Danvers 250 year birthday parade

"Si" Wells and sons Henry, Jr. and Arthur owned and operated Danvers Auto Body and Wells Car Sales on School Street, Danvers. The family moved here from Salem about 1940.

This is Savario Henry Wells Sr. ("Si") in approximately 1944. He is driving a Detroit Electric Car built originally in 1911. He is in a parade celebrating Danvers' 250th birthday.

He and S. Henry Wells Jr. obtained it during WWII on a Knights of Columbus aluminum collection drive from a man's garage in Danvers, MA. They put $25.00 into the AL kitty and took two weeks to get the car out of a garage from Oak Knoll. Oak Knoll was the John Greenleaf Whittier Estate (now Oak Knoll Drive in Danvers, up by St. John's Prep).

The car was inoperable. They took two months to rebuild it together. It had defunct batteries, thus they borrowed batteries from the A.C. Lawrence Leather Company. The front sea swiveled to go forward or reverse; there were no gears of such.

The car was donated to an auto museum by Si; of which he learned during his wintering in Floria. It believed to be near Miami.

This photograph has been shared with us via Richard Young; the grandson of Si Wells and son of Si's daughter: Alice Wells Young.

Pictured: S. Henry Wells, Sr. "Si"

Institution: Peabody Institute Library, Danvers

Bennett, Janet (Wells)

Massachusetts--Essex (county)--Danvers

07-1944

image/jpeg

DMRS No. 0002

Automobiles

Parades

Anniversaries

Wells, Savario Henry, Sr.

still image

Photographs

1 Photographic print