This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Goode, Metelman, Morgan, Magel, Laird, Vanatta, Haning, Leeka, Graham, James, Estes, Lovelady, Jarman, Harned, Inman, Chambers, Mitchell, Hawley, Shannon, Woodward, Brackney, McMahill, Gregory Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/ok.2ADE/4332 Message Board Post: In the posting "Charley Paul bought the first automobile...", the SUN states that Paul bought the first car in Fremont county in 1901. In 1903, Charles Metelman of Sidney bought the first car in that town......W. B. White had an auto in 1903....Joe Samuels of Riverton had an auto in 1904.....In 1907, "automobile excursions were the craze".....In 1908, Charles Monson, Prairie township, built himself a automobile house on his farm........In 1908, Trewett was making automobile repairs at his garage in Anderson.....At Christmas time, Santa Claus was "pictured" making his rounds in an automobile. The following notes taken from the SUN of 1908 helps in our understanding of what our ancestors were experiencing , even before Henry Ford entered the picture: 1.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. June 11, 1908.--Harry Goode and C. A. Metelman went to Council Bluffs last Thursday and came back with an automobile, which Mr. Goode had purchased while there. It is one of the finest of the many fine autos of this locality. A Reo Roadster, a two cylinder, twenty horse power machine, and one that Harry will certainly get a great deal of pleasure out of. 2.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. July 16, 1908.--Harry Goode and I. L. Morgan and wife, went to Malvern Sunday in Harry's auto to attend the chautauqua. Mr. Morgan occupied the rear seat and clung to the brass rod. Harry didn't slow up much for the rough placers and Mr. Morgan performed many surprising acrobatic feats enroute. They got through without any mishap, however; and report a very enjoyable day. 3.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. July 30, 1908. -- Harry Goode, Frank Magel, Charles Metelman each took an auto load to Lake Forney, Sunday afternoon.......Two auto loads of people went to Hamburg from here Tuesday evening.--"Local News". 4.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. July 2, 1908. "AUTOS IN IOWA".-- The motor vehicle record in the office of the secretary of state shows that there are 6,136 automobiles in use in Iowa. Of this number, 1,436 have been bought this season; 408 of them during the month of May. The June record when complete will exceed this amount by a considerable number. "A noticeable thing," said Henry Saberson, of the secretary of state's office, "is the number of licenses which are sent to the small towns of the state. Hardly a one but has from five to thirty autos registered from it. Up to Jan. 1, 1908, there were but 4,700 in Iowa. The increase this year is evidence of the popularity of this means of transportation". 5.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. September 3, 1908.--Carson, a town in Pottawatomie county, has 23 automobiles in town. 6.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. September 10, 1908.--Harry Goode's auto is a Roadster......P. B. Laird and James Vanatta have bought autos......Eber Haning has an auto......Jay Leeka bought an auto. 7.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. October 1, 1908. -- Clate Paul of Thurman has a new auto....Charles Graham has a new four cylinder Rambler automobile.... Tom James recently bought a new four cylinder Rambler auto.....Charles Estes has purchased his second auto. (The next issue of the SUN says he sold one of these to Jay Leeka......Then the SUN issue of Nov. 12, 1908 says Charles F. Estes has bought his third Rambler.--W.F.) 8.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. July 2, 1908. "A New Auto".-- Last Saturday Frank Magel accompanied by his brother B. W., went to Omaha where he purchased a new Jackson Auto. Several of the boys started from here Sunday intending to meet them at Glenwood. Harry Goode with C. A. Metelman, Ralph Lovelady, and Ed Jarman in Harry's car, and Glen Magel and Mike Harned in Glen's car. Harry got through allright, but the other boys met with an accident on a piece of bad road between here and Tabor that put them out of the running for a time. 9.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. August 7, 1908.-- M. Inman of Prairie township purchased a new Maxwell touring car, in Omaha. 10.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. September 3, 1908.-- S. A. Chambers, of Anderson, little red auto will take him any place over the hills in this county. 11.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. July 30., 1908.-- A party composed of Edwin Mitchell, Winifred Hawley, Ralph Lovelady and Fern Shannon took an auto ride to Lake Forney Friday evening where they had a most enjoyable time, and hope soon for a repitition of everything but the breakdown on the road home which delayed them several hours. 12.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. August 7, 1908. "THREE NEW AUTOS".-- Last Thursday A. F. Woodard sold three $2,400 automobiles in Tabor, one to E. C. Brackney, a former resident of Sidney township, one to Arthur McMahill, and one to Warren Gregory. The machines are all the same make and pattern, the only difference in them is that Mr. Gregory went the other fellow $40 better and put a fine speedometer on his machine. 13.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. August 13, 1908 --(1). While on his recent trip to Auburn, Indiana, Sam Chambers purchased a new Kiblinger automobile. They are a good machine and Mr. Chambers will have one of the best runabouts in this locality. --(2). It is said that two more of our young men are contemplating the purchase of autombiles in the near future. An auto is a very nice thing, but for a moonlight drive we prefer a good gentle, well broke team, and the slower the better. 14.--THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. September 3, 1908. "AUTOMOBILE REGULATION".-- The following are some of the road rules being published at present governing the running of automobiles. It will be well for auto enthusiasts to study them closely and act accordingly: "On discovering an approaching team, the automobilist should stop off-side and cover his machine with a tarpaulin painted to correspond with the scenery. Automobiles running on the country roads at night must send up a red rocket every mile and wait ten minutes for the road to clear. They must proceed carefully, blowing their horns and shooting Roman candles. In case a horse will not pass an automobile, nothwithstanding scenic tarpaulin, the automobilist will take the machinery apart as rapidly as possible and conceal the parts in the grass."-- Our Nebraska exchange. Number 14 makes me think that not everyone was crazy about this new craze--the automobile.--W.F.