Benson (2) : The Benson Automobile Company of Cleveland was organized in March of 1901 to take over the steam car department of the Eastman Automobile Company, Henry F. Eastman having decided to confine all future efforts to the building of all metal bodies only. The transfer was completed by May with A.M. Benson (a manufacturer of stave machinery) joined in this new enterprise by L.P. McLouth (a former Eastman official) and Edward F. Hamm and H.P. Shupe (old bicycle men). A factory at 102 Canal Street in Cleveland was outfitted for manufacture of the former Eastman, which was modified only in detail to become the new Benson. It featured a semi-flash boiler, a Kelly burner, an Eastman all-steel body, and a $750 price tag. The first Benson was being tested on Cleveland streets later in May, and at least a dozen more were built before year's end. The venture does not seem to have survived into 1902, however.
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