Clement Studebaker, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clement Studebaker, Jr. (1871-1932) was the son of Clement Studebaker (1831-1901) who, with his brother Henry, was co-founder of H & C Studebaker Company in 1852. The brothers operated a blacksmith shop and built farm wagons [1] and carriages in South Bend, Indiana. After the Civil War the Studebaker Manufacturing Company became the largest wagon manufacturer in the world. Studebaker also became the only manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles to later successfully switch to gasoline powered vehicles.[2] Clement Jr. held executive positions and became the President and Chairman of several diverse companies, including ones in the family's automobile business.
[edit] Biography
Clement Studebaker, Jr. was born in South Bend Indiana on August 11, 1871. In 1893 he married Alice Rhawn of Philadelphia. The Studebakers had two children, Clement III (b. 1894 - d. 19??), and Esther (b. 1898 - d. 19??).[2]
Clement Sr. died in 1901, and in the following year of 1902, the Studebaker company entered the automobile market, with its first electric car.[2] In 1904, Studebaker began producing its first gasoline-powered cars.[2]
In 1911, Studebaker, Jr. joined forces with Everitt-Metzker-Flanders Company of Detroit to form the Studebaker Corporation. Clement Studebaker, Jr. served as the E-M-F company's Vice President.[2]
By 1916, Clement Studebaker, Jr. had become President and Chairman of the utility, North American Light and Power Company.[2]
He also served as President and Chairman of the Board of the Illinois Power and Light Company (and of its subsidiary, the Illinois Traction Company), and of the South Bend Watch Company, as well as Treasurer of the Chicago and South Bend Railroad.[2]
The Studebaker company continued to produce wagons until 1920, when the automobile production was moved from Detroit to South Bend.[2] Clement Studebaker, Jr. died of heart complications in his Chicago home on December 3, 1932.[3] Two wills were found, the first of which left his 2 million dollar estate to, among others, several colleges. The second will, which superseded the first, left his fortune to his two children.[4]
[edit] North American Company
North American Company had once been one of the original stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.[5]
Clement Studebaker Jr.'s North American Light and Power came under the ownership of North American Company following his death, as a major subsidiary holding company of other utilities.
By 1940, North American Company had become a US$2.3 billion holding company heading up a pyramid of by then 80 companies. It controlled ten major direct subsidiaries in eight of which it owned at least 79%. North American Light and Power Company was by then one of the three major holding companies among the ten direct subsidiaries.[6]
North American Company was broken up by the Securities and Exchange Commission, following the United States Supreme Court decision of April 1, 1946.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ German Americans, Studebaker, usaembassy.de
- ^ a b c d e f g h North American Light and Power Company 1916 - signed by Clement Studebaker, Scripophily.com
- ^ Obituary, December ?, 1932 South Bend Tribune, South Bend, Indiana
- ^ The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Illinois
- ^ Jeremy J. Siegel, Stocks for the Long Run, McGraw-Hill, Second Edition, 1998, ISBN 0-07-058043-X
- ^ a b U.S. Supreme Court decision, North American Co. v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 327 U.S. 686 (1946), Decided April 1, 1946, FindLaw.com
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