J. Frank Duryea

James Franklin Duryea (1869 to 1967), known as J. Frank Duryea, was an American automobile pioneer. With his brother Charles Edgar Duryea he is credited by Grace's Guide with inventing the first gas-powered automobile in America. The source divides the work between the two brothers: Charles had the vision to get the idea off the ground, while Frank had the diligence to see the project through to completion and did all of the mechanical work. He was the son of George Washington Duryea and Louisa Melvina Turner. Grace's Guide files him under its automotive and United States biography categories. This is a brief entry drawn from a short source page, so it records that source's account of the brothers' shared credit and nothing beyond it.