Rauch and Lang
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| Automobile Manufacturing | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Genre | Touring cars |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Founder | Jacob Rauch and Charles E.J. Lang |
| Defunct | 1920 |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
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Area served
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United States |
| Products |
Vehicles Automotive parts |
The Rauch & Lang Carriage Company was an American electric automobile manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1905 to 1920 and Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, from 1920-1932.
Jacob J. Rauch came from Bavaria to New York City in the 1840s, eventually making his way to Cleveland, Ohio, where he established a blacksmith's shop on Columbus Rd. in 1853. At the time, the Cincinnati to Cleveland stagecoach traveled by his shop on a daily basis and in no time at all, several hands were hired to man the four fires in Rauch's busy smithy. At that time, Rauch's first assistant, Joseph Rothgery, received a salary of $75 per year.
In 1860, Jacob's son Charles opened up a second shop on Pearl Rd., just southwest of the city on the route of the Columbus to Cleveland stagecoach. Both father and son were skilled blacksmiths and wheelwrights, and the pair began manufacturing carriages and wagons from the two shops.
Jacob J. Rauch was killed at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 while serving with Cleveland's 8th Regt. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Gibralter Brigade of the Army of the Potomac (aka Union Army), and young Charles closed down the Columbus Rd shop, concentrating his efforts at Pearl Rd.
Cleveland's population grew exponentially following the War Between the States, and by 1878, the city's inhabitants numbered 160,000, ten times the city's 1853 population. Although Charles had only been active in the firm for a short time, he was clearly in the right place at the right time and by the 1870s his carriage manufactory was Northern Ohio's largest.
For many years Rauch had manufactured a small number of wagons, drays and heavy-duty trucks as well as carriages. Their most popular model was their ice wagon which featured a large polar bear painted by A.M. Willard, a popular artist of the era and one of them received a bronze medal at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. As did most other carriage builders, Rauch built a large number sleighs for used during the harsh northern winters of which the Buffalo Speed Cutter was their most popular model.
Charles E.J. Lang was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1858 to wealthy German immigrants. The family was in direct relation to the von Lang's of Germany Karl Heinrich Lang, though they did not utilize the von portion of their surname in America. After graduation from Western Reserve College now known as CWRU Lang was trained as a bookkeeper and it was in this capacity that he was hired by Charles Rauch in 1878. His family had extensive real estate holdings in the Lakewood suburb of Cleveland and he soon proved invaluable to the firm, becoming a partner in 1884. The resulting firm was capitalized with $75,000 and incorporated as the Rauch and Lang Carriage Company, whose board included Charles Rauch, Charles E.J. Lang, Henry Heideloff, Herman Kroll and John Kreifer. Rauch was elected president, and Lang, secretary-treasurer. Rauch and Lang collected $18,000 salary, the other board members, $10,000. A four-story factory was leased at the corner of Pearl Rd. (now West 25th St.) and McLean Sts. for $1,650 per year. Lang was able to bring in additional investments through his family's ties to Andrew Carnegie and Charles E.J. Lang's friend and neighbor John D. Rockefeller.
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