In the previous article of this series on the career of Frank M. Underwood, I raised the question whether there could be a direct connection between Frank M. Underwood (who built engines in several locations around northwest Ohio) and the Underwood Machine Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota. My answer was “no direct connection.” But could there be an indirect and coincidental connection between the two Underwoods? To approach that question, let’s look at the career of C.M. Giddings.
C.M. Giddings Connection?
“Mr. Giddings started this business at Rockford, Illinois, some four years ago and reports a steadily increasing business until now he requires the help of five assistants. Mr. Giddings, after taking a course in mechanical engineering at Cornell University, at Ithica, New York, first designed the portable engine now being built by John Lang, of that city, then for two years was connected with the Waterous Governor Co., of Boston, as expert and traveling salesman, then leaving the road, he married and settled down at Massillon, Ohio, as mechanical engineer for Russell & Co. He was with this firm for seven years, the last four of which he had exclusive charge of the engineering department, which position he resigned to go to Sioux City, Iowa, with the Sioux City Engine Works, and for the last four years of the seven years with that concern, he held the position of president and general manager … Many readers will remember the 24×48 Corliss engine of Mr. Giddings’ design, which was exhibited at the World’s Fair in the annex of the machinery building, near the Pratt & Whitney Exhibit, and which was known as the White Corliss …
“This month we show the design of a standard 4-cycle gas engine with electric ignition and throttling regulation, which engine has been built during the past four years from 2 to 40hp, to the number of about 300, and has never, we are informed, failed to make a clean record. These engines have been built from the drawings furnished by Mr. Giddings by four well-known firms in different parts of the country, who are putting them on the market successfully. The design speaks for itself, and was originally made and brought out by one of the best gas engine experts and builders in Ohio, who, after being thrown out of business by the financial troubles of the concern he was with, was secured by Mr. Giddings to embody his practical experience in this design and to superintend the making of drawings for 10 different sizes of engines up to and including 40hp.” Modern Machinery: Devoted to Machinery and Machine Tools, January 1898.
Could the “best gas engine expert and builder in Ohio” that the C.M. Giddings’ article refers to be F.M. Underwood? Your guess is as good as mine, but the possibility is strong.
In looking at the C.M. Giddings 4-cycle engine photo (Figure 1) we see features common with the Underwood design: tank-cooled engine, cylinder bolted to the bedplate, layshaft with a vertical-plunger coolant pump, bevel-gear-driven vertical-shaft flyball governor, similar placement and position of cylinder head studs, igniter centered in the cylinder head actuated by the layshaft, and exhaust valve on the opposite side operated by an under-the cylinder rocker.
On the other hand, there were several engine builders of this time period located in Ohio and northern Indiana that offered models that were similar. Probably as soon as a new design was built by one manufacturer, it influenced future designs of other manufacturers.
The Lambert/Underwood Legacy
In the first article of this series, I announced my intention to maximize historical evidence and minimize my educated guesses. However, in this last article we will look at other contemporary engine manufacturers and try to make some educated guesses about which engine designs were influenced by F.M. Underwood (drawing on the common Lambert/Buckeye legacy), and which simply developed independently of the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood influence.
Clearly the following engine manufacturers were directly involved with F.M. Underwood, or inherited directly from a manufacturer that was directly involved with F.M. Underwood:
- The Lambert Gas & Gasoline Engine Co., formerly of Union City, later Anderson, Indiana
- The Buckeye Mfg. Co., formerly of Union City, later Anderson, Indiana.
- Frey & Scheckler of Bucyrus, Ohio
- The Comins Mfg. Co. of Upper Sandusky, Ohio
- The Ohio Gas & Gasoline Engine Co. of Bucyrus, Ohio
- The Underwood Motor Co. of Sandusky, Ohio
- The Sandusky Automobile Mfg. Co. of Sandusky, Ohio
- The Ohio Motor Co. of Sandusky, Ohio
- The Sandusky Foundry & Machine Co. of Sandusky, Ohio
- The F.M. Underwood Gas Engine & Motor Co. of Elmore, Ohio
- The Buckeye Engine Works of Elmore, Ohio
- The Buckeye Gas Engine Co. of Delta, Ohio
- The Toledo Motor & Machine Co. of East Toledo, Ohio
The engines that inherit from re-badgers that marketed Ohio Motor Co. engines:
- Palmer Bros, Cos Cob, Conneticut
- Kewanee Water Supply Co., Kewanee, Illinois
- Dean & Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota
- B. Church Co., Seymour, Conneticut
- The National Engineering Co., Saginaw, Michigan
- Amherst Motor Co., Amherst, Nova Scotia
- The Lazier Gas Engine Co., Buffalo, New York
- The Joy-Willson Sales Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota; Alma, Michigan; Des Moines, Iowa; Baltimore, Maryland; Freeport, Illinois; Florence, South Carolina
In Modern Machinery: Devoted to Machinery and Machine Tools, C.M. Giddings reported that the design of his drawings had been built during the past four years, and by four well-known firms (although the article does not state that all four firms had been building for four years).
If C.M. Giddings did (as we suspect) draw his gas engine designs from F.M. Underwood, then my best guess when that relationship began would be sometime in 1896 or early 1897. Perhaps it could have begun about the time F.M. Underwood filed his patents in March 1895. Any engines that appear close in design to the Lambert/Underwood tradition and were built from about 1896 or later could have been built from C.M. Giddings’ blueprints (derived from F.M. Underwood). These include:
- Advance Mfg. Co. of Hamilton, Ohio, circa 1898 and later.
- Earl Machine Works of Burlington, New Jersey, circa 1907.
- Emerson-Brantingham Co. of Rockford, Illinois, circa 1912 – Since C.M. Giddings and Emerson-Brantingham were both located in Rockford, Illinois, it is highly likely that Emerson-Brantingham built from a C.M. Giddings drawing.
- Rockford Engine Works, Rockford, Illinois, circa 1904 – Since C.M. Giddings and Rockford Engine Works were both located in Rockford, Illinois, it is highly likely that Rockford Engine Works initially built from a C.M. Giddings drawing.
- George D. Pohl Mfg. Co., Vernon, New York – These engines were late enough in time to have been taken from a C.M. Giddings drawing, but it may be more likely that they re-badged engines built by the Ohio Motor Co. of Sandusky, Ohio.
- Root & Vandervoort Engineering Co., Champaign, Illinois, later East Moline, Illinois – Since C.M. Giddings in Rockford, Illinois, is not far from Champaign, Illinois, and C.M. Giddings was definitely marketing engine designs similar to the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood prior to the beginning of the R&V Engineering Co., it is likely the first R&V sideshaft engines were built from a C.M. Giddings drawing.
- Mary’s Machine Co., St. Mary’s, Ohio – Since C.M. Giddings was definitely marketing engine designs similar to the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood prior to the founding of the St. Mary’s Machine Co., it is certainly possible that the first St. Mary’s sideshaft engines were built from a C.M. Giddings drawing. However, St. Mary’s, Ohio, is not too far from Lambert/Buckeye in Anderson, Indiana, and it is at least equally likely that the Lambert design influenced the early St. Mary’s design without any help from either F.M. Underwood or C.M. Giddings.
- Superior Gas Engine Co., Springfield, Ohio – Since C.M. Giddings was definitely marketing engine designs similar to the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood prior to the founding of the Superior Gas Engine Co., it is possible that the first Superior engines were built from a C.M. Giddings drawing. However, is equally likely that the Superior Gas Engine Co. drew its design from the Foos Gas Engine Co., also of Springfield, Ohio.
- The American Engineering Co., Springfield, Ohio – Since C.M. Giddings was definitely marketing engine designs similar to the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood prior to the founding of the American Engineering Co., it is certainly possible that the first American engines were built from a C.M. Giddings drawing. It is equally likely that the American Engineering Co. drew its design from the Foos Gas Engine Co. or the Superior Gas Engine Co., both also located in Springfield, Ohio.
- The Central Iron Works, Quincy, Illinois – Since Rockford, Illinois, is not far from Batavia, Illinois, and C.M. Giddings was definitely marketing engine designs similar to the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood prior to the founding of the Central Iron Works, it is somewhat likely the Central Iron Works engines were built from a C.M. Giddings drawing.
- The Hydraulic Press Co., Mt. Gilead, Ohio – Author C.H. Wendell loosely associates the Hydraulic Press Co. with the year 1915, long after most manufacturers of this general engine design, and possibly after C.M. Giddings was actively selling drawings of this design. It is possible that the Hydraulic Press Co. engines were actually re-badged Ohio Motor Co. engines.
- Parsons, Rich & Co., Newton, Iowa — The company offered both 2- and 4-cycle engines that closely match C.M. Giddings’ advertised drawings, therefore it is likely that Parsons, Rich, & Co. built from C.M. Giddings drawings.
Although they offered engines of designs similar to the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood designs, it is unlikely that the following engine manufacturers inherited anything from the Lambert/Buckeye/Underwood tradition.
- The Foos Gas Engine Co. of Springfield, Ohio – Although the Foos Scientific has several design features in common with the Lambert/Underwood design, the fact that Foos had patents as early as 1893, combined with its heritage of a wide variety of engine designs over many years makes it unlikely that there was any business relationship with F.M. Underwood.
- The C.P. & J. Lauson Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Although the Lauson Badger has several design features in common with the Lambert/Underwood design, C.H. Wendell indicates that the company’s early models were built on a license arrangement from the Otto Engine Works of Philadelphia, making it unlikely that Lauson drew from the Lambert/Underwood design.
- The Southern Engine & Boiler Works of Jackson, Tennesee — The company’s engines had some features such as the sideshaft, flyball governor, and igniter that are quite similar to the Lambert/Underwood design, and they came onto the market in 1906, well after C.M. Giddings began selling engine drawings. However, because of the unusual valve arrangement on the side of the engine opposite the sideshaft, it seems unlikely that there was any direct connection with either C.M. Giddings or F.M. Underwood.
This concludes my series on the gas engine building career of F.M. Underwood. If you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed researching it, then we are both fortunate.
Sources: American Gas & Gasoline Engines Since 1872 Vol. 1, C.H. Wendel, 1983; American Gas & Gasoline Engines Since 1872 Vol. 2, C.H. Wendel, 2006; Gas Power, 1903-1904; Modern Machinery: Devoted to Machinery and Machine Tools, Volumes 4 & 5, January 1898; Gas Engine Publishing Co., Volume 3, January 1901.
Will Cummings is a regular contributor to Gas Engine Magazine and can be reached at will.cummings1927@gmail.com.
