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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

I Carried The President Of The United States!



My name is Brougham, (Born in 1902) and I carried Theodore Roosevelt for his parades and public outings because he was not fond of those new fangled things called automobiles.




I was not custom built, but well constructed all the same and could carry two people inside and the coachman up front on the seat. 

I was the very last horse drawn vehicle to carry a president and my last coachman, (or driver) was an African American by the name of Daniel Webster, who served as the White House coachman from 1913 to 1928. After me, he drove the Model A Ford that finally replaced me.
Still, they did not just send me away, but allowed me to still serve and be used by the White House housekeeping department for marketing and other errands right through the administrations of Taft and Wilson.



Apparently the other Presidential carriages were all used until they gave up to rust and wood rot and have not survived for future generations. Very little is known about this carriage, but it is believed to have been built in England.
This carriage is on permanent display at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan as part of a five vehicle display of Presidential vehicles. 

The others will be posted, one at a time as they deserve.

These photographs were shot with my Nikon P-90 digital camera and downloaded directly from the camera and then to this blog. My aim is to take my reader along with me on the journey, so although I am aware of my framing of the shot, content and quality, I am most interested in sharing the experience.

6 comments:

Sniffles and Smiles said...

How absolutely fascinating!! I loved reading about this, and seeing your gorgeous photos...What a tour you have taken me on today! You are terrific! Thank you! ~Janine XO

Unknown said...

I just wrote a post yesterday about Theodore Roosevelt you may wish to pop over & read! Love this write.

Have a great week.
TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon

Brian Miller said...

that really is a cool little piece of history...would love to ride in one...

Unknown said...

What an awesome story! I'm wishing more and more that I had known about that museum!

DJan said...

Uh-oh, internet spam alert! You need to delete that one. I love being taken along on your journeys, and the way you tell your stories, too!

Esme said...

What an absolutely fascinating post. This was incredible THanks.