A Brilliant Touch

Blinded by a childhood accident, Ralph Teetor went on to a legendary career in automotive engineering and inventing that included cruise control 

BY MATT GRAHAM

Photo courtesy of Jack Teetor

Under the pale light of the moon they worked: racing from one end of the machine to the other, tightening bolts, checking belt tensions, and configuring wheel alignment—kicking up clouds of dust with each excited footstep.

One 12-year-old boy sprinted to the family’s workshop to retrieve a tool while the other lad added fuel in preparation for the 1-cylinder automobile’s maiden voyage. The cousins, both preteens, used spare parts from the family business and machined each component by hand to build the vehicle from scratch.

One boy sat in the driver’s seat while the other gripped the hand crank. White knuckled, the young engineer used every muscle in his arm and chest to throw the lever into motion—one rotation and then another and another until the engine sputtered to life and the machine lurched forward.

Success.

The cousins’ contraption reached 12 miles per hour, an amazing feat for kids of any age or ability but especially impressive given that one of the young engineers was blind.

Ralph Teetor’s disability was the result of a childhood tragedy on March 20, 1896. According to The Hagerstown Exponent, the 5-year-old was playing with a knife and ended up injuring his right eye badly enough to lose sight in it permanently.

Born August 17, 1890, Ralph R. Teetor was a part of the large Teetor family that eventually settled in Hagerstown, Indiana, after immigrating from Germany in 1729. The family was known for being mechanically inclined—they are collectively named on nearly 200 patents—and ardent workers, spanning multiple generations.

 The shop where the boys worked on their automobile was normally used in the day-to-day family business, the production of railway inspection cars. Initially powered manually by pedaling, the Teetors quickly transitioned to using technology that transformed their business and the American way of life.

Over about two years, Ralph was plagued with what is known as sympathetic ophthalmia, which resulted in slowly weakening vision before he ultimately lost sight in his other eye.

He treated this tragedy, which could have been profoundly debilitating, as a challenge to overcome. And throughout his life, his experience with blindness gave him perspectives on problem solving that led to not only exemplary work but a world-changing technology.

Ralph used and honed his other senses—particularly his audio and tactile senses—to invent, become a successful businessman, and participate in everyday activities with the determination to lead an independent, ordinary life. This resolve was exemplified in summer 1945, when he addressed a group of returning wounded World War II veterans who were also blind.

“Nothing can stop you from enjoying a normal happy life once you have made up your mind that is what you are going to have,” he told them.

At 12, he was considered to be the “youngest successful electrician in the world,” according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. In 1908, by then living without sight for nearly a decade, Ralph was credited with providing Hagerstown with its first connection to electricity. He wired his parents’ home.

Ralph was awarded multiple patents beyond his family’s motor company, from a fishing rod handle to a fluid actuated automatic gear shift. He even invented a new lawnmower when he couldn’t find one that would cut the grass in the way he specifically wanted it cut.

However, his most famous invention was something he called the Speedostat. Today, we know it as cruise control.

The two highest honors for the prolific inventor and automotive engineering giant came after his death at age 91 on February 15, 1982. Ralph was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1988 and into the National Inventors Hall of Fame alongside 14 other inventors in 2024.

“It was one of the most exciting experiences of our lives,” grandnephew Jack Teetor said of Ralph’s induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the family’s participation in the event. “It is almost like his life has now come full circle … it really warmed our hearts.”

For the entire story, see www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation.

Inventors Who Serve

This Veterans Day, November 11, check out our collection of inspiring Journeys of Invention stories featuring former members of the military who continued to serve through innovation and entrepreneurship. See www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/military-and-veteran-inventors.

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