Aretas Blood
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190628580
2008-02-11T14:57:01Z
Pahari Sahib
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'''Aretas Blood''' ([[1816]]–[[1897]]) played an important role in the manufacture of early [[United States|American]] [[railroad]] [[steam locomotives]].
Blood was born in [[Weathersfield, Vermont]]. At the age of 17, as railroads began to be built in the United States, he was [[apprenticeship|apprenticed]] as a [[blacksmith]]. After a few years learning the trade, he moved to [[Lowell, Massachusetts]], where he was hired by the [[Locks and Canals Machine Shop]]. [[1849]] brought a new title to Blood at a different foundry, when he took the position of "job hand" at the Essex Machine Shop.
At Essex, Blood manufactured locomotive parts. He built up enough of a cash reserve that he was able to purchase a share of the [[Manchester Locomotive Works]] when it opened in [[1853]]. Blood took over the shop superintendent position at Manchester in [[1857]] when the original superintendent, [[O. W. Bayley]], left the company.
It was Blood's opinion that the locomotives that Manchester produced were too light for the future needs of the railroads. When he took over in 1857, he quickly instigated more substantial locomotive construction at the shop. Through succeeding years, Blood acquired greater principal in the company until he was the majority owner.
Under Blood's tenure, Manchester purchased the [[fire apparatus|fire engine]] manufacturing business of [[Amoskeag Locomotive Works]] in [[1872]]. Blood died in [[1897]], but Manchester continued in his absence, building as many as 1,800 locomotives by [[1901]].
Blood's wife [[Lavinia Kendall Blood]], founded the [[Manchester Women's Aid and Relief Society]] in [[1875]]. They are both interred at [[Valley Cemetery]] in [[Manchester, New Hampshire]] in one of the cemetery's 13 private mausoleums.
Blood's daughter, [[Elenora Blood Carpenter]], married [[Amoskeag]] Manufacturing Company president [[Frank Pierce Carpenter]]. Upon her death in [[1910]], Carpenter donated funds for an elaborate new building for the city's [[public library]].<ref>[http://www.manchesternh.gov/CityGov/LIB/About/History.htmlThe City Library: The Gift Of Learning]</ref>
==References==
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* {{cite book|author=White, John H., Jr.|year=1968|title=A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830-1880|publisher=Dover Publications, New York, NY|id=ISBN 0-486-23818-0}}
*[http://www.manchesternh.gov/CityGov/LIB/About/History.html History of the Manchester public library]
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[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1897 deaths]]
[[Category:Foundrymen]]
[[Category:People in rail transport]]
[[Category:People from Vermont]]