_______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION honoring Jonathan Maxwell by
naming the section of Indiana 26 that runs east and west through
Howard County the "Jonathan Maxwell Memorial Highway".
Whereas, Jonathan Maxwell worked with some of the
leading pioneers of the auto industry;
Whereas, Born in Russiaville on September 3, 1864,
Jonathan Maxwell was the man behind the Maxwell-Briscoe
Automobile Company;
Whereas, Trained as a machinist at the Star Machine
Company in Kokomo, Jonathan Maxwell began working at
Elmer Apperson's Riverside Machine Shop in 1891 and was
the first person hired by the new Haynes-Apperson company
to work exclusively on the manufacturing of automobiles;
Whereas, Jonathan Maxwell worked for Ransom E. Olds in
Lansing, Michigan, as an engineer on the Oldsmobile and for
the Northern Manufacturing Co., a company he formed with
Charles B. King and W. T. Barbour in 1902;
Whereas, Jonathan Maxwell teamed with Benjamin Briscoe
and formed the Maxwell-Briscoe Company in 1903,
producing 532 cars the next year;
Whereas, In 1910 Benjamin Briscoe formed the United
States Motor Company, making Jonathan Maxwell vice
president of the company;
Whereas, The Maxwell Motor Company joined forces with
Chalmers in 1917 to lease an assembly plant in Detroit and
form a company called Maxwell-Chalmers to meet
government orders for World War I;
Whereas, The postwar recession weakened
Maxwell-Chalmers;
Whereas, Walter P. Chrysler, president of Buick and vice
president of General Motors, was asked to help
Maxwell-Chalmers get back on its feet; a new
Maxwell-Chalmers was incorporated in 1921, and W.P.
Chrysler became chairman of the board;
Whereas, On June 6, 1925, Chrysler Corporation was
established by a stock transfer replacing the Maxwell Motor
Company; and
Whereas, Jonathan Maxwell was an unsung hero of the
automotive industry; his contributions have helped to make
the industry a vital force in our nation for many years:
Therefore,