Seagrave Deliveries in North Carolina – 1906 to 1951

June 23, 2019
Here’s a posting about the entire painter’s log, added to my new digital history library: https://legeros.com/blog/seagrave-paint-log-1906-1951.

March 20, 2016
What do the pages of the painter’s log look like? Here’s an example:

And here’s a page that mentions Tarboro, North Carolina. Page 119, from 1933. The notation says something like “April 18th, Mr. Wolfe J. Fleming and C. Babcock went to Tarboro, N.C., came back April 29th, 1933.” Why did they travel? Was their trip related to the rigs on that page, or the earlier Tarboro rig? No idea.

March 18
Here’s a list of Seagrave apparatus deliveries in North Carolina, as transcribed from a copy of the Seagrave Master Painter’s Record, which recorded all trucks painted at their plant in Columbus, OH, from May 1906 to September 1940, plus four entries from September 1942, and from September 1943 to December 1951. (There were gaps during World War II.)

It constitutes the only known record of Seagrave serial numbers, which were job numbers used for its own internal manufacturing and cost record system. (And when apparatus was returned for repairs or repainting, the notes note, the apparatus received a new serial number.)

How complete is this list? First, we’re hoping for zero transcription errors. Did multiple passes, so crossing fingers there. What about deliveries not record in the painters log? Such as rigs produced for our state during World War II. We’ll see if readers have information about other trucks, or supplementary information worth noting.

Also, the first entry in the book in Gastonia’s wagon. Two-horse wagon. How many of these are horse-drawn rigs? Guessing the first couple, tops. Thirty-two rigs are listed. That’s far fewer than American LaFrance delivered during the same period. ALF was the predominant builder of motor fire engines in our state, during that time. Somewhere over 350 rigs.

Page Code City Note Number Date Color
2   Gastonia 2 horse wagon 1805 5/9/06  
5 T Tarboro   2273 1907  
11 Auto T Asheville   3198 1908  
17 City T Statesville   4849 9/10/10  
22 CW Asheville   6392 2/17/11 CP red 4891
22 CW Asheville   6393 2/17/11 White
27 W Smithfield   8763 6/6/13 SC PR 4891
29 T Black Mountain   10146 12/2/13 4891
29 T Tryon Spelled “Tyron” in log 10145 12/3/13 4891
31 Auto CW High Point   11176 6/6/14 white
32 City C T Asheville   12044 11/6/14 CPR 4891
68 P Charlotte   34045 5/5/23 CPR 4893
82 P Hamlet   42115 12/16/25 CPR 4893
89 P Smithfield   47725 3/31/27 DUCO 1623
93 Service T New Bern   49750 10/22/27 DUCO 1623
103 P Thomasville   57445 6/19/29 Battleship Gray
108 B P Graham   60830 3/13/30 4893
110 B P Rockingham   61955 6/25/30 4893
111 P Tarboro extra fancy 63420 9/24/30 Battleship Gray
121 P Durham No. 2 78225 11/18/34 5137
121 P Durham No. 5 78226 11/27/34 5137
121 P Charlotte repaint / repair 78255 12/15/34 5137
131 P Pinehurst   88110 10/18/37 5137
132 P Gastonia   88080 11/2/37 5157
137 Quad T Wilmington   93140 2/13/39 5157
141 Ford P Aberdeen   A4160 2/15/39 Spec bk [book]
150 Ford 500 St. Pauls   B9900 2/9/44 P & R____
Gold t____ [trim?]
153 80.750 pump Carthage   C4080 2/16/45 Red
154 J1000 P High Point   C4815 9/_/45 Red
177 66-750 Gastonia   E2525 8/15/49 Red
182 J-1000 CB[?] Charlotte   E8260 4/18/50 Red
187 J-1000 Charlotte   F3055 5/10/51 Red

 

Abbreviations:

  • C – Chemical
  • P – Pumper
  • T – Truck, service ladder
  • W – Wagon, hose
  • CW – Combination Wagon, chemical and hose

Color codes:

  • CP – Coach Painter’s
  • CPR – Coach Painter’s Red
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