ANDREW KLAY FOUNDRY
1887 -1925 Owner — Andrew Klay
The Andrew Klay Foundry was located on the corner of Grove and Jackson streets during the years 1887 to 1925.
The owner of the foundry was Andrew Klay, a natural-born genius with an aptitude for mechanics. The business was started as a small repair shop, but increased in size when fKlay purchased some larger equipment from another repair shop operated by Courtad and Green.
Mr. Klay was well-known as a good artist as well as a genius, formmaking any thing desired by the local people. Having the ability and the will to work, Klay often worked day and night while developing a project. Before coming to Bluffton, he worked with the National Cash Register Co. in Dayton where he earned hundreds of dollars by making valuable suggestions to the company.
While Mr. Klay’s main business was repair works, he also produced camera plate holders, which could take up to 36 pictures on one plate, machine tools capable of drilling 10 holes at once, lawn mower sharpeners, which were called “Perfection Lawn Mower Sharpener” and an auto spring machine, a cement block machine, and occasionally cow bells and Swiss bells.
Klay had a patent on the cement block machine, but he was unable to secure a patent on the drilling machine because someone copied his idea and patented it first. He sold his plate holder to Peter Diller who received a patent on it.
The business was never a real success because Klay was not a business manager and could not get along with his customers. After Mr. Klay died Diller Manufacturing continued to make the lawn mower sharpeners for whom W. F. Iutzi, father in-law of Leland Diller, was a salesman for this particular product.
Source of information: Leland Diller, Wilhelm Amstutz and Elmer Romey
Interviewers: Ruthana Dirks and Fred Lehman
About this series:
The Icon acquired a manuscript titled “A Brief History of Bluffton’s Industrial Developments.” This publication was prepared by the classes in Marketing and Small Business Administration from Bluffton College, under the director of Dr. Howard Raid. Publication date is May 1959.
The Icon will publish one article at a time. We’ve updated some current addresses so viewers may identify locations mentioned. The manuscript was given to the Icon by the Ropp Triplett family.
