Horace Elgin Dodge was born on May 17, 1868 in Michigan. He had an older brother that was born four years prior. Horace, and his older brother John were in to fabricating parts since they were young. Their father owned a shop in Michigan, and that was where they got their knowledge about parts.

Later on, when the Dodge Brothers were older, their family was in need of money. When their family was in financial trouble, they moved to Detroit, and that is when they dropped out of school, to bring in money. They worked for a boiler-making plant in Detroit, and that is where they learn to weld, and the important tasks it took to manufacture parts. After a while of working, they signed a contract with the Ford Motor Company, to manufacture parts for them.

Horace Elgin Dodge and his brother John, started the Dodge Motor Company in 1913, and they made their first car in 1914. They had bought some shares in the Ford Motor Company for $10,000, and once the business succeeded the Ford Motor Company bought them out at $23 million. Ford had two problems, manufacturing halted due to the need of parts, and Dodge was drawing in more customers everyday.