Finding aid for the Frank B. Stearns Diary

History of the H. B. Stearns Company

Frank B. Stearns (1879-1955) was a pioneering automobile manufacturer in Cleveland, Ohio, who headed the F. B. Stearns Company, which produced the gasoline-powered Stearns-Knight until 1925 when the company was taken over by the Willys Company of Toledo, Ohio. Founded in 1898, the F. B. Stearns Company manufactured about 50 2-cylinder, 4-passenger automobiles through 1900. Stearns's business partners left the firm in 1900, and Stearns moved the company from the Stearns family home at Euclid Avenue and Republic Street (now East 101st Street) to a new location at Euclid Avenue and Lakeview Road. By 1906 Stearns was manufacturing up to 300 cars per year, and by 1910 that number increased to 1,000. Stearns introduced his first truck in 1910, and the following year began to manufacture automobiles with a special British Knight engine. By 1912, Stearns had dealerships in 125 cities. Production reached its peak in 1920 with 3,850 automobiles. The company was almost bankrupt when Willys purchased a controlling interest in it in 1925, and the company was dissolved in 1929. Once removed from the company, Stearns focused his engineering skills on improving the diesel engine and running his farm in Chesterland, Ohio, where he died in 1955.

Scope and Content

The Frank B. Stearns Diary, 1915, consists of a diary containing comments on the designing, testing, manufacturing, and selling of Stearns-Knight automobiles.

This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of automobile design and manufacturing in Cleveland, Ohio, in the early twentieth century, particularly the Stearns-Knight automobile. Those studying the history of science, technology, business, entrepreneurship, and transportation will find this collection useful.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

Access to the original diary is restricted due to its fragility. Researchers will be asked to use a photocopy of the diary.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3481 Frank B. Stearns Diary, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of John C. Lanphear in 1970.

Detailed Description of The Collection