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AN INTERESTING STORY I had never heard before concerns the venerable J.M.G. Brown of
Cobun Avenue. I have before mentioned that Mr. Brown owned the first car ever seen on the streets of Morgantown. He bought it on
first sight in a New York City show window and had it shipped to Morgantown. After using it here for a while, he and a friend decided
to make a trip in it from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. But the tour was ill-fated and ended near the Ohio River with the car out of
commission.
The Morgantown resident had it shipped to Pittsburgh and stored, where it remained. But several
months later, two youths,R. M. Kinderman,and Ben Garrison, also of
Morgantown, asked Mr. Brown if they could have the motor. He
agreed and the motor returned to this community. The motor was installed in a flying machine which was built in Morgantown and was
the first constructed in West Virginia. Thje plane was then transported to Hoard Rocks.
On the west side of the Monongahela River a wide expanse of pasture land, belonging to Marshall
Garlow, suited them for their flying experments. As Mr. Kinderman terms their flying: "We did some hopping in 1910." By 1911 this flying
machine had received considerable publicity. On July 4, 1911, there were hundreds of people at Hoard Rocks to watch these odd
men act like a bird. All went home convinced that they had witnessed a miracle.
The notes on the flying machine are from a history and geneology of The House of Capt.
John Hoard, (1738-1778), a well known Monongalia County resident.
Collection of Garrison Phillips, 5-14-07 |
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