Francis Edgar Stanley facts for kids
Francis Edgar Stanley (born in 1849, died in 1918) was an American inventor, photographer, and manufacturer. He is famous for creating the Stanley Steamer car with his twin brother, Freelan Oscar Stanley. The Stanley brothers were among the first to use steam engines to power cars.
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Early Life and Photography
Francis E. Stanley and his twin brother, Freelan O. Stanley, were born on June 1, 1849. They grew up in Kingsfield, Maine. Their parents were Solomon and Apphia (French) Stanley. Their father, Solomon Stanley, was both a farmer and a teacher.
Francis and his brother both finished school at Farmington State Normal School. This school is now known as the University of Maine at Farmington. Francis became a teacher himself. He taught in several towns in Maine.
In 1870, he met and married Augusta May Walker, who was also a teacher. They had three children together. In 1875, Francis stopped teaching. He moved to Auburn, Maine and became an artist and photographer. He opened his own studio there. He soon opened two more studios in Lewiston and Bridgton, Maine.
In the early 1880s, Francis started trying out a new way of taking pictures. This was called the "dry plate" method. In 1885, both brothers decided to leave their jobs. They started a company to make these new photographic plates for photographers.
Four years later, they sold their first shop. They moved to Watertown, Massachusetts. There, they started another photographic plate business. They sold this second business to Eastman Kodak in 1904. Making photographic plates had made both brothers very rich.
The Stanley Steamer Car
In 1897, the two brothers began working on steam-powered cars. They experimented with different designs. Soon, they were making about 200 cars each year. In 1899, they bought a bicycle factory in Watertown. They started building their cars there.
Later, they sold their car company to John B. Walker and Amzi L. Barber for $250,000 USD. They also sold the rights to their car designs. The sale included a rule that the Stanley brothers could not build new cars for two years. However, they broke this rule. They had to give their new car design to the company Walker and Barber had formed, which was called the Locomobile Company of America.
In 1901, Francis and Freelan Stanley started a brand new car company. They called it the Stanley Motor Carriage Company.
Advantages of Stanley Steamers
The cars they made, known as Stanley Steamers, had many good points.
- They cost about $650. This was $300 less than a Ford Model T.
- The cars were very quiet. They only made soft hissing sounds from the boiler.
- They did not need a transmission. This meant there was no need to change gears, unlike cars that ran on gasoline.
Their cars quickly became famous. In 1899, Freelan and his wife Flora drove a Stanley Steamer to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. This mountain is the highest peak in the northeastern United States. The climb took over two hours. It was the first time a car had ever driven up the 7.6 miles (12.2 km) long Mount Washington Carriage Road.
In 1906, a Stanley Steamer set a new land speed record. It reached 127 miles per hour on a beach in Florida.
Later Years
Over time, other car companies started making gasoline-powered cars. The Stanley Steamer remained the most popular steam-powered car. However, internal combustion engines got much better. Because of this, steam and electric cars became less popular.
By 1918, the number of Stanley Steamers sold each year dropped to less than 600. That year, the Stanley brothers sold their company to Prescott Warren. He was a Chicago businessman. Both brothers then retired.
A few months later, on July 21, 1918, Francis Edgar Stanley died. He was driving his new 1918 Model 735 Stanley Steamer home from a trip to Maine. His car went off the road, and he died in the accident. He was 69 years old. His brother Freelan lived much longer, reaching 91 years old.
