Page History: Thomas P. Egan
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Page Revision: 2017/04/01 11:23
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.
Information Sources
- Motor Vehicle Monthly, V 57, Mar 1922, pg. 54