The Old Grey Winton, she ain't what she used to be!

The 1925 funeral record of my ancestor Mary Elizabeth Blakesley (#35) mentioned her surviving family paid for the use of a "grey Winton."

Well, that was not the name of any automobile that I had ever heard of before.

Then again, I'm not much of a car buff.

But, I was curious enough to find out more, and discovered an entire article about the Winton Motor Carriage Company on Wikipedia.

Turns out the company was founded by Scottish immigrant bicycle merchant Alexander Winton in Cleveland, Ohio, back in 1897, and it produced the type of upscale vehicles that would have been popular with a funeral home . . . at least up until 1924.

In the latter year, increased competition forced Winton to abandon cars to focus on boat engines. And, in 1930, they sold out to General Motors.

It is likely the vehicle Mary Elizabeth's mourners rode in looked something like the 1915 Winston Six Limousine pictured above.

Some new peregrination starting points from this find:
* Does the Carey Hand Funeral Home in Orlando have any photos of their old vehicles?