By 1867, Josiah Ross had a machine shop in Buffalo. Sometime after 1870 but before 1875 he began specializing in woodworking machinery. An 1888 factory image (above) shows that the factory was Josiah Ross' Iron Works, but that name did not appear in advertising or on machines. In 1905 the business incorporated as Josiah Ross Manufacturing Co.

On February 20, 1907, reportedly despondent over health problems, Josiah Ross died in his office of a bullet to the head. It was understood to be suicide, but then a junior partner in the business, one Aolysius S. McGarry, was charged with his murder. He was acquitted at trial.

Information Sources

• 1867 Thomas' Buffalo City Directory: "Ross, Josiah, machinist, b. 34 Jackson."
• 1868 Thomas' Buffalo City Directory: "Ross, Josiah, machinist, b. 330 Main." Elsewhere in the directory, Josiah Ross is listed as a trustee of the Mechanics' Institute of Buffalo, and he's listed as on the Business Committee of the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' Union No. 5.
• 1870 Buffalo Directory: "Ross, Josiah, machinist, h. 38 E. Huron."
• Josiah Ross received an 1875 patent for a planer-matcher.
• 1875 Buffalo Directory: "Ross, Josiah, wood working machinery, 62 Indiana, h. 358 Clinton."
• An 1889 advertising cover (envelope) is labeled, "Josiah Ross, Wood-working machinery." It also lists a "Canadian Works" in Fort Erie, ON, and depicts a portion of a planer.
• 1893 Courier Co.'s Buffalo Directory lists Josiah Ross at 1449/1459 Niagara. Employees listed under their own names were George Miner (polisher) and Walter Morgan (pattern maker)
• Planers, Matchers and Molders in America lists this company as active in 1897.
• The 1902 book Men of Buffalo has a portrait of Mr. Ross; see the "Images" tab, above.
• June 1905 The Foundry.

  The Josiah Ross Mfg. Co., of Buffalo, N. Y., has been incorporated with a capital of $50,000, to carry on a general foundry and manufacturing business. The incorporators are Josiah Ross, Flora B. Ross, John Ryckman and John C. Kingston, of Buffalo.

• The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle of February 19, 1907 reports that "Josiah Ross, president of the Ross Manufacturing Company, making woodworking machinery, shot himself in his office this afternoon, dying almost instantly. Ill health is supposed to have been the cause."
• 1907-04-30 The New York Times.

  McGarry Acquitted in Buffalo
  BUFFALO, April 29."Not guilty" was the verdict returned to-night by the jury in the case of Aolysius S. McGarry, who was charged with murdering Josiah Ross, the aged manufacturer. Ross was found dead in the office of his Niagara Street manufacturing establishment on Feb. 19 with a bullet in his head, under circumstances pointing to suicide. McGarry was a junior partner in the firm, but it was asserted that he had not paid for the stock which gave him an interest in the firm.

• 1907 Report of the Superintendent of the Board of Police for the City of Buffalo.

  February 20th.—About 1:00 P. M., Josiah Ross, who had a manufacturing establishment at No. 1449 Niagara Street, was shot and killed in his office. Aloysius McGarry was suspected of committing the murder; he was arrested, tried, and acquitted.

• Catalog ca. 1910.
• Thanks to Brian Szafranski, who performed much of the research presented here.