Franklin Carpenter was born in Logan County, Ohio on April 21, 1836, to Ephriam Euram Carpenter (b. 1813) and Betsey Ann Carpenter (Allen) (b. 1820).
Franklin’s father, Euram, was a carriage and wagon maker who learned the wagon making trade in Virginia from his Franklin’s grandfather, Solomon. Solomon was born 1784 in Union County.
At 21, Franklin Carpenter married 20-year-old Rachel Ann Eby of Lancaster, Penn. on Nov. 1, 1857, in Middlebury, Ohio.
Their daughter, Carrie was born Jan. 6, 1860, in Ohio. They would have seven children (six girls and one boy). Charles M., Carrie, Mary A., Alta May, Bessie, Essie and Linnie Bell.
The Civil War began in April 1861, and Franklin Carpenter fought in the Civil War as a member of the 134th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865 and in August 1865 Franklin was mustered out of service.
On Aug. 10, 1877, Franklin and Rachel Ann’s daughter, Carrie Carpenter, married William Henry Fox (b. Dec. 25, 1856). Carrie was 17. He was 20.
On July 4, 1878, in Lewisburg, Ohio, William Henry Fox and Carrie gave birth to a son, Joseph Franklin Fox. That same year the Foxes and the Carpenters moved to Watseka, Illinois.
Franklin Carpenter, by trade, was a wheelwright, and for many years was engaged in the vocation in Watseka, in reality founding a carriage factory that would later become the garage business conducted by Fox Bros.
Franklin Carpenter and his son-in-law, William Henry Fox, located a blacksmith shop in a small factory building at 125 E. Cherry St. in Watseka. The exact date the blacksmith shop opened is unknown but it would have been between 1878 and 1886.
On July 4, 1880, William Henry Fox and Carrie give birth to William Francis Fox.
The Automotive Manufacturer Vol. 28 listing of Fire Losses in Carriage, Wagon and Sleigh shops in the United States in 1886 included reference to a Sept. 1 fire at the Carpenter and Fox carriage wagon shop in Watseka. The origination of the fire was listed as “unknown” and the shop was a total loss valued at $2,500.
As a result of the fire, William H. was forced to discontinue the business for awhile.
Shortly after coming Watseka, William Henry Fox and Carrie moved to Fairfield, Ill., in Wayne County. They returned to Watseka about two years later when Joseph Franklin Fox was 11. That would have been about 1889.
Joseph Franklin Fox attended grade school and high school in Watseka and on Oct. 5, 1899, Joseph, then 21, married Ella Mae Townsend, then 19. Their son William Lyle Fox was born April 10, 1902.
Joseph Franklin Fox and his brother, William Francis Fox, bought the business from their father, William H. Fox, and continued it as a carriage shop and blacksmith. The obituary for Joseph Franklin Fox dates the purchase to 1904.
The February 1910 issue of Automotive Manufacturer announced the sale of the carriage factory by William H. Fox to his sons for $4,000.
They had built up by their own efforts a successful business in blacksmith work and carriage.
When the automobile began to take the pace of horses and horse-drawn vehicles, they saw their opportunity and were one of the firms in Watseka to open a garage and solicit work in that line.
They added the garage work only recently, but the business has grown to such proportions that the additional room became a necessity.
As their business grew they expanded around the existing two-story building on both sides and the rear. The additions are one story high, of brick, trimmed with stone when completed the building will be 75×150 feet. The plant to be located in the fireproof department in the building. The west side will be used for the blacksmith and welding department.
Second floor will be used for a supply room, buggy and carriage department. Here also will be a ladies waiting room and toilet rooms for both men and women.
The first floor of the present building and the addition on the east will contain the office, ladies’ waiting room, toilet rooms and will be used for automotive repair and storage rooms.
The Feb. 15, 1917, edition of “The Horseless Age, Vol. 39” announced that “The Fox Brothers have opened a new garage. They will make a specialty of repair work and will handle accessories and supplies.”
And the Feb. 17, 1917, edition of “Motor World” announced “The Fox Bros., Watseka, Ill., opened a new and modern garage this week, 75×150. Repair business will be a specialty, while a complete line of supplies and accessories will be carried.”
With the growth of the business they took on the agencies of the Nash and Dodge cars.
Frank Carpenter died in 1918.
Circa 1926 (22 years after purchasing the business from their father), William Fox sold his interest in Fox Bros., automobile and garage owners, to his brother Joseph Franklin Fox and dissolved their partnership. Joseph Franklin Fox, described as a high-class workman, retained the business while William Fox remained busy in the sale of new cars.
The building owned jointly by the brothers was not part of the deal.
At some point, the business known as the Fox Garage was reorganized as Fox Motor Company, Joseph Franklin Fox’s son, William Jr., having taken an interest in the business. Fox Motor Company will continue as distributors for Oakland and Pontiac automobiles. Two rooms at the front of the garage building, formerly used as an office and as a ladies rest room, have been made into one large room, attractively finished and well lighted, which will be used as an automobile show room. The office equipment has been moved into an adjoining room.
Photographs of the building show a Pontiac sign and references to Exide, an American manufacturer of automotive batteries. Gas pumps in front say Texaco.
In 1928, their father William H. Fox died at age 72. He was residing on a farm near Fairfield, Ill., and was remembered in Watseka as a prominent businessman 27 years prior. The body was found in a field near the house. He had apparently gone out to care for his stock and suffered a heart attack.
The start of the Depression is dated August 1929.
The business closed in 1934 and Joseph Franklin Fox went on to operate the East Side Texaco station and was associated with his wife, Ella Mae Townsend, in operating the Cottage Inn.
William F. Fox died in 1935 and Joseph died in 1940.