John (Francis) Dodge

Automobile manufacturer, born in Niles, Michigan, USA. With his brother, Horace (Elgin) Dodge (1868–1920), also born in Niles, he began as a bicycle manufacturer in Ontario, Canada, then moved to Detroit (1901) to open a machine shop for the manufacture of automobile parts. In 1914 they expanded to make their own automobiles, and their innovations included the use of conveyor belts in manufacturing and the technique for baking enamel on steel bodies, producing the first car with an all-steel body. During World War 1 they made their factory available to the war effort, and designed the machinery to build the French recoil gun. This technology was later used for making car cylinders. The brothers were very close, and while both contributed to mechanical innovation, John was more the businessman, and Horace the more mechanically inclined.

Born in Niles, Michigan, where his father owned a foundry and machine shop, John Dodge and his younger brother Horace were inseparable as children and as adults. The origins of the Dodge family lie in Stockport, England, where their ancestral home still stands.

In 1886, the Dodge brothers moved to Detroit where they took jobs at a boiler maker plant. While John Dodge was the sales minded managerial type, brother Horace was a gifted mechanic and inveterate tinkerer.

In their first year of business the Dodge brothers' company began making parts for the automobile industry. In 1902 the Dodge brothers 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, John Dodge and his brother were so successful they a built a new plant in Hamtramck, Michigan.

In 1907 a prosperous John Dodge married employee Matilda Rausch with whom he had three children.

For ten years the Dodge brothers business were Ford Motor Company suppliers, and John Dodge worked as vice president of the Ford company. He left Ford in 1913 and in 1914 he and Horace formed Dodge Brothers Inc.

Because of his temper and often crude behavior, John Dodge was seen as socially unacceptable to most of the well-heeled elite of Detroit.

In 1919, Henry Ford bought out the Dodge brothers shareholdings in Ford Motor Company for $9 million. In 1920, John Dodge died from the flu, aged 55, just as the Great Flu Epidemic was coming to an end.

His brother Horace died the following December and in 1925 their widows sold the Dodge Brothers automobile business to Dillon, Read investment bankers for $146 million.

In 1957, his widow donated their 1,500-acre Meadow Brook Farm, including Meadow Brook Hall, Sunset Terrace and all its other buildings and collections, along with $2 million to the Michigan State University.