Biography of dodge brothers

Horace Elgin Dodge was an automotive pioneer who founded the Dodge automobile brand along with his brother John Dodge. Dodge was born in Niles, Michigan in 1868. He and his older brother grew up helping their father in his machine shop, building marine engines. The family moved to Detroit in 1886 and in 1901 the brothers opened their own machine shop, Dodge Brothers, with Horace focused on mechanical issues and John on the business aspects. They received their first big break when the Olds plant burned in Detroit that year and Ransom E. Olds hired the brothers to supply 3,000 auto transmissions.

In 1903 Dodge Brothers began supplying parts exclusively to the Ford Motor Company and soon became major stockholders. Made wealthy by their work and investments with Ford, in 1914 the brothers decided to leave and establish their own car company. They tripled the floor space at their existing plant in Hamtramck, designed by Albert Kahn, to accommodate auto assembly. The sales of their new Dodge cars almost eclipsed that of Ford.

Dodge married Anna Thomson in 1896. They had a daughter, Delphine Ione, in 1899 and a son, Horace Jr., in 1900. Horace commissioned Kahn to build his home in Grosse Pointe Farms on the Detroit River, where his “hobby” of building yachts could be realized. These yachts included the Hornet, once the fastest boat on the Great Lakes, and the 258-foot-long Delphine, one of the largest private yachts on the Great Lakes. Horace and Anna were both music lovers and contributed significantly to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, including the building of Orchestra Hall.

In 1920 both brothers caught influenza on a visit to the New York Auto Show. John did not recover and died in January, and Horace died the following December in Palm Beach, Florida. He is buried in the Dodge mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. In 1978 the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain, designed by Isamu Noguchi, was erected in Detroit’s Hart Pla

John and Horace Dodge were not only brothers, but lifelong friends and business partners who established one of the first major automotive suppliers and an iconic American car brand. Both brothers were born in Niles, Michigan – John, in 1864, and Horace, in 1868. The brothers were practically inseparable as children and adults. They once told a prospective employer, “We’re brothers, and we always work together.” Their mechanical curiosity was fostered by their father, who operated a foundry and machine shop.

In 1896, Horace married Anna Thompson, a piano teacher, and together they had two children. In that same year, Horace invented the four-point bicycle ball bearing and immediately secured a patent. The brothers partnered with a colleague from a typography company, Fredrick Evans, to form Evans & Dodge Bicycle. In 1899, Evans & Dodge Bicycle was sold to Canadian Cycle Motor Co. The Dodge brothers formed their own typography/machinery repair shop in 1900.

After honing their skills on bicycles and ball bearings, they moved to Detroit from Niles and established their own machine shop to serve the growing auto industry. Their first major contract came in 1901 via 1968 AHF Inductee Ransom Olds. Olds was in dire need of outside help after a fire at his factory destroyed much of the inventory. The brothers were readily able to provide 3,000 transmissions and they quickly established a reputation for quality and dependability. Their work caught the attention of another Detroit auto magnate: 1967 AHF Inductee Henry Ford. In 1903, Ford contracted Dodge as his exclusive supplier, a relationship that lasted more than a decade. The brothers’ astute business dealings made them dominant industry players.

When Ford could not make a payment on time, he was forced to offer the Dodges stock in his company. The profits from the stock helped raise the capital needed for the brothers to build their own vehicles. The Dodge brothers gave their o

The critical importance of John and Horace Dodge, from their childhood in Niles to their company's merger with the Chrysler Corporation in 1928, is illustrated in this well-researched automotive history."

~Mary Jane Happy

Charles Hyde has written a scholarly but very accessible account of the personal histories, manufacturing operations, and legacy of John and Horace Dodge. The book is carefully documented and contains useful endnotes and numerous illustrations including cartoons, product advertisements, and photos of factories, cars, yachts, and mansions. Charles Hyde concludes this informative work with thoughtful remarks on the previously overlooked legacy of the Dodge brothers, their company, and their motor cars."

~Michigan Historical Review

Written by Professor Charles K. Hyde, who last year brought us the acclaimed history of Chrysler, Riding the Roller Coaster. Hyde leaves no stone unturned in his chronicle of two of the industry's most important pioneers. Thoroughly researched, the focus is squarely on the men, their contributions, and the legacy they have given to the auto world.

~Old Cars Magazine

True, the Dodge brothers and their company were historically important because of their contributions to rise of Ford and then Chrysler. But Hyde makes it clear that the Dodge brothers were very important manufacturers in their own right. He has written the definitive history of both the men and their firm."

~Larry D. Lankton

The Dodge brothers, John Francis (1864-1920) and Horace Elgin (1868-1920), were among the earliest and most successful automotive pioneers of the twentieth century.

John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge worked together around the turn of the twentieth century in the field of transportation-specifically in the newly formed auto industry. Originally working from a small machine shop in Detroit, Michigan, the pair contributed to the success of several famous automakers, including Ransom Olds and Henry Ford, before designing and beginning to manufacture their own Dodge Brothers automobile. They were also famous for the fortunes they built from their automotive empire, which they used to make Detroit into a world-renowned center of art, music, and architecture.

John and Horace Dodge were both born and grew up in the western Michigan town of Niles in the years following the Civil War. John was born October 25, 1864, and Horace was born May 17, 1868. Their father, Daniel Rugg Dodge, ran a foundry and machine shop, where he built and maintained engines for the river boat traffic. "The boys spent much of their free time puttering around their father's foundry, learning the skills of the forge and machine shops," explain Jean Maddern Pitrone and Joan Potter Elwart in The Dodges: The Auto Family Fortune and Misfortune. "Since the boats that navigated the St. Joseph River provided the Dodge shop with most of its business, the boys soon became familiar with the intricacies of the marine engines their father and uncles repaired." The family business provided a living but very few conveniences for the family. The boys and their older sister Della "had no shoes even in early winter when Maria [their mother] sent them to the brick schoolhouse down the road from their home," explain Pitrone and Elwart. Despite these handicaps, both Della and John graduated from high school in Niles, while Horace completed his education in his father's shop.

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