| The adventurous Velies
(part two) All in the family This week’s column focuses on the products manufactured by the Velie family, who made everything from carriages and saddles to automobiles and airplanes between 1902 and 1928.
To learn more about this family and how they were related to John Deere, read last week’s column. Transportation tycoons The Velie family was a busy bunch. They began numerous manufacturing ventures in the early 1900s. From cars and carriages to saddles and airplanes, the Velie name can be found on several forms of transportation. We’ll start our study of the Velie manufacturing mecca with the simplest and earliest mode of transportation — horses. In 1892, John Deere’s grandson, Stephen Velie, Jr., moved to Kansas City to be assistant manager of the John Deere Plow Company. A few years later, he founded the Velie Saddlery Company. Many of Velie’s saddles, collars and harnesses for horses were marketed and sold through Deere’s KC branch.
Creating carriages The next venture began in 1902 when Stephen, Jr.’s brother,
Willard, launched the Velie Carriage Company of Moline, which manufactured a full line of
buggies, carriages, surreys, driving wagons, and spring wagons called the "Wrought
Iron Line" of vehicles. Started in 1902 by Willard Velie, John Deere’s youngest grandson, the Velie Carriage Company of Moline made 21,000 buggies sand surreys in 1907 alone. This carriage tag and a large poster of the various models (right) are now considered prized memorabilia. Moline mobiles: horseless carriages In 1908, the Velie Motor Vehicle Co. incorporated and began manufacturing automobiles, which were marketed through the Deere dealer network. The Velie Motor Car Co. also existed briefly (1909-1912).
These pieces of literature (at left) elaborate on the specific product offerings in the line. The hubcaps come from a Velie vehicle, as does the radiator emblem. Note how that design is shown on the middle piece of literature. The medallion matches the logo used on the far right brochure. Willard also started the Velie Engineering Co. in 1911 to build gas, steam and electric motors and engines, plus automobile accessories and motor trucks. In 1916, the Engineering Co. consolidated with the Motor Vehicle Co. to form the Velie Motors Corporation.
The company became well-known not for quantity, but quality at a reasonable price. Despite their low-priced vehicles, the Velies grew even wealthier, as their company’s stock was valued at $2 million in 1916. By 1920, production peaked at 9,000 automobiles just as the buggy business was phased out. In all, the Velies built 250,000 to 300,000 motor vehicles during the two decades the factory was in operation. According to one historic resource, the U.S. Navy chose the Velie engine as one of the eight best in a 1922 test. The Navy tested 76 foreign and domestic cars with the goal of selecting the best automobile motors for adaptation to military use. As a winner, the Velie mobile was in the company of famous manufacturers such as Duesenberg, Fiat, and Packard. According to Bob Nelson, manager of the Official Velie Vehicle Register, there are just over 200 known vehicles in existence today. These magnificent mobiles range from sedans to sportsters…even a "touring torpedo!" Apparently, the Velies also made hearses and fire trucks! Tractors, too Between 1916 and 1920, the Velies also manufactured the "Biltwel 12-25" tractor, which was powered by a Velie engine. The tractor teamed up with Deere’s plows in exhibitions and fairs across the country.
Despite his own venture in tractor manufacturing, Willard Velie helped push Deere to introduce a farm tractor during his term as director between 1911 and 1918. Experimental designs never succeeded and Deere eventually bought the Waterloo Boy tractor line from the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in 1918. Just plane crazy In 1927, Willard Velie named his son (Willard, Jr.) as vice-president of the Velie Motors Corporation. This young man convinced his father of a bright future in aviation and soon the Velies had a hand in Central States Aircraft Corporation of Davenport.
What followed is the production of the Monocoupe private airplane. By 1928, the Velie’s plane engine was awarded the "highest rating" by the U.S. Department of Commerce, so plans were developed to build a new 4-seater plane called the Monocoach. End of an era Unfortunately, the senior Velie never saw that plane take off. He died in October of that year at the age of 62. A month later, Velie automobile production was stopped and the company was sold soon after to an Indianapolis firm. Just four months after his father’s death, Willard Velie, Jr. also passed away, which led to the sale of the Velie airplane venture to a St. Louis firm.
Text © 2000 Brenda Kruse; Photos © 2000 Nick Cedar unless indicated otherwise. |
|||||||||||||||
This 1896 button
promotes Deere’s "Up-To-Date" saddles, harnesses, and collars, which were
most likely made by the Velie Saddlery Company in Kansas City, home of the John Deere Plow
Company.
Velie manufactured
carriages and cars from 1902 to 1928 (see photo gallery below).
Oddly enough, the "Biltwel" name was also
used on a line of cars introduced in 1916-1917. 
