Clement Studebaker was an American wagon and carriage manufacturer.
Background
Clement Studebaker was born on March 12, 1831 in Pinetown, Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. He was of the fourth generation after Clement and Anna Catherine Studebecker, who arrived at Philadelphia in the ship Harle from Rotterdam on September 1, 1736.
They settled among their German brethren in what is now Adams County, Pennsylvania. John Studebaker, grandson of the immigrant, married Rebecca Mohler, a woman of exceptional character. Their fifth child and second son, Clement, better known throughout his life as Clem, was born on his father's farm at Pinetown, a few miles from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His father, having met with financial difficulties, moved his family and possessions, in wagons of his own manufacture, to Ashland County, Ohio, in 1836.
Education
Clem attended the district school in Ashland County, Ohio.
Career
Clem worked in his father's shop and on nearby farms. In 1850 he moved to the vicinity of South Bend, Indiana, where he was engaged to teach the district school at fifteen dollars a month.
Studying to make up the deficiencies in his own education, he successfully taught a winter and a spring term. In his free time he worked in a blacksmith shop for fifty cents a day.
In the spring of 1852 he established, with his older brother Henry, the firm of H. & C. Studebaker. Their capital consisted of sixty-eight dollars and some blacksmith tools. In addition to doing ordinary blacksmith work, they made two wagons, the first of over three quarters of a million. The introduction of the railroad and the consequent development of agriculture in the Middle West increased the demand for wagons, and they supplied this demand with an excellent product.
Quality was almost a fetish with them. The Studebakers' first notable advance came when they received a sub-contract for government wagons through George Milburn, Clem's future father-in-law. They sagaciously put the name of Studebaker on these and thus came to the notice of the government, which gave them many contracts.
About 1857 Henry withdrew from the partnership. He was succeeded by another brother, John M. , who had lately returned from California. In 1868 they organized the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company with Clem Studebaker as its first president.
Peter E. Studebaker joined his brothers at this time and, in 1870, established the company's first branch house at St. Joseph, Missouri, to outfit emigrants crossing the plains. The youngest brother, Jacob F. , joined them in 1870. The company thus formed became the largest manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in the world. Clem Studebaker was alive to the possibilities of self-propelled vehicles and began experiments with them in 1897. The manufacture of both electric and gasoline automobiles was begun by the company soon after his death.
Studebaker was in all respects an admirable character. Men of distinction, including Presidents Grant, Harrison, and McKinley, and leaders in industry, literature, and science were entertained in his home.
In 1888 he was again a delegate to the Republican National Convention. He represented Indiana at the Paris Exposition in 1878, the Centennial Exposition in Cincinnati in 1888, and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. President Harrison appointed him a delegate to the Pan-American Congress in Washington in 1889.
He died on November 27, 1901.
Achievements
Religion
His parents were German Baptists or Dunkers but he became a Methodist and an influence in the Church. He presented the congregation at South Bend with a church edifice.
Politics
A strong Republican, he became prominent in party councils. As a delegate to the presidential convention of 1880 he was a member of the old-guard contingent that held out in vain for Grant.
Personality
He was a man of good judgment and high moral standards. Despite his limited formal education he maintained a home and social life of culture and refinement.
Connections
His first wife was Charity M. Bratt, by whom he had two children who died in infancy. She died in 1863, and in 1864 he married Ann Milburn Harper, daughter of George Milburn of Mishawaka, Indiana. To this union were born three children.