![gem city college school of horology gem city college school of horology](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/31/05/9831056438afdbeab539726cc97ccba5.jpg)
I thought that was a real shame, because this guy was exceptionally good.
![gem city college school of horology gem city college school of horology](https://i.etsystatic.com/5893111/r/il/21d4eb/3636248236/il_794xN.3636248236_oubp.jpg)
No mention of him ever working as an engraver. Don't think I have seen better lettering work.ĭid some Google research and soon found out he had died recently, graduated from Bradley Engraving School in 1955, and then two years later became an electrician, which he did for the rest of his life. Glad I got them because the engraving work is really great. The pictures were lousy, but it did seem like the the work was good, and the plates in great condition, so I took a chance on them even though the starting price was quite high. I bought about forty of these plates in a package on Ebay, from a seller that said they bought them at a live auction. This is really kind of interesting looking back at the turn of the 20th century and watchmaking education in America.Īttached are some 2x3" copper plates done by Vernon Gregory, a student at Bradley.
![gem city college school of horology gem city college school of horology](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4c/f5/b1/4cf5b14a1eebce284cce95a558fd0ae6.jpg)
There is a nice article in the local press about the history of the school building, 3 years before Bradley Polytechnic was officially founded. Chamberlain says that DeLong was a watchmaking instructor at Bradley in 1894 which was approximately the time that Lydia Bradley bought the Parsons school and moved it to Peoria and housed it in the empty Peoria Watch Co. Eventually when Bradley University decided to dispose of the watchmaking school, it was bought by Gem City Business college in Quincy Illinois.Ĭharles DeLong is listed in First Decade as an engraving instructor. Among other tidbits was the information that the Parsons School of Horology in LaPorte Indiana, had been purchased and moved to Peoria to become the watchmaking school at Bradley. In responding to a question in a thread on engraving, I got directed to the history of Bradley Polytechnic and spent most of the morning reading First Decade, a history and commemorative book on the institute.