Morris Markin

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Morris Markin (born Zalman Tamarkin) was a Russian-born American businessman who founded the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company, which later became Checker Motors Corporation. He was born on July 15, 1893, in Smolensk to a Jewish family and worked in a clothing factory, becoming a supervisor by age 19. He emigrated to the United States at 22 in 1912. Arriving at Ellis Island with no English and little money, a janitor lent him $25. He moved to Chicago to live with his uncle, did various jobs, and learned tailoring.

After the tailor died, Markin bought the tailoring business on credit from the widow. He saved money to bring seven brothers and two sisters to the United States and started a pants factory with a brother that did government contracts during World War I, which prospered after the war.

Around 1920, Markin loaned $15,000 to an engineer named Lomberg. When Lomberg’s company failed, Markin took it over in 1921 as collateral. He then bought Commonwealth Motors and the Handley-Knight chassis plant and the Dort Motor Car Company body plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He moved his operation there and formed the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company on February 2, 1922. In 1929, he bought the Yellow Cab Company from John Hertz. Markin died on July 8, 1970; his son David later became president of Checker.