Born: 1870, Died 1955
Milton Good was a son of Joel Good. In his early days, along with elder brother Nelson, he became very interested in the gasoline engine and the experiments being done that led to the invention of the automobile. In their basement and then in space over Hoffman's blacksmith shop on Erb St. in Waterloo, the brothers assembled parts to create a motorized buggy. A rumour that has circulated since those early days was that Henry Ford on invitation came to Waterloo to see what the Good brothers were doing. Probably the brothers were seeking financial backing to continue the work, but Ford decided to use his own ideas back in Detroit. However, the Good brothers moved their shop to Berlin where they began the manufacture of an automobile they called the "Leray" ([illegible] spelled "Le Roi"). Alex Welker, later a Waterloo industrialist, worked closely with the Good brothers. In 1900 Milton and Nelson had another one of their cars they had built on a trip to Brown City, Michigan where relatives had earlier settled and then returned to Berlin. It is said that his car was the first automobile to cross the Canadian United states border. But the company soon ran out of money and work was stopped. Milton went on to become an Osteopath with a large practice in Berlin (later Kitchener).
Sources:
Marg Rowell et al. Welcome to Waterloo.
Kitchener Waterloo Record, June 27, 1967
Waterloo Historical Society, 1955.
Obituary, Kitchener Waterloo Record, November 27, 1955.
Waterloo Historical Society, "Waterloo County Romance with the automobilke", 1971 vol
Waterloo Historical Society, 1955 Volume 43.
Dr. Milton Good Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of Milton Good from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- To see the original document please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
- Date Of Event
- 1870-1955
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Good, Joel ; Good, Nelson ; Ford, Henry
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.72
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
