Edmund Blanchard (c.1824 – December 27, 1886) was a lawyer and prominent businessman in Centre County, Pennsylvania. He was an early promoter of rail transportation in the area.

Early life

The son of John Blanchard and Mary Miles, Blanchard was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and educated at Dartmouth College. At one time a law partner of Andrew Curtin, he also served as

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for Centre County and subsequently became senior partner of the corporate law firm Blanchard and Blanchard, the other principal being his brother Evan. Blanchard & Blanchard's clients included the

Bellefonte and Snowshoe Railroad The Bellefonte and Snow Shoe Railroad was a coal-hauling railroad in Centre County, Pennsylvania. Begun in 1859, it came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1881. Closing of mines in the 1930s resulted in the decline of traffic on ...

and the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad.

Promotion of rail transport

Blanchard had been an early investor in the Bellefonte & Snowshoe, and served as a director of the Tyrone and Lock Haven Railroad. This company was reorganized as the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad, of which he served as treasurer. Blanchard's history with these lines put him on good terms with

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

officials, who financed the Bald Eagle Valley and later took control of both that railroad and the Bellefonte & Snowshoe. Blanchard's other business interests included the Bellefonte Glass Works, the Bellefonte Car Works, and the Moshannon Land and Lumber Co.Bezilla & Rudnicki, p. 7 Because of his connections, Blanchard headed a group of Centre County businessmen that, in 1881, appealed to President

George B. Roberts George Brooke Roberts (January 15, 1833 – January 30, 1897) was a civil engineer and the fifth president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (1880–96). Early life and education Roberts was born at his family's farm in the Pencoyd region of Bala ...

of the PRR to build a branch from Bellefonte to the

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

deposits at Scotia. Blanchard and his associates saw the line as key to cutting transportation costs to bring ore to the

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

s at Bellefonte, and hired Samuel Brugger to survey a route from Bellefonte to Scotia, with a branch to

State College State College is a city in central Pennsylvania, United States. State College may also refer to: Related to State College, Pennsylvania * State College Area School District, a school district serving State College * State College Area High School ...

. However, the PRR declined to act on the proposal, as it considered the group's estimates of ore production at Scotia and in the Buffalo Run Valley to be over-optimistic. Undeterred, Blanchard and other interested parties chartered the

Bellefonte and Buffalo Run Railroad The Bellefonte Central Railroad was a shortline connecting Bellefonte and State College, Pennsylvania. Constructed in the late 19th century to haul local iron ore to furnaces in the Bellefonte region, it later hauled freight traffic to Penn Stat ...

in 1882 to build the proposed lines, under the presidency of Blanchard. His legal skill was crucial in helping the new railroad acquire some of its right-of-way affordably through eminent domain.

Later life

Heart disease forced Blanchard to scale back his activities in 1885, and he stepped down from the presidency of the Bellefonte & Buffalo Run when it was consolidated to form the

Buffalo Run, Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Railroad The Bellefonte Central Railroad was a shortline connecting Bellefonte and State College, Pennsylvania. Constructed in the late 19th century to haul local iron ore to furnaces in the Bellefonte region, it later hauled freight traffic to Penn Stat ...

, although he remained a director of the latter. With the railroad well underway in 1886, Blanchard secured Philadelphia investment to build a new iron furnace in Bellefonte. The Centre Iron Company began work on a hot blast furnace on Logan Branch, at the site of the former Bellefonte (charcoal) Furnace, in fall 1886. Blanchard and his associates also organized the Valentine Ore Land Association to mine ore, mostly from banks in the Nittany Valley to the east, and the Nittany Valley Railroad to transport it. However, Blanchard did not live to see Valentine Furnace go into blast in 1888. He succumbed to heart disease on December 27, 1886. His sons, Evan Miles and John, succeeded to his law practice and would later represent the Bellefonte Central Railroad, successor to the BRB&BE, in litigation.Bezilla & Rudnicki, p. 35

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Edmund 1820s births 1886 deaths People from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 19th-century American railroad executives Pennsylvania lawyers 19th-century American lawyers