Frederick Patterson

Frederick Patterson owner of the first African American car company, the Greenfield Bus Body Company.

Early Life

Born to ex-slave Charles Richard Patterson, who had migrated to Greenfield, Ohio, and Josephine Utz (aka Outz) in 1871. He graduated from the old Greenfield High School in 1888 and went on to Ohio State University. While at the university he joined the football team in his junior year in 1891. He was the first African American to do so. He withdrew from college in his senior year before he graduated and took a job as a high school history teacher in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1897, Charles became ill and Frederick resigned his teaching position to return and help with the carriage business.

Politics, Religion and Business

Frederick worshiped as an Episcopalian and joined the Free Masons where he rose to the level of Worshipful Master of the Greenfield Cedar Grove Masonic Lodge #17. To further his business contacts he joined the The Third Wind Foraker club and became 2nd vice-president of the National Negro Business League during Booker T. Washington's term there. Frederick became a Republican and served as a Greenfield's annual delegate to the Ohio Republican Party caucus. As a delegate and an African-American businessman he was important to the Warren G. Harding 1920 campaign in turning out the Ohio black vote. He was rewarded the alternate delegate to the 1924 Republican National Convention for his work in the 1920 election.

Greenfield Bus Body Company

The company was originally named C.R. Patterson & Sons Company and was established in 1893 by Frederick's father, Charles Richard Patterson after buying out his partner J.P. Lowe from their earlier 20 year carriage building partnership. Frederick took over the business in 1910 when Charles died and started development of the first Patterson-Greenfield car which competed with Henry Ford's model T's and sold for about $850. Approximately 150 vehicles were produced and after that Frederick decided to change the business to building bodies for trucks and buses set upon Ford or GM chassis and changed the name of his company to Greenfield Bus Body Company in 1920. The Great Depression had a devastating effect on his company and he died in 1932.

No Patterson-Greenfield autos are know to exist but some of his father's C.R. Patterson & Sons Company carriages can be found.