Cooper Tools history

When Elias Cooper died in 1848, Charles Cooper took a succession of partners, and with each the company name changed accordingly.

Mount Vernon was linked to the rest of the nation by the railroad in 1851 and the following year Cooper was able to ship its first steam-powered compressors for blast furnaces.

In 1869, Cooper became the first company in what was then the West to produce the new, highly efficient Corliss engine.

The legacy of C.F. Cooper dates back over a century to 1886 when Clarence Frederick Cooper was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, United StatesA.. Clarence was a handyman for many years and spent his later life working at Stanley Tools.

The company was incorporated as the C. & G. Cooper Company in 1895, and Frank L. Fairchild, a respected salesman of the Cooper-Corliss engine, was named its first president.

The company started in 1900 as an electrical contractor, wiring houses and connecting doorbells.

Not long after Charles Cooper's death in 1901, it became clear that steam turbine engines were destined to replace the Corliss engine.

1908: Coopers begins a gradual shift from Corliss to natural gas internal-combustion engines.

The Line Material Company, founded in 1911, grew to be a major force in the electrical manufacturing industry as manufacturers of fuses, switches, line hardware, arresters, transformers and more.

In 1919, C.G. Cooper became chairman and Desault B. Kirk, the company's treasurer, became president.

The office was opened on October 23, 1929, however, at the very beginning of the Great Depression.

C.F. Cooper’s son, Gerald joined Stanley right out of college in 1936 at the depths of the United States Depression, starting as a worker in the boiler room just to have a job.

Charles B. Jahnke was elected president in 1940 and Williams moved to chairman of the board, but Jahnke died a year later and Williams returned to the presidency for two more years.

In 1941, Cooper-Bessemer's net sales jumped to an all-time high, and just two years later they had more than tripled.

1944: The firm lists on the New York Stock Exchange.

It formed an international sales office and announced its first sales-service branch outside the United States, in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1945.

Founded in 1947 under the name of Rural Transformer and Equipment Company, RTE developed many advances that significantly changed industry practices in underground distribution.

Line Material became part of McGraw Electric in 1949.

1951: Sales reach a record $52 million.

In 1952 it merged with Pennsylvania Transformer Company.

While the company was rebuffing a 1955 takeover attempt by a private investor named Robert New, Lefebvre resigned unexpectedly, and Lawrence Williams, Beatty Williams's son, became president.

Thomas A. Edison, Inc., one of Thomas Edison’s original companies, combined with McGraw Electric Company in 1957 to form McGraw-Edison.

Lured to the company from Standard Oil New Jersey (now Exxon) in 1961, Cizik started his career at Cooper as executive assistant for corporate development.

In 1964 it opened an office in Beirut and also formed a wholly owned British subsidiary, Cooper-Bessemer (U.K.), Ltd.

To better reflect its nature, it changed its name to Cooper Industries, Inc. in December, 1965.

C.F.’s grandson, Gerry also joined Stanley after his college graduation in 1966 moving from programming Stanley’s computers to positions in accounting, finance, purchasing and manufacturing.

1970: Cooper branches out into aircraft services with the acquisition of Dallas Airmotive.

1979: Cooper acquires the Gardner-Denver Company; sales reach $1 billion.

McGraw-Edison Power Systems joined Cooper in 1985.

In 1986, Stanley moved Gerry and his family to Taiwan where he lived for 19 years setting up Stanley sales offices and factories for Stanley in Singapore, Taiwan and China.

And in late November, 1989, Cooper also acquired Cameron Iron Works, a Houston-based company with annual sales of $611 million.

In 1991, three Canadian-based businesses were acquired.

1992: Cooper purchases Ferramentas Belzer do Brasil, a Brazilian-based handtool maker.

C.F.’s great-grandson, Dan joined Stanley Tools, now Stanley Black & Decker, after his college graduation in 1993 as a Sales Representative at their Taiwan sales office.

In 1994, he joined American Tool Companies, now Irwin Tools, as their Asia Sales Manager.

1997: Cooper completes eight acquisitions throughout the year.

The company continued with its transformation in 1998, significantly changing its holdings with the sale of its automotive businesses.

1999: The company--after years of strategic restructuring--operates with two key business segments: Electrical Products and Tools & Hardware.

The firm made several key acquisitions in 2000, including the B-Line Systems business of Aldrich Corp. and Eagle Electric Manufacturing, which was incorporated into the company's Wiring and Devices division.

In 2003 he joined Cooper Tools, now Apex Tool Group, as their Director of Asian Sales & Operations.