4-4-0 steam locomotive CC No 407 by Blood from 1874

Aretas Blood (October 8, 1816 – November 24, 1897) was an American businessman from

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. He played an important role in the manufacture of early American railroad

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

Biography

Blood was born in

Weathersfield, Vermont Weathersfield is a New England town, town in Windsor County, Vermont, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,842 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The town of Weathersfield was named after Wethersfield ...

, the son of Nathaniel Blood and Roxellana (Proctor) Blood. As a child he moved with his parents to

Windsor, Vermont Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As the "Birthplace of Vermont", the town is where the Constitution of Vermont was adopted in 1777, thus marking the founding of the Vermont Republic, a sovereign state until 1791, when ...

, where he attended the common schools. At the age of 17, as railroads began to be built in the United States, he was

apprenticed Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulate ...

as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

. After a few years learning the trade, he moved to

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

, 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 the Essex Machine Shop Blood manufactured locomotive parts and he built up enough of a cash reserve that he was able to purchase a share of the

Manchester Locomotive Works Manchester Locomotive Works was a manufacturing company located in Manchester, New Hampshire, that built steam locomotives and fire engines in the 19th century. The first locomotive the company built was for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Rai ...

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 locomotive manufacturing business of

Amoskeag Locomotive Works The Amoskeag Locomotive Works, in Manchester, New Hampshire, built steam locomotives at the dawn of the railroad era in the United States. The locomotive works operated as a division of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company between 1848 and 1859. ...

in 1859, and the

fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

manufacturing business from the same company in 1876. Blood died in 1897 in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

, but Manchester Locomotive Works continued in his absence, building as many as 1,800 locomotives by 1901.

Family life

Blood married Lavinia Kendall on September 4, 1845. They had two daughters, Elenora "Nora" (1849-1910) and Emma (1863-1932). His wife Lavinia founded the

Manchester Women's Aid and Relief Society Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1875. Blood and his wife are both interred at

Valley Cemetery The Valley Cemetery (or the Valley Street Cemetery) is a public cemetery located in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. It is bounded on the east by Pine Street, on the north by Auburn Street, on the west by Willow Street, and on the south ...

, in one of the cemetery's 13 private mausoleums. Blood's daughter Elenora married

Amoskeag Manufacturing Company The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company was a textile industry, textile manufacturer which founded Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. From modest beginnings it grew throughout the 19th century into the largest cotton textile plant in the world ...

president Frank Pierce Carpenter. Upon her death in 1910, Carpenter donated funds for an elaborate new building for the city's

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

.Manchester City Library history
/ref> Emma married doctor L. Melville French in 1887. Along with her older sister, Emma was a benefactor of the Eliot Hospital with a focus on the maternity and children's ward. Emma also endowed a building for the Institute of Arts and Sciences. This building is known as French Hall and is next door to the Manchester City Library, her sister's memorial library building.

References

External links

History of the Manchester City Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blood, Aretas 1816 births 1897 deaths Foundrymen People from Weathersfield, Vermont American railroad mechanical engineers People from Manchester, New Hampshire Vermont Republicans People from Windsor, Vermont Burials at Valley Cemetery

Biography

Family life

References

Further reading

External links