Custer, Levitt Luzern, 1888-

Dates:

Birth 1888

Biographical notes:

Levitt Luzern Custer was born on July 27, 1888 in Dayton, Ohio. As a young boy, he frequented the Wright Brothers' Bicycle Shop, where he met the acquaintance of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Katherine Wright was his Latin teacher at Steele High School. This began a long friendship with the Wrights, particularly Orville.

Custer attended Central District School and Steele High School, both in Dayton. He then attended Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, and the Massachusetts Institute of technology in Cambridge, Mass.

After briefly working for the National cash register Company, he founded the Custer Specialty Company in 1916. There he developed mechanical devises such as the statoscope, cars, motorized invalid chairs, power scooters, and various amusement park rides.

Custer was also a figure in aviation. He was a pioneer in flying and racing hot air balloons. His father Levitt Elsworth Custer had done the same. Custer also became an official timer for the national Aeronautic Association and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. Custer officiated with Orville Wright at world record flight trials at McCook Field and Patterson Field, both near Dayton.

Custer was a member of the Dayton Engineers' Club; Early Birds; National Association of Amusement Parks, Pools, and Beaches; Kiwanis; and Free Masons. Custer was also a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Custer had three sons, James, Randall, and Donald from his first marriage. In his second marriage to Gladys Mills he had one son, Don.

From the guide to the Levitt Luzern Custer Papers, 1886-1998, (Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives)