July 4, 2023 How One Kid Got to School in 1919

The Liberty Gazette

July 4, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Happy Independence Day! Last week we spotted five boys running a lemonade stand on a corner in Kingwood. They weren’t inside glued to a screen. Kudos to the parents. Before you know it, school will be back in session. Some kids will walk or bike, some will ride a bus or go by car. But over a century ago, one little guy flew to school.

His dad, Seymour Cox, had several airplanes. He had hired Glenn Curtiss to build the Curtiss-Cox, which he named “Cactus Kitten,” and which would compete in air races around the world. Cox owned another Curtiss-built aircraft which they named “Texas Wildcat.” But he wasn’t the only aero-head of the family. His wife, Nellie, caught the bug too, as did their son, Seymour Jr. Imagine living in 1919 when flying was new!

The Cox family lived in Houston, and nine-year-old Seymour Jr. was going to boarding school in New York, which made the New York Herald as well as Flying Magazine, quoting him as saying, “Hurry up, Mother! The aeroplane’s all ready! Let’s get started quick for school!” The novelty of their story took up three full pages in an article titled, “Mother Brings Her Son Through Air To School in New York.” They crossed the country logging 18 hours flight time over ten days. Nellie loved that “Earth looks like a miniature map spread out beneath. Everything is beautiful from the air.”

She is often referred to as an aviatrix, but at least for that trip, she hired Harold Block, a WWI Army pilot, to fly her and Junior in their three-seat bi-wing Curtiss Oriole. It was one of two Orioles with which, along with a Curtiss “Jenny,” that same year Seymour Sr. would start Southern Aircraft Company, the first commercial airline to serve Houston. 

On the way to school, they took a diversion to circle over Cincinnati and 30,511 fans in the stadium during the first game of the World Series. The Reds won 9-1, but that was the year of the Chicago Black Sox, so who knows what would have happened had they not taken a bribe to throw the series. But in the Oriole that day, no one knew of the scandal, and their trip garnered much attention at every fuel stop. 

They ran into weather around Indianapolis, where they had to circle to avoid rain and fog before finally landing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They left there as soon as the sky cleared.

Later, as they took off for their last leg, the clouds grew dark again. Lieutenant Block had descended, hoping to get beneath it, but suddenly there were trees just three feet below them. Block throttled up and climbed to 7,500 feet and returned to where they had just departed. They were weathered-in for three days in Binghamton. 

Nellie wasn’t fazed. She was all-in, saying, “Aeroplanes are the coming sport and coming convenience of the world. It’s the natural next step.” 

For Junior, what a ride to school! 

 

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