Among the legends of North Carolina business history, Charles Coddington barely gets a scratch. But High Point entrepreneur and Tar Heel history buff J. Phillips “Phil” Johnston is determined to change that.
Earlier this year, he self-published a book, “Charles C. Coddington Pioneer Entrepreneur of the New South.” It describes the mark made by Coddington during his two decades in North Carolina, which ended with his death at age 56 in 1928.
Coddington impressed Johnston for many reasons, but principally for his ability to gain exclusive rights to sell Buicks in North Carolina and South Carolina at the dawn of the automotive age in 1907.
Started in 1899, Buick is the company that established General Motors, and it remains the oldest automobile brand still active in the U.S. (Ford Motor debuted in 1903.)
William Durant, who briefly led GM before his ouster in 1910, picked the 35-year-old Coddington to be Buick’s first dealer in the South. It was a strange choice. Coddington’s main experience was as a former New York City Journal newspaper reporter, and he had no money or connections in the Carolinas.
But the duo clicked.
According to Johnston’s book, “With pluck and charisma backed by no currency, Coddington romanced the future with Durant and secured a new Buick franchise in North and South Carolina. The two like-minded men shook hands on the deal. They both envisioned that the latest technology was destined to dominate the industry in America.”
Shortly after his move to North Carolina, Coddington met Lee Folger, a former Cone Mills manager who had entered the car business in Greensboro. They became best friends and business partners.
Johnston writes, “Folger was a man with a strict routine and odd habits. He seldom smiled, ran his home like an army base and followed a rigid eating regimen: creamed chipped beef on toast for breakfast and souse meat, rye crisps and six shots of Old Forester bourbon for dinner. He was precisely the backstop and loyal assistant Coddington needed to help manage the explosive growth of his businesses.”
After Coddington’s death, Folger took over the company’s Buick dealership in Charlotte. It was called Folger Buick until 2012, when new ownership took over.
A century ago, in 1925, Coddington built an elaborate mausoleum in Charlotte’s Elmwood Cemetery to honor his deceased wife, Marjorie. He is also buried there. Only the grave of film star Randolph Scott draws more visits in the historic cemetery, Johnston writes. ■
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.