Thomas Buckland Jeffery, born on 5 February 1845, at 3 Mill Pleasant in Stoke, Devon, England. In 1863, he emigrated from the United Kingdom, landed in Chicago, and started building bicycles in 1879.

During the First World War, Thomas B. Jeffery designed a four-wheel drive truck, known as the "Quad" or Jeffery Quad and Nash Quad that assisted the Allied effort. These unique vehicles saw heavy service under General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing.

Approximately 11,500 Jeffery and Nash Quads were built. "Four-wheel drive trucks had been built before … but aside from the Jeffery Quad (Nash Quad, per subsequent purchase) earlier designs were inefficient, crude, and flimsy." The Quad not only had four-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes, but also four-wheel steering.

Thomas B Jeffery