Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to James Leffel and Company Records

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0960
Creators:
James Leffel and Company
Dates:
circa 1848-1976
Languages:
Some materials in German and Spanish.
Physical Description:
20 Cubic feet
42 boxes
Repository:
Collection documents James Leffel and Company of Springfield, Ohio, manufacturer of turbines, water wheels and engines.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The records contain business and legal records; correspondence; patents and patent files; specifications; charts; blueprints; mechanical drawings and original catalog art; photographs and negatives; catalogs, and clippings documenting James Leffel and Company.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1974-1978
Series 2: Patent Materials, 1848-1931
Series 3: Testing Data, 1913-1966, bulk 1920s
Series 4: Catalogs, 1870-1946
Series 5: Catalog Artwork, 1919-1959
Series 6: Trade Literature, 1890s-1976
Series 7: Photographs, 1908-1929
Series 7: Writings and Journal Articles, 1881-1854
Series 8: Glass Plate Negatives, 1890s-1950s, undated

Biographical

Biographical
James Leffel was born in 1806 in Botetourt County, Virginia to John and Catherine Leffel. The family moved to Ohio, settling near Springfield. where John Leffel established saw and grist mills. Leffel grew up surrounded by mills and and developed a strong interest in water wheels. Leffel trained as a millwright acquiring skills in metal work to make sickles, knives, and other small iron implements. In the late 1830s, Leffel established his first foundry and machine shop near Springfield, Ohio, quickly expanding and taking on two partners, William A. John and T.Y. Ferrell and adding mill gearing and stoves to their line of products. By 1845, Leffel ended his business relationship with John and Ferrell and formed a partnership with William Blackeney, a machinist who helped him support the foundry and its work. In 1846, Andrew Richards joined Leffel to build a cotton mill and machine shop. Leffel envisioned the utilization of water power in Springfield. Ohio, with the establishment of mills along a race--a dug channel leading from a creek or river to the mill--that would eventually bring trade. With the help of Samuel and James Barnett, gristmill operators, Leffel was able to "cut a race" and erect a Water Power and Flouring Mill. Leffel was especially interested in water wheel development and would receive patent US34,150 for a water wheel (1862) which later reissued as RE1791 and RE1792 in 1864.
Leffel also patented cooking stoves (US6775) in 1849 which became known as the "Buckeye," "Double Oven" and "Red Cook Stove" that were successful and earned him a strong reputation. In 1852, Leffel broke with Richards, and Nathaniel Cook, a machinist, joined Leffel and Blackeney. With his 1862 patent for a water wheel, Leffel focused his attention on demonstrating the water wheel and speaking about its productive uses. Numerous test runs of the water wheel convinced Leffel that he could sell the wheel to mills and factory operators. Leffel marketed the wheel as the "American Double Turbine" an efficient, cheap turbine for the mass market (Layton page 86 ). In 1863, Leffel and Blackeney formed a new firm, along with Perry Betchel and Leander Mudge to create a foundry designed solely for the production of the wheel. Leffel later joined forces with John Foos, a mill operator and James S. Goode, a lawyer, to form the James Leffel and Company. Leffel sold his water wheel to flour mills, woolen goods manufacturers, paper mills and farm equipment manufacturers. The company became one of the leading manufacturers of waterwheels and turbines and today continues to operate under the name of James Leffel and Company as part of Canyon Hydro which acquired the company in 2019.
Leffel died in 1866.
Source
Becker, Carl M. "James Leffel: Double Turbiner Water Wheel Inventor,
Ohio History
, Volume 75, No. 4, Autumn 1966, pages 200-211.
Layton, Edwin. "Scientific Technology, 1845-1900: The Hydraulic Turbine and the Origins of American Industrial Research,"
Technology and Culture
, January 1979, Vol. 20, No. 1, pages 64-89.

Administration

Author
Alison Oswald
Immediate Source of Acquisiton
Collected for the National Museum of American History.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2022.
Photostat copies of original patents in the collection were removed.
Ownership and Custodial History
Collection transferred by the Division of Work and Industry to the Archives Center in 2007.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Preferred Citation
James Leffel and Company Records, 1867-1957, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Related Materials
Materials at the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Trade Literature Collection
Pelton Water Wheel Collection, NMAH.AC.1093
Lombard Governor Company Records, NMAH.AC.1091
Niagara Falls Power Company Photographs, NMAH.AC.0949
J. & W. Jolly Company Records, NMAH.AC.1009
Uriah Boyden Papers, NMAH.AC.0982
William R. Hutton Papers, NMAH.AC.0987
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Waterworks
Materials at Other Organizations
Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
James Leffel & Company Records, 1867-1971
The James Leffel and Company Records consist of ledgers, journals, order books, inventories, cash and day books, payroll files, correspondence, photographs, publications, and scrapbooks of a late 19th and early 20th century Springfield, Ohio manufacturer of turbines, water wheels and engines.
Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio
James Leffel and Company Records, 1845-1890
Records of water-wheel company of Springfield, Ohio including a letter press book, notebook of hydraulic tables, and patents for water wheels and cooking stoves.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Blueprints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Charts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hydraulic turbines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Order books Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- 19th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Specifications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Steam-boilers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stokers, Mechanical Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Steam-engines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Springfield (Ohio) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Valves Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Water-wheels Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Turbines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glass plate negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-3270
Fax Number: Fax: 202-786-2453
archivescenter@si.edu