In the spring of 1840 Henry and F. J. L. Blandy. with $5,000.00 borrowed capital, erected a foundry on the site of their subsequent extensive works, in Underwood street, and began the manufacture of a line of plows and stoves, wh1ch became very popular; about 1850 the plant was enlarged and the manufacture of tools and machinery was added, and when the Central Ohio Railroad was constructed several locomotives for its use were built at the Blandy works; the business did not prove satisfactory and they became pioneers of the world in producing portable steam engines, and saw mills, and made the first successful portable lumber cutting apparatus; their trade grew to be world wide, and the Blandy engines and saw mills were operated in every civilized country, and the business developed to such proportions that the entire block in Underwood street from Elm to Tarrier, was covered with a three story brick building.

      The Civil war checked the trade, but with the return of peace business took on its former proportions, and an auxiliary plant was purchased at Newark: about 10 p. m., Saturday, August 25, 1866, a fire broke out in the paint shop, on the second floor, at the north end of the building, and the entire plant was destroyed, entailing a loss of $200,000.00 with an insurance of only $15,000.00, the blow staggered but did not overthrow the proprietors, and when the salesmen came home when the calamity was learned. the courageous owners sent them out immediately with the statement that orders were more than ever needed; the Newark plant was taxed to its capacity, and the reconstruction of the Underwood street works was rushed to completion. A more prosperous career followed until the panic of 1873, when the Blandys shared in the general depression, and in 1879 the first check in the success of the business occurred in the death of Henry, the senior of the firm; the business was continued by F. J. L. Blandy, who became financially embarrassed, and at his death, in 1884, the works were operated by his widow.

      Formed as a foundry in 1840, by 1860 they were producing saw mills and steam engines. A latter reference from 1876. placed them in both Newark, OH, and Zanesville, OH. This maker was succeeded by F. J. L. Blandy, who seems to have been the "F. Blandy" of H. & F. Blandy, sometime between 1874 and 1882. In 1891 the firm reorganized as the Blandy Machine Co.

      The principals were Henry and Frederick J. L. Blandy.

Information Sources

• Past and Present of the City of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio 1905 pg. 174
• American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 37
• A listing of railway car builders of North America has the following: "Blandy, H. & F. (H. & F. Blandy) Zanesville, OH 1840(1851)-1858? Locomotive builder; no cars."
• A paper at the National Bureau of Economic Research lists this firm as a locomotive builder between 1852 and 1858.
• The 1860-04-28 issue of Scientific American has an article on a steam engine made by this firm; the design had been patented 1858-08-03.
• George W. Hawes' Ohio state gazetteer and business directory for 1860-61 lists this firm as a steam-engine builder.
• An 1866 patent for a sawmill head-block was assigned to C. Leffingwell of Clarksburg, OH (he was the inventor), H. Blandy, and F. J. L. Blandy, both of Zanesville.
• Listing in the 1874 work, Wiley's American iron trade manual of the leading iron industries of the United States, as a maker of "portable and stationary steam engines, saw mills, and general machinery."
• In a report on the Centennial Exhibition, the September 1876 issue of Manufacturer & Builder lists H. & F. Blandy as exhibiting a horizontal stationary engine of 40 horsepower. The official catalog lists H. & F. Blandy as exhibitors of "Portable, agricultural, and saw-mill engines, and stationary engines."
• Steam Power on the American Farm by Reynold M. Wik, 1953 page 252
• The Steam Tractor Encyclopedia by John F. Spalding & Robert T. Rhode, 2011 pages 38-42