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Dr. Frank U. Rich and his daughter in his second automobile |
The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was started by twin Stanley brothers in Watertown, Massachusetts. Until around 1912, steam car technology was superior to internal combustion engine gas technology despite the inconvenience of having to heat the boiler (with non-explosive kerosene) before starting the car. The Stanley brothers even advertised that their cars were safer than “internal explosion engine” cars. But the technology of the latter kept improving, so that the steam car era came to an end in the 1920s.
Rich (1857-1912) had been involved in an interesting murder case. Chester S. Jordan was convicted in May 1909 of murdering his wife in 1908. Just days after the conviction, Willis A, White, one of the jurors, was committed to an insane asylum. Jordan’s lawyer appealed on the grounds that White was insane during the trial. Rich testified that as White’s family physician, he, White’s wife and neighbors agreed that White’s mental health had been failing for some time, perhaps a consequence of an earlier head injury. Countering this, the prosecuting attorney interviewed the other 11 jurors, who testified that White had participated in all aspects of the one day of jury deliberation that it took to convict, without any indication of a deteriorating mental state. The verdict stood. Jordan was executed in 1912.
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Persons' 1904 Ford Model A on Main Street. Note trolley tracks and in the background, the Naylor Building before it burned in 1917. |
Persons’ car bore the license plate numbered 5986, issued in 1904. Massachusetts first began issuing licenses and registration plates in June of 1903 as a result of Chapter 473 of the Acts of 1903.The first plate, featuring the number "1" printed on it, was issued to Frederick Tudor in 1903 and is still held as an active registration by a member of his family. The same law also required that drivers have a driver’s license.
The Harriman brothers, of Harriman Bros. New Method Laundry Co. also initially went in for steam-powered vehicles, but gas engines were a coming thing. Frank and Rowland, sons of John and Harriet Harriman, had an ice cream shop in their father’s building on Main Street, where Bud’s Variety store is now located, then in 1890 launched their ‘dry cleaning’ laundry business. Over time they expanded until it employed 75 people and completely occupied all 15,000 square feet of the three-story building. Dirty laundry was picked up by horse-drawn wagons, later gas-powered trucks, at households, then delivered a few days later cleaned, ironed and folded.
Frank and Rowland were big fans of cars. Frank is recorded as purchasing his second car in 1903. Rowland bought a car in 1904, two in 1906 and another in 1910. Frank is mentioned as being car sales agent for E.M.F. automobiles in 1909. The brothers later sold the laundry business and moved to Florida.
By 1910, there were two car dealers in town, repair shops, gas stations, car rental businesses, attempts to control speeding, and the first reported accident (Frank Harriman driving, small boy hit, bruised but otherwise unharmed). By 1925 the town’s annual report numbered 879 motor vehicles in Maynard. The horse count had dropped from a peak of 256 in 1899 to 70. A few horses were still in Maynard into the 1950s. As of 2025, there are two used car dealerships, two rental businesses, four gas stations and several car or truck repair and parts establishments. No horses.
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Leapin' Lena, in repose |
With two people seated in front and three in back, Lena was so carefully balanced over the rear axle that a bit of acceleration combined with the occupants leaning back would pop her nose up to a twenty-degree angle. She could be driven a short distance in this nose-up position, then be slammed back down to the pavement with a touch of brakes. Hard on the occupants! Over years of hard-pounding parade performances many of Lena's original Model T parts failed and Model A parts were spliced in as replacements. The frame became a cross-cross of welds over welds. Motors burned out and replacements made. Lena spent the World War II years in hidden storage to avoid being swept up in the war's metal drives.
Maynard's Lena had the words "Original Leapin' Lena" painted across the back. As it turns out, quite a few American Legion and Shriner parades featured modified Model T cars - almost always named Leapin' Lena or Leaping Lena. But Maynard claimed to be first. A prolonged restoration led to a last attempt at a public appearance for the 1971 Maynard Centennial Parade. She performed well in a Crowe Park rehearsal, but broke down partway through the parade. Somewhere, parts of Lena may remain to this day, but like Humpty Dumpty, unlikely she can ever be put back together again.
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