Auto industry
Henry M. Leland
1843–1932 · machinist, engineer, automaker
Precision machinist who founded both Cadillac and Lincoln in Detroit, pushed through the electric self-starter, and was a leading voice of Progressive-era reform in the city.
- Born
Barton, Vermont- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 89- Birth name
- Henry Martyn Leland
- Also known as
- Master of Precision · Henry Leland
- Detroit years
- 1890–1932
- Field
- Auto industry
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Leland was born in Vermont in 1843 and trained as a precision toolmaker in New England before coming to Detroit, where in 1890 he set up the machine shop that became Leland & Faulconer, known for engines and gears made to exacting tolerances. In 1902 the backers of the failed Henry Ford Company asked him to appraise their plant; instead he persuaded them to keep building cars with his engine, and the Cadillac Automobile Company was born in the former Ford factory at Cass Avenue and Amsterdam Street. His insistence on interchangeable parts won Cadillac the Dewar Trophy in 1908, and his demand for a safe starter led to Charles Kettering's electric self-starter on the 1912 Cadillac. After selling Cadillac to General Motors, he left in 1917 to build Liberty aircraft engines and founded the Lincoln Motor Company, sold to Ford in 1922. A leader of the Detroit Citizens League, he campaigned for the city's 1918 charter. He died in Detroit in 1932.
Highlights
- Founded Cadillac (1902) and Lincoln (1917), both in Detroit
- Cadillac won the Dewar Trophy for interchangeable parts, 1908
- Pushed for the electric self-starter introduced on the 1912 Cadillac
- Built Liberty aircraft engines at the Lincoln plant during World War I
- Leader of the reform-minded Detroit Citizens League
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1917–1922
Lincoln Motor Company Plant
Demolished · 1917–2003
The 50-acre plant at Warren and Livernois that Leland built in 1917 for Liberty engines and then Lincoln cars. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, most of it was demolished in 2002–2003 and the designation was withdrawn in 2005; DTE Energy uses the site as a service center.
Buried here · 1932
Woodmere Cemetery
Leland was buried here in 1932; David Dunbar Buick lies in the same cemetery.