First Automobile
Registrations- Part 1 by Pete Zizka 3-12- 2022 |
Do you know who had the distinction of being the
first Willimantic resident to own an automobile? It was Ernest P.
Chesbro. A newspaper article in August, 1901 said, “He was treating his
friends to rides. It is a neat looking vehicle and on stretches of
smooth roads it can make people hold their hats on. The power is steam,
generated by gasoline”. Soon after, Chesbro started the area’s first
automobile dealership and had a showroom at 1029 Main Street. He is also
credited with selling the first automobile in Willimantic, a Stanley
Steamer. Just for fun this week, let’s go back to 1903 and find out
which area people were the first to register automobiles in Connecticut.
Perhaps some of the names will be familiar, or even relatives from the
past. Coincidentally, the first Willimantic resident to register an
automobile was DeWitt Clinton Hill who was given registration number 101
for his new car, a Stanley Steamer. Historically, the next registrants
were A.G. Turner (443), Samuel
Adams (689), Louis H. Jerome (993), Fred Bugbee (1250) and Maro V.
Palmer (1215). Thread Mill superintendent Austin Boss had a car
delivered in 1904 and was given registration 1294 which had previously
been held by another registrant. At the Willimantic Fair in September,
1903, there was an exhibition of five automobiles owned by local
citizens. Each was sent at slow speed around the fairground’s racetrack.
Then two were sent around the track to check the time to complete one
mile. DeWitt Hill’s six-horsepower Stanley steamer turned the mile in 2
minutes, 11 seconds while Samuel Adams’ Stevens Duryea gasoline engine
made the mile in 2 minutes, 59 seconds. In 1903, Motorcycles and cars
were given their registration numbers in sequence. The first motorcycle
registered in Willimantic was that of Leverett M. Clark (1000). We
should note that even though a registration numbers were assigned, there
were no plates given. The registration fee was $1. For that, the
registrant received a paper certificate with the number and all
registrations began with “C” followed by the number. The registrant had
to furnish the plate and so most were leather with metal numbers
attached to them. Plates were not issued by the state until 1905 (see
photo). (Registration number 1 had been issued to James P. Woodruff of
Litchfield. That number is still held by the family.) Who were some of
the first registrants from area towns? From 1903-1905 there were only
two from South Windham. Guilford Smith was the earliest registrant (202)
followed by Robert Binns (1722). Louis Wilson (1362) and fellow
townspeople J.A. Hartson (1576), R.A. Harris (1937) and Leslie F.
Hartson (2149) were the only four from North Windham. Columbia’s first
and only registrant as of 1905 was Tressillian Tucker.(In that year,
motorcycles began to be registered separately and Tucker received
C-050.) J.S. Champlin (745), Wm. M. Reeves (1252) and Mrs. George N
Phillips (1297) were Coventry’s first registrants. From Lebanon,
L.P.Smith (277) and William Blanchard (734) were the only two
registrants. Frank Atwood (453) was the first and only from Mansfield
through 1905.There were no registrants from Brooklyn, Canterbury or
Scotland. By the end of 1905, there were 2,155 motor vehicles registered
in Connecticut. By 1908, there were about fifty automobiles registered
in Willimantic and a small group of owners organized an automobile club
and affiliated it with the state club. They began having meetings and
participated in automobile related events in the area.
In 1910, there were 65 automobile registrants living in Willimantic as
well as 7 motorcycle registrants. Willimantic now had three automobile
dealerships, Chesbro (plate 107D), Arthur Hill (210D),and
the Windham Garage (284D). There
were three registrants from Columbia, 14 from Coventry, and 8 from
Lebanon. Mansfield had 17 registrants, Chaplin had 4, Brooklyn had 3,
Scotland had 3 and the Windhams had 14.
Overall, Connecticut had about 10,000 registered
automobiles and 16,000 licensed operators by the end of 1910. A curious
fact noted by the Motor Vehicle Department was that many people who had
formerly registered their vehicles had let the registrations expire and
were now re-registering them. They had held off on re-registering,
“until the highways were in good shape”. Click on photo for larger version |
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