Harry Kaufmann ran an auto parts store in Greenville, South Carolina. After he fell ill in the fall of 1922, his brother-in-law, Victor Davis (1895-1958), and sister, Mollie Kaufmann Davis (1898-1987), moved to Greenville from Flint, Michigan to help him run the business. Victor left Harry’s business in 1926 and founded Davis Battery Electric Co. in 1926.