Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. (May 17, 1868 – December 10, 1920) was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of

Dodge Brothers Company Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above Plym ...

Early years and business

He was born in

Niles, Michigan Niles is a city in Berrien and Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near the Indiana border city of South Bend. In 2010, the population was 11,600 according to the 2010 census. It is the larger, by population, of the two principal cit ...

, on May 17, 1868.Burton, Clarence M., ed. (1922)
''The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922''
Vol. IV, pp. 308–313. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. His father owned a foundry and machine shop. Horace Dodge and his elder brother John Francis Dodge were inseparable as children and as adults. In 1886, the Dodge brothers moved to

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, where they took jobs at a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US De ...

plant. In 1894, they went to work as machinists at the Canadian Typograph Company across the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

. In 1896, Horace Dodge married Anna Thompson, a Scottish immigrant born in Dundee. The couple had a son, Horace Jr., and a daughter, Delphine. Thompson later married actor Hugh Dillman after the death of Dodge. While brother John Dodge was the sales-oriented managerial type, Horace was a gifted mechanic and inveterate tinkerer. He invented the first dirt-proof

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

; in 1897, John arranged a deal for them to join with a third-party investor to manufacture bicycles. 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. During their first year in business, the Dodge brothers' company began making parts for the automobile industry.

Automobiles

In 1902, they 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 (Oldsmobile) to retool their plant to build engines for

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

in a deal that included a share position in the new

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

. 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 in

Hamtramck, Michigan Hamtramck ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,433. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion that borders the fellow enclave city of ...

. 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. They introduced the Dodge Brothers 30 in November, 1914. They began building motor trucks,

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

s and other vehicles for the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...

during the arms buildup for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

At war's end, their company manufactured and marketed both cars and trucks. He was inducted into the

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to a ...

in 1981.

Personal life

Despite their wealth and growing influence in the business community, the red-haired Dodge brothers' crude manners and aggressive conduct made them socially unacceptable to most of the wealthy Detroit elite. In 1912, Horace Dodge built a red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

mansion in

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are: * Grosse Pointe Park * Grosse Pointe * Grosse Pointe Farms * Grosse ...

called ''Rose Terrace''. The huge home with formal gardens and boat dock overlooked Lake St. Clair. This was replaced by a second ''Rose Terrace'', constructed in the 1930s by architect

Horace Trumbauer Horace Trumbauer (December 28, 1868 – September 18, 1938) was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of ...

, 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 in Palm 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 new Detroit Symphony Orchestra and would play a key role in the construction of Orchestra Hall. SS delphine

A speedboat and

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, ...

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 several

steam yacht A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts. Origin of the name The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used the term ...

s, each larger and more luxurious than the previous. The first two large yachts were named ''Nokomis'', 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. The last, named the '' Delphine'' for his daughter after following the ''Nokomis'' tradition in the early phase of design, was a 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 a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

patrol boat during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The ''Delphine'' passed through the hands of several owners and after major refurbishing it sails the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

today as a luxury charter. Horace Dodge's great-grandson is film producer Johnny Dodge.

Death

In 1919,

bought out the Dodge brothers' shareholdings in

for $25 million. In January 1920, Horace's brother, John, died during the influenza epidemic. He was interred in the family's Egyptian-style mausoleum in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery guarded by two Sphinx statues. Having also contracted the flu that December following several relapses, Horace also died from complications of the disease resulting in

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

and cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 52 in Palm Beach, Florida. He was interred with his brother in the same mausoleum. His widow outlived him by fifty years. In 1925, Horace and John Dodge's widows sold their automobile business to

Dillon Read Dillon, Read & Co. was an investment bank based in New York City. In 1991, it was acquired by Barings Bank and, in 1997, it was acquired by Swiss Bank Corporation, which was in turn acquired by UBS in 1998. History Carpenter & Vermilye Dillon Rea ...

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

s for $146 million. Upon her death in 1970, Anna Thompson Dodge left a sum to the City of Detroit for the construction of the

Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain Philip A. Hart Plaza, in downtown Detroit, is a Urban park, city plaza along the Detroit River. It is located more or less on the site at which Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac landed in 1701 when he founded ''Fort Detroit, Fort Pont ...

. The fountain was designed by sculptor

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and severa ...

and opened in 1978 as part of the city's

Hart Plaza Philip A. Hart Plaza, in downtown Detroit, is a city plaza along the Detroit River. It is located more or less on the site at which Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac landed in 1701 when he founded '' Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit' ...

. Horace E. Dodge Jr. died in 1963 at age 63.

References

External links

*
Story & photos of the ''Delphine II'' yacht
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodge, Horace Elgin 1868 births 1920 deaths American philanthropists American founders of automobile manufacturers American automotive pioneers Businesspeople from Detroit People from Niles, Michigan Deaths from Spanish flu Machinists American boilermakers Dodge family Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit) Deaths from cirrhosis Alcohol-related deaths in Florida Deaths from pneumonia in Florida