George Schebler - Inventor Of The Carburetor
After the October meeting the Batesville Area Historical society was given
an interesting presentation by Kevin Schebler his great uncle, local
inventor George Schebler. Mr. Schebler was assisted by other members of the
family.
Before the invention of the carburetor, automobiles were difficult to start,
and hard to keep running. A revolutionary invention by a Batesville native
changed all that. George Schebler, a local farmer and tinkerer, devised a
gadget out of a tin can and butterfly flap which he eventually marketed and
manufactured under the name Schebler Carburetor. His invention remained
basically unchanged from his original patent in 1902 until the fuel
injection process was begun in the mid 1960's.
Mr. Schebler worked at various jobs in Indianapolis, but devised the
carburetor while working at a music store, patenting it in 1902. He tried to
interest the various car companies in his invention, but to no avail.
Eventually he found a backer, and the Center Car Company of Indianapolis
started production on a one year contract. By 1907 he opened a state of the
art factory in Indianapolis in which all the production processes were done.
It was one of the most advanced mass production facilities in the United
States at the time. He continued to live in Batesville on the weekends
during the early phase of his production, walking to and from Indianapolis
from the family farm on the north side of Batesville. In 1912 he sold the
business, which continued to operate under the name Schebler Carburetor for
many years thereafter.
