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Transportation ➔ Horse Drawn Carriage
Identifier:
125354Description:
This buggy was used by the Grand Rapids Fire Department. The buggy is from c.1900 and was made by John Cummings Buckboard Mfg. Co. He was a farrier from Ireland who had a shop on N. Division in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves.A note in the accession file indicates the donor bought it from the Fire Department. It's also noted that John Cummings invented a special spring used on it and thus it was known as the "Cummings Buckboard". The donation story was featured in a Grand Rapids Press newspaper that describes the donor Meta Ferguson as the city's first female livery stable operator up to that point.
A newspaper article mentions the buggy was owned by Henry Lemoin the city's fire marshal but Miss Ferguson did not state this in her information, only that she purchased it from the Fire Department. Another newspaper article features the story of Meta Ferguson who was a well-known livery stable owner in Grand Rapids.
Date:
1898 – 1902Dimensions:
63" h 63" w 103" dCurrent Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Gift Of Meta FergusonRelated Entities:
Ferguson, Meta (donor) John Cummings Buckboard Manufacturing Company (creator) Grand Rapids Fire Department (is related to)The Grand Rapids Fire Department was founded in 1849 after the Wendell residence on Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue burned down with nearly all its contents. Citizens approached the village council and demanded a fire brigade be established. That fall, Alert Fire Company Number 1 was established with twenty-eight members.
Since 1849, the Grand Rapids Fire Department has grown to include eleven stations with 221 members across the city.