Published: September 26, 2009 11:20 pm      

Henry Ford buys pair of sawmill boilers on trip to Garrett County

Auto magnate pays high dollar to area resident

Several interesting stories survive that involve Henry Ford’s encounters with Garrett County citizens concerning old sawmill steam boilers he saw during the week he camped at Muddy Creek Falls.

Carl Lohr, the first resident warden at Potomac State Forest, experienced a chance encounter with the campers, known as the Vagabonds, while he was attempting to repair a broken axle on his father’s Model T Ford. On July 27, 1921, while traveling to their campsite, the Vagabonds veered off from Oakland to Deer Park where they ate a late lunch. Here, Ford spotted an old sawmill steam boiler.

For a closer look, they drove up a winding narrow road that led to Lohr’s house. Two men got out of the car. A man with a straw hat took out a writing pad and began drawing a sketch of the boiler.

Lohr walked up to the men and asked them who they were and what they were doing. The man in the straw hat identified himself as Ford; the older person identified himself as Edison. Ford told Lohr: “I wanted to look at the boiler because I have never seen anything like it before and especially because it was something old. I have found there is much more to be learned from an old thing than from a new one. You see, an old thing has been tried and has found to be of service. A new thing is still an experiment and you can’t learn as much from it.”

Lohr, extremely frustrated from trying for a week to repair the Model T, said to Ford: “Since you made this car over here that runs backward instead of forward … perhaps you could tell me about it.”

Lohr, who in later years moved to LaVale, would tell this story and conclude it this way: “… and so I was able to fix the car properly, and I became a factory trained mechanic overnight from this bit of expert advice from Henry Ford.”

Apparently just before or after his encounter with Lohr, Ford’s Lincoln got stuck in the mud. Horses from a nearby farm had to pull him out. A young boy, not knowing it was Ford, said: “Mister, you have the wrong kind of car. My father drives a Ford and it never gets stuck in the mud.”

Ford was so delighted with the boy’s comment that he took the name and address of his father, and soon thereafter, a brand new Ford was delivered to the boy’s house.

Ford ended up buying two sawmill boilers during his visit to Muddy Creek Falls. The historical accounts do not make it clear if it was the same boiler he saw at Deer Park, but it is known that he bought two sawmill boilers from Newton Reams, who lived near Sang Run Road.

Reams learned of Ford’s interest in his boiler and went to visit Ford at his campsite. The transaction went something like this: Reams asked Ford, “You’re not joking, you really want to buy my boiler?” Ford responded that it was true.

“OK, I’ll sell it to you for $100,” replied Reams.

Ford immediately gave Reams two $50 bills. As Ford inspected the engine, he explained to Reams how he could get it to run more efficiently. As he looked closer, he noticed a part was missing. Ford asked Reams if he could find a part to replace the missing one.

Reams told Ford that he probably could get one from a nearby sawmill. The sawmill operator later told Reams he wouldn’t sell him the part, but he would sell the whole boiler to him for $75.

Reams told Ford he had to buy the whole boiler if he wanted the part. Ford asked Reams: “How much?” Reams inflated the price to $150. Ford immediately gave Reams three $50 bills. Reams took the two boilers to Oakland and shipped them by train to Dearborn, Mich. Today, both sawmill steam boilers are stored at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan.