John Mohler Studebaker (10 October 1833 â€" 16 March 1917) was the
Pennsylvania Dutch co-founder and later executive of what would become
the Studebaker Corporation automobile company. He was the third son of
the founding Studebaker family, and played a key role in the growth of
the company during his years as president, from 1868 until his death
in 1917.John Mohler Studebaker was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to
John S. and Rebecca Mohler Studebaker, and moved to Ashland County,
Ohio with his family in 1836. While his two elder brothers Henry and
Clem became blacksmiths, John went to Placerville, California, lured
by stories of the gold rush. After arriving, he realized that much
mining employment in California had been taken, and he accepted an
opportunity to manufacture wheelbarrows for miners, earning himself
the nickname of "Wheelbarrow Johnny". The site of John's business is
now number 142 of California's Historic Landmarks.John went to South
Bend, Indiana in 1852 and contributed $8,000 he had made in California
to his brothers' funds to expand the Studebaker Wagon Corporation.
They began to supply wagons for the Union Army in the American Civil
War, becoming the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company in 1868,
with John as its president.In December 1901, at the age of 68, John
was the last survivor of the founding family and, after a visit to a
motor show in Chicago, he began to accept the urging of his son-in-law
Fred Fish that electric cars, initially, would be the future of the
Studebaker company. In 1902, five battery-powered-models were made,
and 20 were sold,:[p.67] including one which John owned personally. John Studebaker Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter