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After reading the article published in the March, 2012, Newsletter of the Thelma Rogers Genealogical & Historical Society I couldn't resist re-publishing it here and offer another article following it which I found in the1-30-1896 edition of the Andover News, Andover NY.

 

The First Bicycle in Wellsville - Called a Velocipede - Was Owned by James Thornton in 1868

On May 4, 1869, a Wellsville correspondent wrote an Angelica paper: “Velocipedes are getting to be a nuisance here.

You meet one, and it is impossible to tell which way to dodge, it is unsafe to be on the sidewalk certain hours of the day, unless you climb a tree, lamp or awning post. A few riders, however, seem to have the animal under proper subjection.”

These velocipedes of twenty six years ago were of wood, but in form much like the bicycle of today. They were in fact a bicycle and in putting the present machine on the market the manufacturers only reverted to the general form of wheels of a quarter century ago. The first of these bicycles used in Wellsville was brought in by James Thornton in 1868..(1895 Allegany County Democrat)

and then,

 

1-30-1896 --- Andover News; Andover NY