thumb|260px|4-4-0 steam locomotive CC No 407 by Aretas Blood from 1874

Aretas Blood (October 8, 1816 – November 24, 1897) was an American businessman from Vermont. He played an important role in the manufacture of early American railroad steam locomotives.

Biography

Blood was born in Weathersfield, Vermont, the son of Nathaniel Blood and Roxellana (Proctor) Blood. As a child he moved with his parents to Windsor, Vermont, where he attended the common schools. At the age of 17, as railroads began to be built in the United States, he was apprenticed as a blacksmith. After a few years learning the trade, he moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was hired by the Locks and Canals Machine Shop. 1849 brought a new title to Blood at a different foundry, when he took the position of "job hand" at the Essex Machine Shop.

At the Essex Machine Shop Blood manufactured locomotive parts and he built up enough of a cash reserve that he was able to purchase a share of the Manchester Locomotive Works when it opened in 1853. Blood took over the shop superintendent position at Manchester in 1857 when the original superintendent, O. W. Bayley, left the company. Blood died in 1897 in Manchester, New Hampshire, but Manchester Locomotive Works continued in his absence, building as many as 1,800 locomotives by 1901.

Family life

Blood married Lavinia Kendall on September 4, 1845. They had two daughters, Elenora "Nora" (1849-1910) and Emma (1863-1932). Upon her death in 1910, Carpenter donated funds for an elaborate new building for the city's public library. Emma married doctor L. Melville French in 1887. Along with her older sister, Emma was a benefactor of the Eliot Hospital with a focus on the maternity and children's ward. Emma also endowed a building for the Institute of Arts and Sciences. This building is known as French Hall and is next door to the Manchester City Library, her sister's memorial library building.

References

Further reading

==External links==<!-- for current and future use if material is uploaded -->

  • History of the Manchester City Library