Research Paper

The Intriguing Life of The Dodge Brothers

Everyday life requires people to get from one place to another due to many reasons. Today there are multiple forms of transportation that help us do just that. Transportation is when people or goods are taken or carried from one location to another. Some ways of transportation that exist range from vehicles to ships, which all help move things. If these ways of transportation did not exist nowadays, you would have had to walk or use your bicycle or horse to go from point A to B. Thankfully the Dodge Brothers were a part of the creation of mobile transportation we have today. Although the brothers were not the first ones to create a car they started as young machinists who slowly transitioned to making bicycle parts and now are founders of one of the biggest American car companies, and creating one of the best American muscle cars known to date.

Early Life and Childhood

The Dodge Brothers consisted of 2 brothers named John Francis and Horace Elgin. John was born on October 25th 1864 and his brother Horace was born on May 17th 1868 (Tate). They both grew up with their two parents, Daniel Rugg Dodge and Maria Duval Casto in the town of Niles, Michigan. John and Horace had three siblings, two of whom were from their father’s previous marriage and one older sister named Della Lone who was born in 1963. The brothers along with their sister Della attended public school where they would learn their basic education. During their childhood, their father Daniel had taken over his father’s machinist workshop. Here they would repair and build boat engines. Throughout their childhood John and Horace loved to come and spend time here and worked along their father’s side as much as they could. While working along their fathers side at their grandfather's workshop they learned many key trades such as their amazing machinist trades that they would continue to use throughout their lives. Although the family worked at the shop they still moved around quite a bit stopping at places such as Battle Creek and Port Huron but they eventually settled in the town of Detroit where John and Horace officially started their careers. (History of the Dodge Brothers)

Beginnings

The Dodge brothers were greatly influenced by their Father. When they were young their father Daniel gained control over his father’s marine steam engine shop where John and Horace loved to spend time (Adolphus). A while later John and Horace started a bicycle manufacturing business with a friend named Frederick Evans where Horace invented a very special ball bearing that was resistant to dirt which made it a very different and good bearing and was later patented by Horace ("History of the Dodge Brothers''). The Bicycle Business was later sold to start a machinist shop where they made stove parts and slowly transitioned into car parts. Soon they were known as one of the best and were receiving orders for transmissions from the Olds Motor Works and were getting involved with other well-known automotive pioneers. Shortly After they began working with Ford and due to his admiration for their work the Dodge Brothers received 10 percent of the company (Tate). Later the Brothers decided to part their ways and go on to start their own Vehicle Company when they ran into the problem of Henry Ford refusing to pay his dividends on the stock the Brothers owned which led to a lawsuit eventually having Ford buy out the stock for $25 million (Adolphus). The Bicycle Shop they ran along with the Machinist Shop they ran; taught the Brothers how to run a business and ways to make manufacturing easier for them so they could get things done more efficiently.

Accomplishments

Soon after John and Horace Dodge quit their jobs with Henry Ford they quickly started working on their brand, the “Dodge Brothers Motor Company”. Shortly after they released their first car, the Model 30-35. “The vehicle was intended to compete directly with the Ford Model T”. Henry Ford was not a fan of the new competition so he took matters into his own hands. Ford stopped paying stocks for the Dodge Brothers and other investors and proceeded to cut the prices on his cars by nearly 2 thirds directly targeting the Dodge Brothers (Opfer). Since the Dodges owned 10% of Ford, they decided to file a shareholders’ lawsuit against Henry Ford and succeeded. This resulted in Henry buying out their dividends on the stock for 25 Million Dollars (Adolphus). This money massively helped the dodge brother to keep funding their production and the business. With the money, they proceeded to work on their cars and in 1915 released their new touring car which quickly became very popular. The Brothers quickly became the #3 car brand in America with over 45,000 sales. They started to receive many Dealership Applications which quickly turned into over 22,000 applications (The History of the Dodge Brothers) and were quickly being accepted by many people. Although they were quickly gaining popularity and acceptance from others this was much harder to gain in the suburbs of Detroit. This was due to the Brothers not having one of the best reputations there. One reason was that John had once gotten in a lurid bar fight which was later made public in an article from the Detroit Times. John responded to this by first apologizing to the bar owner and paying up but later threatening to kill the paper’s owner (Adolphus). Although not being accepted by the public was a problem, they managed to buy their way into being accepted, so this would no longer be a problem to them, which made their company what it is today. Dodge is now known as one of the biggest and best-selling car manufacturers in America and was a very fast-growing company.

Impact on the World

Shortly after having their Touring car be a huge accomplishment, the brothers went on to sell 150 cars to the U.S. Army in 1916 and shortly after made a truck specifically for them which would later be used as a military ambulance. This was a massive help towards the military and over the years their vehicles truly were a big help towards helping America and Its Allies win WWII. Over the years John and Horace’s work helped not only the military but went on to help the rest of the world. The early stages of technology in cars would later be used in trucks. Trucks were a big part of creating the freight industry that now moves materials and goods all around the world to help others. Even before this, Horace’s invention of the dustproof ball bearing (“History of The Dodge Brothers”) and working with other car manufacturers helped innovate and form mobile transportation into what it is today. When working with other car manufacturers, the brothers helped by supplying parts and redesigning parts for cars (Adolphus) and helped with the creation of new technology for cars in the early stages of their careers. The brothers had a huge impact on how mobile transportation is thought of today and how technology for transportation is thought of and innovated.

Lessons learned from their Lives

Although the Brothers weren’t the best with their anger management they possessed very important personality traits that led them to success. These very important traits they possessed were being very hard-working, problem-solving, and being fantastic leaders. Being hardworking was very important because whenever they put their mind to something they went through with their plan and always finished their tasks. Problem-solving was also a very important trait because it helped them a lot in their careers. Being problem-solving meant that they were able to solve problems easily. This was much help when they were trying to redesign vehicles or creating new ways to make such parts for these vehicles. Not only were the brothers problem-solving and hardworking, but the Dodge brothers were also fantastic leaders. Being Fantastic leaders meant that they were very good at being the bosses of others and making sure things would always work correctly to succeed. These traits made the Dodge Brothers someone to look up to. The Brothers showed others that anything is possible by showing that though people from their hometown didn’t like them they still managed to work their ways into acceptance. After much hard work and trying to be accepted by society the brothers became the second best-selling automobile company at the time of their death (“History of The Dodge Brothers”).

Works Cited

Adolphus, David. “The inseparable, irascible Dodge boys.” Hagerty, The Hagerty Group, LLC., 26 May 2017, hagerty.com/media/archived/dodge-brothers. Accessed Feb. 3, 2021

“History of The Dodge Brothers.” Miami Lakes Auto Mall, miamilakesautomall.com/history-of-the-dodge-brothers. Accessed Feb. 3, 2021

Opfer, Chris. “Henry Ford vs. the Dodge Brothers: An All-American Feud.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 9 Apr. 2019, auto.howstuffworks.com/henry-ford-vs-dodge-brothers-all-american-feud. Accessed Feb. 3, 2021

Tate, Robert. “Remembering the Famous Dodge Brothers, a Brief History.” MotorCities, MotorCities National Heritage Area, 13 Mar. 2019, motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2019/remembering-the-famous-dodge-brothers-a-brief-history. Accessed Feb. 3, 2021