Back on April 24, 1893 J.D. Perry snuck up on the unsuspecting folks of St. Louis with his self-designed, electric horseless carriage.
On April 24, 1893 – 130 years ago – a 19-year-old St. Louisan introduced area society to the first personal encounter with a locally made, self-propelled, privately-owned vehicle, quietly operated by electricity. The mere sound of its spindly steel-rimmed buggy wheels on horse-trodden dusty streets seemed peculiar since it moved without the accompanying “clop” of horseshoes. Its remarkable 7 to 8 miles-per-hour speed far exceeded the traditional transit speed of a horse. Eventually, the creative St. Louis inventor achieved 15 mph with his self-propelled vehicle.
The inventor was John Dietz (J.D.) Perry Lewis. His determination to promote personal transport without the aid of horses began when he was 14 and peaked when he surprised citizens with the silent running vehicle launched from the constructive confines of his home at 3014 Morgan Street. Soon he registered the car as the Lewis Electric.
His invention arose from his educational trip to Paris, France, where he and a handful of students saw a “horseless carriage” – an automobile of unknown brand. As it sailed by, the encounter was brief but the revelation stuck with Lewis.
Soon, as he tinkered his first car at his home address, brother T.T. Lewis encouraged the effort. He knew the importance of reliable transportation for business since he was employed by the Southern Transportation and Lumber Company. Transportation was the future for nearly all rising businesses. As history revealed, Perry Lewis chose the automobile as his future endeavor.
When the Lewis car made its first public appearance, it delivered a mere one-horsepower, using 25 amperes of current and 25 volts. Headlamps were unheard of, as were bumpers, hoods, and pneumatic tires. At best, his vehicle appeared to be a converted buggy and seemed strange to have no horse pulling it.
Local newspapers grabbed the Lewis story to pump up readership. A St. Louis Globe-Democrat reporter interviewed Lewis after his first public drive, the reporter saying it was the “Newest Marvel” delivering no more than a slight whirring sound. It was steered by a tiller rather than the later steering wheel. It had a foot brake and easily maneuvered around horse-drawn conveyances.
Lewis constructed the vehicle in a small workshop above his rear carriage house. He obtained an old buggy and put his four years of electrical tinkering to work. He added an electric push-button bell to warn horses and pedestrians of his approach. Overall vehicle weight was estimated at 700 pounds. Power was derived from 30 storage batteries.
Lewis continued to improve his electric car. Two years later, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted improvements to the car by beefing up its supports and providing improved seating.
Seven years later, the first St. Louis car dealer opened in 1900 under the ownership of Oscar L. Halsey, a transplanted easterner who liked St. Louis as Gateway to the West and as a major distribution point for the sale of automobiles. Lewis was among Halsey’s early employees and investors. In 1901 the two men made headlines driving from St. Louis to New York City in a Locomobile steam car, as reported in the New York Times and St. Louis Republic newspapers. From that point forward, Lewis spent his adult life centered on the automobile.
Lewis also had two other early claims to fame. His vehicle suffered the first breakdown in St. Louis in the 3000 block of Locust Street where the rear axle broke and batteries spilled onto the street. Also, he was the first to purchase a St. Louis auto license when initiated in 1902.
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