One of the First Motorcycle Fatalities

Public Domain, ca. 1910 

In 1898 a young man became intrigued by the newest gizmo - a bicyle with a motor!  This motorcycle was the hot new item.  Many young men tinkered in sheds and outbuildings to rig up their own contraptions.  The freedom, the speed, the fun!     

Invented in the late 1880's and early 1890's in France and Germany, especially the 1895 Damiler featured in many newspapers and magazines; it is believed many people attempted to create their own shadetree motorcycles inspired by the stories of these early attempts. The first American commercially produced motorcycle is said to have been  from the Orient-Aster, built by the Metz Company in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1898.  

Public domain - 1895  Daimler

On a hot August day in 1898, a brother and sister set off on a motorcycle and explored the curving roads and byways of Barry County, Missouri.  The thrills, the shrieks and the laughter echoed as the motocycle roared through the thick brush of the Ozark hills.  Granville Handford "Bud" Terry (21) and his younger sister Minerva Ardella Terry (17) apparently had an enjoyed time that  day  but  August 15, 1898 would end in tragedy for this brother and sister.

(Note: Minerva and Granville were my great aunt and uncle).