Alexander Beaudry reportedly designed his first power hammer in the early 1870s and in 1880 began manufacturing them under the Alexander Beaudry name. In 1881 his shop was at 150 Portland Street in Boston. By 1885 the business was operating as Beaudry & Cunningham. In April 1886 they were located at 70 Kilby St. in Boston. By late 1887 the name was Beaudry & Co. In 1889 they had an office or shop at 10 Medford St.

In January 1892 Beaudry Tool Co. was incorporated in Maine. They were located at 48 Congress St., Boston. Sometime between 1893 and 1900 the name reverted to Beaudry & Co. in December 1906 the business was incorporated as Beaudry & Co., Inc., and they were located at 141 Milk St. in Boston, where they stayed until the early to mid 1920s when they relocated to Everett, Mass. Alexander Beaudry had died in 1909 and had not been actively involved in the business for some years.

In late 1923 the name changed to the Beaudry Co., Inc. and relocated a few miles north to Everett, Massachusetts. By 1929 the company was in liquidation. At least some of the Beaudry line of hammers were subsequently manufactured by C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc., of Syracuse, NY.

Advertisement from 1922-10-05 American Machinist

Information Sources

• The 1874 Boston Almanac and Directory lists "Beaudry Alexander, 169 Sumner" under Blacksmiths.
• The 1879 Boston Directory (Sampson, Davenport & Co.) lists "Beaudry Alexander, blacksmith, 169 Sumner".
• The 1881 Fourteenth Exhibition of the Charitable Mechanic Association, Boston.

  Alexander Beaudry, 150 Portland St., Boston, Mass.—Two Upright Hammers.—These hammers have many advantageous points, which will recommend them to those working in iron and steel. For simplicity of construction, proper use and disposition of the various materials in building the machines, smooth working, and ready adjustment of the hammer to the different kinds of work, this exhibit is considered worthy of a Silver Medal.

• Article in 1884-04-12 Mechanics on Alexander Beaudry's new power hammer. The address was 150 Portland St., Boston.
• May 1885 Mechanics.

  A 600-pound steam hammer, erected by Messrs. Beaudry & Cunningham, of Boston, has lately been added to the plant of the New London Vise Works, of New London, Conn.

• 1885-07-04 Scientific American.

  The best Power Hammer in the market is made by Beaudry & Cunningham, Boston, Mass.

  From the 1885-07-24 issue:

  The gold medal awarded the Beaudry Power Hammer at New Orleans was given because of its superiority of design, maximum of work, with the minimum of power. Beaudry & Cunningham, Boston, Mass.

• 1885-07-04 Scientific American.

  SPECIAL NOTICE. Iron Working Machinery. Beaudry & Cunningham, of Boston, Mass., have been awarded the Medal of the First Class at the World's Exposition at New Orleans, La., for the beest Power Hammers. Send for Circular "A". P. O. Box 2235, Beaudry & Cunningham, 20 Kilby st., Boston, Mass.; 43 Day St., New York.

• March 1886 Farm Implement News has an article on Beaudry & Cunningham's upright cushioned power hammer.
• Article in 1886-03-01 The Hub on Beaudry & Cunningham's upright power hammer. Advertisement in the 1886-04-01 issue gives the address of their office: 70 Kilby street, Boston.
• The 1887 Sixteenth Triennial Exhibition of the Charitable Mechanic Association, Boston.

  Beaudry & Co., Boston.—Duplex Power Press, Shears and Punch.—Powerful, compact and durable. With a lever adjustment, a full stroke or a fraction can be given at the will of the operator, without alteration of any part. A valuable and useful machine. Silver Medal.
  Also, Beaudry Heating Forge.—This forge was not in practical operation, but it appears well adapted to the work designed.

• Volume 3 of the 1889 Documents of the City of Boston has a list of fires and alarms; a fire on 22 February 1889 at Nos. 8 and 10 Medford St. affect several tenants, including "A. Beaudry & Co.", whose loss was $100.
• 1890 The Railroad, Telegraph and Steamship Builders' Directory lists, under "Hammers—Power, Steam and Drop", Beaudry & Cunningham, 70 Kilby st., Boston, Mass. Under "Punches and Shears—Power" is listed Beaudry & Co. of Boston,
• 1891-01-19 American Machinist has an advertisement from Beaudry & Co., 70 Kilby St., Boston.
• The The National Corporation Reporter volume covering 1891-09-12 to 1892-03-05 lists, under Maine, Beaudry Tool Co., Portland; $80,000. Mfg and dealing in tools and machinery; January 26.
• 1892-11-21 The Iron Age lists American exhibitors at that year's World's Columbian Exhibition, including Beaudry Tool Co., 48 Congress st., Boston.
• The 1893 Report of the Massachusetts Board of World's Fair Managers lists Beaudry Tool Co. Boston, as exhibiting "Power hammers and forging presses."
• The 1893 The Boston Almanac and Business Directory (Sampson, Murdock, & Co.) lists "Beaudry Tool Co. 48 Congress" as a Press Manufacturer. `
• An article in the 1900-03-01 The Iron Trade Review is for Beaudry & Co. of Boston's newly remodeled Champion power hammer.
• The Massachusetts corporate registry database lists Beaudry & Co., Inc.'s first registration as 1906-12-17.
• February 1907 The Metal Industry.

  Beaudry & Company, of Boston, Mass., have been incorporated with a capital of $10,000 for the building of power hammers and machinery. President, A. Beaudry; treasurer, O. Abrahamsen.

• February 1909 Machinery.

  Beaudry & Co., Inc., 141 Milk St., Boston, Mass. Catalogue of the "Champion" power hammer which is built in sizes from 50 to 500 pounds weight of ram, and adapted to almost all kinds of forging, from knife blades to welding a 6-inch shaft of iron.

• March 1909 Machinery.

  Alexander Beaudry, president and secretary of Beaudry & Co., Inc., Boston, Mass., died suddenly February 10 at his residence at Weymouth Heights, aged seventy years. He invented the first Beaudry hammer, early in the seventies, and embarked in the manufacture of it in 1880. Since then he has brought out many types of hammers and presses, having twenty-eight patents on tools of this character. The business of the company will be conducted the same as heretofore, as Mr. Beaudry's death will not in any way affect the conduct of the business. He had taken no active participation in it for the last few years.

• A 1913 issue of The Boiler Maker.

  "Power Hammers" are the subject of a catalogue published by Beaudry & Company, Inc., 141 Milk street, Boston, Mass. "Beaudry hammers are built in two types—the Champion, for light and heavy railroad, machine and general job forging, and the Peerless, for plating, drawing, swaging, collaring, spindle-making and general manufacturing. The Beaudry Champion will handle widely varying thicknesses of stock without change of adjustment, and we recommend it as the ideal hammer for general forging where there are frequent variations in the size of stock. It is built in sizes from 50 to 400 pounds weight of ram. The Beaudry Peerless, while also a hammer for general forging, is especially adapted for plating and drawing steel...

• January 1917 Machinery, page 452.

  Beaudry & Co., Inc., 141 Milk St., Boston, Mass. Booklet illustrating and describing Beaudry hammers, made in two types—the "Champion" and the "Peerless"—and in sizes from 25 to 500 pounds weight of ram. Motor drive can be easily applied to these hammers, and a number of motor-driven hammers are illustrated.

• An ad in the February 1920 Machinery is from Beaudry & Co., Inc., 141 Milk Street, Boston.
• Ad in 1922-09-28 The Iron Age from "Beaudry & Co., Inc. / 45 Bromfield St. / Boston".
• A 1923 issue of Railway Review mentions a new catalog from the Beaudry Company, Inc., Boston.
• A 1924 issue of American Machinist has an ad from Beaudry Company, 1856 Parkway, Everett, Mass.
• From a 1924 issue of Pacific Marine Review.

  New Home—The Beaudry Company, Inc., have recently occupied and are now operating a new factory at Everett, Massachusetts. Located on the Revere Beach Parkway, the plant is within three miles of the business center of Boston and it is served by a side track which means direct loadings to all points west, south and north and also a direct connection through the Union Freight Railroad with all the trans-Atlantic and coastwise shipping out of Boston harbor.

• February 1925 Western Machinery World.

  Beaudry Air Cushioned Helve Hammer
  The Beaudry Company, Inc., Everett, Massachusetts, have recently brought out a new air cushioned helve-hammer containing several valuable features.

  The hammer has no rubber bumpers, being cushioned entirely by air. This construction means a machine occupying less floor space, and also gives it the advantage of being operated either by a belt or by a motor directly geared to the flywheel without the use of any intermediate clutches or belts. The machine will deliver its lightest tap or its heaviest blow at full speed. The strength of the blow is regulated simply by applying more or less pressure on the foot treadle. This variation does not change the speed of the hammer but the strength of the blow, and enables the operator to obtain the light quick blows which are essential in finishing any forging.

  These hammers are built in four sizes only, from 40 to 200 pounds in weight

  Beaudry belt or motor driven air hammers are made in six sizes, from 100 to 1200 pounds weight of ram. As will be noted from the accompanying illustration, the frame is well designed, with the metal properly distributed to give the requisite strength where needed to resist shock and jar of the blow. Anvils are separate and supported upon their own foundations. When equipped for belt drive no countershaft is necessary, as the hammer has a tight and loose pulley, the belt being shifted to the loose pulley only for long stops. The blow—of any force from a light sensitive tap to the heaviest blow—is ...

• From a 1929 issue of Steel Processing and Conversion.

  Otto Abrahamsen, for 20 years treasurer and in charge of sales of Beaudry power hammers as manufactured by the Beaudry Company, Inc., at Boston, before it went into liquidation, has become affiliated with the Moloch Foundry and Machine Company, Kaukauna, Wis., in charge of sales of the well known Moloch hammer, with headquarters at Kaukauna. ...

• The March 1948 issue of Western Machinery and Steel World lists "C. C. Bradley & Sons, Inc. / Bradley-Beaudry Power Hammers."