Frederic L. Smith
Frederic L. Smith | |
---|---|
University of Berlin | |
Known for | Football player/Automotive pioneer |
Frederic Latta Smith (February 6, 1870 – August 6, 1954) was a pioneer of the automobile business. He was one of the founders of the
Early years
Smith was born in 1870 in Lansing, Michigan. He was the son of copper and lumber magnate, Samuel Latta Smith (1830–1917), and Eliza Cordelia (Seager) Smith. He attended Lansing High School and the Michigan Military Academy, graduating from MMA in 1886.[1]
Smith enrolled at the University of Michigan in October 1886.[1] While attending Michigan, he played college football and was the starting quarterback for the 1888 Michigan Wolverines football team. He also won the light-weight wrestling championship medal.[1] He was also a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity at Michigan. Smith's cousin, Henry Rogers Seager, was also a member of the same fraternity at Michigan and later became a noted economist.[1]
Smith graduated from Michigan in 1890 and subsequently studied at the
Automobile business
In 1892, Smith became employed as an agent for land interests in Michigan's
In August 1897, Ransom E. Olds, founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan. In 1899, Smith was one of the founders of the new Olds Motor Works.[2] Smith together with his father and Henry Russel provided the financial backing for the new venture,[3] which was moved from Lansing to Detroit. Smith's father became the company's president, with Ransom Olds as general manager and Frederic Smith as secretary and treasurer.
In 1901, the Olds Motor Works released the
In 1902, Frederic Smith took charge of the newly built Olds Motor Works factory. He gave responsibility for sales to
In the infancy of the automobile industry in Detroit, the carmakers formed the
Frederic Smith and Ransom Olds clashed frequently. In 1903, Smith removed Olds from the position of general manager and took the position for himself.[11][12]
The Olds Motor Works was bought by
Later years
Smith moved to Beverly Hills, California, in 1941.[13] In August 1954, he died at his home at 603 N. Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills.[13] He was survived by his wife, Norah.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Biographical Catalogue of the Xi Chapter of Zeta Psi Fraternity at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 1858-1897. Zeta Psi fraternity. 1897. p. 63.
- ^ Edwin Black (2007). Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives. Macmillan. p. 101.
- ^ Paul Leake (1912). History of Detroit: A Chronicle of its Progress, its Industries, its Institutions, and the People of the Fair City of the Straits, Volume 1. The Lewis Publishing Company. p. 328.
- ISBN 0-313-24558-4.
- ^ Charles K. Hyde. Storied independent automakers: Nash, Hudson, and American Motors. p. 97.
- ^ Black, Internal Combustion, p. 94.
- ^ Black, Internal Combustion, p. 95.
- ^ Black, Internal Combustion, pp. 101-102.
- ^ Black, Internal Combustion, p. 102.
- ^ William Greenleaf (1961). Monopoly on wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden automobile patent. Wayne State University Press.
- ^ John Cuthbert Long, Charles K. Hyde (2004). Roy D. Chapin: The Man Behind the Hudson Motor Car Company. Wayne State University Press. p. 38.
- ISBN 0-8028-7055-4.
- ^ a b c d "Frederic L. Smith". Los Angeles Times. August 8, 1954.