Thomas J. Clark
Encyclopedia
Thomas Jefferson Clark originally from New Hampshire
, USA, was a lifelong friend and partner of John K. Stewart
as they built the companies that would one day be the foundation of the Stewart-Warner
Corporation of Chicago
, Illinois
.
Clark is probably only known today for his Clark Foot Warmers. These small automobile
heaters contained coal
. The coal embers would emit heat providing some relief in a time when automobiles did not have such options. The production of the coal needed for these heaters violated city smoke regulations and forced Stewart and Clark to build a new plant in Aberdeen
, Illinois, about 25 miles west of Chicago.
Clark was an active partner and advisor to John Stewart up until Clark's death during the 1907 Glidden Tour
. Clark was demonstrating the Stewart Speedometer
during this rally
style event when the Packard
he was driving slid off the muddy road and into a ditch.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, USA, was a lifelong friend and partner of John K. Stewart
John K. Stewart
John K. Stewart was an entrepreneur and inventor. He was most notably known for starting the Stewart-Warner Corporation. In his lifetime he founded or purchased several companies and held 82 patents...
as they built the companies that would one day be the foundation of the Stewart-Warner
Stewart-Warner
Stewart-Warner is a US manufacturer of vehicle instruments, a.k.a. gauges. The company was founded as Stewart & Clark Company in 1905 by John K. Stewart. Their speedometers were used in the Ford Model T. In 1912 John Stewart joined with Edgar Bassick to make vehicle instruments and horns...
Corporation of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Clark is probably only known today for his Clark Foot Warmers. These small automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
heaters contained coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. The coal embers would emit heat providing some relief in a time when automobiles did not have such options. The production of the coal needed for these heaters violated city smoke regulations and forced Stewart and Clark to build a new plant in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Illinois, about 25 miles west of Chicago.
Clark was an active partner and advisor to John Stewart up until Clark's death during the 1907 Glidden Tour
Glidden Tour
The Glidden Tours were promotional events held during the automotive Brass Era by the American Automobile Association . The AAA, a proponent for safer roads, acceptance of the automobile and automotive-friendly legislation, started the tour to promote public acceptance and bring awareness of their...
. Clark was demonstrating the Stewart Speedometer
Speedometer
A speedometer is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a land vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the 1900s, and as standard equipment from about 1910 onwards. Speedometers for other vehicles have specific names...
during this rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
style event when the Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
he was driving slid off the muddy road and into a ditch.
External links
- Address in Chicago to The Newcomen Society, given by Bennett Archambault, CEO Stewart-Warner CorporationStewart-WarnerStewart-Warner is a US manufacturer of vehicle instruments, a.k.a. gauges. The company was founded as Stewart & Clark Company in 1905 by John K. Stewart. Their speedometers were used in the Ford Model T. In 1912 John Stewart joined with Edgar Bassick to make vehicle instruments and horns...
(Oct 24, 1963) - Charles Jasper Glidden and Glidden Tour Retrieved Mar. 19, 2009.
- Cooper Engines, including information on Clark and Stewart. Retrieved Mar. 19, 2009.