Historic Hood River
Mr. and Mrs.
2-14-2024
Notes
If my detective work is correct this is one of the few images we have with both George and Dora Belle Thomson on the same side of the lens. I believe they are the couple to the right. Some other detective will have to identify the automobile for us. I’d appreciate any genealogical information you can share about the family. I am having trouble separating siblings from cousins without a family tree. The common name with multiple spellings is adding to the difficulty of tracing this family.
Jeffrey Bryant
According to his death certificate, George William Thomson was born 10 June 1872 in Greenville, California to Alexander Thomson and Clarissa Whitley. He died in Hood River on 11 December 1952.
Dora Belle was born 4 April 1875 in Meigs county, Ohio. Her death certificate shows her parents as John McCarty and Myrtle Robinette, but I also have her parents as William and Mary Ash.
George and Dora had two children – Wilma, who married Edgar John Franz and later Harry W. Butterfield; and George Leonard Thomson.
Roger H Sheldrake
The brakes or lack of will help with the vintage of the car.
L.E.
Must have stopped for a smoke break?
Sounds like trying to research this family is what I call “going down a rabbit hole”.
Arthur Babitz
Thanks for the research, Jeffrey. I think I will adopt the “Thomson” spelling as the official choice of HHR, but will keep both tags for search reasons.
Maybe that is son George in the driver’s seat. The size of the brake drums tells me it was a very heavy car.
Jeffrey Bryant
Their remains are in Lincoln Memorial Park, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon under the last name of Thomson.
L. E.
Dora Belle’s brother Marion Everett McCarty was part owner of Paris Fair and in 1922 he was director of the Butler Banking Company.
L. E.
I think Dora Belle McCarty Thomson’s and Marion Everet McCarty’s father, John McCarty passed away in 1890. Their mother, Mary Ann, remarried William Ash. In 1920, he was an electrician and they were living in Odell.
Arthur Babitz
I’ll add to Jeffrey’s records that Wilma was born in 1897, George Leonard in 1906.
Arthur Babitz
We have a tentative ID and vehicle registration to George Thomson of a 1917 Marmon Touring Car, which matches quite well.
DALE NICOL
Thanks to Arthur’s connections to ODOT, they were able to ID the car and the body was unique for the time with the cowl behind the front seat. While searching, I came up with a 1916 Detroiter 6-45 touring car but it was smaller than the Marmon. In any case, both cars were unique and you needed to be a person of wealth back then to afford either car.