Ingersoll

Ingersoll may refer to:

People

Places

Canada

United States

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Ingersoll, Ontario

Ingersoll is a town in Oxford County on the Thames River in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The nearest cities are Woodstock to the east and London to the west.

Ingersoll is situated north of and near Highway 401. Oxford County Road 119 (formerly Ontario Highway 19) serves the town. The local high school is Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute.

The area was well known for cheese production, and was home to the first such factory in Canada from approximately 1840. In 1866, a giant block of cheese weighing 7,300 pounds (3,311 kg) was produced at the James Harris Cheese Factory for promotion of the town's cheese industry. The "Big Cheese" was exhibited in England and in the United States at the New York State Fair in Saratoga.

Heavy manufacturing is currently Ingersoll's largest industry, including manufacturers such as CAMI Automotive, a General Motors car manufacturing plant that was originally a joint venture with Suzuki Motors of Canada.

History

The area was first settled by Thomas Ingersoll (Laura Secord's father) who in 1793 obtained a land grant of 66,000 acres (27,000 ha) from Governor John Graves Simcoe. The town was originally founded as Oxford-on-the-Thames but renamed to Ingersoll in Thomas' honour by his son Charles. In 1852, the place was incorporated as the "Village of Ingersoll". Nine years later in 1861, it changed status to town.

Ingersoll Watch Company

The Ingersoll Watch Company is currently owned by Zeon Watches , a British subsidiary of the Hong-Kong based company Herald Group , . The brand originated in the US.

Origins

The Ingersoll Watch Company grew out of a mail order business (R H Ingersoll & Bro) started in New York City in 1882 by 21-year-old Robert Hawley Ingersoll and his brother Charles Henry Ingersoll. The company initially sold low-cost items such as rubber stamps.

The first Ingersoll watches, called "Universal" were introduced in 1892, supplied by the Waterbury Clock Company. They were in reality small spring driven clocks, about three inches diameter and over one inch thick. These were put into watch cases with pendants that carried bows and crowns like contemporary watches. The crown was not functional, the watch was wound by a captive key that hinged out, and a central wheel was used to set the hands, both accessible when the back was opened just as in a clock. At first they were sold wholesale to dealers, but later in 1892 a mail order catalogue was produced and watches were sold directly to the public.