The Hagerstown Steam Engine & Machine Co. was established in 1874 as a reorganization of Garver & Flanagan (we have also seen the name as Garver & Flanneghan). Garver & Flanagan had been established in 1867-8 to manufacture agricultural machinery and portable steam engines plus grist-mill and paper-mill machinery. The original partners were John Garver (superintendent) and William E. Flanagan; both men continued in the business after the reorganization as well.

In 1881 Hagerstown Steam & Machine Co. acquired the Hagerstown Foundry and considerably expanded their business in portable steam engines, and added boilers and stationary steam engines.

By 1906, the company had been succeeded by H. C. Foltz, which went became Foltz Manufacturing & Supply Co.

Information Sources

• Newspaper clipping, unsourced but dated 26 March 1874, announcing the establishment of Hagerstown Steam Engine and Machine Company, purchasing the foundry of Garver & Flanneghan on Baltimore Street. The incorporators were John Garver, William E. Flanneghan, William T. Hamilton, C. W. Humrickhouse, John Welty, E. W. Mealy, H. H. Keedy, Dr. J. F. Smith and Dr. Charles B. Boyle.
• Steam Power on the American Farm by Reynold M. Wik, 1953 pages 252 & 254.
• The Steam Tractor Encyclopedia by John F. Spalding & Robert T. Rhode, 2011 pages 30-31.
• 1891 Farm Implement News Buyers Guide, Viii, pg. 172.
• 1906-10-25 The Iron Age V78, pg. 1092.
• 1882 book History of Western Maryland (Volume 1 and Volume 2), by J. Thomas Scharf. Volume 2 page 1178:

  The Hagerstown Steam-Engine and Machine-Works, formerly the machine-shops of Garver & Flanagan, were organized in 1874, by John H. Garver. Wm. Flanagan, Wm. T. Hamilton, Jos. J. Smith, E. W. Mealey, Chas. B. Doyl, Henry H. Keedy, John Welty, and Charles W. Humrickhouse, with a capital stock of $40,000, which was increased in 1881 to $70,000. John W. Garver and William E. Flanagan, the original proprietors of the works, bought the lot on which they are situated from George Lias on the 5th of October, 1867. They formed a partnership under the name of Garver & Flanagan. By the middle of January, 1868, they were ready for work. For the season of 1868 they finished the castings for five hundred grain-drills, built fifty drills and twenty-eight horse-powers, and a large amount of grist and paper-mill machinery. The works continued in successful operation, and in 1874, as stated, were transferred to a stock company. The old Hagerstown Foundry was purchased in 1881, and converted into a factory for portable and stationary engines and boilers. The company has been awarded premiums for its manufactures at the Montgomery County Fair, and at Gettysburg, Carlisle, York, Frederick, and Chambersburg.