Thomas B. Jeffery Company
Encyclopedia
The Thomas B. Jeffery Company was an American 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...
manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
from 1902 until 1916. The company manufactured the Rambler and Jeffery
Jeffery (automobile)
The Jeffery brand of automobiles were manufactured by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin.-History:The company was founded by Charles T. Jeffery and Thomas B. Jeffery, and sold under the brand name Rambler between 1902 and 1913. On the death of the founder, Thomas Jeffery in 1910,...
brand motorcars. It was preceded by the Gormully & Jeffery Manufacturing Company
Gormully & Jeffery
Gormully & Jeffery was an American bicycle company, founded in Chicago by Thomas B. Jeffery and R. Phillip Gormully in 1878. It marketed bicycles under the Rambler brand, was at one time the second largest bicycle manufacturer in the US, and was sold to the American Bicycle Company in 1900....
(a bicycle company) and it was the parent company to Nash Motors
Nash Motors
Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...
, thus one of the parent companies of American Motors
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
and Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
.
Thomas B. Jeffery
Thomas B. Jeffery
For the government official in colonial Nova Scotia see Thomas Nickleson JefferyThomas B. Jeffery was an inventor and manufacturer of bicycles and early automobiles.-Early life:...
was an inventor and an industrialist. He was one of America's first entrepreneurs interested in automobiles in the late 19th century. In 1897, he built his first prototype motorcar. Thomas B. Jeffery was serious enough about automobiles to sell his stake in Gormully & Jeffery
Gormully & Jeffery
Gormully & Jeffery was an American bicycle company, founded in Chicago by Thomas B. Jeffery and R. Phillip Gormully in 1878. It marketed bicycles under the Rambler brand, was at one time the second largest bicycle manufacturer in the US, and was sold to the American Bicycle Company in 1900....
to the American Bicycle Company
American Bicycle Company
American Bicycle Company was an American bicycle company. American Bicycle was founded by Albert Augustus Pope, owner of the Columbia Bicycle. In 1898, the U.S. bicycle industry was caught in a downward spiral of market saturation, over-supply and intense price competition. Pope issued an affidavit...
to finance the new car company.
Business
Charles T. Jeffery
Charles Thomas Jeffery was an American businessman. He was the son of Thomas B. Jeffery, founder of Thomas B. Jeffery Company, an automobile manufacturer....
(Thomas' son) experimental prototypes of 1901 (Models A & B) used at least two radical innovations - steering wheels and front-mounted engines. By the time Charles was ready for production in 1902, his father had talked him out of these wild dreams and convinced him to stick with tillers and engines under the seat.
From 1902 until 1908, Jeffery moved steadily to bigger, more reliable models. Jeffery cars were built on assembly lines (the second manufacturer to adopt them -- Ransom E. Olds
Ransom E. Olds
Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer of the American automotive industry, for whom both the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1894, and his first gasoline powered car in 1896...
was first), and in 1903 Jeffery sold 1,350 Ramblers. By 1905, Jeffery more than doubled this number. One reason may have been because Charles went back to the steering wheel before 1904. In 1907, Jeffery was building a large variety of different body styles and sizes. Among them was a five-passenger, US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2,500 Rambler weighing 2,600 pounds (1179 kg) and powered by a 40-horsepower (30 kW) engine.
In April, 1910, Thomas B. Jeffery, died in Pompeii, Italy and in June of that year the business was incorporated under the name of the Thomas B. Jeffery Company, with Charles T. Jeffery as the president and general manager, H. W. Jeffery, vice president and treasurer.
In 1915, Charles T. Jeffery, changed the automotive branding from Rambler to Jeffery to honor the founder, his father, Thomas B. Jeffery.
As of 1916, G. H. Eddy replaced H.W. Jeffery as the treasurer so H.W. Jeffery could focus on the position of vice president. G. W. Greiner was the secretary, L. H. Bill the general manager, J. W. DeCou the factory manager, and Al Recke was the sales manager.
Charles T. Jeffery survived the sinking of the RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
(a British luxury liner torpedoed by the Germans in 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...
) in 1915 and decided to spend the rest of his life in a more enjoyable manner. Charles W. Nash
Charles W. Nash
Charles Warren Nash was a United States automobile entrepreneur and served as an executive in the automotive industry.- Early life :...
resigned from General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, saw an opportunity and bought the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in August 1916.
The Factory
Gormully & Jeffery
Gormully & Jeffery was an American bicycle company, founded in Chicago by Thomas B. Jeffery and R. Phillip Gormully in 1878. It marketed bicycles under the Rambler brand, was at one time the second largest bicycle manufacturer in the US, and was sold to the American Bicycle Company in 1900....
, bought the old Sterling Bicycle Company's factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The original factory building was only 600 x 100 feet (183 x 30 m) in size. However, by 1916, the company's buildings expanded over 20 acres (8 ha) under roof and the facilities had grown to over 100 acres (40 ha) including a test track.
Quad
During World War IWorld 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...
, Jeffery designed a four wheel drive truck, known as the "Quad" or Jeffery Quad and Nash Quad that assisted the Allied effort. These unique vehicles saw heavy service under General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
.
Approximately 11,500 Jeffery and Nash Quads were built. "Four-wheel drive trucks had been built before ... but aside from the Jeffery Quad (Nash Quad, per subsequent purchase) earlier designs were inefficient, crude, and flimsy." The Quad not only had four-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes, but also four-wheel steering.
Timeline
1897 - Jeffery builds a rear-engine Rambler prototype using the Rambler name previously used on a highly successful line of bicycles made by Gormully & Jeffery.1899 - Positive reviews at the 1899 Chicago International Exhibition & Tournament and the first National Automobile Show 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...
prompt the Jefferys to enter the automobile business.
1900 (Dec 6) - Thomas B. Jeffery finalizes a US$65,000 deal to buy the Kenosha, Wisconsin, factory of the defunct Sterling Bicycle with money from the sale of his interest in Gormully & Jeffery.
1901 - Two more prototypes, Models A and B, are made.
1902 - First production Ramblers - the US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
750 Model C open runabout and the $850 Model D (the same car with a folding top). Both are powered by an 8 hp, 98 CID one-cylinder engine mounted beneath the seat, and are steered by a right-side tiller. First-year production totals 1,500 units making Jeffery the second-largest car maker behind Oldsmobile.
1910 (Mar 21) - Thomas B. Jeffery dies while on vacation in Italy.
1910 (Jun 10) - Charles incorporates the firm as a $3 million (US$ in dollars) public stock company.
1914 - The Rambler name is replaced with the Jeffery moniker in honor of the founder.
1916 (Aug) - Charles Jeffery sells the company to former General Motors Corp. President Charles W. Nash.
1917 - Charles Nash renames the Jeffery Motor Company, Nash Motors after himself.