(The following was written by Huldah Witteman Rader and is reprinted from “Reflections II”, a collection of local stories available at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum. Any opinions made in the article are from the author.)

My father, Henry Whitman, owned one of the first automobiles in Grove City. This was about the year 1911. The automobile was an E.M.S. Grove City had a fire wagon that had two wheels and a hose but no engine. When there was a fire they had to get someone to pull the wagon.

There was a big fire in Harrisburg and they needed help to fight the fire, so they called Henry. They asked him if he would pull the fire wagon with his automobile. He responded to the call, hitched the wagon to his car and headed south toward Harrisburg. He said the wagon swayed back and forth across the road all the way to Harrisburg. When they arrived, they tried but couldn’t save the building, but they gave it a good try.