In a message dated 10/10/04 8:02:44 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
cdmiller(a)ctlnet.com writes:
Would like any information on George B. Pontius, born Aug. 1862 and Eva
Williams, born Sept. 1869. They were married 22 Dec. 1892, Kosciusko County,
Indiana. Reply to cdmiller57(a)yahoo.com.
Holy, Moly! When my parents lived in Mishawaka (St. Joseph Co., Indiana),
in the 1940s, one of their best friends was an elder George Pontius, who was
retired from industry and became one of the nation's finest restorers of
"primitive" American antiques. Pontius was a student of Wallace Nutting, the
American
authority on antiques during the first half of the 20th century.
My parents, who were restoring an 1810 farmstead on Clover Road, in the
country south of Mishawaka, used to visit old Amish homesteads and barns on
weekends and buy, for a couple hundred dollars or less, Early American antiques which
would be worth tens of thousands of dollars today! My brother and I have
inherited only 3 pieces, all of which were restored by one George Pontius.
I would LOVE to connect with this family! However, I have also learned, from
the 1930 census, that there was another, "George W. Pontius", b. 1886 in New
York, living in South Bend at the time. He is very likely a relative of the
man in question, and he could have been the antiques guy in question. What
say ye?
In any case, I would be THRILLED to make a connection with the Pontius family!
Pontius is a Roman name---and the genealogical interest is obvious!
---Bob Robertson
Napa Valley, California