Horace Elgin Dodge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1868-05-17)May 17, 1868 Niles, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | December 10, 1920(1920-12-10) (aged 52) Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit |
| Known for | Founding Dodge Brothers Company which became present-dayDodge |
| Spouse | Anna Thompson Dodge |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | John Francis Dodge (brother) |
Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. (May 17, 1868 – December 10, 1920) was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder ofDodge Brothers Company.
He was born inNiles, Michigan, on May 17, 1868.[1] His father owned a foundry and machine shop. Horace Dodge and his elder brotherJohn Francis Dodge were inseparable as children and as adults. The pair was noted for personal initiative and once built a working high-wheel bicycle from scrap materials.[2]
In 1886, the Dodge brothers moved toDetroit, Michigan, where they took jobs at Murphy Boiler Works, aboilermaker plant owned by a marine engineer named Thomas Murphy.[2][3] In 1894, they went to work asmachinists at the Canadian Typograph Company across theDetroit River inWindsor, Ontario.[1]
In 1896, Horace Dodge marriedAnna Thompson in Windsor, Ohio.[2] She was aScottish immigrant born inDundee and came from a working class family.[2] The couple had a son, Horace Jr., and a daughter, Delphine. Thompson later married actorHugh Dillman after the death of Dodge.[4]
While brother John Dodge was the sales-oriented managerial type, Horace was a gifted mechanic and inveterate tinkerer. He invented the first dirt-proofball bearing. In 1897, John arranged a deal for them to join with a third-party investor to manufacturebicycles. Within a few years, they sold the business and, in 1901, used the proceeds of the sale to set up their own machine shop in Detroit.[1] During their first year in business, the Dodge brothers' company began making parts for the automobile industry. This company secured a contract to produce transmissions for Oldsmobile and for the newly chartered Ford Motor Company.[5]
In 1902, they won a contract to buildtransmissions for theOlds Motor Vehicle Company upon which they built a solid reputation for quality and service. However, the following year they turned down a second contract from Olds (Oldsmobile) to retool their plant to build engines forHenry Ford in a deal that included a share position in the newFord Motor Company. They had invested in Ford's business and eventually Ford would be in debt to the Dodge Brothers. By 1910, Horace Dodge and his brother were so successful they built a new plant inHamtramck, Michigan.
For ten years, the Dodge brothers' company was supplier to Ford, and John Dodge worked as vice president of the Ford company. In 1913 the Dodge brothers terminated their Ford contract and devoted their energies toward producing a Dodge automobile.[1] They introduced theDodge Brothers 30 in November, 1914. They began buildingmotor trucks,ambulances and other vehicles for theUnited States military during the arms buildup forWorld War I At war's end, their company manufactured and marketed both cars and trucks. By 1919, Ford bought back the Dodges' stock for $25 million.[5]
He was inducted into theAutomotive Hall of Fame in 1981.
Despite their wealth and growing influence in the business community, the red-haired[6] Dodge brothers' crude manners and aggressive conduct made them socially unacceptable to most of the wealthy Detroit elite.[citation needed] In 1912, Horace Dodge built a redsandstone mansion inGrosse Pointe calledRose Terrace. The huge home with formal gardens and a boat dock overlookedLake St. Clair.
This was replaced by a secondRose Terrace, constructed in the 1930s by architectHorace Trumbauer, for Mrs. Dodge and her second husband. Architectural historian W. Hawkins Ferry described the mansion as "unquestionably Grosse Pointe's most regal residence". In addition to Rose Terrace, the Dodges acquired a large winter estate inPalm Beach, Florida. Horace's wife Anna had studied music, and this fact won them acceptance by the city's social order. Horace and Anna Dodge became major benefactors of the newDetroit Symphony Orchestra and would play a key role in the construction ofOrchestra Hall.
Aspeedboat andyachting enthusiast, Horace Dodge's keen interest in the vessel's engines led him to establish a marine division as part of their automotive business. He purchased severalsteam yachts, each larger and more luxurious than the previous.[7] The first two large yachts were namedNokomis, both being purchased by the government for World War I use, with the second being described as a "floating palace" even as it was being stripped for Navy use shortly after completion.[8] The last, named theDelphine for his daughter after following theNokomis tradition in the early phase of design,[7] was a 257.8-foot (78.6 m) vessel. Construction commenced in 1920 and was completed in 1921, after his death. In the ensuing years, the yacht experienced a sinking, a run onto rocks, and service as aUnited States Navy patrol boat duringWorld War II. TheDelphine passed through the hands of several owners and is in the final stages of restoration by its current owner (2025).
In 1919,Henry Ford bought out the Dodge brothers' shareholdings inFord Motor Company for$25 million. In January 1920, Horace's brother, John, died during theinfluenza epidemic.[9] He was interred in the family's Egyptian-style mausoleum in Detroit'sWoodlawn Cemetery guarded by two Sphinx statues.[10] Having also contracted the flu that December following several relapses, Horace also died from complications of the disease resulting inpneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 52 inPalm Beach, Florida.[11] He was interred with his brother in the same mausoleum. His widow outlived him by fifty years.[4]
In 1925, Horace and John Dodge's widows sold their automobile business toDillon Readinvestment bankers for $146 million.[12] Upon her death in 1970, Anna Thompson Dodge left a sum to the City of Detroit for the construction of theHorace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain. The fountain was designed by sculptorIsamu Noguchi and opened in 1978 as part of the city'sHart Plaza. Horace E. Dodge Jr. died in 1963 at age 63.[13]
John F. Dodge, the Detroit automobile manufacturer, who had been ill for a week with pneumonia in his apartments at the Ritz-Carlton, failed to survive the crisis of the attack and died last night at half past 10 o'clock. For some time before the end he was unconscious and unable to recognize his wife and daughters, who were with him.
Horace E. Dodge, millionaire automobile manufacturer, died here tonight at his Winter home.
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