Travels in the 2nd half

On a recent trip to South Bend Indiana, I visited the Studebaker National Museum . I found out that it shares a building with The History Museum of South Bend , so my desire to see some classic cars opened the door to a chance to explore the life of one of South Bend’s key industrialists of the 19 th and 20 th century.   Howard, Timothy Edward [Public domain] via wikimedia James Oliver (1823 – 1908) was born Scotland. He moved to Mishawaka Indiana in 1836 along with several of his siblings. The area he lived in was near a large bog that provided iron ore for local industry. James took a job at the South Bend Blast Furnace Company in 1839. This is where he learned to refine and cast iron.   User:MarkusHagenlocher [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] In 1855, James moved to South Bend, and entered into a partnership at the South Bend Iron Works. Over the years James Oliver developed and patented several improvements to the fiel...

    In 1852, brothers Henry and Clement Studebaker moved from Maryland to South Bend, Indiana. The sons of a family with a long tradition of wagon making, they formed a business which provided transportation vehicles for over 100 years. Today, that business and the wagons and cars it produced, are celebrated at the Studebaker National Museum . The Studebaker family emigrated from Germany to the British colonies in 1736, settling near Hagerstown Maryland where they continued the family tradition of wagon making. The family held a large tract of farm land and their holdings included facilities for building and selling wagons. The Studebakers were pioneers in wagon building and design, creating the basic structure for the Conestoga Wagon and the smaller Prairie Schooner. Pete, Jacob, Clement, Henry and John Studebaker - Stude62 at en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons   By 1852 the five sons of the Studebaker family had all relocated to northe...