Page History: Thomas P. Egan
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Announcement has just been received of the death of Thomas P. Egan, aged 74 years, president of the world-wide known concern, J. A. Fay & Egan Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, manufacturers of the “Lightning” Line woodworking machinery. Thomas Patrick Egan was a resident of Cincinnati nearly all his business life. He was born November 20, 1847, in Ireland, and when an infant was taken by his parents to Hamilton, Ontario.
As a boy, after leaving school, he was in the employ of dry goods houses in Hamilton, and then in Detroit, but when 16 years old his mechanical bent led him to Cincinnati, where he secured a position in a machine shop. After a few months, he changed to the firm of Steptoe, McFarlan & Co., which at that time was one of the heaviest manufacturers of woodworking machinery in the United States. He remained with them 12 years. Early in his employment with this firm he had the misfortune to lose an arm. Up to that time he had been engaged in the manual processes of the shop, but the accident sent him into the office, where he studied bookkeeping and the technique of the business, which started him on his career of inventor, manager and employer.
In 1874 he decided to begin business on his own account, and with two partners opened a little shop, where at first the partners constituted the entire force. Seven years afterward, however, in 1881, the Egan Co. was incorporated with a capital of $150,000, with Thomas P. Egan as its president. This enterprise was successful from the first. It was located across the street from the establishment of J. A. Fay & Co., then the most important woodworking machinery establishment in the country, and of which it became a rival. The commercial battle was a warm one, and finally resulted in the consolidation of the two companies in 1903, under the style of the J. A. Fay & Egan Co., of which also Mr. Egan was president.
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Thomas P., Egan, manufacturer, was born in Ireland in 1847. When quite young his parents emigrated to the United States, and settled in Hamilton, Ontario. The son was graduated at the high school there, and having a decided inclination for mechanics, determined to enter that field, and removed to Cincinnati, O. He was twelve years in the employ of the machinery firm of Steptoe, McFarlan & Co., where he learned the practical part of the machinery business at the bench. His talents were quickly recognized, and he was taken into the office of the firm, and afterwards traveled for them on the road. In 1874 he started in the business for himself, and with two partners began manufacturing woodworking machinery on a small scale. Through the great improvements both in design and mechanical advantages made by Mr. Egan. the business grew to such an extent that in 1881 the firm was incorporated as The Egan Co., of which he was elected president and general manager. In 1803 his business joined forces with the old firm of J. A. Fay & Co., which was the most extensive in the same line in the United States. It was incorporated under the name of J. A. Fay & Egan Co., with Thomas P. Egan as president and manager, and has become the largest individual firm in the world for making woodworking machinery. The company has won the highest honors wherever its machines have been exhibited, from the Crystal Palace in London in 1851 to the Paris exposition in 1000, where it was awarded the "Grand Prix." In consideration of his exhibit there Mr. Egan was created a chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1901. As a mechanical expert, he is perfectly conversant with every detail of his business. He also has a thorough knowledge of trade and commerce, both at home and abroad, and a number of his articles written upon current business conditions have had a wide circulation. He was the organizer and the first president of the National Association of Manufacturers of the United States, which was formed at a convention of several hundred representative manufacturers at Cincinnati, Jan. 22, 1895. He is also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Commercial Club, and the Manufacturers Club of Cincinnati, the Queen City Club, Country Club, and the Optimist Club. Thomas P. Egan is a Republican in politics, and at the 1000 election was a presidential elector, and cast the vote of Cincinnati for McKinley and Roosevelt.
Information Sources
- Motor Vehicle Monthly, V 57, Mar 1922, pg. 54
- The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1904, pg. 530