The Kissel Motor Car Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer founded by Louis Kissel and his sons, in Hartford, Wisconsin. The company custom built high-quality automobiles, hearses, fire trucks, taxicabs, and trucks at their plant on 123 Kissel Avenue in Hartford.[1]
History
Conrad Kissel (b.1812, d. 1872) emigrated from Prussia to Addison in Washington County, Wisconsin in 1857. His son, Louis C. Kissel, moved to Hartford, Wisconsin, in 1883. In 1890, Louis, in a partnership with his four sons Adolph P., Otto P., William L. and George A., opened Kissel Hardware Store,[2] the Hartford Plow Company that manufactured and distributed farm machinery, Kissel Manufacturing Company, and the Hartford Electric Company. Through Kissel Manufacturing Company, they distributed engines for various manufacturers and developed their own gasoline engines including outboard boat motors. The partnership was also involved in home building and sales through, a stone quarry, sand pit, and facilities for milling their own finished lumber.[3] In 1906 Otto formed the First National Bank of Hartford as a principal shareholder and became Vice-President.