Osgood Company

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The Osgood Company was a Marion, Ohio based manufacturer of heavy machinery focused on producing steam shovels, drag-lines and cranes. The company, which was founded in 1910 as the Marion Steam Shovel and Dredge Company was headed by A.E. Cheney, the former head of sales for the Marion Steam Shovel Company.

[edit] History

The forerunner to Osgood Shovel was established by William Carmichael, nephew of William Otis, the inventor of the Steam Shovel. Depsite having introduced the first drag-line, the Albany based company folded in 1899, and its assets remained unused until Cheney and his financial backers acquired the rights to them and moved the machinery to Marion Ohio.

[edit] Establishment

A.E. Cheney, Sales Manager for Marion Steam Shovel left that company after a disagreement with its CEO, George W. King, over products designed specifically for smaller jobs. King was intent to take the company that he co-founded into the lacerative mining industry while Cheney saw a need for machines that could operate in construction environments. Thus while Marion Steam Shovel was intent on moving more earth, Cheney wanted to focus on construction and erection. To accomplish this feat, Cheney established Osgood by purchasing the assets of the defunct Osgood Manufacturing Company of Albany, New York.

In 1912 Marion Steam Shovel successfully sued Cheney's Company for trademark infringement, and the company changed its name to the Osgood Shovel Company which was later shortened to the Osgood Company.

Osgood as an independent company ceased to exist in 1955 when it was acquired by Marion Power Shovel, and its models incorporated into Marion's product lines.