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| (Des Moines Register. July 15, 1906) |
The first automobile in Des Moines landed in W.
W. Sears’ lap, almost by mistake.
Debeltrand Grocery meant to raffle it off. Then
they went broke.
Sears grabbed the car and drove it to the
fairgrounds. Bad idea—if he wanted to stay unnoticed. Every stop turned into a
crowd. People swarmed it. Stared. Asked questions. Couldn’t believe it moved
without horses.
He cruised the streets daily, drawing bigger
crowds each time.
Not long after that, J.O. Wells, W.E. Hamilton,
Webster Bishop, and a handful of others jumped in and formed the Des Moines
Automobile Club. Thirteen members. Most didn’t own a car yet—but they planned
on getting one.
The club didn’t last a year, but that didn’t
matter. The automobile wasn’t going anywhere.
(Unfortunately,
the paper didn’t give a date on when
Sears acquired the automobile. My best guess would be 1900. The paper noted
several claims against the company for unpaid debts)
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