Back in the days of the entrepreneur, before the government decided to take over the car industry, over 23 De Leon men became affiliated dealers of Chevrolet while others opened Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, Ford, Durant and Whippet dealerships in De Leon.  Throughout 1928, the intensive action in the Chevrolet market involving De Leon men is difficult to follow, much less imagine during today’s efforts to close dealerships.

      Perhaps the earliest Chevrolet dealership in De Leon may have been Carter and Lloyd Chevrolet owned by J.F. “Tad” Carter and probably Hime Lloyd as early as 1925.  It was followed by  Steakley & Harvey owned by William S. Steakley and Robert Harvey.  In January 1928 Steakley sold his interest in the dealership to W.O. “Woodlie” Butler and the firm was renamed Harvey & Butler.   On September 28, 1928, Harvey sold his interest to G.E. Morton and the dealership became Butler and Morton.  The Chevrolet house was located in the building, now torn down, immediately north of city hall and later moved to Houston and Gonzales.  Sam Self was the shop foreman; S.R. Upshaw the accountant; Orb Kennedy salesman; and Mr. Linder the mechanic and painter.

    Robert W. (Bob) Steakley who had been the partner of W. H. Smith Sr. in both a De Leon grocery and a dry goods store, sold his his interest to Smith on January 1, 1928 and he and his brother William jointly purchased the Chevrolet dealership in Denison.

     Just about that same time, Tad Carter and Bill Bagwell formed a partnership and purchased the Chevrolet franchise in Breckenridge.  Bagwell who had been in charge of office operations at Higginbothams moved to Breckenridge to manage the dealership while Carter remained in De Leon where he was a partner in the Lowe, Delancy and Carter Co., an oil drilling operation.

     Within the month, Zollie C. Steakley (father of the Texas Supreme Court Justice) formed a new partnership with Ben Carter (brother of Tad) to purchase the Sweetwater Chevrolet dealership.   An announcement followed that another De Leonian, Hime Lloyd had purchased the Roscoe dealership.

      A couple of months later, Lloyd Hampton and Dee Henson purchased the Rising Star Chevy house.  Henson had been manager of Reid Auto Supply, the Ford dealership in De Leon.   Hampton was a De Leon insurance agent who had sold his agency to John Weaver in February 1928.  He sold his interest in the Rising Star dealership to Zollie Steakley and Ben Carter not long after he purchased it and the dealership took the name Steakely-Carter-Henson.  Hampton and his wife had been severely injured in an auto accident and he sold while she recovered.  After a long recovery he purchase the Chevrolet dealership in Sayre, Oklahoma in August 1929.

     R.D. Davis opened the Davis Motor Co. a Whippet dealership in De Leon in the Ayers building on the southwest corner of Texas and Reynosa in April 1928 and added the Durant line in August.  The building had been occupied by the Corner Drug which had gone into foreclosure earlier that year.  Whippets were produced from 1928 until 1931 by one of a series of companies operated under Willys-Overland (producer of the Jeep) which was constantly in financial trouble.    W.C. Durant purchased part of the Willys company and at some point and Davis became a Durant dealer.  Durant autos had been produced from 1921 through 1926 but suspended production until 1928.  After production resumed in 1928, the first Durant shipped to Texas, a 6 cylinder, four door sedan was received at Fort Worth and forwarded to De Leon.  That vehicle was the first Durant sold in Texas after production resumed.  John W. Jones, the section foreman for the Katy railroad bought it.  Over the next few months, Davis sold 40 vehicles, more than any dealer west of Fort Worth.   But times grew tough and Davis moved his dealership to Gorman opening there on May 1, 1929.

      De Leon Whippet probably was split off from the Davis Durant line in early 1929.  It was initially a partnership between Lee and Fred Nabors and Ottis Ham.  Ham dropped out of the partnership that same year. 

    William L. Steakley which had, among other things, operated one of the largest filling stations in the area leased the station to W.W. Walker in September of 1928.  Soon after, Walker became the Plymouth dealer in De Leon and was offering 2 door sedans for $843. 

   W.E. Lowe and Evan Barker became the 14th and 15th De Leon based Chevrolet dealers when they purchased the dealership in Baird.  Lowe had previously announced a run for the Texas Legislature but pulled out when the deal was being put together.  Barker was the Cashier at the Security State Bank.  He resigned and moved to Baird to manage the dealership    

    John J. Horn, the dry goods manager at Higginbothams resigned to become the sales manager for Carter and Bagwell in Breckenridge.  He later partnered with G.E. Hooker to buy the Chevrolet dealership in Tyler.

      Zollie Steakley then bought out Ben Carter in Sweetwater probably so that Carter and E.W. Owens who managed the Garner Alvis store in De Leon could purchase the Chevrolet dealership in Hillsboro.

      Lee Kemp opened the Chrysler dealership out of the Walker Garage building (Dr. Pino’s Clinic) when Walker moved his operations to the Steakley Filling Station in 1929 (Steakley was on the southeast corner of Texas and Reynosa).  He and J.C. Brinson then bought the Plymouth franchise from Walker giving them the Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth lines in De Leon.

        Tad Carter went on to own Chevrolet dealerships in El Paso and Olney.  His brother Ben added the Big Spring franchise to his Hillsboro location.  Dick Carter a third brother eventually managed the Breckenridge location. 

       John Horn partnered with

     The De Leon dealership which had become Butler-Morton was purchased by E.D. Mahan in 1944. 

      Yet it was the Steakleys that became one of the most noted Chevrolet dealers in Texas.  The brothers expanded their Denison location into multiple Steakley Brothers Chevrolet dealerships scattered throughout what is now known as the Metroplex. 

       Reid Auto Supply, the Ford dealer burned in June 1929.  Within months, Grady Terrill  partnered with G.M. Strickland who was manager of Reid at the time of the fire, and the dealership became Strickland & Terrill.  The Grady Terrill family eventually became the owners of the Ford dealership selling it to Hammit around 1954. 

      Terrill Pontiac which was operated begun by Eldon and Ralph Terrill in De Leon in the 1950s on the north side of the S curve.

     

Car Dealerships

Steakley and Carter Chevrolet in Sweetwater

Terrill Pontiac

ca. 1952.  The office was located on the “S” curve where Crown Pump operated.

Terrill Motor Company 1950.  Located immediately south of the depot.  This building was built on the Pittman/Lambert Hotel site about 1947.

Henry Grady Terrill shows off a new Ford around 1950.