Sunday Drive: Trainer

For those of you who have ancestors who owned cars in Oregon in the first half of the 20th century, Ancestry.com has a database titled  "Oregon, Motor Vehicle Registrations, 1911-1946" that can supply the following information:

Oregon began requiring annual vehicle registration in 1911. This collection is a published list of motor vehicle registrations from 1911 to 1946. Each registration includes:

• license number
• name and address of the vehicle owner (including county in parentheses)
• make of car
• motor number
• model or year of manufacture
• type of body 

See the start of the registry for a key to abbreviations.* The details in the automobile description could come in handy when identifying and dating photographs. 

Also included is a record of convictions. Ever wondered if Grandpa had a lead foot? You just might find out. The record of convictions lists

• name of the offender
• date
• nature of the offense
• chauffeur or operator's license number
• court
• county
• amount of the fine

And that's how we know what my best friend's Uncle Joe* was driving in 1946. (There's no mention of him the record of convictions.)

["I'm glad I bought an Oldsmobile" Source: The Old Car Manual Project]

[Ancestry.com. Oregon, Motor Vehicle Registrations, 1911-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Oregon Secretary of State. Oregon Motor Vehicle Registrations. Oregon State Library, Salem, Oregon.]

*Joseph Byron Trainer (1912-1994) the son of Roy O'Connor Trainer and brother of Janette Trainer. He was a professor at Oregon Health Services University and had a distinguished career as an author, consultant and TV host 


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