Walter Chrysler: Founder of the Chrysler Corporation
Business Owner · Automotive
Walter Chrysler began as a Kansas railroad machinist, earned a mechanical degree by correspondence and became the founder and namesake of Chrysler.
About Walter Chrysler: Founder of the Chrysler Corporation
Walter Percy Chrysler (April 2, 1875 to August 18, 1940) was an American industrial pioneer and automotive executive, the founder and namesake of the Chrysler Corporation. He was born in Wamego, Kansas, the son of Anna Maria Breymann and Henry Chrysler, and grew up in Ellis, Kansas, where his childhood home is now a museum. His father was born in Chatham, Ontario, and immigrated to the United States after 1858. A Freemason, Chrysler began as a machinist and railroad mechanic in Ellis and earned a mechanical degree through correspondence courses from International Correspondence Schools in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he met his future wife, Della Viola Forker. He apprenticed in the railroad shops at Ellis, then spent years roaming the West working for various railroads as a roundhouse mechanic with a reputation for good valve-setting. He moved frequently, first to Wellington, Kansas, in 1897, then briefly to Denver and finally to Cheyenne, Wyoming; some moves were due to restlessness and a quick temper, but the roaming also made him more well-rounded in railroad knowledge, and he worked his way up through the ranks. Sources: English Wikipedia (Walter Chrysler, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Founder, Chrysler Corporation (1875-1940)
Company Details
Chrysler Corporation (Stellantis)
Automotive Manufacturing
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