John Francis Dodge
Encyclopedia
John Francis Dodge was an American
automobile
manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company
.
where his father rented a fish and chips shop. John and his younger brother, Horace
, were inseparable as children and as adults. The origins of the Dodge family lie in Stockport, England, where their ancestral home still stands.
In 1886 the Dodge family moved to Detroit
, where John and Horace took jobs at a boiler maker plant. In 1894 they went to work as machinists at the Dominion Typograph Company in Windsor, Ontario
, Canada
. While Dodge was the sales-minded managerial type, his brother Horace was a gifted mechanic and inveterate tinkerer. Using a dirt-proof ball bearing Horace invented and patented, in 1897 Dodge arranged a deal for the brothers to join with a third-party investor to manufacture bicycle
s. Within a few years, they sold the bicycle business and in 1900 used the proceeds of the sale to set up their own machine shop in Detroit.
In their first year of business the Dodge brothers' company began making parts for the automobile industry. In 1902 the Dodge brothers won a contract to build transmissions for the Olds 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 to retool their plant to build engines for Henry Ford
in a deal that included a share position in the new Ford Motor Company
. By 1910, John Dodge and his brother were so successful they built a new plant in Hamtramck, Michigan
.
For ten years (1903–1913) the Dodge brothers' business was a Ford Motor Company supplier, and Dodge worked as vice president of the Ford company. He left Ford in 1913, and in 1914 he and Horace formed Dodge Brothers to develop their own line of automobiles. They began building motor trucks
for the United States military during the arms buildup for World War I
, and in October 1917 they produced their first commercial car. At war's end, their company produced and marketed both cars and trucks.
Because of his temper and often crude behavior, Dodge was seen as socially unacceptable to most of the well-heeled elite of Detroit. Nevertheless, his wealth made him an influential member of the community and he became active in Republican Party
politics in Michigan.
In 1919, Henry Ford bought out the Dodge brothers' shareholdings in Ford Motor Company for $25 million.
John Dodge married Canadian
Ivy Hawkins (1864–1902) in September 1892. They had three children:
Following Ivy Dodge's death from tuberculosis
, he secretly married Isabelle Smith (who was his housekeeper) in Walkerville, Ontario
on December 8, 1902. They separated in 1905 and quietly divorced in 1907. The marriage was kept a secret until after Matilda's death. He married Matilda Rausch (1883–1967) shortly after the divorce from Isabelle, with whom he had three more children:
In 1908, he and Matilda purchased Meadow Brook Farms
near Rochester, Michigan
. At Meadow Brook, their eldest child, Frances
, developed a love of horses that led her to acquire Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky
, and turn it into one of the leading horse breeding operations in the United States. Dodge's daughter Isabel established Brookmeade Stable
. It became a major participant in Thoroughbred horse racing and owned several Champions
, including the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
horses, Cavalcade
and Sword Dancer.
Great grandson is film producer John F Dodge III
In January 1920, Dodge and Horace contracted Spanish flu
and pneumonia
while in New York City
. Dodge died on January 14, 1920 at the Ritz-Carlton
, aged 55. He was interred in the Egyptian-style family mausoleum in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery guarded by two Sphinx statues.
Horace died the following December, and in 1925 their widows sold the Dodge Brothers automobile business to Dillon Read
investment bankers for $146 million. Dodge's newborn daughter Anna Margaret died of the measles before age five, while his son Daniel drowned in the waters off Manitoulin Island
after blowing himself up with dynamite shortly after marrying at age 21.
After Dodge's death, Matilda married Alfred Wilson and adopted two children with him, Richard and Barbara Wilson. Matilda Dodge Wilson was Lieutenant Governor of Michigan briefly in 1940 under Republican Governor Luren Dickinson
.
In 1957, the Wilsons donated their 1500 acres (6.1 km²) Meadow Brook Farm, including Meadow Brook Hall
, Sunset Terrace and all its other buildings and collections, along with $2 million, to Michigan State University
to establish an extension campus. In 1963, the Michigan State University-Oakland was renamed Oakland University
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
.
Biography
Dodge was born in Niles, MichiganNiles, Michigan
Niles is a city in Berrien and Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near South Bend, Indiana. The population was 11,600 at the 2010 census. It is the greater populated of two principal cities of and included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
where his father rented a fish and chips shop. John and his younger brother, Horace
Horace Elgin Dodge
Horace Elgin Dodge, Sr. was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company.-Early years and business:...
, were inseparable as children and as adults. The origins of the Dodge family lie in Stockport, England, where their ancestral home still stands.
In 1886 the Dodge family moved to Detroit
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...
, where John and Horace took jobs at a boiler maker plant. In 1894 they went to work as machinists at the Dominion Typograph Company in Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. While Dodge was the sales-minded managerial type, his brother Horace was a gifted mechanic and inveterate tinkerer. Using a dirt-proof ball bearing Horace invented and patented, in 1897 Dodge arranged a deal for the brothers to join with a third-party investor to manufacture bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s. Within a few years, they sold the bicycle business and in 1900 used the proceeds of the sale to set up their own machine shop in Detroit.
In their first year of business the Dodge brothers' company began making parts for the automobile industry. In 1902 the Dodge brothers won a contract to build transmissions for the Olds 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 to retool their plant to build engines for 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...
in a deal that included a share position in the new 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...
. By 1910, John Dodge and his brother were so successful they built a new plant in Hamtramck, Michigan
Hamtramck, Michigan
Hamtramck is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 22,423. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion of the western border that touches the similarly surrounded city of Highland Park...
.
For ten years (1903–1913) the Dodge brothers' business was a Ford Motor Company supplier, and Dodge worked as vice president of the Ford company. He left Ford in 1913, and in 1914 he and Horace formed Dodge Brothers to develop their own line of automobiles. They began building motor trucks
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
for the United States military during the arms buildup for 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...
, and in October 1917 they produced their first commercial car. At war's end, their company produced and marketed both cars and trucks.
Because of his temper and often crude behavior, Dodge was seen as socially unacceptable to most of the well-heeled elite of Detroit. Nevertheless, his wealth made him an influential member of the community and he became active in Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politics in Michigan.
In 1919, Henry Ford bought out the Dodge brothers' shareholdings in Ford Motor Company for $25 million.
Family
The Dodge brothers were the sons of machinist Daniel Rugg Dodge (1819 – 1897) and Maria Duval Casto (1823 – 1906). Maria was Daniel's second wife. They had an elder full sister Della Ione (1863 – 1936)and older half brother Charles Frontier Dodge (1855-1926), and half sister Laura Belle (1858-?) from Daniel's first marriage to Lorinda Gould (1820-1860).John Dodge married Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Ivy Hawkins (1864–1902) in September 1892. They had three children:
- Winifred (1894–1980)
- Isabel ClevesIsabel Dodge SloaneIsabel Cleves Dodge Sloane was an American heiress and socialite who owned a major Thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm....
(1896–1962) - John Duval (1898–1942)
Following Ivy Dodge's death from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, he secretly married Isabelle Smith (who was his housekeeper) in Walkerville, Ontario
Walkerville, Ontario
The former town of Walkerville Ontario, Canada is now a heritage precinct of Windsor Ontario. Incorporated in 1890, the town was founded by Hiram Walker, owner and producer of Canadian Club Whisky. Walker planned it as a 'model town’ ) that would be the envy of both the region and the continent...
on December 8, 1902. They separated in 1905 and quietly divorced in 1907. The marriage was kept a secret until after Matilda's death. He married Matilda Rausch (1883–1967) shortly after the divorce from Isabelle, with whom he had three more children:
- Frances MatildaFrances DodgeFrances Dodge was an internationally known horsewoman.She was the eldest of the three children of John Francis Dodge and his third wife Matilda Dodge. She finished boarding school at Mt. Vernon Seminary in 1933 and married James Johnson on July 1, 1938...
(1914–1971) - Daniel George (1917–1938)
- Anna Margaret (1919–1924)
In 1908, he and Matilda purchased Meadow Brook Farms
Meadow Brook Hall
Meadow Brook Hall is a Tudor revival style mansion located at 480 South Adams Rd. in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It was built between 1926 and 1929 by Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, lumber broker Alfred G. Wilson...
near Rochester, Michigan
Rochester, Michigan
Rochester is an affluent city in north Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan on the northern outskirts of metro Detroit. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census...
. At Meadow Brook, their eldest child, Frances
Frances Dodge
Frances Dodge was an internationally known horsewoman.She was the eldest of the three children of John Francis Dodge and his third wife Matilda Dodge. She finished boarding school at Mt. Vernon Seminary in 1933 and married James Johnson on July 1, 1938...
, developed a love of horses that led her to acquire Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, and turn it into one of the leading horse breeding operations in the United States. Dodge's daughter Isabel established Brookmeade Stable
Brookmeade Stable
Brookmeade Stable was a successful thoroughbred horse racing stable owned by heiress and socialite Isabel Dodge Sloane. Sloane first won using the name Brookmeade Stable at the Manly Memorial Steeplechase at Pimlico in 1924....
. It became a major participant in Thoroughbred horse racing and owned several Champions
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
, including the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
horses, Cavalcade
Cavalcade (horse)
Cavalcade was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.In the early 1930s, Bob Smith, a trainer with a history of spotting talent, had been hired by heiress Isabel Dodge Sloane to stock her newly formed Brookmeade Stable. A descendant of the 1893 English Triple Crown champion...
and Sword Dancer.
Great grandson is film producer John F Dodge III
Death and legacy
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
and pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
while in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Dodge died on January 14, 1920 at the Ritz-Carlton
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton is a brand of luxury hotels and resorts with 75 properties located in major cities and resorts in 24 countries worldwide...
, aged 55. He was interred in the Egyptian-style family mausoleum in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery guarded by two Sphinx statues.
Horace died the following December, and in 1925 their widows sold the Dodge Brothers automobile business to Dillon Read
Dillon, Read & Co.
Dillon, Read & Co. was a prominent American investment bank from the 1920s into the 1960s.-Origins:Dillon Read traces its roots to 1832 with the founding of the Wall Street brokerage firm Carpenter & Vermilye. This firm was succeeded by Read & Company in which chief principal was William A. Read. ...
investment bankers for $146 million. Dodge's newborn daughter Anna Margaret died of the measles before age five, while his son Daniel drowned in the waters off Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island is a Canadian island in Lake Huron, in the province of Ontario. It is the largest island in a freshwater lake in the world. In addition to the historic Anishinaabe and European settlement of the island, archeological discoveries at Sheguiandah have demonstrated Paleo-Indian and...
after blowing himself up with dynamite shortly after marrying at age 21.
After Dodge's death, Matilda married Alfred Wilson and adopted two children with him, Richard and Barbara Wilson. Matilda Dodge Wilson was Lieutenant Governor of Michigan briefly in 1940 under Republican Governor Luren Dickinson
Luren Dickinson
Luren Dudley Dickinson was an American politician. He served as the 37th Governor of Michigan from 1939 to 1940...
.
In 1957, the Wilsons donated their 1500 acres (6.1 km²) Meadow Brook Farm, including Meadow Brook Hall
Meadow Brook Hall
Meadow Brook Hall is a Tudor revival style mansion located at 480 South Adams Rd. in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It was built between 1926 and 1929 by Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, lumber broker Alfred G. Wilson...
, Sunset Terrace and all its other buildings and collections, along with $2 million, to Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
to establish an extension campus. In 1963, the Michigan State University-Oakland was renamed Oakland University
Oakland University
Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...
.