Football: Kingston Huskies and Korea

As I continue to rifle through boxes and the last remaining corners of the basement, I am finding more photos tucked away in places containing - basically - stuff that should have been pitched years ago.

 

Here are but a few of the latest.

 

Above: My dad and unknown teammate from Kingston (PA) Huskies

Below: My dad and favorite receiver ( Korean War ), Steve Bosick

 

 

 

And finally, a pic of Diana and I from May 11, 1964

 

 

This was taken on S. Loveland Avenue in Kingston, PA.

 

Why am I carrying all the books?

 

  

Glimpses from Korea

Found this photo of my Dad taken in Korea, which has seen better days, in one of the many boxes we brought up from the basement.

 

Kinda surreal, if you ask me.

 

More to follow.

  

Fountain Pens & Generals

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

 

Could this Civil War and Mexican War hero be my great-great-great grandfather?
 

 

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.

 

1921: Wyoming Tire and Rubber Co.

 

My great-grandfather Edward Charles Williams invested $320.00 in this company in 1921.

 

I wonder what happened to them?

 

Can I retire now?

  

Memorial Day 1933

To date, this is the oldest pic I've found of my great-grandfather Edward C. Williams playing the fife and, in this photo, dressed up in portrayal of the Spirit of 1776 by A. M. Willard.

 

I'm guessing it was on Memorial Day in 1933.

 

Check out the crowds.

 

 

I could spend hours studying the people and things in the pic above.

 

Above: Eddie and unknown drummer.

  

Another Letter from Aunt Elvira

Some interesting family facts that, until this letter,  I never knew.

 

 

 

 

 

1790-1830: Holding History

According to the two octogenarian watchmakers that have been giving the watch below a long overdue lube and tune-up, the "movement" ( their term for the internal gears, springs and such ) of the pocket watch below was manufactured between 1790 and 1830, with an absolute hard stop at 1830.

Evidently, one of the two gents that had to tag team working on the watch because of its age and internal complexity is a history buff and horologist extraordinaire. According to our conversation yesterday afternoon, its internal workings include a fusee, a chain-type mechanism which has been around since the 1500's, and it is definitely one of the oldest watches either of them can remember working on.

All I can say at this point is: WOW! To think this watch possibly dates back to the late 1700's and has been passed down through ~five or more generations  of the Williams, Stewart or Clemow families just boggles my mind. My great-grandfather Edward C. Williams was born in 1880, and his father Samuel in 1855. The history buff claims with absolute certainty that they stopped making this watch's specific type of movement in 1830.

Other than being made in the USA, I have little more to go on at this point. When I get some time, I will track down one of those Antique Roadshow-type folks and see if I can learn some more about this second piece of family history ( so far ) that possibly dates to the late 1700's. For those that would be inclined to convert this watch to cash on the open market, suffice it to say that this gem's fate is to be passed down to many yet-to-be-born future generations of the Williams family.

Tempus fugit indeed.