalogs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Financial records
label: Genre/Form
content: Letterpress copybooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 1850-1900
label: Genre/Form
content: Price lists
label: Genre/Form
content: Newsletters
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 1900-1950
label: Genre/Form
content: Trade literature -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: These records document the activities of the Cooper-Bessemer Corporation of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, manufacturers of steam, gas, and oil engines; compressors; and furnaces through correspondence, financial materials, trade literature and photographs.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials at the National Museum of American History

Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Trade Literature Collection

Includes Cooper-Bessemer Corporation, Chapman Engineering Company, and Hope Engineering and Supply Company.