Charles Campbell Worthington

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C.C. Worthington was an American industrialist whose efforts were in part responsible for the foundation of the Professional Golfers Association.^{[citation needed]} He invented the first commercially successful gang lawnmower for fairway maintenance.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Biography

He was born in Brooklyn, New York in January 1854, son of Sara Newton and Henry Rossiter Worthington. In 1840, his father invented the first direct-acting steam pump.

A graduate of the School of Mines at Columbia University, Worthington entered the pump business and took over the Worthington Company upon his father's death in 1880. During his tenure, he contributed 100's of important improvements in pumps, compressors, and other machines.

As business thrived, plants were open in many European cities, and many honors were bestowed at Expositions. Perhaps his greatest achievement was during the Egyptian Sudan insurrection, when the British Army faced certain defeat unless water could be carried to them across 200 miles of desert. C.C. came to the rescue and was knighted by the throne.

He was a director of banks and corporations and a patron of the Metropolitan Opera and Philharmonic Societies.

In 1899, C.C. Worthington sold his interests in the Worthington Pump Co., which became the International Steam Pump Company, and by 1900, he "retired" at age 46.

In the early 1900s, he took up summer residence at Shawnee-on-Delaware, where he created Buckwood Park and then, designed and built Buckwood Inn, a summer resort. Surrounding the Inn he created the Shawnee Country Club with its famous golf course. One of the offshoots of Worthington's golf hobby was the formation of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), brought about through his efforts.^{[citation needed]}

Because maintenance of the fairways was so important, he invented the first commercially successful gang lawn mower. Worthington's first gang mower had three moving wheels and was pulled by a horse. by 1919, Worthington had designed a tractor to pull the mower. Worthington mowers then became the standard for golf course maintenance. In 1923, Worthington's grandson, Ross Sawtelle, adapted the mower for use in military airfield maintenance, and the mowers were produced all during World War II. So great was the company's excellence of production, they were awarded the Army-Navy "E" and "Star" awards.

In 1945, the mower company was apparently sold to Jacobsen, though the plant in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania continued to produce mowers for houseowners as well as golf courses.