Established in 1853, and operating under several different names, this business made their patented "Champion" steam engine for agricultural use, plus traction engines, road locomotives, and various other steam engines ranging from 2 to 200 horsepower. They also made "Champion" portable sawmills.

David June, machinist and engine builder, of Fremont, Ohio, was born May 11, 1824 at Ithaca NY, the son of Peter June, who was a sailor and ship-rigger. At the age of 14 he entered a machine shop to learn the machinist trade. In the fall of 1838 he was cabin boy on the old steamer "Jack Downing" on the Sandusky River, which was his first experience at sailing. In May of 1841 David began a seven-year mechanical engineering apprenticeship with a Sandusky firm.

A dissolution of partnership of the firm to which he had been bound released him from his apprenticeship, and in April, 1842 he went to Cleveland and found employment in the Cuyahoga Iron Works. During roughly 10 years of employment David worked as an engineer on the Buffalo and Chicago Line during the summer months and then in the shops during the winter months.

In 1853, Mr. June went to Fremont, Ohio, to start in business. He and a Mr. Curtis first bought out the plow shop of F. I. Norton, and began to fix it up for the building and repair of engines. They operated under the name of June & Curtis. Six months later Curtis sold out to Daniel L. June, and the June brothers continued together under the firm name of June & June until 1856, when Lyman Gilpin bought out D. L. June. D. June and L. Gilpin remained together as partners until November, 1859, at which time D. June became sole proprietor. He again took Mr. Curtis into partnership, but seven years later that gentleman retired, and three years after that a partnership was formed, consisting of David June, Robert Brayton, and O. S. French, under the firm name of D. June & Co.

In 1886 this firm divided up a one-third interest with S. A. June & Son, Martin Holderman, and A. M. June. In 1890 S. A. June and Peter June, his son, surrendered their stock to D. June & Co., since which time the firm consisted of D. June, O. S. French, M. Holderman, and A. M. June.

Ad from August-June 1886 "American Mail & Export Journal"

The company built the Champion portable steam engine (ca 1870's) and the Champion steam traction engine (1875-1905), self-contained girder frame engine with sub-base, stationary steam engines and boilers of any size, from 10hp to 150hp, Champion pony saw-mills, and Locomotive boilers for oil wells. The steam traction engines had the first spark arrester in the United States. The upright boiler design never exposed the crown sheet thus the flues would last much longer than those used in a horizontal boiler. Due to the efficiency of the boiler it would get up steam in about 20 minutes using cold water. The Champion was patented in 1875, 1876, and 1877.

Information Sources:

• American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 131
• Norbeck, Jack, Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines, Crestline Publishing Inc, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Pgs. 152 & 153.
• Steam Power on the American Farm by Reynold M. Wik, 1953 pages 252 & 255
• A Source Book of Traction Engines by Denis Miller, 1983 page 122
• Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, 1896, has this biography:

  David June, machinist and engine builder, of Fremont, Ohio, was born May 11, 1824, at Ithaca, N. Y., son of Peter June, who was a sailor and ship-rigger.

  In 1833 our subject came with his father's family to Portland, now Sandusky, Ohio, where he attended school a short time, at intervals when he could be spared from work. He remained with his father until about fourteen years of age, when he entered a machine shop to learn the machinist trade. In the fall of 1838 he was cabin boy on the old steamer "Jack Downing," on the Sandusky river, which was his first experience at sailing. In 1839 he was cabin boy on the steamer "St. Clair" until she was laid up by the Combination Line, after which he went on the steamer "Sandusky." In 1840 he assisted his father (who was a contractor on the Sandusky & Mansfield railroad) by driving a team at plow and scraper, in the construction of the road-bed from Sandusky to Monroeville. In the winter of 1840-41, at Sandusky, he attended for a short time a school taught by Mr. Hickox, an Episcopal clergyman. In May, 1841, he began a seven-years' apprenticeship to learn the trade of mechanical engineering with a firm in Sandusky, and during this time he also worked for a while with his brother-in-law, Charles Waterous, on the old Ohio railraod, which was to pass through Sandusky county. This firm was doing the general repairs through the counties of Erie and Sandusky. Mr. June's work was to look after the pile-drivers and saw-mills. A dissolution of partnership of the firm to which he had been bound released him from his apprenticeship, and in April, 1841, he went to Cleveland and found employment in the Cuyahoga Iron Works. Here he remained about ten years, during that time filling the position of engineer on steamers of the Buffalo and Chicago Line during the summer seasons, and working in the shops during the winter seasons...

  Having by industry and economy laid by some money, Mr. June in 1853 came to Fremont to start in business. He and a Mr. Curtis first bought out the plow shop of F. I. Norton, and began to fix it up for the building and repair of engines. Six months later Mr. Curtis sold out to Daniel L. June, and the June brothers continued together under the firm name of June & June until 1856, when Lyman Gilpin bought out D. L. June. D. June and L. Gilpin remained together as partners until November, 1859, at which time D. June became sole proprietor. He again took Mr. Curtis into partnership, but seven years later that gentleman retired, and three years after that a partnership was formed, consisting of David June, Robert Brayton, and O. S. French, under the firm name of D. June & Co.... He had quit the lakes in 1858, and now remained in Fremont permanently, in 1861 commencing the erection of new works, which were completed in 1877. After several changes of partners he associated himself with Robert Brayton, an old and skillful machinist with whom he had worked in Cleveland, and who remained nine years and did much to make their ventures successful. Many valuable improvements in the building of engines were made by this enterprising firm. They were the inventors of a self-acting spark arrester in 1875, which has come into general use. The engines built by the firm have a high reputation, and are being shipped all over the country. The firm also has two branch concerns, one at Waco, Texas, which does a business of about $150,000 a year, and one at Council Bluffs, Iowa, which does an annual business of about $25,000. They had another at Austin, Texas, which they recently sold to A. R. Gossard. These concerns are all connected with and stocked by the shops at Fremont, Ohio, in which a business of about $200,000 a year is done. In 1869 Mr. June took O. S. French as a partner, and the firm name became D. June & Co., by which name it has been known ever since. In 1886 this firm divided up a one-third interest with S. A. June & Son, Martin Holderman and A. M. June. In 1890 S. A. June and Peter June, his son, surendered their stock to D. June & Co., since which time the firm has consisted of D. June, O. S. French, M. Holderman and A. M. June.

• The Steam Tractor Encyclopedia by John F. Spalding & Robert T. Rhode, 2011 pages 218-219