FRANCIS EDGAR STANLEY Biography - Pioneers, Explorers & inventors

 
 

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FRANCIS EDGAR STANLEY

Name: Francis Edgar Stanley                                                                                             
Born: 6 January 1849                                                                                                     
Died: 31 July 1918                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                         
Francis Edgar Stanley (1849-1918) was an American businessman and was the co-founder,                                   
along with his twin brother Freelan O. Stanley, of the Stanley Motor Carriage                                           
Company which built the Stanley Steamer. They sold the company to Eastman Kodak in 1905,                                 
as their interest had turned to steam-powered automobiles.                                                               
They had invented the “Stanley Steamer” in 1896, the first steam motorcar in New England,                               
and formed the Stanley Motor Company to manufacture them. Francis served as president of the firm.                       
The pair actively competed in auto races, pitting their steam power against gasoline-fueled engines and often winning.   
Using one of their steam cars, they set a world record in 1906 for fastest mile, 28.2 seconds (or 127 mph [205 kph]).   
The brothers sold the business in 1918, having manufactured more than 10,000 “Steamers.”                                 
He died in 1918 when he drove his car into a woodpile while attempting to avoid farm wagons travelling side by side on   
the road.