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169

The Founding of Cadillac and Lincoln

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:60,000.00 - 75,000.00 USD
The Founding of Cadillac and Lincoln

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Auction Date:2013 Dec 11 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
A comprehensive and important archive relative to the life and work of Henry M. Leland (1843-1932), machinist, inventor, engineer and automotive entrepreneur responsible for founding two of America's premier marquee luxury brands: Lincoln and Cadillac. The archive consists of over 1200 pages of manuscripts, documents, letters, telegrams, blueprints, and stock certificates signed by Leland together with fellow automotive pioneer William T. Nash, Wilfred C. Leland (his son), William C. Durant (founder of GM), and other early figures in the history of the automobile, including Edsel Ford, William H. Murphy, George H. Laying, W. Rex Johnston, and John H. Emmert. The archive includes the original articles of association for Leland & Faulconer, an 1895 amendment, the articles of association, as well as business correspondence relative to the manufacture of bicycle parts and other endeavors. A small selection of the items includes:

Several documents dissolving Leland & Faulconer and the Cadillac Automobile Company, and the transfer of subscriptions notices assigning the property of the older firms to the newly-formed Cadillac Motor Car Company (all dated October 27, 1905). Some are signed by Leland, and others by the entire board which included former Ford Motor Company partner William H. Murphy. A five-page TLS from Leland's son, Wilfred, dated November 17, 1906, to his father (who was then traveling in England) reports on the rapid progress of the new firm. In part: "The problems are being worked out very satisfactorily. Of course we have our ups and downs, and occasionally the personality of one individual or another cops out... We have now delivered over two hundred (200) 'H' cars, and a total of 3841 cars thus far this year.... We have made up and tested a new clutch, following the design of the clutch in the Renault car purchased by Messrs. Bowen and Murphy. It is efficient, reliable, and positive. It responds very quickly... Mr. Welch is doing some experimenting with carburetors... The assembling department is averaging seven and eight Model 'H' cars per day...Must not stop for more at this writing, as it is Saturday afternoon, and pay day. Fortunately, we have enough to fill the… envelopes, and quite a goodly sum to spare." The company soon established a reputation for innovation, earning the Dewar Trophy by England’s Royal Automobile Club in 1908 for their introduction of interchangeable parts. Included is a printed congratulatory message from Leland "To the Men in the Shop," as well as a copy of the dinner held in honor of the achievement. The same year, Leland was approached by William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors, about selling the company; three years later he agreed to sell Cadillac to General Motors for $4.5 million. Included is an exceptionally rare TLS, signed, “W. C. Durant V. Prest" June 20, 1910, which reads, in part: "In accordance with the authority vested in me by the Board of Directors, I take pleasure in informing you that, in addition to the salary agreed upon in your contract of employment, you are also to receive jointly, each fiscal year... ten per cent of the net profits of the automobile business of the Cadillac Motor Car Company." Under GM’s management, Leland’s company flourished; in 1915, Cadillac introduced the first American V8 engine that allowed cars to attain a top speed of 65 miles per hour. The collection includes an interesting undated 14-page typed essay by Cadillac Advertising Director, K. P. Drysdale entitled "How Many Cylinders Should an Automobile Have?”

In May 1917, the War Department approached General Motors, and Leland in particular, to bid on contracts to assemble aircraft engines for the US Army Air Corps. Leland's people at Cadillac began a dialogue with the government over the pros and cons of various engines, but it was cut short when Durant, a resolute pacifist, refused to allow Leland and Cadillac to manufacture military supplies in the summer of 1917. In response, the Lelands left General Motors and Cadillac and founded The Lincoln Motor Car Company. The archive includes the original "Memorandum of Agreement,” signed "Henry M. Leland," "Wilfred C. Leland," "George H. Laying," "W. Rex Johnson," and "Wm T. Nash," five pages, July 31, 1917, establishing the Lincoln Motor Company. Memorandum agrees to “organize a Michigan corporation for the purpose of conducting a machine shop and of manufacturing, assembling and dealing in motors, transmissions, parts and accessories for motor cars, motor boats, motor cycles, aeroplanes, internal combustion engines, etc. etc." The Lelands agreed to supply $450,000 as an initial investment for the fledgling company, Laying and Johnston contributed $15,000, and Nash gave $5,000. The other portion of the financing was to be secured with a $1.5 million stock offering. Included is the first stock certificate book, containing eleven certificates signed by Henry Leland as well as many others signed by Wilfred Leland and William Nash. The first ten certificates have been removed; the first (according to the stub) was for 2000 shares issued to Henry Leland, and the subsequent ones were issued to the various directors mentioned in the articles of association. Also included are the formal contracts between Lincoln and the government including a DS, signed "Wilfred C. Leland," "William T. Nash," and others, 29 pages, July 31, 1918, reiterating all of the advance agreements and contracts made from August 31, 1917, onward.

After the close of the First World War, Leland retooled his factory for the production of luxury automobiles. The archive includes correspondence from real estate agents and others concerning the purchase and disposal of properties for the company, blueprints of the Warren Avenue Plant and an appraisal of the same, and appraisals for the plants at Holden and Woodward Avenues. Within a few years, the transition began to take its toll on the company financially. A 19-page typed document, entitled “Lincoln Motor Company Chronology,” gives a useful history of the company from its final settlement with the US on April 18, 1919, to May 6, 1924. Even before the first 20 Lincoln cars were shipped on September 8, 1920, the company had received a claim for $5,700,000 in additional taxes due. In November of 1921, the board began discussing placing the company in receivership with Edsel Ford. In February 1922, Ford purchased Lincoln for $8 million, assuring the Lelands a good degree of autonomy and making Lincoln a distinct brand within the Ford Motor Company. The Lelands blamed their plight on a shadowy conspiracy against them, initiated by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, which is detailed in a 28-page typed statement by Henry Leland (and docketed in pencil by him) entitled, “Statement of the History of the Lincoln Motor Company from its Organization to the Time of the Lelands Severing Their Relations with Ford.” Borglum believed that Edward Deeds, a Dayton man who was a member of the Aircraft Board was also a stockholder in Lincoln. Borglum complained to Woodrow Wilson concerning the apparent conflict of interest, and Wilson initiated an investigation, despite the Lelands’ insistence that there was no impropriety. In the same 28-page statement, Leland recounts in vivid detail the purchase of the company by Henry Ford, in part: “The delusion under which Mr. Ford's prolific assurances placed us was soon violently dispelled because on Monday morning, the 6th day of February [1922], instead of allowing us to go ahead and operate the plant in accordance with our plans and principles...the plant was overrun by Mr. Ford's group of strong-armed men acting as generals and a horde of his working Huns was sent over to the plant ripping up, tearing out, carting away all sorts of materials, chairs, stools... doing everything that could be done to disturb the organization, to destroy its efficiency and morale and to put an end to the loyalty of the heads of departments in their support of the Lelands in the management of the business. Mr. Ford and his son and a group of strong-armed pugilistic generals took certain of the heads of different departments who they had ascertained were most important in managing the business, and filled them with such tales as this: ‘You are now working for Henry Ford. He is your only boss. You have one thing only to do. Find out what Henry Ford wants and do it. Pay no attention to instructions from anyone else. If you do this, Mr. Ford will make you rich and happy. This is all he will expect of you.’” A two-page TLS from Edsel Ford, May 5, 1922, recaps the latest company dictates, in part: “Regarding the employment of Mr Jos Stringham for special work. I discussed this matter with Mr. Henry Ford and he is not in sympathy with your action in this matter. Our policy is to pick men for special jobs from within our organization entirely. This offers great encouragement to our employees, and we find that they by their contact with our various plants and operations are better able to carry out new work than an outsider... discontinue his work as soon as possible.” The Lelands’ efforts to cooperate were finally rewarded with their dismissal by Henry Ford in June, 1922. Ford then reneged on his promise that all of Lincoln’s stockholders would be reimbursed, leading to a wave of letters from disappointed stockholders. The archive includes many of the letters sent to them by Henry Ford's secretary, explaining, “This property was purchased at a Receivers Sale by the Ford Motor Company, which sale carried with it no obligation to reimburse the Stockholders of the former company.” There is also a 99-page typed statement, dated July 3, 1924, detailing Wilfred Leland's conversations with Henry Ford concerning the negotiations over the purchase of Lincoln by Ford. The Lelands filed suit against Ford in 1929 over the issue.

The archive also includes copious business records including extensive contact sheets of suppliers, two stock ledgers for the company, working blueprints of factories and engine components, early advertising ephemera for Lincoln, and much more. Personal material includes an abundant collection of family photographs, with a very large set of 8 x 10 photos of Leland's family and the family properties, a sizable collection of candid snapshots and posed portraits including cabinet cards, cyanotypes, and silver prints, and a monumental 12 x 9.25 copperplate portrait of Leland. Also included are Henry Leland's personal diaries for 1910 and 1929, and a binder's worth of newspapers and clippings mentioning Lincoln, Ford and the auto industry in general. Not surprisingly, Leland retained a good deal of press reports critical of Ford. Overall the archive rates in very good to fine condition with the minor wear and tear expected from business papers. The entire collection has been housed in custom archival blue-cloth slipcases to ensure preservation. This archive, believed to be the largest known in private hands, represents a very important piece of automotive history, chronicling the founding of two of America's marquee car brands and the birth of the American auto industry.
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