John W. Stoddard

John Williams Stoddard (1 October 1837 – 18 September 1917) was an American manufacturer of agricultural implements and automobile pioneer. He was a cousin of General William Tecumseh Sherman.

John Williams Stoddard was born in Dayton, Ohio to Henry and Susan (Williams) Stoddard. Henry Stoddard (1788–1869) was a pioneer citizen and distinguished lawyer of Dayton. John was educated in the private schools of Dayton, and spent his freshman and sophomore years at Miami University. He next entered the junior class at Princeton College, where he graduated in the class of 1858. Following his father's profession, Mr. Stoddard graduated from Cincinnati Law School in 1860. He practiced law in Dayton for two years but decided to abandon the legal profession for a business career. In May 1861 John W. Stoddard married Susan Keifer (1841–1921).

In 1862 John Stoddard began the manufacture of linseed oil in partnership with his brother Henry, and Charles G. Grimes, under the firm name of Stoddard & Grimes. That business was continued for three or four years when it was enlarged, and the manufacture of varnishes was added, the firm also dealing by wholesale in paints, oils, window glass, etc., under the name of Stoddard & Company. In 1869, Stoddard sold his interest to his brothers. The company later became part of the Lowe Brothers Company of Dayton.

In 1869, John Stoddard then began the manufacture of agricultural implements in partnership with John Dodds, under the firm name of John Dodds & Company. The Farmers Friend Manufacturing Company was incorporated as a stock company in 1871 as producers of high class agricultural implements constituting a complete line of planting, harvesting and tilling machinery under the Farmers Friend, Excelsior, Monarch brands. This was succeeded by J. W. Stoddard & Company and in turn, in 1884, was incorporated as the Stoddard Manufacturing Company, of which Stoddard was the president and principal stockholder. Their distinctive brand of "Tiger" was a mark of excellence in agricultural machinery the world over. The chief implements made by the Stoddard Manufacturing Company were mowers, hay rakes, press drills, and disc harrows. The best known of these were the famous Tiger Rake, Tiger Harrow, and Havana Press Drill. More than 200,000 of the Tiger Rake had been sold by 1890. In the mid-1890s, they diversified to take advantage of the bicycle craze then sweeping the United States, manufacturing the Tiger (and Tigress), Cygnet, and Tempest lines of bikes until 1898.

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