The Osgood Company was a Marion, Ohio

Marion, Ohio

Marion is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Marion County. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus....

 based manufacturer of heavy machinery, producing steam shovel

Steam shovel

A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. They played a major role in public works in the 19th and early 20th century, being key to the construction of railroads...

s, dragline excavator

Dragline excavator

A dragline excavator is a piece of heavy equipment used in civil engineering and surface mining.In civil engineering the smaller types are used for road, port construction, and as pile driving rigs. The larger types are used in strip-mining operations to move overburden above coal, and for...

s and cranes

Crane (machine)

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...

. What would eventually become Osgood Company was founded in 1910 as Marion Steam Shovel and Dredge Company by A.E. Cheney, the former head of sales for the Marion Steam Shovel Company. Marion Power Shovel

Marion Power Shovel

Marion Power Shovel Company designed, manufactured and sold steam shovels, excavators and dragline excavators for use in the construction and mining industries....

 acquired Osgood Company in 1954 and integrated Osgood's products into the Marion Power Shovel product line.

History

The company that would provide key intellectual property for what would become Osgood Shovel was established by William Carmichael, nephew of William Otis

William Otis

William Otis was an American inventor of the steam shovel. Otis received a patent for his creation on February 24, 1839.In 1839, William Smith Otis, civil engineer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was issued a US patent for the steam shovel for excavating and removing earth for railroads or canals....

, the inventor of the steam shovel. Despite having introduced the first drag-line, Carmichael's Albany, New York based company folded in 1899. The assets of Charmichael's failed enterprise remained unused until Cheney and his financial backers acquired the rights to them and moved the machinery to Marion Ohio.

Establishment

Arthur Edgar 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 intended to take the company that he co-founded into the lucrative mining industry, while Cheney saw a need for machines that could operate in construction environments. To capitalize on his idea to produce construction machinery, Cheney purchased the assets of the defunct Osgood Manufacturing Company of Albany, New York

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

.

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

Fate

Osgood as an independent company ceased to exist in 1954 when it was acquired by Marion Power Shovel Company. Bucyrus International, Inc., purchased Marion Power Shovel in 1997. Bucyrus is being acquired by Caterpillar, Inc. in a transaction expected to close in mid-2011.