Ira Bronson founded the Ira Bronson Carriage Company in Lockport in 1851. His family was originally from Connecticut. He was born in 1815 in Oneida Country, New York State, the son of Captain Levi and Martha Wilcox Bronson and the grandson of Levi Bronson.

Ira Bronson started his wagon making business at his home on West Main Street, which is now West Avenue. In the 1860's the company moved to a frame building which had been built on the Court House Square in 1823 as the First Presbyterian Church in Lockport. In 1830 the Presbyterians built a new brick church on Church Street and the old church became a Female Seminary. It was then moved to the east end of the present West Avenue Park and became the home of the Ira Bronson Carriage Company.

In 1868 Ira and Mary J. Bronson's son, Ira Adelbert, became a partner in the firm and it became Bronson & Son. Ira Adlebert married Nettie Marvin of Lockport on July 20, 1870, and they lived at 169 West Main. His father was living at 94 West Main St.

In 1875 the old frame building on West Main burned and a new carriage factory was built on Transit and New Main Street, a building which would later become the Park Hotel. By 1880 the business had increased so much that the building was enlarged and was now listed as "Ira Bronson & Son, carriage manufacturers; 1, 3, 5, New Main, comer Transit." Their carriages were rated the best in the county and some were in the Paris World Exposition in the 1890's.

Styles of carriages included the Dexter Buck Wagon with leather upholstering and the Dexter Queen which had a collapsible roof, both styles with a single seat. There was the Phaeton and the two-seated Phaeton with the seamless rood, upholstered in leather or broadcloth, with or without side curtains. Also advertised were sleighs - the two seated Portland with mohair upholstery and the single seat Portland, in two styles, livery and speeding sleigh, upholstered in silk or mohair plush with moquett rugs. Horse racing was unrestricted and the speeding or racing sleighs were used for races out East Avenue and Walnut Street. Bronson & Son also built the chassis for the fire engines in Lockport.

When Ira died on Dec. 8, 1891, his son, 1. Adelbert Bronson, continued the carriage making business in the building at 1, 3, 5, and 7 New Main (Park Avenue corner of Transit), and lived at 114 West Main Street (West Ave.). In 1893 Sylvester Marvin Bronson, and the son of 1. Adelbert and Nettie Marvin Bronson, became an apprentice in the business. He lived with his father at 114 West Avenue until he married Emma K. Huber on Sept. 1, 1897, and the newlyweds moved to 251 Grand Street.

In 1900 Sylvester and Emma Huber moved to New York City but by 1902 they were back in Lockport, living at 320 West Ave. Sylvester was back building carriages with his father. Also in 1902 a daughter, Lillian Bronson, was born to Sylvester and Emma Bronson. Lillian Bronson attended the West Avenue Elementary School and the Lockport Union High School, graduating in 1921.

By 1910 a big change had been made - the automobile was beginning to replace the horsedrawn carriage, and Sylvester decided to also make the change. In 1910 he changed to the automobile business but his father, Ira continued to work as a carriage dealer until 1916 when he retired. Ira Adelbert Bronson continued to live at 114 West Avenue until his death on Dec. 1, 1921. His Widow, Bertha W. Bronson, moved to 44 Park Place where she died in 1950.

In 1919 Sylvester M. Bronson had an automobile repair business at 3 Park Avenue and was still living at 320 West Avenue. Daughter Marjorie, a stenographer, was living with her parents at 320 West Avenue. However, while daughter Lillian (pictured left) was attending Lockport Union School she had been in a play directed by her English teacher, Miss Amanda Fisher, and, with the encouragement of Miss Fisher, Lillian began a career in movies and television that lasted more than 50 years.

Lillian Bronson studied dramatics at Byrn Mawr in Pennsylvania, then went to the University of Michigan. She acted first in plays on Broadway, then began a career in the movies. She was in more than 80 feature films including films such as "Camille" with Lillian Gish, "Lean Harvest" with Leslie Banks, "The Hucksters" with Clark Gable, "Spencer's Mountain" with Henry Fonda, "Family Honeymoon" with Claudette Colbert, "The Next Voice You Hear" with James Whitmore. Her work in television included the role as Fonzi's grandmother on "Happy Days." Lillian Bronson died Aug. 3, 1995, at Laguna Beach, California.

He not only repaired bicycles, but also began manufacturing bicycles and introduced many improvements on those bicycles manufactured in his shop. He also began developing automobiles in his shop on Market St., and in 1902 he moved to 57-61 Richmond Ave. and concentrated entirely on the manufacture of automobiles.

In 1904 Harold Hoag and Edward Fritton drove one of the Covert automobiles in an auto contest from Buffalo to the World's Fair in St. Louis. The Covert auto was the smallest entered and was called the baby." Because of its size it was the center of attention at every stop. There were no paved roads and much of the drive was in six inch deep mud, making it necessary for the larger cars to use tire chains. On the last day 63 cars left Springfield and only 24 arrived in St. Louis, but the Covert auto was one of the ones arriving in St. Louis.

By 1910 production at Covert Motor Vehicle Company had increased to the point where larger facilities were necessary, and the company moved to 91-95 Grand St. The old building on Richard Ave. was taken over by Herbert Harrison, who established the Harrison Radiator Company there. Herbert Harrison was president of the Harrison Radiator Company, Byron V. Covert was vice-president and treasurer, and Fred D. Moyer and Oscar A. Loosen were directors. William Upson was also one of the original investors in Harrison Radiator Company, but he was involved with his own company and soon left to spend more time with it.

Byron Covert had developed a chainless automobile with a transmission, which proved to be very popular. Because there was so much competition among the many new companies manufacturing automobiles, and because of the many orders for the transmission he had developed, after the move to Grand St., Byron Covert gave up automobile manufacturing and concentrated entirely on transmissions and gears. Covert Motor Vehicle Company became Covert Gear Company, Inc., Byron V. Covert, President.

Byron V. Covert remained president of the Covert Gear Company until 1915 when he retired. He and his wife, Calista, lived at 154 Genesee St. Covert died on Dec. 18, 1943.

Covert Gear Co. Inc. became Covert Gear and Manufacturing Corp. and continued to manufacture transmissions, differentials, and gears until 1933. In 1914 the chief of the purchasing department at Covert Gear was Arthur H. Dittmer, and by 1919 Dittmer had become director of products and purchases. However, in 1920, Arthur Dittmer left Covert Gear to start his own company, Dittmer Gear and Manufacturing Company at 193 - 219 Grand St. Dittmer Gear and Manufacturing remained in operation until 1958.

In 1975 a letter from Terence F. Roe of South Africa was sent to Mayor, City of Lockport, New York, USA. The letter stated that a Covert auto was still being used in South Africa but that it was being retired. It was built "by a man by the name of B. V. Covert who must have been a very clever engineer at that time." Terence Roe sent the letter because he thought Lockport might be a good place for the auto to spend its retirement since that was where it was built. Apparently there was no money available at that time to purchase the Covert auto.

There is a Covert auto in the area, however. A 1904 Covert auto is owned by the Wilson Historical Society and is in the Wilson museum. The auto had previously been in the Ford museum, Greenfield Village, in Michigan and was offered for sale. Dr. John Argue of Wilson sent in a bid for $10,000, but there were two higher bids. However, when the museum officials noticed that the auto would be placed in a museum near the area where it was originally manufactured, they sold it to Dr. Argue even though his bid was the lowest.