The Rise and Sad Demise of the Innovative Dodge Brothers
Following the mechanical inclinations instilled by their father, John Dodge and his younger brother Horace honed their plans in the early 1900s, Sharpening their invention muscles, they established a factory that gave even Henry Ford a run for his money. Devising new engines and vehicles, the brothers climbed to success through precision and excellence. Six years in, the ruthless influenza epidemic knocked on their door. Twice.
Daniel Rugg Dodge supported his growing family with his wide-ranging skills as a machinist. His first wife died, leaving two children with their father. Remarrying, Dodge had three more children with second wife Maria Casto. The last two children were sons John (b 1864) and Horace (b. 1868).
Innovative and creative, John Dodge and Horace Dodge developed their own manufacturing company in 1915: Dodge Corporation. Image: Chrysler Archives.
While very close, the boys had very different personalities. John was more outgoing while Horace was shy. The older brother had excellent school attendance yet struggled with arithmetic; the younger brother was interested in music and later, boats. The Dodge brothers were ambitious, enterprising, and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Improving business prospects, the senior Dodge moved his family from Niles, Michigan to Battle Creek, then Port Huron, and on to the growing city of Detroit by about 1886. John and Horace were adults, ready to take on the world with their skills and talents in the mechanical field.
Hired by Murphy’s Iron Works, the brothers were employed for several years producing “’Murphy’s Smokeless Furnace,’ along with steam and marine engines,” said Karl Hyde in The Dodge Brothers: The Men, The Motor Cars, and the Legacy (Wayne State University Press, 2005). In the 1890s, John Dodge developed a lasting cough and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. “He was unable to work for several months,” said Hyde, but recovered by taking medicine compounded by a Detroit pharmaceutical company.
“Elixir 130” solved Dodge’s suffering with the lung disease but caused another problem. The 42-percent alcohol content turned the teetotaller into an alcoholic. The younger brother covered his brother’s rent and expenses until his health returned, but heavy drinking became an issue for both men.
In 1892, the Dodge brothers moved to Windsor, Ontario for work at the Canadian Typograph Company. John Dodge was listed as foreman and Horace Dodge as machinist at the plant, making type for print publications.
“Shortly afterwards, the brothers partnered with Fred Evans to create the ‘Evans & Dodge Bicycle’ which was manufactured by leasing the facilities of the Typograph company,” noted Windsor Public Library. The men also “began manufacturing auto parts for some of the pioneering automotive manufacturers of the time.”
Understanding the mechanisms, the younger brother invented a dirt-resistant ball bearing for bicycles. Horace wisely patented his creation. Two years later, their bicycle manufacturing company was purchased by National Cycle of Toronto. The business later became Canada Cycle and Motor Company Ltd., whose bicycles and sports equipment are still available across Canada under the CCM logo.
Opening and selling another bicycle factory, “the Dodge brothers found themselves unemployed, but with $7,500 in cash and nice royalties for the ball bearing,” noted Mays. The Dodge brothers’ reputation as “master craftsmen” exploded. Purchasing property in Detroit, the entrepreneurs opened a general-purpose machine shop that also built railway equipment.
Developing horseless carriages, Ransom Olds ordered automobile engines for his curved-dash runabout. Olds “was so pleased with the high quality of work that he had the Dodge brothers build 3,000 transmissions for his Oldsmobile,” wrote Mays. “They had to expand immediately.” Owing to Olds request in 1900, John and Horace Dodge “were already one of the largest auto suppliers in the country.”
A second opportunity appeared when Henry Ford called on the Dodge brothers in late 1902. Ford contracted the Dodge factory “to supply Ford with 650 sets of ‘running gear’ (engine, transmission, and axles, mounted on a frame) for $250 each,” said Hyde. Ford Motor Company would make several payments of $5,000 each over a few months. Investing in retooling and supplying the factory cost the brothers over $60,000. Then they hit a snag.
When it came time to send payments, Ford’s company was unable to pay. Instead, Ford management “offered the brothers 50 shares of Ford stock worth $10,000, making them 10-percent stockholders in the new Ford Motor Company,” noted Meadow Brook Hall Museum Archives. John Dodge was appointed vice-president at the growing auto company, but he realized his own business was a risk with only Ford’s contract supporting the plant.
Stepping down in 1913, Dodge declined to renew the contract. The brothers made plans for their own automobile line. They could afford to be independent; by that year, “the brothers were worth a cool $50 million,” described Mays, with Ford’s company “contributing $10 million of that to John and Horace’s ledgers.”
One of the Dodge Brothers’ first automobiles, a zippy and sleek Touring Car, in 1915. Walter P. Chrysler/Wikimedia Commons.
A year later, Dodge Brothers Incorporated was established on July 17, 1914. Word spread of their exciting new firm, and tens of thousands of people applied to hold dealerships even before the first Dodge car was manufactured. Constructing an assembly plant at Hamtramck, Michigan the brothers invested half a million dollars in machinery, precise tooling devices, and equipment, such as a dozen rear-axle housing stamps for the forge shops. Employee numbers grew from about 5,000 in 1914 to over 7,000 by mid-1915, according to Hyde, not including office staff.
With the help of contractors, on November 14, 1914, the first Dodge rolled off the assembly line floor, one of the first all-steel autos in the industry. (Ford auto bodies were still mainly of wood construction.) Producing nearly 250 vehicles with the Dodge emblem on front by the end of the year, the cars were priced at $785 each. The precisely-built touring car used a 12-volt battery to operate lights and the starter mechanism. Featuring a 116-inch wheelbase (2.946 m), the L-head engine was 30-35 horsepower, with “displacement, 212.3 cubic inches; bore, 3-7/8”; stroke, 4-1/2,” said Free Library of Pennsylvania. The car purred along at a top speed of about 60 mph (100 km).
A roadster was launched in 1915, with a detachable top and removable glass windows for an extra $165, so the car could be used year-round. The Dodge factory produced thousands of the new design.
Designing cars and trucks over the next several years, Dodge became a household name. By 1918, the influenza epidemic raged across the globe. Sparing neither poor nor rich, the flu dealt lethal blows to the Dodge family. The 55-year-old John Dodge succumbed first, his life cut short by complications of the virus on January 14, 1920. He was survived by his second wife, Matilda, and six children.
Eleven months later, Horace Dodge was infected with influenza. He could not overcome the disease and also suffered from cirrhosis of the liver. At age 52, the youngest Dodge brother passed away on December 10, 1920. Horace Dodge left behind his wife Anna and two children.
The Chrysler Corporation purchased the Dodge Brothers company in 1928 for $170 million. Round up sentence, and the thriving company has undergone many transformations. Throughout their lives, John and Horace Dodge were nearly inseparable and spent most of their days together, building a brilliant future in the automobile industry.
This article first appeared in Kingston Whig-Standard in January 2024. (C) Susanna McLeod.
Sources:
Hyde, Carl K., The Dodge Brothers: The Men, The Motor Cars, and the Legacy, Wayne State University Press, Detroit Michigan, 2005. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/dodgebrothers00char/page/248/mode/2up
Mays, James, “The Dodge Brothers Saga: The Chrysler Canada Story, Chapter 3,” 2001, All Par Forum. Retrieved from https://www.allpar.com/threads/the-dodge-brothers-saga-the-chrysler-canada-story-chapter-3.229689/
“The Dodge Brothers,” Windsor Public Library. Retrieved from https://www.windsorpubliclibrary.com/?page_id=15694