Barney Oldfield
| Berna Eli Oldfield | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
January 29, 1878 near Wauseon, Ohio |
| Died | October 4, 1946 (aged 68) Beverly Hills, California |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery |
| Other names | Barney Oldfield |
Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an American pioneer automobile racer "whose name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". He began racing in 1902 and continued until his retirement in 1918. He was the first man to drive a car at 60 miles per hour (96 km/h).
Berna Eli Oldfield was born in York Township, Fulton County, Ohio, near Wauseon, on January 29, 1878, to Henry Clay, a laborer, and Sarah Oldfield. He was named after his father's bunkmate in the 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.
As of the 1880 United States Census, the Oldfields (he had a sister, Bertha) lived in Wauseon. In 1889 they moved to Toledo, where Henry got a job at a mental asylum. In the summer of 1891, Berna worked as a waterboy in order to purchase his first bicycle. According to legend, he spent most of his Sunday afternoons at the local Toledo fire station, hoping for the next call. As its “mascot”, he was allowed to ride the big red hose wagon, while a pair of horses raced through the streets. Berna worked the following school year selling the Toledo Blade and Toledo Bee newspapers.
He dropped out of school after the eighth grade in 1892 and started working with his father as a kitchen helper at the mental asylum during the day and a bellhop at the downtown hotel at night. He eventually worked at the hotel full-time as he felt uneasy around mental patients. The bell captain apparently told him that “Berna” was a sissy name, so “Barney” became his official name. Barney, who had a "magnetic personality", received many tips and bought his first bike, an "Advance Traveller" with pneumatic tires.
Clarence Brigham, who sold the “Cleveland” brand bike, and Edward G. Eager (of Eager & Green Mercantile) who sold the “Columbia” models in his store, organized the Wauseon Cycle Club to increase sales and draw more people to town on the Michigan Lake Shore Railroad. Other cycling groups in Swanton, Clyde, Monroe, Adrian, Blissfield and Toledo were part of the same cycle racing circuit. Half-mile and mile classes were raced on public tracks usually reserved for horses. Other members included Fred Ballmeyer, Ora Brailey, Curt and Buff Harrison, Doc Myers, Emil Winzeler, Doc Miley, Frank Harper, Dan Raymond (who fixed everyone’s bikes), Sid Black (a trick cyclist from Cleveland who later became president of the Packard Motor Company) and Barney Oldfield. In October 1892, the second “Silver Tournament” was held in Wauseon. In 1893, he began working as an elevator operator at a different hotel. Every night he stored one hotel tenant’s lightweight "Cleveland" cycle in the basement; he sometimes "borrowed it", riding it at night.
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