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Enthusiast Souvenirs
For Canadian residents, 8% PST and 5% GST, or 13% HST and a small customs fee are payable upon delivery.
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New Carriages Encyclopedia
Order this beautiful 272 page hardcover encyclopedia, "Wheels Across America". Wm. Gray & Sons Carriages are beautifully outlined among 30,000 carriage manufacturers across the U.S. and Canada. For ordering information, please contact this website. Our NEW price of $59.99 plus $12.00 shipping, you can have this beautiful book. |
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Postcard Donated To Archive
A great supporter of the Gray family and Gray-Dort Enthusiasts is Janice Fountain of Peterborough. She has donated a response card from the Wm. Gray & Sons factory to M.B. Cosby in Smithville, Ont. (which is near Hamilton) The order is for 3 Brace rods for a delivery cart. The response card is dated June 28, 1916 and the order was placed June 26 with only a 2 day turn around time. The card indicates that not only was the company great at making delivery wagons for dairies, bakeries, grocers, laundry, butchers, hardware, and parcel post but they were great at customer service marketing.
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Posted by im_an_elf on Tuesday, January 20 @ 08:31:38 EST (893 reads)
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DeSalvo Carriage Unveiled at Chatham-Kent Museum
This is a reprint of the article in the Chatham Daily News regarding the unveiling of the Dorchester Trap at the Chatham-Kent Museum found by Joe De Salvo in Wenham, Massachusetts and restored by Stan Uher.
Appropriately the unveiling was on the 4th of July. Joe contacted me through the website having found this carriage in a terrible state. He wanted to know more about it. So I went down and visited him and his lovely wife Terry with my family.
That area of Massachusetts is full of stately homes and horse farms. So it is appropriate that a William Gray Carriage would end up there. Joe restored the carriage a first time and had it on his lawn for all to see for many years. He even built a shelter over it to protect it in the winter. Passersby would knock on his door and ask him about the carriage and where it came from. He would also lovingly show them the two candle lamps that managed to survive from the original. Joe was immensely proud of that carriage that he saved from the junk pile. We are also immensely proud of him.
It is appropriate the unveiling took place on the 4th of July because Joe is a decorated WW II hero. Joe put himself directly in harms way for the US Coast Guard and piloted his Higgins boat to get US Soldiers onto the beaches at Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Guadalcanal. He and his boat were sunk at Guadalcanal where he remained in the water for hours and eventually ended up losing the use of one of his lungs. We are very grateful to Joe for many, many reasons.
Carriage Unveiled
Posted By BY BOB BOUGHNER, THE CHATHAM DAILY NEWS
Reprint by permission.
A rare piece of local history was officially unveiled Friday at the Chatham-Kent Museum.
A turn-of-the-century carriage, built in Chatham and known as a Dorchester Trap, is the latest addition to other carriages, a swan-looking sleigh and a Gray Dort automobile now on display at the museum.
"As far as we know the Dorchester Trap is the only carriage of its kind in existence,'' said museum curator Dave Benson.
He said the carriage was purchased more than two years ago from a Boston resident for $3,000. Funding came from the Kent Historic Auto Club, the Chatham-Kent Community Foundation, Stan Uher of Classic Coachworks in Chatham, John Verkaik of Chatham Towing and numerous individual donors.
Benson said the carriage, referred to in the Gray and Sons catalogue as a Dorchester Trap, was the top-of-the-line model made by the company, which once operated on William Street and employed more than 800 workers.
The carriage features decorative spindle work, nickel-plated trim, a forward-tilting front seat to allow access to the back and a fold-down rear seat to provide cargo space when not in use.
Benson said the "extremely valuable'' piece of Chatham-Kent history was painstakingly restored after more than 300 hours of donated work by Uher and his staff at Classic Coachworks.
He said the 86-year-old Boston resident had purchased the carriage from an antique dealer in Massachussets.
"He called me one day and said the carriage rightfully belonged back in Chatham-Kent,'' said Uher, who is passionate about Gray-Dort memorabilia.
Veteran towing service owner John Verkaik offered to drive to Boston to pick up the carriage and return it to Chatham-Kent at no cost.
Uher said the carriage was made in Chatham in 1898 at the William Gray and Sons Carriage Company on William Street.
He said the Gray company turned out horse-drawn carriages and automobiles for a number of years in the early 1900s.
The museum display includes a wooden sleigh shaped like a swan. It was made for Winifred Gray, daughter of William Murray Gray.
The Dorchester Trap-as it appeared in the Wm. Gray & Sons Salesman's Catalogue - Courtesy of Casey Fallon
Identification Plate on the DeSalvo Trap
Pictures of the carriage before the restoration by Stan are here
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Posted by im_an_elf on Friday, July 11 @ 08:25:47 EDT (3255 reads)
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Gray Ancestry and Genealogy Buffs
Modern technology can do many things that previously were not possible. One is to make available through the internet a copy of Margaret Haldane McLaren Gray's Book
"Family Sketches and Memoires" published in 1935. It is no longer in print but GrayDortMotors.com would like to thank Dr. Murray R. Gray for the conversion and copy of the book. I am sure it will be an invaluable tool for those wishing to trace their pedigrees. The file is quite large, so if you have a slow connection speed it will take some time to download. Not a tree was harmed in this conversion.
Family Sketches and Memoirs - Haldane Gray -1935
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Posted by im_an_elf on Sunday, April 27 @ 15:13:32 EDT (1008 reads)
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Unrestored Sleigh for Sale
Keith Harris was kind enough to send us along some pictures of his unrestored sleigh. Keith is looking to sell this piece of history. If you are interested you can call me and I will forward his email to you. It is interesting to note from the pictures in the gallery that the serial number is still intact at number 6034.
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Posted by im_an_elf on Wednesday, June 13 @ 04:01:08 EDT (2690 reads)
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Santa's Sleigh Found
Merry Christmas to all.
To what looks like could be Santa's Sleigh is a beautiful restoration coming to us from the Kennel Club USA in Johnstown Ohio. Mark Jeremias was kind enough to send along some pictures of the before and after restoration of this beautiful sleigh. We tell our kids that their great-great-great grandfather William Gray built Santa's Sleigh. The example that Mark Jeremias has sent along is the closest example to what Santa's Sleigh looks like in our minds. Click on the link in this article or go to the gallery and see the pictures. This Sleigh is beautifully displayed at Kennel Club USA which is near Columbus, Ohio, just across the water from where it was built. We would like to thank Mark Jeremias for sending us his pictures to what looks like to us is Santa's Sleigh.
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Posted by im_an_elf on Monday, December 25 @ 04:10:32 EST (1493 reads)
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Story of Wm. Gray And Sons Employee
Doug writes "A short note about my Grandfather's Uncle who worked for Gray Dort
Mr Luther Smith was born and reared on a farm in Mississquoi County Quebec. Leaving home at the age of 21, he was engaged for several years in the hardware and cycle business in Toronto. Returning to Quebec, he was appointed assistant manager of the Montreal branch of the Frost & Wood Co., a position which he occupied until 1904. In that year he resigned and assumed the management in the Province of Quebec of the Wm. Gray, Sons Co., the well-known vehicle concern. When in 1910 , that company amalgamated with the Manson Campbell Co, under the name of Wm Gray, Sos- Campbell, Mr. Smith continued as manager of the Montreal branch of the new organization, the business in Qebec easily keeping pace with the rapid growth of the parent house and factories at Chatham Ont..
In February of this year Mr Smith resigned at Montreal and was appointed General Manager of Gray-Campbell Limited, with headquarters in Moose Jaw. This origanization is one of the largest carriage distributors in the West, javing branches at Winnipeg, Brandon, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary. Mr Smith is also sales manager of the Gray Dort Motors Ltd, fo Saskatchewan and Alberta, this automobile concern being a subsidiary ofthe Gray campbell organization. He has been for some years interested in the development of Western Canada, being a member of an eastern syndicate that owns a large tract of land in Alberta.
My Grandfather Robin Macfie, was the secratary for Modern Motors Sales Ltd in Montreal, from what little I have been able to find out Modern Motors took over the sales offices of Gray Dort - Wm Gray Sons Campbell Ltd here in Montreal, they had thier offices at 658 Dorechester W, with a telephone number UPtown-6920, before 1925, and Modern Motors had in 1925 the same address and same telephone number. Since I was born in 1948, I can rally only confirm that Modern Motots sold Dodge-Desoto products, then in the later 1960 handled Chrysler products."
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Posted by im_an_elf on Saturday, March 04 @ 04:05:21 EST (4545 reads)
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Curious Red Ensign Dates Wm. Gray Sleigh
We would like to thank Bruce Stach for sending us a picture of a very curious emblem with a Red Ensign on the back of his sleigh. The great thing about having enthusiasts is that they go to great lengths to find information about the vehicles they own.
Here is a note from Bruce, "But back to the sleigh. I was searching the internet for information and pictures of Canadian Red Ensign. When at this web site, http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Canada.html I found out that there were really 9 configurations of the Canadian Red Ensign! Fascinating information.
I have attached the photos of the 9 flags. The picture that I sent you of the logo seems to indicate that a crown is on the emblem in the lover right portion of the flag on the right hand side. I you examine the photo under a magnifying glass there also seems to be five horizontal layers of texture to the emblem. There was a Canadian Red Ensign which was in use from 2 Aug 1870 to 1 July 1873 which appears to be the only Canadian Red Ensign which matches any of the 9 flags. It seems to me that this could indicate that the sleigh was manufactured between 1870 and 1873."
It certainly is a help have emblems like this date the carriages and sleighs. Sometime there is only a brass plate but luckily for Bruce and for us the emblem provides us with a very close date as to when the sleigh was manufactured. This emblem has not been seen before but we will certainly look for it in the future thus giving us a glimpse of the past. To those who have a difficult time viewing the picture. The emblem has a British flag on one side and a Canadian Ensign on the other. Wm. Gray & Sons Limited, Chatham, Ontario is in circular text around a drawing fo the Wm. Gray and Sons factory and showroom. On either side of the circular text are two snakes. Not sure what they signify but perhaps one of the enthusiasts can enlighten us.
Thanks again Bruce
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Posted by im_an_elf on Saturday, October 29 @ 07:28:32 EDT (2234 reads)
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Historical Postcard of Windsor circa 1900
Our friend, Tom Banwell writes,
"Do you know on what street in Windsor the Wm. Gray & Sons Co was located? I have an old postcard showing the building. In the same building, apparently, was a business owned by my cousin J.E. Banwell, whose name graces the outside of the same building. I am trying to discover what line of work he was in.
Do you know what year the company opened the Windsor plant? The postcard photograph shows horse-drawn carriages only--no automobiles. Thanks for any information you can provide."
To all Enthusiasts, any information that you can provide to Tom and GrayDortMotors.com would be much appreciated.
Yours in motoring,
James Gray
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Posted by im_an_elf on Friday, June 10 @ 13:01:40 EDT (1992 reads)
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Tech Glitch Crashes Site
So sorry for the problemo with the site being off-line for the past week. It is amazing how reliant we have become on technology. Our router decided to crash and it took time to replace it under warranty. It was only 5 months old. Something wrong with the chipsets. With the software we are running we have to have a router. Gray-Dort Motors.com won't work without one nor will the internet for that matter. Luckily Gray-Dort Automobiles don't have to rely on this kind of technology. "Where's my horse? My Kingdom for a horse!"
James G.
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Posted by im_an_elf on Friday, May 20 @ 17:54:25 EDT (1980 reads)
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Carriage Tokens Made Wm. Gray Famous
Our gracious thanks to Scott E. Douglas of the Canadian Numismatic Research Society for providing us with pictures of his Wm. Gray & Sons Carriage tokens. These tokens were given to potential customers as the salesmen of Wm. Gray & Sons travelled the wide expanse of North America. Catalogues were sent to help customers find just the right carriage, buggy, or sleigh that they were looking for. A dealership network was established to supply to the remotest parts of Canada and the United States. These tokens helped Wm. Gray and Sons to build and sell 283,456 buggies, carriages, and sleighs. This dealership network helped the Gray's to catapult into the automotive business by selling cars as far away as MooseJaw, Saskatchewan and enabling Gray-Dort to outsell big names such as Studebaker and Chevrolet.
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Posted by im_an_elf on Friday, November 12 @ 08:20:15 EST (3371 reads)
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Help Support Gray-Dort Motors.com
Help to support this website and continue to provide relevant and interesting stories and images regarding this company that helped to forge Canadian history and its landscape.
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Gray-Dort Newsletter
When you become an enthusiast we will send you our quarterly newsletter complete with colour photos and engaging stories. Our Newsletter Editor is vehicle restorer Stan Uher of Classic Coachworks. If you would like to become a member or submit a story please contact us at
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Enthusiast Contact Info
To contact us telephone (613)547-5786 between 9 am and 4 pm EST or mail Gray-Dort Motors and Wm Gray & Sons Carriage Enthusiasts, 182 Helen Street, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 4P4.
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