Horace Elgin Dodge
Horace Elgin Dodge (
May 17,
1868 -
December 10,
1920) was an
American automobile manufacturing pioneer.
Born in
Niles,
Michigan, where his father owned a foundry and machine shop, Horace Dodge and his elder brother
John were inseparable as children and as adults. In 1886, the Dodge brothers moved to
Detroit where they took jobs at a boiler maker plant. In 1894 they went to work as machinists at the Dominion Typograph Company across the
Detroit River in
Windsor, Ontario.
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 would later marry actor Hugh Dillman after the death of Dodge.
While John Dodge was the sales oriented managerial type, brother Horace was a gifted mechanic and inveterate tinkerer. Using a dirt-proof ball bearing Horace invented and patented, 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 1900 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.
In 1902 they won a contract to build transmissions for the
Oldsmobile Motor Company upon which they built a solid reputation for quality and service. However, the following year they turned down a second contract from Oldsmobile 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, Horace Dodge and his brother were so successful they a built a new plant in
Hamtramck, Michigan.
For ten years, the Dodge brothers company' were suppliers to Ford and John Dodge worked as vice president of the Ford company. In 1913 he left Ford to devote his energies full time to produce a Dodge automobile. They began building
motor trucks, ambulances and other vehicles for the
United States military during the arms buildup for
World War I and in October of 1917 they produced their first commercial car. At war's end, their company manufactured and marketed both cars and trucks.
Regardless of their wealth and growing influence in the business community, because of the brothers crude manners and aggressive conduct they were regarded as socially unacceptable by most of the well-heeled elite of Detroit. In 1912, Horace Dodge built a red sandstone mansion in Grosse Pointe. Calling it "Rose Terrace," the huge home with formal gardens and boat dock overlooked
Lake St. Clair.
Architectural historian, W. Hawkins Ferry has described the mansion as "unquestionably Grosse Pointe's most regal residence." In addition to Rose Terrace, the Dodge's acquired a large winter estate in
Palm Beach, Florida. Horace's wife Anna had studied
music and through that they would be accepted as part of the upper crust of the citys 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.
A
speedboat and
yachting 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 motor
yachts, each larger and more luxurious than the previous. The last, named the
Delphine II for his granddaughter, was a 257.8-foot vessel commissioned in 1920 that was only completed after his passing. In the ensuing years the yacht experienced a sinking, a run onto rocks and service as a
United States Navy patrol boat during
World War II. The
Delphine II passed through the hands of several owners and after major refurbishing it sails the
Mediterranean today as a luxury charter.
In 1919, Henry Ford bought out the Dodge brothers shareholdings in Ford Motor Company for $9 million. In January of 1920, Horace's brother John died from the
Spanish flu. Having also contracted the flu, that December Horace too died from complications resulting in
pneumonia. He was interred with his brother in the family mausoleum in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery. His widow outlived him by fifty years.
In 1925, Horace and John Dodge's widows sold their automobile business to
Dillon, Read investment bankers for $146 million.
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Story & photos of the Delphine II yacht
