In 1899, Albert T. Marshall of Brockton, of Brockton, Mass., received a U.S. patent for a refrigerator, titled “Automatic Refrigerating Apparatus.” It was “to provide means for automatically regulating the admission of the refrigerating medium [anhyrous ammonia] to the expansion pipes or chambers; second, to combine a thermostat and rheostat to automatically control” the pump motor.
He also added an automatic motor cut-off in case it was needed, and a means for automatically regulating the water used for cooling the refrigerant. For the next quarter century, he filed more patents, assigning them to the Automatic Refrigeration Company which introduced its first household refrigerators in 1914. By 1918 they introduced their first refrigerator with automatic control. The company became Kelvinator Corp. (24 Sep 1917).
Source: TODAYINSCI