Dodge Brothers Motor Cars & the Rise of the Automobile Industry

The Dodge Connection

       While the story of Dodge Brothers is the story of a dynamic partnership formed by John and Horace Dodge, John Dodge's personal legacy continued on with the many accomplishments of his second wife, Matilda Rausch Dodge Wilson, including the creation of Meadow Brook Hall and, eventually, Oakland University. In 1902, young Matilda Rausch began working as John Dodge's secretary at Dodge Motors. They were married five years later. The following year, the couple purchased Meadow Brook Farm for use as a country retreat. This property later became the core of a 1,400-acre estate upon which Matilda Dodge Wilson built Meadow Brook Hall with her second husband Alfred G. Wilson. In 1967, Matilda and Alfred donated the Hall, the estate and $2 million to Michigan State University for the creation of a new campus, later named Oakland University.

Dodge Brothers Motors

       Dodge Brothers Motors, unique in the history of automotive industry, was essential to its rise and to the success of the early Ford Motor Company. Born in Niles Michigan in 1864 (John) and 1868 (Horace), the Dodge brothers grew up in a hard working but poor family. They learned the machinists trade early in life working in their father's foundry and machine shop. The Dodge family moved from Niles to Battle Creek and then Port Huron, before finally ending up in Detroit in 1886. Within a few years, the Dodge brothers would establish themselves as one the largest suppliers of automobile parts and build a reputation for quality production that would last well beyond the brothers' untimely deaths in 1920.

       After their arrival in Detroit in 1886, the bothers quickly began sharpening their machinist skills with various positions in the area's machine shops, including the Murphy's Boiler Works, and Windsor's Dominion Typograph Company (later Canadian Typograph Company). By 1896, Horace had invented and patented a new dirt-resistant bicycle ball bearing. The following year, the Brothers found a partner, Frederick Evans, and began manufacturing E & D (Evans & Dodge) bicycles with the new ball bearings. After patenting Horace’s new in 1896, the brothers went into business with partner bicycles in 1897. After just a few years, the brothers sold their interests in the bicycle company and were able to establish their own machine shop in the Boydell Building in Detroit.

       The brother's involvement in the automobile industry began in 1901 when Ransom Olds approached the brothers to produce 2,000 engines for his new curved dash olds. The following year, Henry Ford also approached them with plans to manufacture parts for his new cars. The bothers agreed to produce almost the entire chassis (engines, transmissions, and axles mounted on frames—everything but the body, wheels, and tires). In return, Ford, who was initially short on cash, offered them enough stock to make them 10% stockholders in the new Ford Motor Company. The brothers would remain as Ford Motor Company suppliers for the next ten years, until they began to manufacture their own nameplate in 1914. John and Horace Dodge kept their shares in the Ford Motor Company until 1919, when they sold their stake for a whopping $25 million.

       In January of 1920, both John and Horace attended the International Automobile Show in New York. While in attendance, Horace became ill with influenza, his brother, John also became ill shortly thereafter. Both men eventually died from complications resulting in pneumonia, John on January 14, 1920 and Horace just 9 months later, on December 10, 1920. Control of the Dodge Brothers Motor Company reverted to the widows, Matilda Rausch Dodge and her sister-in-law, Anna Thompson Dodge. The two women sold the company five years later to the New York investment firm of Dillon Reed and Company for $146 million. (Matilda's personal share was $30 million.) Walter Chrysler began negotiations for the company and purchased it for $170 million in 1928. Still a strong brand today, Dodge is now part of the Daimler Chrysler Corporation's Chrysler Group.