Founded in 1862 by James Leffel to make the Leffel patent water turbine. Upon the elder Leffel's death in 1866, the firm was taken over by his widow, William Foos and John W. Bookwalter. The firm built the Bookwater vertical steam engine from 1874 to 1910.

      An 1890 James Leffel & Co. catalog shows a 5 h.p. James Leffel Co. steam portable engine that was built in Springfield, OH. This engine was mounted on substantial iron wheels instead of wood. The boiler had an open space through the bottom beneath the grates, for the free discharge of ashes and cinders.

      The catalog also shows a 10 h.p. steam portable engine that was built in 1890. This engine was mounted on very strong and substantially built wooden wheels, with brake. It was complete in every respect for the attaching of horses. The smoke stack was hinged at the top of the first joint, so that it could be laid down on top of the boiler during transportation.

Advertisement from January 1901 "The Wood Worker"

Information Sources:

• Norbeck, Jack, Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines, Crestline Publishing Inc, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Pg. 42
• American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 141
• The January 1901 issue of The Wood Worker has an ad for this firm's engines and boilers, "From 3 Horse Power up, That are best adapted for utilizing offal as fuel, and afford most reliable, economical, durable and satisfactory power for Wood-Working Shops."
• The Steam Tractor Encyclopedia by John F. Spalding & Robert T. Rhode, 2011 page 26
• Ohio, the Future Great State: Her Manufacturers, and a History of Her Commercial Cities, 1875, pages 208-209