Benjamin Briscoe
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Briscoe was born in Detroit, Michigan
and was an automobile
pioneer and industrialist.
Briscoe entered business for himself at age of 18 with capital of $472, organizing the firm of Benjamin Briscoe & Co. to manufacture sheet-metal stampings. This later became part of the American Can Company
. He then invented a machine for the production of corrugated pipe for the Briscoe and Detroit Galvanizing Works, later the Briscoe Manufacturing Company.
's first car. He was later president of the Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company that manufactured the Maxwell automobile
. This was probably his greatest success in the industry. The company was backed by J. P. Morgan & Co. and Richard Irvin & Co., but in the panic of 1907
, Briscoe had the first of many bad experience with bankers and was forced to do his own financing.
Mr. Briscoe conceived the idea of consolidating the four largest automobile manufacturers—Ford Motor Company
, Buick
, REO
and Maxwell-Briscoe—into one company. His negotiations with William C. Durant
, Henry Ford
and Ransom E. Olds
failed, so he proceeded to organize his own corporation along the broad lines he envisaged resulting in the United States Motor Company
.
U. S. Motors continued production of the Maxwell and was soon also producing the Stoddard-Dayton
car, the Brush
Runabout (in which his brother Frank Briscoe was a principal), Alden-Sampson trucks and others. The firm continued to operate the old Maxwell-Briscoe plants and bought up such concerns as the Columbia Motor Car Co.
, owner of many patents, including the Selden patent. Briscoe had an option on the Cadillac
car at one time, but never exercised it, and it eventually went to Mr. Durant, who had organized the General Motors Corporation.
In 1910 bankers invested $6,000,000 in U. S. Motors, but the financing proved inadequate and the firm went into receivership in 1912. Briscoe was forced out and Walter Flanders
took over and reorganized the assets as Maxwell Motor Co. (Incorporated), which itself was later reorganized as the Chrysler Corporation.
A few months after leaving U. S. Motors, he and his brother formed Briscoe Frères at Billancourt
, France
, home of the Renault
, to design and build a car on the continent according to American methods. The result was the Ajax
. A year later the brothers brought out the Briscoe
car in America manufactured at Jackson, Michigan but which they promoted as the first French-designed American car. When World War I
broke out, Benjamin Briscoe turned his manufacturing facilities over to war production and he never returned to the automobile business. His partners continued to manufacture Briscoe models until 1923.
During WWI, he joined the United States Navy
with the rank of lieutenant commander. He saw service in both Italy
and France and received the Navy Cross
and was a member of the French Legion of Honor.
After the war, Briscoe and a group of others developed a new process for refining
crude oil
. He then went to Montreal, Canada as an executive in an oil company later taken over by the Texas Company (Texaco
). Later he was involved in gold mining and ore milling in Colorado
. About 1940 he retired to a 3000 acres (12.1 km²) plantation in Marion County, Florida
, where he experimented in growing tung tree
s.
Benjamin Briscoe died at age 78 in his home near Dunnellon, Florida
.
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
and was an automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
pioneer and industrialist.
Briscoe entered business for himself at age of 18 with capital of $472, organizing the firm of Benjamin Briscoe & Co. to manufacture sheet-metal stampings. This later became part of the American Can Company
American Can Company
The American Can Company was a manufacturer of tin cans. It was a member of the Tin Can Trust, that controlled a "large percentage of business in the United States in tin cans, containers, and packages of tin." It was formerly a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1959–1991, though...
. He then invented a machine for the production of corrugated pipe for the Briscoe and Detroit Galvanizing Works, later the Briscoe Manufacturing Company.
Biography
In 1901, the automobile industry was in its infancy when Briscoe helped finance David BuickDavid Dunbar Buick
David Dunbar Buick was a Scottish-born Detroit inventor, best known for founding the Buick Motor Company...
's first car. He was later president of the Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company that manufactured the Maxwell automobile
Maxwell automobile
The Maxwell was a brand of automobiles manufactured in the United States of America from about 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company is Chrysler Group.-History:...
. This was probably his greatest success in the industry. The company was backed by J. P. Morgan & Co. and Richard Irvin & Co., but in the panic of 1907
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...
, Briscoe had the first of many bad experience with bankers and was forced to do his own financing.
Mr. Briscoe conceived the idea of consolidating the four largest automobile manufacturers—Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
, REO
REO
REO may refer to:*Real Estate Owned*REO Motor Car Company**Ransom E. Olds, its founder**Reo Speed-Wagon, truck*REO Speedwagon rock band**REO Speedwagon their 1971 debut album**R.E.O./T.W.O. their second album**R.E.O...
and Maxwell-Briscoe—into one company. His negotiations with William C. Durant
William C. Durant
William Crapo "Billy" Durant was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry, the founder of General Motors and Chevrolet who created the system of multi-brand holding companies with different lines of cars....
, Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
and Ransom E. Olds
Ransom E. Olds
Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer of the American automotive industry, for whom both the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1894, and his first gasoline powered car in 1896...
failed, so he proceeded to organize his own corporation along the broad lines he envisaged resulting in the United States Motor Company
United States Motor Company
The United States Motor Company was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers. It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create the first major consolidation within the industry with Maxwell-Briscoe and Buick,...
.
U. S. Motors continued production of the Maxwell and was soon also producing the Stoddard-Dayton
Stoddard-Dayton
Stoddard-Dayton was a high quality car manufactured by Dayton Motor Car Company in Dayton, Ohio, USA, between 1905 and 1913. John W. Stoddard and his son Charles G...
car, the Brush
Brush Motor Car Company
This article is about a USA auto-maker. For the British rail-locomotive company, see Brush TractionBrush Motor Company, or the "Brush Runabout Company," based in Detroit, Michigan, was founded by Alanson Partridge Brush , who designed a light car with a wooden chassis This article is about a USA...
Runabout (in which his brother Frank Briscoe was a principal), Alden-Sampson trucks and others. The firm continued to operate the old Maxwell-Briscoe plants and bought up such concerns as the Columbia Motor Car Co.
Columbia Automobile Company
The Columbia Automobile Company was a leading early Hartford, Connecticut, United States manufacturer of automobiles.The Columbia Automobile Company was created as a joint venture of the Motor Vehicle Division of the Pope Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Electric Vehicle...
, owner of many patents, including the Selden patent. Briscoe had an option on the Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
car at one time, but never exercised it, and it eventually went to Mr. Durant, who had organized the General Motors Corporation.
In 1910 bankers invested $6,000,000 in U. S. Motors, but the financing proved inadequate and the firm went into receivership in 1912. Briscoe was forced out and Walter Flanders
Walter Flanders
Walter Emmett Flanders was a U.S. American industrialist in the machine tool and automotive industries and was an early mass production expert....
took over and reorganized the assets as Maxwell Motor Co. (Incorporated), which itself was later reorganized as the Chrysler Corporation.
A few months after leaving U. S. Motors, he and his brother formed Briscoe Frères at Billancourt
Billancourt
Billancourt is a commune in the Somme department in northern France....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, home of the Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
, to design and build a car on the continent according to American methods. The result was the Ajax
Ajax (1913 automobile)
The Ajax was a French automobile built by the American Briscoe brothers, Benjamin and Frank, between 1913 and 1919. Originally built in Neuilly, it was a 12hp cyclecar with 980 cc 4 cylinder engine with friction drive...
. A year later the brothers brought out the Briscoe
Briscoe
The Briscoe was an American automobile manufactured at Jackson, Michigan by a group headed by Benjamin Briscoe.A few months after his departure from the United States Motor Company in 1913, Benjamin Briscoe established a manufacturing plant at Billancourt, France to design and manufacture the first...
car in America manufactured at Jackson, Michigan but which they promoted as the first French-designed American car. When World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, Benjamin Briscoe turned his manufacturing facilities over to war production and he never returned to the automobile business. His partners continued to manufacture Briscoe models until 1923.
During WWI, he joined the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
with the rank of lieutenant commander. He saw service in both Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France and received the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
and was a member of the French Legion of Honor.
After the war, Briscoe and a group of others developed a new process for refining
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
crude oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
. He then went to Montreal, Canada as an executive in an oil company later taken over by the Texas Company (Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
). Later he was involved in gold mining and ore milling in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. About 1940 he retired to a 3000 acres (12.1 km²) plantation in Marion County, Florida
Marion County, Florida
Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 316,183. Its county seat is Ocala....
, where he experimented in growing tung tree
Tung tree
Vernicia fordii is a species of Vernicia in the spurge family, native to southern China, Burma, and northern Vietnam. Other vernacular names include Tung Oil Tree, Tung-oil Tree, Tungoil Tree, China Wood-Oil Tree, Kalo Nut Tree, 油桐 Vernicia fordii (Tung Tree; syn. Aleurites fordii Hemsl.) is a...
s.
Benjamin Briscoe died at age 78 in his home near Dunnellon, Florida
Dunnellon, Florida
Dunnellon is a city in Marion County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,898 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 1,951...
.