The Gray and Prior Machine Company in Hartford, Connecticut made “Hartford” marine engines. The company was organized in 1898 and incorporated in 1900 to make marine engines. It was the combined vision of Robert Watkinson Gray (1876-1945) and George A. Prior (1871-1938). George Prior had learned the machine trade at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, had worked for the Electric Vehicle Company and had been granted a patent for a universal joint. Robert Gray had worked for the Hartford Rubber Works and contributed $5,000 in capital.
George Prior was an inventive genius and contributed much to the initial success of the company. He designed and built his own motorcycle in 1900, and completed his first automobile in 1904, both using the Gray and Prior 2-cylinder marine engine that he designed. He applied his vast experience in the machine shop to his inventions and designs, which have been the foundation of the success of the Gray and Prior Machine Company for almost a century. Gray and Prior originally made marine engines in addition to their growing line of universal joints and couplings. Their Hartford Marine engines were of very high quality and commanded respect in the market. They built two-stroke inboard engines and medium heavy-duty type long stroke four-cycle marine motors. Many of the ideas involved in their design were improvements over existing marine engines of the day. Gray and Prior continued to manufacture the engines for more than 25 years, until they sold the tooling and the designs for the Hartford Sturdy Twin to the Indian Motorcycle Company in Springfield, Massachusetts for $15,000. - Information adapted from “Our Company’s History,” The Gray and Prior Machine Company web site, Accessed online 04/13/2012; http://www.grayandprior.com/history.htm
