In 1876, Thomas H. White incorporated his business in Cleveland, Ohio, as the White Sewing Machine Co. His three sons eventually became involved in their father's very successful sewing machine manufacturing business and in 1901 they set up operations to build automobiles.

Their first automobile was chain-drive, tiller-steered, and run by a two-cylinder, steam-powered engine mounted under the floorboards. The following year, the White family created the White Motor Company as a separate entity from the rest of their business that continued to make passenger cars until 1918.

(http://en.wikipedia.org)