In our last article, we looked at the history of 15 Bainbridge Street aka the Dayton Motor Car Building.
The founder of that automobile firm was John W. Stoddard, who made his first mark by building up a major farm implement company. This article will take a closer look at Stoddard’s life as a Dayton business leader.
John Williams Stoddard was born on October 1, 1837 to Henry Stoddard and Susan (Williams) Stoddard. His place of birth was the old Stoddard home at the corner of First and St. Clair Streets, where Memorial Hall would later be built. He was the cousin of General William Tecumseh Sherman.
Stoddard attended Miami University for two years before moving on to Princeton where he graduated in 1858. Next he received a law degree from Cincinnati Law School. He was a lawyer for just two years before a career in business proved to be a stronger call.
As explained in our last article on Stoddard, he first started a linseed oil company with his brother Henry and Charles Grimes, which came to be known as Stoddard & Grimes. They next expanded to manufacturing and selling varnishes, as well as paints, oils, and window glass.
In 1869, Stoddard shifted to agricultural implements, teaming up with John Dodds. They greatly expanded their facility at Third and Bainbridge streets with impressive new brick buildings in 1875 after their earlier frame structures burned down.
Initially Stoddard was known for horsehair rakes, but they soon expanded to a wide variety of farm implements. A major brand name was the “Tiger,” as seen in the Tiger Rake, Tiger Harrow, and Tiger Front-Cut Mower.
By 1882, the company employed 450 workers. Charlie Taylor, the Wright Brothers’ shop mechanic who built the first aircraft engine, first worked for Stoddard making farm implements and later bicycles when the company pivoted in the 1890s.
Stoddard was interested in transportation beyond bicycles, however. He was the Secretary of the Third Street Railway in Dayton, as well as the Vice President of a Toledo wagon manufacturer named Milburn.
He soon made a bet on a burgeoning form of transportation, the automobile. After sending his son Eugene to Europe to tour car manufacturers in the early 1900s, he reincorporated his firm as the Dayton Motor Car Company, which produced several models including the iconic Stoddard-Dayton which was considered one of the highest quality automobiles of its time. The company was the second largest employer in Dayton, behind only Barney and Smith.
John W. Stoddard retired from his business pursuits in 1910, and the Dayton Motor Car Company would survive only three more years after being sold to the United States Motor Company, a GM rival.
Stoddard’s home during his later years was at River Street and Belmonte in Dayton View, overlooking the Great Miami River and downtown. It was said to be “one of the most palatial in the city.”
An 1890 article in the Dayton Herald described the impression of the Stoddard Mansion to a guest at a social event:
When he reached the piazza looking out over the beautiful Gem City, the long line of shining street lamps, the haze of wintry storm hanging over the long stretch of buildings, the river broad and winding at his feet, exclamation came not loud, but deep: what a glorious place we live in, and no one of Dayton’s delightful homes excels, all things considered, the hospitable, beautiful residence to which I am bidden to flit a few of the hours of youth and joy away.
It was here where Stoddard would pass away at 7:15am on Tuesday, September 18, 1917.
The 3.88 acre site was purchased by the Dayton Consistory of Masons for $115,000, and the mansion was demolished in 1924 to make way for the new Masonic Temple which still stands on the location today.
Images courtesy of Dayton Metro Library
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