The Adams Company is an American manufacturing concern. It was founded in 1883 and is based in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Between 1905 and 1912 it produced the Adams-Farwell, a

brass era The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such features as lights and radiator (engine cooling), radiators. It is generally considered to ...

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

History

The Roberts & Langworthy Iron Works, located at 57 South Main Street in Dubuque, were manufacturers of "fine light castings"encyclopediadubuque.com: ''Roberts & Langworthy Iron Works'' like grave crosses and park benches. Eugene Adams invested in the company in June 1883 when Roberts decided to retire, and Adams took the position of a secretary and manager. A change of the company name to Langworthy and Adams Iron Works followed in 1885. When Langworthy retired in 1892, Eugene's brother Herbert bought his share and the company was re-organized as The Adams Company, a foundry and machine shop. The plant burnt down the same year in a disastrous fire, and the company opened new facilities at East Fourth Street. Now, machine castings and household devices like a patented ''floor heating vent with inner rotating portion'' that distributed warm air in upper level rooms, or ''laundry stoves'' were added. In 1895, Fay Oliver Farwell (1859–1935) became manager of the company.encyclopediadubuque.com: ''The Adams Company''Kimes: ''Standard Catalogue'' (1985); p. 97, ''Adams-Farwell''

The Adams-Farwell automobile

About 1895, Farwell began experimenting with an

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...

d automobile, for which he conceived a horizontally mounted

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

with three cylinders. The vertically standing crank shaft was fixed in the chassis. Farwell felt this configuration was lighter than conventional engines as it used neither a

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device that uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy, a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, a ...

— since the spinning engine crankcase and cylinders acted as their own flywheel when running — nor

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

, because of its air cooled design. Farwell completed the first

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

in 1898. Basically a horse-drawn carriage, he mounted his engine between the front wheels. This proved impractical, so his second car, appropriately named number 2, had the engine installed in the rear as all Adams-Farwells would thereafter. This car used bicycle wheels; the next had wooden

artillery wheel The artillery wheel was a nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century style of wagon, gun carriage, and automobile wheel. Rather than having its spokes mortised into a wooden nave (hub), it has them fitted together in a keystone fashion with m ...

s. Little is known about car number 4, which probably was similar to number 3, and which was sold to a Dubuque resident. Number 5 was shown at the

Chicago Auto Show The Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago's McCormick Place convention center. It is the largest auto show in North America. Event History Samuel Miles, formerly a promoter of bicycle shows, produced the first "official" ...

in February 1905. Now, first orders were taken. With only minor modifications, the car went into - very limited - production as the Model 6 20/25 hp.encyclopediadubuque.com: ''Adams-Farwell Automobiles'' Referring to its engine, Adams-Farwell frequently used the slogan: ''It spins like a top''. An Automobile Quarterly article credits Mr. Farwell's inspiration for his rotary radial engine to have been a steam winch he had witnessed in operation in the late 19th century. Also mentioned in the cited article is the participation of an Adams-Farwell automobile in the first automobile race in America, but that is refuted by the following citation:

Innovations

Adams-Farwell automobiles had further unique details. The only available coachwork, called a

Convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a Car, passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air drivin ...

Brougham, was in fact a Town brougham, and the "convertible" part was not the top but driver's position. His bench seat in the front of the car was retractable and could fold away in inclement weather, thus forming a splash board. Then, the tiller and driving devices could easily be relocated in front of the rear seat, under the fixed top. These cars could even be started from the driver's seat as they provided a lever that had to be pulled up instead of the usual crank. This car was listed at US$2500, placing it in the lower luxury car field. It is this concept that leads to the claim that Adams-Farwell automobiles were among the first automobiles that could be driven year-round.encyclopediadubuque.com: ''Fay Oliver Farwell'' For 1906, Model 6 became Series 6. A new Series 6 40/45 hp with a five cylinder rotary was added. The car got a somewhat longer wheelbase, and a Landaulet body style replaced the Brougham, probably very similar but with a convertible rear part of the top. New to the line was a touring car, frequently called a Convertible Runabout. Both body styles were 5-seaters. Three more cars were offered with the 40/45 hp engine only. One was an Extension Brougham with a longer wheelbase, the other, the Model 7-A, was a 7-passenger touring with a conventional looking front; the engine still was in the rear. The rear seat was slightly moved forward. While standard wheelbase was , the Extension Brougham's was , and the 7-A's . All got the retractable front seat bench and the unique steering system. The third new car was different. Called the Model 8-A Gentleman's Speed Roadster, it had the shortest chassis with , and the larger engine. Instead of using the familiar frame with a separate body, it had no chassis at all, anticipating later

unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had ...

constructions. This sports car was very fast for the time with a top speed of around .conceptcarz.com: Adams-Farwell 7-A (1906) The only remaining Adams-Farwell automobile shows a tag by the Connolly Carriage & Buggy Co. It seems this company, not only reputed for quality carriages and coachwork, also built the chassis for the Adams-Farwell. As period advertisements indicate complete cars were offered, there is some evidence they might have built the bulk of the Adam-Farwell bodies.encyclopediadubuque.com: ''Thomas Connolly''coachbuilt.com: Thomas Connolly Carriage Works For 1907, most models were gone, and Adams-Farwell offered only an improved Model 7-A Touring, now with an even longer wheelbase and a higher price. Farwell had more ideas to offer. For 1908, a new Model 9 50 hp appeared. It seems this the first Adams-Farwell with a new and ingenious four speed transmission. Since most contemporary cars had three speeds, the new Adams-Farwell offered an ingenious construction consisting of the transmission, two clutches, a lever for each of them, and one handle to operate the levers. One clutch engaged gears 2 and 4, the other gears 1, 3, and reverse. So, two speeds could be "preselected", but the one-handle operation prevented two speeds being engaged at the same time. Further, antiquated tiller steering was replaced by a wheel, and there was a pedal for acceleration. Therefore, the removable steering was no longer offered, but Adams-Farwells got a rail instead in which the column and pedal could be moved from the left to the right, allowing the driver to sit either at the left, the right or in the center. Model 9 came as 7-passenger touring, a 3-passenger

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

, and 3-passenger roadster, the latter replacing the Model 8-A, featuring normal chassis and body construction. A final change came for 1909. The coupé was dropped, the roadster got one more seat, and the touring became even longer. Adam-Farwells were offered until 1912 (or 1913, depending on source) in this lineup. Then, production of automobiles ceased after just about 200 cars built. Usually, 25 cars per year left the factory, with 52-54 in 1910.trombinoscar.com: Adams-Farwell 7-A (1906) A few of them went to the Dubuque Police Department.

Adam-Farwell models

The small company brought out an impressive number of models, with some ingenious solutions for contemporary problems of driving: ''Note: Above coachwork designation is by manufacturer; they may not coincide with body designations as commonly in use.'' 1906 advertisements show a touring car with "fake" hood, designated Model L. It seems this is the Model 7-A 40/45 hp; there is no additional information about it, and there is no further evidence more models existed than listed above.

The only surviving Adams-Farwell

The National Automobile Museum in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

owns the last existing Adams-Farwell automobile, a Series 6 40/45 hp Touring Victoria coach, built by the Connolly Carriage & Buggy Company, probably of Dubuque. This car was invited to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2011 where it won the Charles A. Chayne Trophy for the most advanced technology of its period.Pebble Beach Concours

Post-automobile company history

Like another builder of rotary engined road vehicles, Stephen Marius Balzer of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the Adams Company offered light gyrocopter engines which successfully powered experimental flying machines by

Emile Berliner Emile Berliner (May 20, 1851 – August 3, 1929) originally Emil Berliner, was a German-American inventor. He is best known for inventing the lateral-cut flat disc gramophone record, record (called a "gramophone record" in British and American En ...

in 1909–1910 and J. Newton Williams in 1909. Engine production lasted longer than automobile manufacture although it is not clear when this stopped, too. The Adams Company then relied on their iron foundry and manufactured gears, shafts and parts for power transmissions. When F. Oliver Farwell left the company in 1921. He had about 20 patents to his name and tried to build up a business on one he held for a novel transmission for

merry-go-round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

s. Later, he worked in a gear-cutting company in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. As of November 2017, The Adams Company continues as a custom manufacturer of industrial

gear A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...

s and shafts. It is a closely-held private corporation.

References

Sources

* Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925''. New York: Bonanza Books, 1950. p. 55. * Georgano, G.N. (1974). "Adams-Farwell", ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885–1968''. New York: E.P. Dutton and Co. p. 27. * Georgano, G.N., ed. (1973). ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present'', 2nd edition. New York: Dutton Press. * Kimes, Beverly Rae (2005). ''Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America''. Warrendale PA: SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Permissions. ; S. 368 * Kimes, Beverly Rae and Clark, Henry Austin, Jr., eds (1985). ''The Standard Catalogue of American Cars 1805–1942'', 2nd edition. Iola WI: Krause Publications.

External links