It was established in 1878 as the Lechner Mining Machine Company, based in Columbus, Ohio, and is credited with producing America's first power-driven coal cutter.

[4] The company was an early adopter of electric motors, and one of the first American manufacturers to build a mining locomotive powered from an overhead wire, in 1888.

The company produced conveyor belts, power transmission systems, mining machinery and locomotives.

[12] In 1974, Dresser Industries of Dallas acquired the operating assets of the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company.

On 28 December that year,[15] they also acquired the Galion Iron Works, which built road rollers and graders.

[17][18] The Jeffrey company produced a wide range of products over the nearly century of its existence, mostly focused on mining applications.

This was the first successful mechanized coal cutting machine, initially deployed to the Central Mining Co. in New Straitsville, Ohio.