Bob,

 

You are doing some great research on this sword and what the presentation means. I does give us pause on Memorial Day weekend to think about just what this hobby entails. It is more than just accumulating military artifacts. This sword personalilzes the experience of this whole family who was touched by the war.

 

Good work!

 

Today I learned that only 17 American soldiers were killed in combat in the Philippines during the Spanish American War, so anything associated with one of them is probably quite rare. Almost half of those killed there were from the 10th Pennsylvania, so it had a big impact on central PA, especially in the area around Mt. Pleasant.

 

A sobering statistic from this tropical war: 332 Americans died in combat, but 2,957 died from diseases such as yellow fever, malaria and dysentery.

 

The Spanish lost between 55,000 and 60,000 men and 90% of them died from diseases.

 

For both sides, the real enemy was mosquitos and bacteria.

Bob,

This has been a very interesting post. Thanks for sharing the information with us.

 

Varangian,

Your knowledge contnues to amaze me after all these years. Good job!

Well I was contacted today by someone who suggested the "BB" could stand for Boys Brigade.

 

I had known this was an active organization in the United Kingdom, but in researching this tip I found it was also very active in some parts of the USA and was much more military-like than the Boy Scouts (which came along after the Boys Brigade).

 

There was in fact a Company C, Second Regiment of the Boys Brigade in Pennsylvania before this sword was presented in 1900. I could only find one reference for it, in the obituary of a man who served with the company in the1880's-90's (the scan of the newspaper article is not the greatest):

 

 

Here's a couple of articles about Boys Brigade activities in Pennsylvania around the turn of the 20th century.

 

 

 

And this mentions the Boys Brigade AND the unit Jesse was in when killed in Manila.

 

I have to say that the activity of the Pennsylvania Boys Brigade in and around 1900 and the style of ID'ing regiments (i.e. "Second Regiment Boys Brigade") really does point to the Boys Brigade as being the "BB" of the scabbard insscription.

 

In 1900 Pennsylvania has about 2,000 boys in 100 BB companies, with the most activity being around Pittsburgh. The Boys Brigade started as a church organization, but in the PA, at least, officers who sometimes also held rank in the National Guard ran units, as did senior executives from some of the largest corporations of the time.

 

While the "Bucktail Brigade" makes nice possibility for the "BB," I can find no supporting evidence of a Second Regiment veterans' group or other support for it having been involved in something like a sword presentation in the 1900's.

 

However, the Boys Brigade was very active in ceremonial functions and based on what I have read, it's hard to imagine they would not have been involved in the 1900 funereal of a solider killed in combat in the Spanish American War.

 

Here's a few more period articles showing more about the BB:

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo of a Boy's Brigade unit. In the original photo (which is badly faded) the banner in the center can almost be read, appears to be the name of a Methodist? church and possibly Pittsburgh.

 

 

I just got two original 1896 newspapers clips about the Admiral Dewey letter to the soldier's widow. Wonder were the original letter went?

 

Oh well, it's nice to have at least these bits of original documentation instead of just the digital docs found online.

 

At least they reprinted the letter in full.

 

It's kind of amazing the newspaper clippings outlasted(?) the letter.

Thanks for sharing this sword with us it is a very thought provoking piece and deserves a little bit of everybody's time to sit back and study it !!! i also respect all the research work you have been doing it is excellent !!! also the knight head looks very much like the WKC symbol helmet, they where german knife makers and i know they made swords in the period hope this helps !!! bring on more great research

Fascinating thread and even better sword! All the newspaper articles are interesting to read. I wonder if the letter ended up in a museum some where or if it is still in a collectors hand.

also the knight head looks very much like the WKC symbol helmet

 

Yes this was produced by Weyersberg and Kirschbaum which later became know as just WKC.

Fascinating thread and even better sword! All the newspaper articles are interesting to read. I wonder if the letter ended up in a museum some where or if it is still in a collectors hand.

 

The sword and the newspaper clips have been in the family until now. The family history had the sword belonging to the brother of the KIA soldier. After I did the research and discovered the true story I contacted the family member who sold me the sword. I mentioned the Dewey letter and she recalled seeing something about that in the boxes full of old documents. It turned out to be the articles and she gave those to me. The widow who received the letter from Dewey had no direct descendants (her daughter died young - note the last sentence of the article). I doubt the Dewey letter ever left the family, considering that the sword and newspaper articles didn't.

 

The sword and the newspaper clips have been in the family until now. The family history had the sword belonging to the brother of the KIA soldier. After I did the research and discovered the true story I contacted the family member who sold me the sword. I mentioned the Dewey letter and she recalled seeing something about that in the boxes full of old documents. It turned out to be the articles and she gave those to me. The widow who received the letter from Dewey had no direct descendants (her daughter died young - note the last sentence of the article). I doubt the Dewey letter ever left the family, considering that the sword and newspaper articles didn't.

Interesting, that letter would be quite the find to reunite with the sword. At least you have original articles, that was a find in itself. I hope she scoured the documents for anything else related. What a great piece with of history. Thanks for sharing it.

very interesting thread to read. Thanks for sharing. I was going to say that the knight's head logo was WKC in Solingen. This makes me wonder at the extensive history associated with all the unmarked swords in people's collections. Just think if this sword were not engraved. We would never know and never have the pleasure of unraveling these mysteries and enjoying the history behind it.