Founded by Jerome I. Case in 1842 as the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, the company operated under that name for most of a century, until 1928. In some of its advertisements the name was styled J. I. Case T. M. Co. for short. Another business founded by Jerome I. Case, the J. I. Case Plow Works, was an independent business. When the Plow Works was bought by Massey-Harris in 1928, the latter sold the name rights to the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, which reincorporated as the J. I. Case Company. That company, which became majority-owned by Tenneco in 1967 and a wholly owned subsidiary in 1970, was often called by the simple brand name Case.