Ad from "Waterloo Outlook 1914"

Beginning in about 1840 there was a Galt agricultural implement maker known as Fisher & Lutz, proprietors Nathaniel Dean Fisher and Morris C. Lutz; their firm was the first foundry in Galt. The firm was later known as Lutz, Cook & Co., possibly as the result of a merger with one Cook & Co.

In 1853, James Cowan bought an interest in the firm. Mr. Peter Cook died in a foundry accident in 1859, and the firm became Lutz & Co.. The business was sold at some point to Cameron & Co., with Cowan retaining a "substantial interest"; the firm became known as Cameron & Cowan. When Mr. Cameron died in 1879 the firm became known as Cowan & Co. Somewhere in the midst of all these name changes, they started manufacturing woodworking machinery. Cowan's sons, Thomas, William, and Arthur, joined the partnership at some time, but by 1884 Thomas Cowan was the sole proprietor. James Cowan died in 1901 at age 97, having been pre-deceased by Thomas.

Cowan & Co. was incorporated in 1902, at which point the "Limited" was added to the name (likely in 1901 in response to the new Companies Act. In 1902 the company had sidelines in engines and boilers, but these lines were dropped by 1914, when Cowan & Co., Ltd. had 130 men building woodworking machinery.

Cowan & Co.'s works were known as the Galt Foundry and Machine Works. Cowan was mentioned in passing in Planers, Matchers, and Molders in America: 1800 to 1985 as a company that made planers and/or matchers during the short-lived boom for those machines after WWII; the author, Chandler W. Jones, was likely unaware of Cowan's long history in Canada.

By the 1950s the company's facilities were ancient and thoroughly dilapidated. The company went under in 1956 or 1957; the buildings were bought by the city and torn down. The last owner, Bill Cowan, then invested with others to form Galt Wood Tool & Machine Co., which manufactured woodworking cutters, and was a dealer in new and used machinery.

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

• An 1851 Ontario directory lists Fisher & Lutz.
• The 1851 Census lists Nathaniel D. Fisher of Galt. His occupation was "founderer", birthplace was USA, and he was 48 years old. It appears that his wife was Almyra, and children were Arminan E. and William. A genealogy web page, no longer online, lists a Nathaniel Dean Fisher born 1804-03-15 in Londonderry, NH.
• That 1851 Census also lists Peter Cook, age 38, as a merchant. His wife, ten years younger than him, was Penylope, and their children were Sarah and John B., ages 4 and 2. Peter was born in Scotland, Penylope in PEI, and the children in Upper Canada.
• A document from the Waterloo Genealogical Society lists death notices from the Dumfries Reformer that appeared between 1853 and 1859. One such entry is "Cook, Peter. (Died) 19 Sep 1859 in Galt; age 45 years. Of the firm Lutz, Cook, & Co. Funeral on Sep 21."
• On Life's Stage, by Adam Ainslie, written in 1889 and published in 1987 by the City of Cambridge Archives, says the following about some events in about 1840: "About this time the Hon. Robert Dickson erected the present dam across the Grand river and excavated the canal for the water privileges. Mr. John Cain from Montreal planning the superintending the work. I was employed by him [Mr. Dickson] to draw and put in legal form the terms and conditions to be observed by the purchasers of such privileges. The first one disposed of was to Fisher & Lutz (Nathaniel Dean Fisher and Morris C. Lutz). They erected the first Foundry in Galt."
• Reminiscences of the early history of Galt and the settlement of Dumfries in the Province of Ontario, by James Young. Originally published 1880.
  • It describes the creation of the Galt Mechanics' Institute, on 1853-05-31, with president Morris C. Lutz and vice-presidents James Crombie, "Dr. Richardson", and James Cowan.
  • "Among the principal manufacturing establishments on on in Galt, before or shortly after 1857, the following may be mentioned: Messrs. James Crombie & Co.'s foundry; ... Lutz, Cook & Co., foundry..."
  • Buried in a footnote: "Mr. Morris C. Lutz was a native of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where he was born in 1806. He settled in West Flamboro' in 1829, and came to Galt in 1844. He shortly afterwards became the partner of Mr. Duncan Fisher, of the Galt Foundry, on North Water Street, with which he continued his connection till within a short time before his death, which occurred on the 30th of August, 1876. In 1853 he was elected Reeve of Galt; from 1857 to 1860 he was Mayor, and he also filled the same position from 1865 till 1869. He also occupied many other positions of honour and trust." The name of Duncan fisher is inconsistent will all other mentions in other sources, which give the name as Nathaniel Dean Fisher. Young twice gives the name as Duncan Fisher, and never mentions Nathaniel Fisher.
  • The name of Mr. Peter Cook, then Secretary of the Board [of Education], and whose tragic death in 1859 was so much lamented, ought ever to be remembered in connection with the Central School, which remains to this day one of the finest public buildings of the kind in the Province." A footnote expands on the circumstances of Cook's death. "Mr Cook was killed by a separator falling upon him on the 19th September, 1859. No accident ever happened in Galt which caused more profound sorrow. Two days afterwards, in the Dumfries Reformer, the writer of this sketch made the following among other references to Mr. Cook, from whom he received much friendly counsel in early life: "Mr. Cook was born in the year 1814, on the Island of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland, and was consequently in his 46th year. At at early age, he emigrated from there to the Province of New Brunswick, where he resided for a number of years. From New Brunswick the deceased came to Galt, and entered into the mercantile business. Disliking the drudgery of mercantile life, he ultimately became a partner in the Galt foundry..." The rest of the passage is an encomium that even Mr. Cook's mother would have found a bit over the top.
• Lovell's Canadian Dominion Directory of 1871 lists Lutz & Co. of Galt as a maker of agricultural implements, as a foundry, and a manufacturer of "hot pressed nuts". It was not listed as a maker of woodworking machinery. Listed as members of Lutz & Co. were James Cowan and Morris C. Lutz.
• Thanks to Andrew Poynter of A&M Wood Specialty for loaning us the following documents.
  • Picturesque and Industrial Galt, published 1902 by The Reporter.

    The name of Cowan, so long associated with the industrial interests of Galt, is known all over Canada. The distinction won by the family came first from the public work of the late Mr. James Cowan, who last year died at the age of 97, and who for twenty years was chairman of the Dominion Board of Official Arbitrators, after ten years of service in Parliament. Then the late Thomas Cowan, one of the best platform speakers in the country, at one time President of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, gave it additional fame, and finally the machinery works in Galt rounded off a reputation that is standing it in good stead to-day. The "Galt Foundry" had successively as proprietors, after its inception in 1842, Fisher & Lutz; Lutz, Cooke & Co.; Cameron & Co., and Cowan & Co. Mr. James Cowan joined the business in 1853, and his sons Thomas, William and Arthur, subsequently entered into partnership, the firm up to a few months ago being known as Cowan & Co. Its title is now "The Cowan Company, Limited," with Wm. Cowan, President; A. B. Cowan, Vice President; and Secretary-Treasurer James H. Cowan. The Company manufacture planers and matchers, surface planers, moulding machines, sawing machines, slide-valve engines; boilers, including patent feed water heaters and purifiers, and a variety of other machinery. The hands employed number 125.

    Last year an addition to the main building was erected, but even this leaves the company cramped for room. Only by exercising care in production and aiming for a high standard in the building of machinery could the Cowans hold old customers and attract new ones. The present standing of the industry is solely due to the character of the products of the buy foundry, among which is the famous Corliss Engine.

    The business of The Cowan Company extends all over Canada. The confidential office man is Mr. W. H. Young, well and favorably known by the trade.

    Pictures include the Cowan factory, a 12-inch moulder, 48-inch band resaw, 26-inch moving-bed planer, and a Corliss engine. An advertisement for this company shows a double-spindle shaper.
  • Waterloo Outlook 1914, published by the Daily Telegraph in conjunction with the Waterloo County Council in August 1914, has pictures of a couple of Cowan machines (a double-spindle shaper and a mortiser), a biography of William Cowan, Sr., a company history, and an advertisement showing their No. 289 moulder. Some of this material is reproduced in our "Images" section (see the Images tab, above).
• Thanks to John Bartley for providing us scans of pages from the following documents.
  • 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.
  • The Waterloo County Gazetteer and Directory for 1884-5 lists "GALT FOUNDRY, ENGINE AND MACHINE WORKS, Cowan & Co, Victoria [street]. (See adv, back cover)." Unfortunately we do not have a copy of that back-cover ad.
  • The Ontario Gazetteer Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1884-1885 lists "Cowan & Co (Thomas Cowan), Propr Galt Foundry, Engine and Machine Works, N Water."
  • The Ontario Gazetteer Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1886-1887 lists "Cowan & Co (Thomas Cowan), engine and machine works, n Water."
  • The Ontario Gazetteer Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1892-1893 lists "Cowan & Co (Thomas Cowan), Propr Galt Foundry, Engine and Machine Works, N Water."
  • The Ontario Gazetteer Gazetteer and Directory for 1895 lists "Cowan & Co. (Thomas Cowan), machinists, n Water."
• A Hall of Fame page on the Region of Waterloo website has the following entry:

  James Cowan, a farmer from Cramilt, in the Lowlands of Scotland, settled in Waterloo Township in August 1834, and became one of the County’s most distinguished agricultural authorities. From the 1860s to the 1880s his farm “Clochmhor” was well-known for its sales of purebred Leicester sheep and Shorthorn cattle.

  Cowan was the first vice-president of the Agricultural Society of Waterloo County when it was founded in 1853 and was the first president when it became the South Waterloo Agricultural Society.

  He was a representative of Waterloo Township on the District Council of Wellington from 1842-1849.

  In 1853 he bought an interest in Lutz, Cook and Company, of Galt, manufacturers of woodworking machinery, which eventually became Cowan and Company in 1879.

  Cowan served as a Reform member of Parliament for South Waterloo from 1861 to 1867 and was a member of the Federal Board of Official Arbitrators from 1869 to 1888.