A Photo, My Cousin & ChatGPT

Cousin Tom used ChatGPT to help identify this car and its owner!

Last year, I imagined the story behind a photograph that included my grandfather, his parents, and several other people, posed in front of a black car. My grandfather was pretty young, so I theorized that he was about 10 or so and that the photo was taken about 1920.

In that post, I mused, "Of course, it would be wonderful to know the real story behind the photo. But given that everyone in the photo is long gone, it may be impossible to ever really know."

Or is it?

My cousin Tom saw this photograph on my blog recently and looked to ChatGPT to help identify the black car in the photo. What an amazing sleuthing operation!

I'll admit, I have not tried ChatGPT. I guess it's a failure of my own imagination that I have not figured out how to apply it to my own research.

But Tom did! He turned to ChatGPT with questions about the license plate and the car model. He even had ChatGPT theorize about the relationships of the people pictured. 

The bottom line? With the answers he got from ChatGPT, Tom was able to confirm with vehicle registration records held by the Ohio History Connection that the car was registered in 1921 to Clarence Gilbride, my grandfather's oldest brother. Amazing! The registration included Clarence's address of 916 E. 147th Street, in Cleveland and that the car was a "Jor 29 Tr" or a Jordan Touring model.¹

I love ChatGPT's suggestions on what resources Tom could use next to continue his research, which he followed up on. While ChatGPT theorized the car was a 1921 Buick Touring Car (Model 21-45 or similar), the car registration gave a slightly different answer. Still, this tool definitely set Tom on the path to figuring out the mystery of the black car.

Tom gave me permission to share the conversation he had with ChatGPT to demonstrate how he managed this find.²

 

Tom's Conversation with ChatGPT

You said:

I have a photograph from between 1910 and 1920. There is a car in the picture that has a license plate number on it. Is there anyway I could use this license number to determine who owned the car?

ChatGPT said:

That's a really interesting historical detective project — and sometimes, yes, it's possible to trace a license plate number from the early 1900s to a specific owner, but it depends on a few things:

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What You Need to Know:

1. State and Year Matter
   Each state issued its own plates and had different recordkeeping practices. If you know the state (from the plate design or photo context), that’s step one. The year helps narrow it down to the right set of records.
2. Early DMV Records
   Back then, license plates were issued by various entities:
• State motor vehicle departments (or their predecessors)
• City governments (in some cases, especially before statewide systems were in place)
• Even private registries in the earliest days (some states didn’t issue official plates until 1910+)
3. Archival Sources
   You can try:
• State Archives or Historical Societies
  Some have old vehicle registration ledgers.
• Libraries with local history departments
  They might have directories or city registries that list car owners by plate number.
• DMV Historical Offices
  A few state DMVs (like California and New York) have historians or departments that preserve early records.
• Newspapers from the era
  Rare, but sometimes accident reports or mentions of events include plate numbers and names.
4. Collectors and Plate Historians
   There are car and license plate history groups (e.g., the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association - ALPCA) that are shockingly good at ID'ing plates and may help with leads or identification.

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What You Can Do Next:

• Can you share:
• The state the plate is from?
• The plate number and any distinctive design features?
• A photo (if you’re comfortable)?

With that info, I can try to help identify the plate’s origin and suggest more targeted ways to search for ownership info.

Want to dive in?

You said:

It was either Ohio or Pennsylvania

ChatGPT said:

Nice! Narrowing it to Ohio or Pennsylvania between 1910–1920 definitely helps — both states issued official plates during that time, and there are some known resources for each. Here's a breakdown for both:

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 Ohio (1910–1920)

• State-Issued Plates began in 1908.
• Early plates were simple — white numbers on a black background.
• Registrations were handled by the Ohio Secretary of State.
• Ohio's registration ledgers (from that time) do exist in some archives.

 Where to Look:

• Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society): They have state archives, which may include motor vehicle registration books.
• State Library of Ohio – Ask about early DMV records.
• County or city historical societies – especially if the photo location is known.
• Newspapers.com or Chronicling America – Search the plate number + keywords like “automobile” or “accident.”

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 Pennsylvania (1910–1920)

• Plates were issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Highways starting in 1906.
• Early PA plates typically had “PA” stamped into the plate and changed color yearly.
• Registrations were logged in books — some are now digitized or available at the Pennsylvania State Archives.

 Where to Look:

• Pennsylvania State Archives – They have early motor vehicle registration cards.
• State Library of Pennsylvania – May have directories or archived registries.
• The PA Historical & Museum Commission may also help track down records or guide your search.

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Best Next Steps for You

1. Look closely at the plate — can you tell which state it is? PA plates often had “PA” or a keystone symbol. Ohio plates were simpler but often followed a known yearly format.
2. Take note of the license number and year (if visible).
3. Send me the plate number and photo, if you're comfortable — I can try to match the plate to a year and state using historical plate guides.
4. Once confirmed, I can help you contact the right archive or library.

Would you like help analyzing the photo or plate? I can assist with visual ID if you upload it.

You said:

Actually, the car seems to show the year 1921 with the 19 above the 21. This would make me think this was from Ohio. What are your thoughts on that?

ChatGPT said:

Yes — that detail strongly points to Ohio!

Here's Why:

Ohio license plates in the early 1920s very commonly had the year split, with:

• “19” above “21” to indicate 1921,
• all embossed in a stacked or vertical format,
• and typically white-on-black for 1921 (Ohio changed colors annually).

This stacked year format is very specific to Ohio during that time — Pennsylvania plates in 1921 used a more horizontal layout and included the keystone shape or a “PENNA” label, rather than the vertical year stamp.

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What That Tells Us:

• You're almost certainly dealing with an Ohio 1921 license plate.
• The registration records for that year would’ve been maintained by the Ohio Secretary of State.
• Some of those records are archived and may exist as handwritten ledgers listing:
• License plate number
• Owner's name
• Make/model of the car
• City or county of residence

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How to Track the Owner:

Your best bet is the Ohio History Connection (https://www.ohiohistory.org) — they hold many of the Ohio State Archives, and you can contact them to ask if they have the 1921 vehicle registration ledgers.

Also worth checking:

• Local county historical societies (if you have a clue about the town/city in the photo)
• Digitized city directories or historical DMV publications

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If you want, feel free to drop the plate number and any other visible car or location info, and I’ll help you figure out where to go from there or draft a message you can send to the archive. Want to try that?

You said:

The plate number is 553632

ChatGPT said:

Perfect — that gives us something solid to work with.

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Plate Number: 553632

Year: 1921

State: Ohio (based on the stacked “19 / 21” format)

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What This Number Tells Us:

In 1921, Ohio plates were issued sequentially, so plate numbers could roughly correlate to registration order, though not precisely by region. The number 553632 would be among the mid-to-late issue range for that year, likely registered sometime in mid-to-late 1921.

The Ohio Secretary of State maintained registries that included:

• Plate number
• Name of registrant
• Address
• Vehicle make/model
• Sometimes engine number

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Where to Go Now:

 Ohio History Connection (State Archives)

They hold many original motor vehicle registration ledgers and archival DMV documents.

Contact info:

• Website: https://www.ohiohistory.org
• Direct email for archives inquiries: reference@ohiohistory.org
• Phone: (614) 297-2510

You could write them something like:

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Subject: 1921 Ohio Vehicle Registration Inquiry

Hello,
I am researching a historical photograph that includes a 1921 Ohio license plate: 553632.
I believe the vehicle was registered in Ohio that year and am trying to identify the original registrant (owner).

Do your archives hold registration records for Ohio vehicles in 1921, and is it possible to search by plate number?

Any guidance on how to access this information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
[Your Name]

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Seeing how well this worked for this little mystery really opened my eyes to how ChatGPT could be helpful in my own research. Looks like I'll have to give it a try...

Until next time... 

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved.

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IMAGE

Unknown photographer, undated photo picturing Clarence Gilbride, Margaret McAndrew Gilbride, John Joseph Gilbride, and Joseph John Gilbride, and others, circa 1921; personal collection of R. Firestone, Willowick, Ohio, 2025.

 

NOTES

¹ Ohio Motor Vehicle Registrations 1921, np, "Passenger 1921, 553601-553800," 553632, C. Gilbride, Jor 29 Tr 9N3582; citing Ohio History Connection, Columbus.

² Tom Gilbride, Fairview Park, Ohio, [e-address for private use] to Nancy Casey, e-mail, 9 April 2025, "Fw: 1921 Ohio Vehicle Registration Inquiry"; Gmail folder "Gilbride Research"; privately held by Casey [e-address for private use], Tioga, Texas, 2025.