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.

Through succeeding years, Blood acquired greater principal in the company until he was the majority owner.

Blood's daughter Elenora married Amoskeag Manufacturing Company president Frank Pierce Carpenter.

[5] Upon her death in 1910, Carpenter donated funds for an elaborate new building for the city's public library.