Thomas B. Jeffery
Thomas B. Jeffery (
1845–
21 March 1910) was an inventor and manufacturer of
bicycles and early
automobiles.
Jefferey was born in
Stoke,
Devonshire,
England. At eighteen years of age, he emigrated to the
United States and became a resident of
Chicago, where
"he was connected with the business of manufacturing telescopes". Later he was engaged in making models for the
patent office and in 1879 started in the bicycle business, being one of the pioneers in that field. He, with
R. Philip Gormully, organized the
Gormully & Jeffery Manufacturing Company and began making the
Rambler.
Thomas B. Jeffery was an inventor and bicycle manufacturer with his partner, R. Philip Gormully, who built and sold Rambler bicycles through his company, Gormully & Jeffery Mfg. Co., in Chicago from
1878 to
1900. The Rambler was still a proud piece of machinery when low prices took precedence over high quality. Its body featured flared metal tubing for extra strength at the joints, which were
brazed by immersion in molten
brass. These techniques continued even after Gormully & Jeffery (G&J) and Rambler became names of the
American Bicycle Company, or
Bicycle Trust, which was not known for the best manufacturing techniques in all of its lines.By 1900, Gormully & Jeffery was the country's second-largest bicycle maker and Jeffery had gained fame for developing, among other things, the clincher rim that enabled pneumatic tires to be used.
Invention of Clincher Rim
Dunlop's
pneumatic tires for bikes were pretty much like the garden hoses they started out as. They were tubular in shape, and were secured to the bike rims by glue, and air pressure pressing them against the rim. The rims were wooden, and had a concave surface for receiving the tube. These tires sometimes came off the rims, and a more secure type of tire was needed.Thomas B. Jeffery came up with an improved tire that was held on by a wire that was embedded in the rubber of the tire, and the wire could be tightened onto the rim. He got a
patent on the ancestor of all clincher tires in 1882.
|
Thomas B. Jeffery and his 1897 Rambler prototype |
He was one of America's first men interested in automobiles, and in
1897, he built the first
Rambler motor car.
Jeffery was serious about motor cars so he sold his stake in G&J and founded the
Thomas B. Jeffery Company. He used the G&J money to buy the old
Sterling Bicycle Co. factory in
Kenosha,
Wisconsin, where he set up shop to manufacture automobiles on a large scale. From 1902 until 1908, Jeffery moved steadily to bigger, more reliable models. His cars were built on
assembly lines (the second manufacturer to adopt them -- Ransom Olds was first), and in 1903 he sold 1,350 Ramblers. By 1905, Jeffery more than doubled this number. One reason may have been because he went to the
steering wheel before 1904. In 1907, he was building a large variety of different body styles and sizes. Among them was a five-passenger, $2,500 Rambler weighing 2,600 pounds and powered by a 40-hp engine.
Thomas B. Jeffery died in 1910 while on holiday in
Pompeii, in
Italy, and after his death, Charles T. Jeffery, changed the automotive branding from Rambler to Jeffery to honor Thomas B.
Ultimately, his family sold the manufacturing business to
Charles Nash, who renamed the company
Nash Motors and greatly expanded manufacturing efforts.
Jeffrey contested several patents:
* Fought the Pope bicycle patent and won.
* Fought the Selden bicycle patent and won.
Despite what internet sites may say, Thomas B. Jeffery was
never a wagon builder.
1845 - Thomas Jeffery is born in Devon, England.
1863 - Jeffery emigrates to the US and moves to Chicago, Illinois.
1878 - Jeffery partners with Phillip Gormally and starts the Gormally & Jeffery Bicycling Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois.
1882 - Jeffery invents the
Cincher Tire.
1897 - Jeffery's builds a rear-engine Rambler prototype using the Rambler name previously used on a highly successful line of bicycles made by G&J.
1899 - Positive reviews at the 1899 Chicago International Exhibition & Tournament and the first National Automobile Show in New York prompt the Jefferys to enter the automobile business.
1900 - Jeffery sells his stake in G&J to the American Bicycle Company.
1900 (Dec 6) - Thomas B. Jeffery finalizes a $65,000 deal to buy the Kenosha, factory of the defunct
Sterling Bicycle Co. with money from the sale of his interest in the G&J.
1901 - Two more prototypes, Models A and B, are made.
1902 - First production Ramblers - the $750 Model C open runabout and the $850 Model D (the same car with a folding top). Both are powered by an 8-hp, 98cu. in., 1-cyl. engine mounted beneath the seat, and both are steered by a pioneering right-side tiller (a new concept at the time). 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 Pompeii, Italy.
1910 (Jun 10) - Charles T. Jeffery incorporates the family's car business as a $3 million public stock company.
1914 - Charles T. Jeffery replaces the
Rambler name with the
Jeffery moniker in honor of Thomas B. Jeffery.
1916 Kenosha article*
The Pope patent*
The Selden patent
