Charles Campbell Worthington

Charles Campbell Worthington
Charles C. Worthington in 1896 at the Royal North Devon GC, Westward Ho!, Bideford, England
Born	1854 Brooklyn, New York
Died	1944
Nationality	American
Occupation	Engineer, businessman
Known for	Worthington mower

Charles Campbell Worthington, or C.C. Worthington, (January 1854 – October 1944) was an American industrialist whose efforts were in part responsible for the foundation of the Professional Golfers Association. He invented the first commercially successful gang lawnmower for fairway maintenance.

Charles Campbell Worthington was born in Brooklyn, New York in January 1854, son of Sara Newton and Henry Rossiter Worthington. In 1840, his father had invented the first direct-acting steam pump. Worthington married Julia Apgar Hedden in 1879. He graduated from the School of Mines at Columbia University. He then entered the family business and took over the Worthington Company upon his father's death in 1880.

While head of the company, Worthington contributed many useful improvements to pumps, compressors, and other machines. In 1885 the Worthington Pumping Engine Company, representatives of Worthington pumps of the United States, obtained an order from the British Army to deliver ten high-pressure pumps to deliver water needed by the British Expeditionary army coming to the aid of General Gordon in Khartoum, Sudan. The British pump suppliers did not have the capacity to deliver the pumps fast enough. The British company James Simpson & Co. learned of the Worthington company because of this order, and on 13 December 1885 signed an agreement with the Worthington Pumping Engine Company under which they gained exclusive manufacturing rights for Worthington pumps in Britain.

In 1899 Charles Campbell Worthington sold his interests in the Worthington Pump Co. to a consortium of six leading pump manufacturers. The combined company became the International Steam Pump Company. Worthington was president of the company. The International Pump Company was forced to dissolve due to findings under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and in 1903 Worthington retired.