Ohio Avenue, Wellston, Ohio Postcard

I found a listing for this postcard on eBay, and immediately noticed the Louvee Theater marquee. While visiting Wellston, Ohio last summer, my mother and I took the following photo:

Louvee Theater Marquee, Wellston, Ohio

According to CinemaTour, the Louvee operated from 1937-2003. While once booming, the downtown area of Wellston has fallen into disrepair. My maternal grandfather, Ralph Williams Jr., graduated from Wellston High School on 5/21/40. I imagine the Louvee was very popular at that time.

Brian Davis – Christine (Williams) Davis – Ralph Scott Williams Jr.

Dick Waits and Ralph Williams Jr. Fishing Picture

My great grand uncle, Charles Richard “Dick” Waits (on the left), and my maternal grandfather, Ralph Scott “Button” Williams Jr. Photo taken approx. 1935. Many thanks to my aunt, Terry Kaiser, for contributing the photograph.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr. – Nellie Ruth Williams (Waits/sister of Charles Richard Waits)

Ralph Williams Jr. and Jack Schraa Navy Picture

My maternal grandfather, Ralph Scott Williams Jr., and his friend, Jack Schraa. Both men served with the United States Navy during World War II. Photo taken approx. 1942-1943.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr.

Ralph Scott Williams Jr. Zippo Lighter

Ralph Scott Williams Jr. Zippo Lighter

The above lighter was given to my grandfather, Ralph Scott Williams Jr., as a safety (ironic) award by the Gulf Interstate Gas Company. It looks well used as my grandfather was a smoker. The lighter was manufactured by Zippo in Bradford, Pennsylvania (their corporate headquarters are still located there.)

This is the first family heirloom picture taken in the light tent my wife constructed for this purpose. Many thanks to her and my aunt, Terry Kaiser, for letting me borrow the lighter.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr.

Ralph Scott “Button” Williams Jr., my grandfather, was born 1/24/1922  in Lancaster, Ohio.  He died 6/20/1967 from cardiac arrest at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Ralph was 45 years-old at the time of his death.

Madrith Jean Williams (Williams), my grandmother, was born 11/5/1924 in Portsmouth, Ohio.  She died 10/15/1968 at the age of 43 in Minford, Ohio.

Their gravesite is located in Maple Hill Cemetery in Stoutsville, Ohio. The headstone was recently purchased by their daughters: my mother, Chris, and my aunt, Terry Kaiser. The headstone photo was taken on a recent family research trip to Ohio on 7/29/2010. Many thanks to my cousin, Jane Mason, for the portrait of my grandparents.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr. and Madrith Jean Williams (Williams)

In honor of Father’s Day, I wanted to post pictures of my father, grandfathers, great grandfathers, and 2nd great grandfathers. The only picture I do not have in my collection is that of my maternal 2nd great grandfather, Edward L Barlow (1867-1955).

Brian Davis – James Michael Davis

This obituary is of my maternal grandfather, Ralph Scott Williams Jr., and was featured in the July 1967 edition of On Stream, the Columbia Gulf Transmission Company newsletter:

RALPH S. WILLIAMS JR. DIES OF HEART SEIZURE

Ralph S. Williams Jr., Measurement Superintendent since January 1960, died Tuesday, June 20, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Williams, 45, was attending an Advanced Management Course at the University of Virginia at the time of his death. He was playing golf during a classroom break when he suffered a heart seizure. He died early Tuesday evening at a hospital without regaining consciousness. Funeral services were held Saturday, June 24, in Lancaster, Ohio, his hometown. Burial was in Stoutsville, Ohio.

Surviving are his wife, Jean, two daughters, Teresa, 19, and Christine, 15, and his father, Ralph S. Williams Sr. of Columbus, Ohio.

Williams joined Columbia Gulf in 1954 as Measurement Engineer and later served as Corrosion Engineer and Transmission Engineer before his promotion to Measurement Superintendent. Previously he had worked for Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation and Ohio Fuel Gas Company.

He had served on committees of the American Gas Association, Southern Gas Association, Appalachian Gas Measurement Short Course and the Gulf Coast Gas Measurement Society of Houston. At the time of his death he was president of the Gulf Coast group. Members of that group, in a tribute, said, “Words cannot express the deep loss felt by our membership. Ralph’s knowledge of men and measurement, his dedication to his work and to his company and his many hours of extra commitment on behalf of our measurement science must not go without recognition. He will be missed at future gatherings of measurement men.”

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr.

The above article, “Calculating System Gas Balance”, written by my maternal grandfather, Ralph Scott Williams Jr., appeared on pages 65-68 of the May 1967 issue of Pipe Line Industry.  At the time the article was written, Ralph was a measurement superintendent for Columbia Gulf Transmission Company of Houston.  He passed away the following month, on 6/20/1967, while golfing in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr.

This article is about my maternal grandfather, Ralph Scott Williams Jr., and was featured in the 10/30/1925 edition of a Columbus, Ohio newspaper, possibly The Columbus Dispatch:

Lancaster Boy Is Youngest Flyer

RALPH S. WILLIAMS JR.

LANCASTER, O., claims the youngest air traveler in the country in Ralph Scott Williams Jr., aged 2 1/2 years.

The youngster has taken a number of rides at Norton Field, near Columbus, and more recently took a long ride over Lancaster with Charles Ames, pilot, who was killed near Bellefonte, Pa.

Williams has a certificate from Ames, saying the lad was the youngest the aviator ever carried.

Young Williams says he is thru with flying, however, due to Ames’ untimely death.

Williams is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph S. Williams and formerly lived in Columbus.

Photograph of Airmail Pilot Charles Ames

The following information about Charles Ames was taken from Arago: People, Postage & The Post and the Smithsonian National Postal Museum:

Charles Ames had over 700 flight hours before signing on with the Air Mail Service on December 8, 1920. Ames flew mail out of Hazelhurst Field, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio. On October 1, 1925, Ames disappeared from sight in the mountains near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania while flying a de Havilland airplane on his portion of the Cleveland to New York run. Dozens of groups worked to find Ames over the next several days, including National Guard troops. The 32-year old pilot was finally found in the wreckage of his airplane, where he had died on impact.

Ames had taken off at 9:40 p.m. from Hadley Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey for the regular night flight to Bellefonte. The watchman at the Hartleton, Pennsylvania, an emergency airmail landing field twenty miles east of Bellefonte, reported he heard the airplane flying overhead 11:35 that night. That was the last report of Ames and his airplane before the crash. The search for Ames and his airplane took several days and was the focus of attention across the northeast. Ames’ body was found on October 11, still strapped inside his downed airplane. He had crashed through trees into the north side of a ridge in the Nittany mountains. Ames had apparently been flying low, possibly becoming lost in a dense fog. Ames appeared to have been killed instantly on impact. The airplanes’ wings had been destroyed when the airplane crashed into the trees. The trees were so close that they covered the ship, making it almost impossible to locate.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr.

My maternal grandfather, Ralph Scott Williams Jr., served with the United States Navy during World War II.  At the time this V-Mail was written, Ralph was aboard LCI(L)-11, possibly in Bizerte, Tunisia, North Africa (ATB Bizerte).  He was temporarily stationed there from 11/1/1943 until the assault landings at Anzio, Italy on 1/22/1944.  The V-Mail is addressed to his aunt, Florence Miller (Waits), and her husband, Ernest, in Muskegon, Michigan.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr.