Charles Richard Patterson
Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes
Patterson Body Company- C.R. Patterson & Sons – PATTERSON-GREENFIELD- Greenfield, Ohio- (1916-1919) – C.R. Patterson was born into slavery in 1833 and as a free man in 1865 moved from Virginia to settle in Greenfield, Ohio, where he took up work as a blacksmith. His talent served him well. By the turn of the century he was a successful carriage-maker, and his company C.R. Patterson & Sons was thriving. The son most involved was Fred, who was educated at Ohio State University where reportedly he was the first African-American on the football team. He was also, like his father, a natural mechanic. Although the younger Patterson may have built his first car as early as 1902, it was not until 1916 that formal manufacture of an automobile was embarked upon. “If it’s a Patterson it’s a good one” had been a slogan for the company’s carriages, and that was equally true of the company’s automobile. Its engine was a 30 hp four from Continental, and its component parts – cantilever springs, full-floating rear axle, demountable rims – were well put together. “You are cordially invited to visit our factory. Glad to have you,” advertising said. “Glad to show you how good we make this Patterson-Greenfield Automobile. It will pay you to come and look around.” Patterson-Greenfields were offered as tourers and roadsters, and the price tag was about $850. Estimates of the total number built have ranged from 30 to 150 cars. At least one car is known to be extant. The reason manufacture was discontinued in 1919 was the move of the company into another area of the industry: the production of custom bodies for commercial vehicles. All of the design work for the hearses and buses, moving vans, ice, bakery and milk trucks to follow was seen to by Fred Patterson, Jr., the third generation Patterson in the family business. The company continued in the bodybuilding field until felled by the Depression in the mid-Thirties. – —-Patterson Body Company – Cleveland, Ohio – built bodies for the 1909 Woodland automobiles also built in Cleveland.
The Pattersons of Greenfield, Ohio, were an African-American family who, beginning in 1915, manufactured automobiles, buses, and trucks. They called their line the ‘Patterson-Greenfield’ and produced vehicles until the 1930s, when they could no longer compete with the large Detroit companies. The family was established by Charles Richard Patterson, a blacksmith who escaped from slavery in West Virginia just before the Civil War by running away to freedom in Ohio. He bought into a blacksmith business, took it over, and founded the Charles R. Patterson Carriage Co. which built various horse-drawn vehicles beginning in the 1860s.
When Patterson died, his son Frederick Douglass Patterson took over the company and decided to produce the new “horseless carriage,” an early name for automobiles. They manufactured their first car in 1915. It sold for $850.Without the financial ability to expand on a large scale, the company built only 150 cars and began to make specialized buses and trucks. Frederick Douglass Patterson died in 1937.You probably never rode in a Patterson-Greenfield, but the few rare surviving automobiles are now valuable collectors’ items, and you might just see one of these vehicles built by African Americans at an antique car show.
Who was the first African-American car manufacturer?
Frederick Douglass Patterson Frederick Douglass Patterson took over his father’s company, the Charles R. Patterson Carriage Company, and decided to produce “horseless carriages,” an early name for automobiles. The company manufactured its first car in 1915. List price: $850. After building 150 cars, the company switched to manufacturing specialized buses and trucks.
The C.R. Patterson & Son Carriage Company of Greenfield, Ohio became the nation’s, and the world’s, first and only African-American founded and owned automobile manufacturing company. The company began as a manufacturer of horse drawn carriages and ended up as a manufacturer of buses for both urban transportation systems and rural school needs.
The touring cars and roadsters were said to be mechanically superior to the “Tin Lizzie” Model T produced by Henry Ford. Special features advertised by the firm included full floating rear axle, cantilever spring, de-mountable rims, left-hand drive, center control, electric starting and lighting system, one-man top, and ventilating windshield. “Our special motor has that surplus power and greatest pull,” an ad boasted. “Try it on your test hill.”
Patterson buses were the first to travel the streets of Cincinnati, and other vehicles were shipped as far away as Haiti. The Patterson Co. was one of the first to manufacture two-wheeled trailers in the mid-1930′s.
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I just did not know this even existed. I know people always say to you why they didn’t teach this to us in Black History but this has got to be one that should’ve been taught. I just did not know this even existed.
I gotta give it to you man you have been consistent with putting us on to Black folks in the past who have done it. Not that civil rights access stuff but the people who were about chips. This Patterson cat like you always say found his niche and took off. Man people were about it back in the day and now we act like can’t even try it out.
Thanks again Freeman.
@Youngin – Welcome and truth be told until I was digging in the crates I didn’t know about Bro. C.R. Patterson myself. We did alot but we know so little.
@Califormula – It got to be consistent and overwhelming in order for you to believe it and move on it with confidence. Right now we only see rappers so that’s why everyone believes that angle.
Man I’m only talking about business people what if it was expanded into all the things we do. I’m damn certain we could learn about another brother or sister that did something everyday. I’m just trying to do my part to connect the dots. Connecting the dot of what we are capable of doing by showing you others and giving you the game to take it out and try it on your own.
Visit the website listed and check out the Archived Pages for more information, photos and details about the Patterson family and the community of Greenfield, Ohio. http://www.highland-ohio.com/patterson_automobile.htm
The Greenfield Historical Society just honored the Pattersons with a reenactment involving Frederick and his niece, Kathleen.
Welcome Larry – Thanks for the link and we’ll definitely look into it. It’s good to know people are keeping the hidden History alive.
@Freeman I didnt know this thanks for the knowledge.
No problem it’s part of the R&G regular format.
My family is directly related to the Pattersons. My father, Henry May, wrote a book about it entitled “First Black Autos”. His mother told him stories of growing up playing with her cousins in that Ohio car factory. To get further insight into the true story of African American entrepreneurship, please check out our website.
http://stalwartpublications.homestead.com/
Dee,
I met your father a couple of summers ago when he was in Greenfield doing a book signing. We spent several hours discussing the Pattersons but his life as a teacher in NYC and the writing of his book. Very interesting man and I enjoyed reading his book.
@Dee – Welcome and thanks for commenting on your own family legacy. I wanted to highlight True Black Entrepreneurs that owned things outright without another groups help. We will definitely check more into as the post will remain up.
I love to search through these blogs and see more and more mentions of the Pattersons. This story is truly unique and it amazes me that they were almost lost to history. I’m glad people have now realized what an important example of success for African Americans that they truly were. Just as Dee Jackson’s father (Henry May) has done, I have recently released a new history book about the Pattersons. My version began as a Master’s thesis and has now been adapted to a book for public release. My original intention was to add technical details of the Patterson factory and vehicles to Mr. May’s book and the several brief articles over the last few decades. My research led me to discover many previously unknown details about the Patterson family from the time they arrived in Greenfield in the early 1840s until the factory closed in 1939. This prompted me to write an entirely new history from the beginning as well as adding those technical details. The result is a 214 page book loaded with photographs and other illustrations of the Patterson family, factory, and vehicles. Mr. May and myself have both realized that this story is unique and is a relatively untold story, so we have both attempted to bring this story to light before time causes the Pattersons to be forgotten. Thanks for mentioning the Pattersons in this blog. Sites like this will help to keep the Patterson story alive.