I was doing my routine searches on eBay when I came across an interesting upright engine for sale. The listing said the manufacturer was unknown. The engine had heavy flywheels (for its size) but only had five spokes (instead of the usual six). It was ignitor-fired and had an odd style carburetor. The engine was located in Texas, so the cost to get it would need factored in if I were to bid on it. The initial bid was set high enough so no one would get a bargain. It was still within what I thought an odd engine would be worth. I put the engine on my watch list and waited to possibly bid nearer the auction closing.
It is unusual for an engine to be a truly unknown. This engine was not one I recognized, so it had to be on the rare side. I do like a challenge, so I began looking through my engine resource books to see if I could solve the mystery. Vertical engines with five-spoke flywheels — I scanned through the pages of the “Big Yellow Book (BYB)” (American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, Vol. 1 by C.H. Wendel). I did not find anything similar. So on I went, looking through BYB Vol. 2. I was all the way into the “S” section when I spotted a match for the engine in the auction. It was a Search! Made by Search Mfg. Co. of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1900. Author C.H. Wendel said it was the only ad he had, and the photo had required some photo manipulation to get it clearer. It looked to be an exact match with the exception of the carb. I now had a name for the engine I was considering bidding on.
Closing day for the auction finally arrived and I was surprised to see there had been no bids on the engine. As it got closer to the ending time, I dropped in my bid and waited for an outcome. At the end my bid was enough and I won the unknown engine. We would make a road trip to Texas in the future.
Arrangements were made to pick up the engine during our kids’ school spring break week. We made a family vacation trip out of it, getting to visit family and friends along the way and take in some interesting sights. Highlights include seeing the Big Boy locomotive at the railroad museum in Dallas and a visit to the Alamo in San Antonio. We had a super time on the trip and returned home with many great memories, as well as the Search engine.
Now that we owned a Search engine, I set to work to find out more about it. I contacted the Oshkosh Public Library with my query for info on the Search Mfg. Co. They turned up some interesting info and sent me copies of newspaper articles, fire maps and directories. To this I added several internet searches of my own, revealing more clues into the story of the Search engine.
Search Mfg. Co. moved from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, to Oshkosh in the fall of 1898. Organized in 1896, Search Mfg. Co. was a maker of horse and dog treadmill powers and feed mills. In Oshkosh they moved into the old plant of the Star Foundry & Machine Shop. In April 1899, the factory was destroyed by fire. James A. Barnes was the chief stockholder of the company — he also operated Barnes Machine Co. and the Star Foundry & Machine Co. The start of Barnes Machine Co. dated back to 1881. Barnes decided to rebuild the factory at the same location.
John Termaat
Production of gas and gasoline engines looks to have been from 1899-1903, based on listings in the Farm Implement News Buyers Guides. There is an interesting patent by two inventors, John Termaat and Louis Monahan, from Oshkosh for a Sparking Ignitor that was filed October 1900 and granted August 1901. The illustrations look remarkably similar to the ignitor and trip, push rod and rocker arm of the Search engine. Termaat and Monahan had been experimenting with gasoline engines for several years and had filed an earlier patent together for a unique two-cylinder engine in 1895. Perhaps these two had worked with James Barnes at Search to bring the Search engine to production. Monahan was a witness on a patent application by Barnes for a Tenoning Machine in 1901, so they definitely knew each other.
Termaat and Monahan sold their engine interests in 1902 to Western Malleable & Grey Iron Mfg. Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This firm’s new Simplicity engine (1902) had a similar design to the ignitor trip, push rod and rocker arm on the Search. A new Termaat & Monahan Co. was initiated in 1903, building their own engine factory in Oshkosh to focus on two- and four-cycle marine engines. Search Mfg. Co. was still listed in the Farm Implement News Buyers Guide in 1908, offering horse and dog treadmills and feed mills. Engine production for Search likely ended in 1902 or 1903.
Production of the Search engines was surely limited, likely less than 100, and maybe only a few copies ended up being built. The company did little advertising and it is surprising that they were included in the Farm Implement News Buyers Guide listings as a gas engine manufacturer. Our Search engine is still the only survivor that I know of.
The eBay seller had bought the engine about four years before he offered it for sale. He said the engine had been used in a machine shop in the 1920s in San Antonio, Texas, where it ran a line shaft. The name of the machine shop was Jos. Holub (this was lettered on the water tank). It is nice to have some historical info on what the engine did in its working life.
After a few years of owning the engine, we decided to see if it would run. The seller had told me that he had it running a couple of times, but only for a few minutes each time. The gas tank was found to be full of rust holes – this would need fixed. We decided to just fill the carb with gas and see if it would start. The engine has tremendous compression, so it takes some effort to spin it over. After a few attempts the engine fired and came to life. It hits hard and coasts well. It breathes hard through the crankcase vent, which adds a unique sound to it.
We had a new gas tank made for it and also worked on improvements to the crankcase breather. Now the engine could be run for extended times and it has proven itself to be a good runner. We have yet to take it to a show, but a video of it running was included in the 2020 Coolspring Power Museum virtual show.
In modern times the phrase “search engine” has acquired a different meaning. In fact this makes it somewhat challenging to search for information on a Search engine online. It can be said, with little doubt, that our Search engine is the oldest one known.
Barry Tuller is a collector of gas engines and related belt-driven equipment, literature and advertising. He enjoys learning about engines and researching the history of the people and companies that made them. He can be reached at btengines@gmail.com.
