Byron Carter

Byron J. Carter was born on August 17, 1863, in Jackson County, Michigan, to Squire B. Carter and Martha Crum. His grandfather, Peter T. Carter, was an early settler in Spring Arbor Township, Michigan. In 1885, Byron Carter established the Steam Job Printing and Rubber Stamp Manufacturing business in at 167 Main St., Jackson. In 1894, with his father, he started a bicycle and sunrise store in Jackson on the corner of Courtland and Jackson streets. Two years later, they returned to the printing business by starting the United States Tag Co.

During his years of working at Steam Job Printing, Carter gained experience with steam engines, which gained him a patent for the three-cylinder engine, his first engine for the 1902 Jaxon steam car. He was also granted a patent for a friction transmission, a feature of the Cartercar.