Buffalo Automobile Industry - Table of Contents
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Buffalo's
W.C.
Jaynes Automobile Co.: Ford Motor Company's first
dealership
By Andrew Herrala This is a very brief summary of the important role that Buffalo played in the automotive world at the turn of the last century. No, I’m not talking about Pierce Arrow or Thomas, but about the men who probably did as much for the industry, but are long forgotten by history. The first Ford automobile sold in New York State was sold in Buffalo, NY on July 23, 1903, by W.C. Jaynes Automobile Co. on Main Street. Not only was this the first Ford sold in NY, it was (tied with Ohio ) the first dealer-sold Ford in America, and it went to Dr. Charles Welch of Welch’s Grape Juice. This is wholly appropriate as both Henry Ford and Dr. Welch were non-drinkers. There is so much beyond this, such as Wellington C. Jaynes who was Buffalo's largest bicycle dealer and became Buffalo's largest automobile dealer and went on to become the first president of the National Automobile Dealers Association ( N.A.D.A.), the people behind those nice little yellow automobile price guides.  This ad ran simultaneously in both Buffalo newspapers on the same date What is really important is HOW and WHY Mr. Jaynes became the first Ford dealer in the United States. Back on May 31, 1903, an ad appeared in the Buffalo Courier newspaper stating that W.C. Jaynes had secured the rights to sell the new “Fordmobile.” This is significant because Ford Motor Co. wasn’t even incorporated until June 16th, 1903. He is and was the only dealer to ever use the that very early name for the new car until it later became the Model A (first generation). But how did W.C. Jaynes become a Ford dealer? At the very first Buffalo Automobile show in 1903, where Jaynes was not only an exhibitor, but was also VP of the newly formed committee to create the event. One of the fellow exhibitors at that first Buffalo Auto Show was the Buffalo Gasolene Motor Works ( note the early spelling of “gasoline” ). This is where it gets fun: one of the employee/partners of the Buffalo Motor Works was Mr. Charles Ainsley who had bought the very famous Quadracycle - Henry Ford’s first car - from him a few years earlier in Detroit for $200. It would be Ainsley that would introduce W.C. Jaynes to Henry Ford who needed dealers to sell his new car in 1903. Some 50 years later in 1953, the same little Ford that was sold by Jaynes to Dr. Welch all those years earlier would make a guest star appearance at the Buffalo Auto Show. Again, this is found in the Buffalo Courier. Surprised that W.C. Jaynes was selling bicycles at the Pan Am Expo and Welch selling his famous Grape Juice? Their paths would cross again two years later. Buffalo's auto history is far richer and deeper than the area gives credit to and more light needs to shine upon the important and prominent role played by Buffalo. |
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Buffalo's W.C. Jaynes Automobile Co. Obscured by History By Andrew Herrala This ad ran simultaneously in both Buffalo newspapers on the same date Wellington C. Jaynes went to Detroit early in the week of May 1903 and visited Henry Ford ( and the Dodge Bros.) and presumably drove the prototype that had just been completed, and ordered 25 cars. The advertisement above collaborates the June 4th, 1903 letter from John Anderson to his father asking to borrow $5,000 to invest in Ford Motor Co. stock, the purchase of 50 shares. Mr Anderson was one of the twelve original stockholders of Ford and the original legal counsel, thus having access to Ford's contracts and business model. He told his father in the letter "that a dealer from Buffalo" had ordered 25 cars in an effort to convince him to invest, which he did. Oh, and that investment of $5,000 ? Turned into about $14M in eleven years when Ford bought him out. So, why did Ford Motor Co. "forget" Wellington C. Jaynes and his significant contributions to Ford, after all he did sell 14 of the first 100 Ford automobiles made? Jaynes had the first dealership Ford sale to Dr. Charles E. Welch on July 23rd, 1903. Jaynes and Henry Ford participated on the first Buffalo to Hamburg automobile tour on July 25th, 1903. Yet the W.C. Jaynes Automobile Co. and later Supply Co. would be forgotten largely to the passage of time. The answer lies buried, literally, in Rochester and can be summed up in one word: "Selden". Mr. George B. Selden was the patent attorney from Rochester who held the patent for the gasoline automobile. Still says today on his headstone "Inventor of the Gasoline Automobile" so it must be true...or not. The patent was the basis for the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers, ALAM, who collected royalties on every member car produced such as Thomas, Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Packard and so forth. They did not collect from Henry Ford as he didn't believe the patent had any validity. An 8-year legal battle ensued with Ford eventually winning in 1911. When we look closer we find that Wellington C. Jaynes had switched sides, he was not only friends with E.R. Thomas, Mr. Pierce, but fellow Buffalo Auto Club members and Buffalo Auto Dealers Association. Pierce and Thomas served on the ALAM Board and selling the "enemies" unlicensed brand was unthinkable. When Jaynes Automobile sold out and began selling automobile parts in 1906 he expanded into Rochester, NY where he joined the Rochester Automobile Dealers Association ( RADA). At the 1909 Rochester Auto show we can find both Jaynes and Selden selling their respective automobile products. The two store's could be found just 6 blocks apart in downtown Rochester. This lack of loyalty was apparently unforgivable in the eyes of Ford Motor Co. and so after both Henry Ford and Wellington C Jaynes had passed, a decade earlier, there was no one to correct the story of how and who was Ford Motor Company's REAL first dealership. |
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Two articles about Buffalo’s first Horseless Carriage Dealership   |
The Jaynes Electrical Co. By Andrew Herrala  Long
before
Wellington Jaynes sold cars he was in the electrical business.
From
the
back of his shop he ran a bicycle business that grew so
large he had to acquire store frontage for that. He became
the largest bicycle dealer in
Buffalo and sponsored bicycle races bringing in top talent
like Tom Cooper.Jaynes knew another bicycle dealer and race
promoter out of Detroit named
William Metzger. In
October
of 1901, Jaynes left the bicycle business and bought the
Locomobiledealership in Buffalo. A few months later Jaynes
would become a Curved Dash
Oldsmobile dealer in the Spring of 1902. With
the
help of his friend William Metzger they would put on the
first Buffalo AutoShow in 1903. What is striking about this piece is that the advertising letterhead makes it clear that Jaynes was also a telephone and time clock dealer as well. |