E. J. Pennington

Pennington Autocar 1896
National Motor Museum
The 1896 Kane Pennington engine on display in Bedford Museum & Art Gallery
Pennington's patent for a "Motor-Vehicle"

Edward Joel Pennington (1858 in Moores Hill, Indiana – 1911 in Springfield, Massachusetts) was an inventor and promoter of many mechanical devices, including airships, motorcycles, and automobiles.[1] In addition to motor vehicles, he applied for and received patents for Stirling engines, ignition systems, planing machines, and pulleys.

He often promoted his inventions with grandiose and spurious claims, which would become a hallmark of his entrepreneurial schemes.[2] Frequently he collected financial backing for his business ventures, but rarely (if ever) did his investors ever collect any dividends from his projects. He was regarded by many as a fraud on account of his unproven claims and business practices, yet he never spent any time in prison as a result of these accusations.

Pennington married three times. He died in Springfield, Massachusetts after contracting meningitis from falling down in the street.

  1. ^ "End of Pennington, Erratic Promoter," The New York Times, March 10, 1911, retrieved August 10, 2008.
  2. ^ Day, Richard, and Lewis, Byron R. "The Man Behind the Hoax: Pennington Spent Life Going Through Fortunes," The Valley Advance, April 15, 1980 Archived July 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine retrieved August 10, 2008.