Posted 6 years ago
Gundalow
(24 items)
This sterling silver medal was awarded in 1902 as first prize by the late Alva Nelson. The name of the recipient was not engraved on the medal which apparently was awarded for winning at a card game tournament at Lske Hopatcong in NJ. It was used as a pocket watch fob by my late uncle, Benjamin Crum, Mt. Glen Lakes, NJ. Unlikely that I will be able to identify recipient as Lake Hopatcong Historical Society does not have newsletters from 1902.
I have come across items like this from time to time and wanted to return them to family, but didn't know who was family. I found out that most times a prize or an award was mentioned in a local newspaper archive. You have the year and the place and the event so that narrows it down.
Thanks for the tip.
I found Alva Nelson mentioned in the August 21, 1924 edition of The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey · Page 3. I couldn't look deeper without paying to look. I suspect tracing him might well shed light on the mystery.
Fhrjr2
In speaking with a representative of the Lake Hopatcong Historical association, I learned that the association records did not contain any 1902 editions of the Lake Hopatcong newsletter, “The Breeze”; thus he could not check for award announcements. He did advise that Alva Nelson resided in Allendale, NJ, a town that borders my hometown, and that he passed away in 1938.