The five Studebaker brothers — the founding, divided

the shop opened 16 February 1852 · the company incorporated 26 March 1868

The myth and the record: The lone-genius version of Studebaker does not survive its own company history. Five brothers founded and ran the house, and the record divides the credit plainly: two opened the shop, one financed its leap, one built its selling machine, one ran its works for forty-five years, and the youngest came last and died first. Henry Studebaker (1826–1895) and Clement Studebaker (1831–1901), sons of John and Rebecca Studebaker of Ashland County, Ohio, opened the blacksmith shop at Michigan and Jefferson streets on 16 February 1852 on $68 of capital, making metal parts for freight wagons and, within the year, complete wagons.

The brother who financed it: John Mohler Studebaker (1833–1917) had gone west in 1853 and made his money at Placerville, California, selling wheelbarrows to gold miners. In April 1858 he came home with $8,000 and put it into the firm, buying out Henry's share. Henry, the eldest, withdrew: the official history written by Albert Russel Erskine put it that Henry "was tired of the business. He wanted to farm. The risks of expanding were not for him," and the family's Dunkard Brethren faith, which viewed war as evil, stood behind the reservations the later histories handled two ways. What is documented is the occasion: the business John M.'s money entered was already booming on an order to build wagons for the United States Army.

The division of the work: Peter Everst Studebaker (1836–1897) built the selling machine: running a general store at Goshen, he expanded it in 1860 into a wagon distribution outlet, the seed of the branch-house system that would sell Studebakers across the country. Jacob Franklin Studebaker (1844–1887), the youngest, joined the works in 1875 and died in 1887, the first of the five to go. When the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was organized on 26 March 1868, with a capital of $375,000 paid in one-third each by Clement, John M. and Peter, the officers divided the house as the family had already divided it: Clement was elected president, John M. treasurer, and Peter secretary, at annual salaries of $2,000 each. Clement held the presidency thirty-three years, until his death in office in 1901, aged seventy. John M. ran the manufacturing department for forty-five years and, in Erskine's words, personally supervised the building of nearly all the vehicles that left the factory; on Clement's death he succeeded to the presidency, and he was still serving as honorary president when he died, the last of the brothers, on 16 March 1917. His estate is the city's largest documented personal estate, and it survives as a dispute — the executors' figure against the government's — in the Wealth section.

A conflict in the succession: Modern reference summaries sometimes credit John M. Studebaker with the company's presidency "from 1868 until his death." The company's own history does not: Erskine's History of the Studebaker Corporation (1918) gives Clement the presidency for thirty-three years and John M. succeeding in 1901, and the 1868 organization record gives Clement the office with John M. as treasurer. Both accounts stand here; the incorporation record and the company history govern the line this section prints.

Sources:

1. Studebaker — "H. & C. Studebaker: the $68 shop" (the 16 February 1852 opening, the $68, John M.'s April 1858 return with $8,000 and the buyout of Henry, Erskine's account of Henry's withdrawal, Peter's Goshen store of 1860, Jacob's joining in 1875).
2. Albert Russel Erskine, History of the Studebaker Corporation (1918) — the organization of 26 March 1868 ($375,000 capital paid in thirds; Clement president, John M. treasurer, Peter secretary, at $2,000 salaries); "Clem Studebaker, President of the company thirty-three years"; John M. in charge of manufacturing forty-five years and succeeding to the presidency on Clement's death.
3. Notable People — "The Studebakers: five brothers, a dead president, and the two who saved it" (the brothers' dates; John M. honorary president at his death, 16 March 1917, per The History Museum's account).
4. Great Fortunes — "Studebaker" (Part Two) — John M.'s estate as a documented dispute, cross-referenced and not retold.