the general manager of the company was charles t. crantham, pioneer of the cotton duck industry in canada and responsible for the creation of the imperial cotton company ltd. from yarmouth, nova scotia, grantham was the bookkeeper for a cotton duck mill in 1883 to fix the company's books. four years after his employment, he resigned to open a rival company in hamilton, ontario; bringing with him many workers and experts. grantham had the help of john patterson of the "5 johns" to fund his cotton mill venture and build the cotton mill on the land that he owned. it was also decided that his brother edmond patterson would be the architect. by, 1900, the imperial cotton company" "was born and looked after by james m. young, the first president, who was the son of john young, an original investor with the dundas cotton company (1860–1891) and a now distant relative of bob young, the current owner of the hamilton tiger-cats.