Frank Toepfer

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Frank Toepfer
Frank Toepfer.jpg
circa 1900
Born(1845-06-10)June 10, 1845
Sázava, Bohemia (now Czech Republic)
DiedApril 11, 1902(1902-04-11) (aged 56)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Occupationmachinist
Spouse(s)Anna Bensch
Children10
Frank Toepfer's machine shop at 460 National Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
First gasoline motor car made in U. S., now in the Milwaukee Public Museum

Frank Toepfer (June 10, 1845 – April 11, 1902) was a Czech-American machinist, engineer, and businessman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He constructed two self-powered carriages before being involved in making the first gasoline-driven vehicle in the United States.

Early life[]

Toepfer was born Franz Hrncir in the town of Sazau in the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic on June 10, 1845.[1] He became Frank Toepfer at 22 after immigrating to the United States in October 1867.[2] His father was Joseph Hrncir from Neudek and his mother was Magdalene Patek from Kreuzberg.[3]

Mid life[]

Toepfer married Anna Bensch on November 4, 1866. Bensch (aka Benes) was born January 31, 1843, in Hlinsko in today's Czech Republic.[4]

Self-propelled horseless carriages[]

Milwaukee dentist Christian Linger in 1889 ordered two hand-propelled "horseless carriages" from Toepfer to build at his machine shop at 460 National Avenue on the south side of the city. The reason Linger wanted such a vehicle was to attract attention to be able to sell a medical ointment he manufactured.[5] Toepfer, part-owner and a machinist at the shop, designed and constructed the vehicles. One of the carriages was pumped like a railway handcar for its forward locomotion power and another one was powered by a person that rocked back and forth on a movable chair mechanism built on a horseless carriage and that was mechanically attached to a crankshaft device that was linked to the wheels of a carriage for its propulsion.[6] The hand-powered vehicles were successful and the dentist became known as the "Penny Doctor" when he would throw out pennies as he traveled along on the streets in his vehicles to attract attention.[7] Toepfer then worked with Gottfried Schloemer, a coopersmith at the shop, in constructing a horseless carriage that would have a gasoline engine to power it, making it the first gas-driven vehicle in the United States.[8][9][10]

Later life and death[]

Toepfer died at his residence at the age of 56 on April 11, 1902.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ "Toepfer Security Corporation / History". Toepfer Security Corporation. Toepfer Security Corporation. 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  2. ^ Baca 2016, p. 54.
  3. ^ a b "General City News / Frank Toepfer Dead". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. April 14, 1902. p. 9.
  4. ^ "Milwaukee County Marriage Certificates". Milwaukee Public Library. Milwaukee County (Wisconsin) Register of Deeds. November 4, 1866. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  5. ^ "Remember when...". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. January 14, 1967. p. 33.
  6. ^ "Schloemer Automobile". Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Buenker 2016, p. 99.
  8. ^ "South side once had big park". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. May 31, 1976. p. 22, column 1.
  9. ^ "Oldest Automobile in the World Made in Milwaukee". Milwaukee. 1 (5): 12. 1922. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  10. ^ The Encyclopedia Americana (1954), Americana Corp. Volume 19, p. 142 Other Milwaukee inventors include Gottfried Schloemer and Frank Toepfer who built a gasoline automobile in 1889, claimed to have been the first one in the United States.
    • Industrial Commission (1958), pp. 121–122 Not only was the first practical gasoline-propelled automobile built in Wisconsin in 1889 by Gottfried Schloemer...
    • Clymer (1950), p. 153 It was inevitable that the first practical gasoline-powered car in the nation was built in Milwaukee in 1889 by Gottfried Schloemer...
    • May (1975), p. 21 Theirs was a crude vehicle that did, however work, after a fashion, and survives today in the Milwaukee Public Museum. Schloemer and Toepfer failed in their efforts to manufacture the Milwaukee car, one of several predecessors of the Duryea.
    • McClure (1922), p. 25 + But do you know who built the first automobile? The honor is now claimed for Gottfried Schloemer, who drove a strange, tiny "horseless buggy" of his own design and construction through the streets of Milwaukee, Wis., in 1889.
    • Geisst (2006), p. 27 Claimants during the early 1890s included Henry Nadig in Allentown, Pennsylvania (1891), John William Lambert in Ohio City, Ohio (1891), Gottfried Schloemer and Frank Toepfer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1892), Charles H. Black in Indianapolis, Indiana (1893), and Elwood P. Haynes in Kokomo, Indiana (1894).
    • Encyclopædia Britannica (1983), p. 517 The US Patent Office issued patents in September 1889 and April 1893 for three- wheeled gasoline-engine carriages, and Gottfried Schloemer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1890 built a successful car that still exists...

Sources[]

  • Baca, Leo (2016). Czech Immigration Passenger Lists, Vol IV. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Leo Baca. OCLC 989915865.
  • Buenker, John D. (2016). Milwaukee in the 1930s. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780870207433.
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