Moving the Model T

Some years ago, I found several hundred pages of documents in some boxes being trashed. These papers came from an attic in a store where there had been a roof leak and many items were ruined. I did manage to preserve over 100 pages of Ford-related papers, letters, bills, price lists, etc., dated from about 1913 to 1917. All concerned Model T’s or related items.

Most of these documents had to do with a Ford agent named Orlo Brown who lived around Cooperstown, N.Y. There are some amusing matters described in these documents as there was some real “horse trading” going on back then.

Mr. Brown operated in what remains a very rural area, but the demand for transportation was q great and the stories are quite intriguing. The following are some of those intriguing stories from the original documents. Together, they provide an interesting insight into the early relationships of

Ford Motor Co. and its branches, agents and sub-agents.

Orlo J. Brown became a Ford agent in Cooperstown, N.Y., around 1913 and was still operating in that capacity in late