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C.R. Patterson and Sons

C.R. Patterson and Sons
FormerlyJ. P. Lowe & Company;
C.R. Patterson, Son & Company;
C.R. Patterson and Sons Carriage Company
IndustryAutomotive manufacturing company
Founded1893 (1893)
FounderFrederick Patterson
Defunct1939 (1939)
SuccessorGreenfield Bus Body Company;
Gallia Body Company
HeadquartersGreenfield, Ohio, US
Key people
ProductsPatterson-Greenfield automobile

C.R. Patterson and Sons was an American automotive company headquartered in Greenfield, Ohio and for one year in Gallia, Ohio;[1] founded by Frederick Douglas Patterson and named after his father Charles "Rich" Richard Patterson.[1]

The Pattersons were the first African Americans to manufacture automobiles, their company manufacturing and marketing the Patterson-Greenfield automobile for model years 1914-17 with overall production reaching 150[2] — none known to have survived.[3]

As the only known black-owned automakers, founded by a former slave, operating during a period of cultural oppression, successful for three generations, Charles Richard Patterson and Frederick Patterson were inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2021.[2]

History

Precursors

Charles "Rich" Richard Patterson (1833–1910) founded precursor companies to C.R. Patterson and Sons.[4][5][6] Patterson was born — a slave[2] — in 1833 to Charles and Nancy Patterson of Virginia. The family moved to Ohio between 1841 and 1842. They were listed in the 1850 census in Greenfield, Ohio, which was a busy station on the underground railroad.[4][7] He initially worked at Dines and Simpson Carriage and Coach Makers Company, and learned blacksmithing.[1]

Charles Patterson partnered with a local carriage builder, J.P. Lowe, a white man, and they created J.P. Lowe & Company in 1873.[4][6][3] By 1888, the business employed 10 people, which was considered successful for its time.[3] The United States was experiencing the Panic of 1893, a financial crisis and business was suffering.[3]

Patterson bought Lowe's shares and to mark the inclusion of his son Samuel renamed thee company C.R. Patterson, Son in 1893.[4][6] Samuel Patterson became ill in 1897, and died in 1899.[6] The eldest son Frederick Douglas Patterson moved home to help with the business.

By 1900, the company was producing 28 different horse-drawn carriage styles including buggies, backboards, phaetons, surreys, and the popular doctor's buggy.[8] They had 50 employees, and were able to manufacture approximately 500 horse-drawn carriages a year.[8]

Automobile manufacturing

After Charles Patterson's death in 1910, his son, Frederick Douglas Patterson, took over the carriage business aiming to manufacture their own "horseless carriage,"[4] initially offering local automotive service.[1] On September 23, 1915, the first C.R. Patterson and Sons automobile was assembled, a two-door coupe.[4] The first cars were sold for $685, with additional reports of the car selling for $850 (or $17,741 to $22,014 adjusted for inflation in 2021).[1][4][3]

Bus and truck manufacturing

In 1918, C.R. Patterson & Sons halted their auto production and concentrated once again on the repair side of the business.[1] By the 1920s, they started focusing on building and designing truck and bus bodies, which were fitted to chassis made by other manufactures.[1] The company was renamed Greenfield Bus Body Company. Frederick Douglas Patterson died in 1932, and his son Postell Patterson (1906–1981) took over the business.[9]

Most of the bus bodies were purchased by school boards in Southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky, as well as the Ohio Transit Company and used in Cincinnati and Cleveland.[3]

In 1938, the company was reorganized under the name Gallia Body Company and the headquarters moved to Gallia, Ohio.[6] Unable to raise enough money, the company closed in 1939.[1][9]

Further reading

  • May, Henry A. (2007). First Black Autos: The Charles Richard "C.R." Patterson & Sons Company. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1425105174.
  • Nelson, Christopher (2010). The C. R. Patterson and Sons Company: Black Pioneers in the Vehicle Building Industry, 1865-1939. ISBN 978-1453770306.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Only African American Automobile Company". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Smithsonian. 2017-10-11. Archived from the original on 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  2. ^ a b c Larry Printz (December 22, 2024). "The one-and-only known Black-owned American automaker". Autoblog.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Printz, Larry (2021-03-10). "From buggies to buses, the first Black-owned US automaker did what few others dared". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Charles R. Patterson, Inventor born". African American Registry. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  5. ^ "The Patterson Automobile". Historical Society of Greenfield, Ohio. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  6. ^ a b c d e Berk, Brett (2019-02-15). "The Only African American Automaker Started as a Coachbuilder". Car and Driver. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  7. ^ "C.R. Patterson and Sons: The First and Only African-American Automobile Company". Your AAA Network. 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Jessie Carney (2006). Encyclopedia of African American Business: A-J. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 646. ISBN 978-0-313-33110-7.
  9. ^ a b Theobald, Mark (2004). "Greenfield Bus Body Co., C.R. Patterson & Sons, Peterson-Greenfield, J.P. Lowe & Co., Frederick D. Patterson, Charles R. Peterson, Black Auto Mfr". Coachbult.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.R._Patterson_and_Sons