We continue to discover Williams family mementos tucked away
in the last few boxes we recently retrieved from my father’s basement. The
fountain pen below was one of our latest finds.
It has the following
inscription on the solid gold band encircling the cap:
E. C. WILLIAMS
PAST. PRES. No. 24
N.A.S.E. W.B. PA.
According to the various websites I found, in addition to the information etched on the pen's barrel, this is a Waterman's "Ideal" fountain pen manufactured in the USA. The last date etched on the barrel is August 4, 1903. The 0854V etched in the end of the barrel tells a lot about the pen as detailed on this website.
Although there’s not a lot of information online about the
N.A.S.E., I did find
that the
National
Association of
Stationary
Engineers was organized in NYC on the 25th of October 1882, and they had
a lodge #24 in Wilkes-Barre, PA in the early 1900’s. Without ordering a book I
found at Amazon, I don’t know much more about them to share at the moment other than this
old newspaper clipping I found online.
My great-grandfather, Edward Charles Williams, was an engineer at the Kingston
Cake Co./Blue Ribbon Bakery for at least the last half of his working career,
and he was always nattily dressed in 99% of the photos we’ve
found so far. And it appears, much like my maternal grandfather of almost the
same era, he definitely enjoyed a good cigar or pipe now and then.
Edward C. Williams and son, Samuel circa ~1930
Nicholson, PA
"Grandpa Eddie" circa ~1955
Up next:
Brigadier General Edward Charles Williams
Samuel Williams - My great-great grandfather
Sarah M. and Edward C. Williams
My paternal great-grandparents circa ~1900
And we all know the story about the Civil War fife pictured below being given to young Eddie prior to Memorial Day 1891. And the hand-painted shaving mug in the photo below is definitely very old.
I'm now wondering which "ECW" the mug and fife originally belonged to?
More in a few.
