Horace Elgin Dodge

Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer who, together with his brother John Francis Dodge, co-founded the Dodge Brothers Company, the firm that became the modern Dodge automobile brand. Horace worked as a machinist and gifted mechanic, credited with inventing an early dirt proof ball bearing, before the brothers opened a Detroit machine shop in 1901 that supplied precision parts to the Ford Motor Company. In 1913 the Dodge brothers moved into building complete automobiles under their own name, introducing the Dodge Brothers Model 30 the following year, a car well regarded for its durability. Horace Dodge was born in Niles, Michigan in 1868 and died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1920, the same year as his brother John.