C.R. Patterson and Sons

C.R. Patterson and Sons was an American automotive company, active from 1915 to 1939 primarily in Greenfield, Ohio and for one year in Gallia, Ohio.[1] The first African American founded car company.[1] They made the Patterson-Greenfield automobile.

C.R. Patterson and Sons
FormerlyJ. P. Lowe & Company;
C.R. Patterson, Son & Company;
C.R. Patterson and Sons Carriage Company
IndustryAutomotive manufacturing company
SuccessorGreenfield Bus Body Company;
Gallia Body Company
Founded1915 (1915)
FounderFrederick Patterson
Defunct1939 (1939)
HeadquartersGreenfield, Ohio, US
Key people
ProductsPatterson-Greenfield automobile

History

Precursors

Charles "Rich" Richard Patterson (1833–1910) founded a precursor companies to C.R. Patterson and Sons.[2][3][4] Patterson had been born in 1833 as a slave on a Virginia plantation.[2][5][6] There are conflicting stories on how he left the plantation, he ended up living in Greenfield, Ohio, which was also the site of an underground railroad station.[2][6] He initially worked at Dines and Simpson Carriage and Coach Makers Company, and learned blacksmithing.[1]

Charles Patterson later worked as a foreman for a local, carriage making company, J. P. Lowe & Company. He formed a partnership with his boss, carriage maker James P. Lowe (J. P. Lowe), a white man, but the business formally maintained the name J. P. Lowe & Company (circa 1888).[2][4]

In 1893, Charles Patterson bought out the remaining shares of the company and the name was changed to C.R. Patterson, Son & Company, to mark the inclusion of his son Samuel to the business.[4] Samuel Patterson fell ill in 1897, and died in 1899.[4] His 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.[7] They had 50 employees, and were able to manufacture approximately 500 horse drawn carriages a year.[7]

Automobile manufacturing

After Charles Patterson's death in 1910, his son Frederick Douglas Patterson took over the carriage business and decided they needed to get into the "Patterson horseless carriage" business.[2] At first they offered the service of repairing existing automobiles in the local area.[1] On September 23, 1915, the first C.R. Patterson and Sons automobile was assembled, a two-door coupe.[2] The first cars were sold for $685.[1]

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.[8]

In 1938, the company was reorganized under the name Gallia Body Company and the headquarters moved to Gallia, Ohio.[4] Unable to raise enough money, the company closed in 1939.[1][8]

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. "The Only African American Automobile Company". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Smithsonian. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  2. "Charles R. Patterson, Inventor born". African American Registry. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  3. "The Patterson Automobile". Historical Society of Greenfield, Ohio. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  4. Berk, Brett (2019-02-15). "The Only African American Automaker Started as a Coachbuilder". Car and Driver. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  5. Images of America, Greenfield. The Historical Society of Greenfield. Arcadia Publishing. 2012. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-7385-8873-5.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "C.R. Patterson and Sons: The First and Only African-American Automobile Company". Your AAA Network. 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  7. Smith, Jessie Carney (2006). Encyclopedia of African American Business: A-J. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 646. ISBN 978-0-313-33110-7.
  8. 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. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
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