James Ward Packard (November 5, 1863 – March 20, 1928) was an American automobile manufacturer who founded the

Packard Motor Car Company Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

and Packard Electric Company with his brother

William Doud Packard William Doud Packard (November 3, 1861 – November 11, 1923) was an American automobile manufacturer who founded the Packard Motor Car Company and Packard Electric Company with his brother James Ward Packard.Adler, Dennis (2004). ''Packard''. M ...

.Adler, Dennis (2004). ''Packard''. MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company,

Life and career

Packard was born in

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The his ...

, on November 5, 1863, to Warren and Mary Elizabeth Doud Packard. After attending

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

, he joined his older brother

(1861-1923) in founding the Packard Electric Company there in 1890 where they manufactured incandescent

carbon arc lamp An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, ...

s. His sister

Alaska P. Davidson Alaska Packard Davidson (March 1, 1868 – July 16, 1934) was an American law enforcement officer who is best known for being the first female special agent in the FBI. Personal life Davidson was born in Warren, Ohio, on March 1, 1868, to W ...

(1868-1934) later became the first female

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

agent. The brothers then formed a partnership with

Winton Motor Carriage Company The Winton Motor Carriage Company was a pioneer United States automobile manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. Winton was one of the first American companies to sell a motor car. In 1912 Winton became one of the first American manufacturers of ...

investor George L. Weiss called Packard & Weiss in 1893. The first Packard automobile was released in 1899. In 1900, the company incorporated as the Ohio Automobile Company and was renamed the

in 1902. The company relocated to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1903. The company eventually merged with the

Studebaker Corporation Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Ma ...

in 1954, and the last Packard was made in 1958. Following the company relocation to Detroit, the Packard brothers focused on making automotive electrical systems via the Packard Electric Company.

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

acquired the company in 1932, renaming it

Delphi Packard Electric Systems Aptiv PLC is an Irish- American automotive technology supplier with headquarters in Dublin. Aptiv grew out of the now-defunct American company, Delphi Automotive Systems, which itself was formerly a component of General Motors. History The co ...

in 1995. The company was spun off and became independent of GM in 1999. Packard fell ill three years before his death and spent his last 16 months at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital.

Education

James Ward Packard attended

, enrolling in 1880 and graduating in 1884 with a degree in mechanical engineering.Packard's 100th Anniversary http://www.lehigh.edu/~inmem/packardcar.html

Legacy

Packard Park in

, is on land donated by the Packards. The James Ward Packard Laboratory of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at

was funded by him and completed in 1929, the year after he died.Staff report (January 15, 1927). J.W. Packard Gives $1,000,000 to Lehigh To Provide 'Finest' Engineering Laboratory. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''Staff report (June 7, 1929). Lehigh Laboratory Ready; Gift of James W. Packard Will Be Used for Alumni Homecoming. ''

'' In 1927, Packard commissioned to Patek Philippe the world's most complicated watch to never be outdone, but banker Henry Graves Jr. surpassed his rival in 1933 to become the owner of the most complicated watch ever made, spending 60,000 CHF, nearly five times the price paid by Packard.

References

External links

James Ward Packard
via Automotive Hall of Fame
Distinguished Alumni: James Packard ‘84
via Lehigh University *

via Lehigh University {{DEFAULTSORT:Packard, James Ward 1863 births 1928 deaths American automotive pioneers American founders of automobile manufacturers People from Warren, Ohio Packard people Businesspeople from Ohio Lehigh University alumni 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople