Tracking a couple of Pierces

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I just came across some registrations from 1929-1937 for 2 Pierce Arrows that belonged to the Ball family in Mahanoy City, PA. I don’t see them in the current roster.

The first car was a Series 36, that was listed as a limousine and was registered to Anne E. Ball. The registrations were from 1929-1935. This is car number 362093 engine 362110.

The second car was a 1935 845 144″ WB, listed as a sedan, that was registered 5-27-35 and appears to have replaced the Series 36. This car was 2590087 engine 310332.I have registration thru 37.

Researching Anne E. Ball, by way of a 1910 census, I was able to track her to 99 E. Main Street, Mahanoy City, PA, North East of Hershey and North West of Pottstown. She was 45 in 1910, listed as an office clerk and is the wife of Harrison Ball (46) and mother to a daughter, Marion (19) and a son, Elber.(24)

Harrison Ball appears to have been very prominent in the town being listed as

President, Mahanoy City Electric, Light, Heat and Power, Company.

President, Mahanoy City Gas Company

Owner of the Tri-Weekly Record, a local news paper

President, Union National Bank and listed in the census as a Lumber Merchant. I can’t tell for sure but there may have been 2 Harrison’s, dad & son??

Do we have any record of these cars?

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

There must have been a very good Pierce Salesman in the area as I also found the following

Chassis 808627 Engine 808665 which looks to be a ’26 Series 80

It was owned by Harry Houser, 239 W. Mahanoy Street, Mahanoy, PA.

It was registered in 31 and 32.

So there were 3 PA in this little town at about the same time.

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

There was a lot of money from oil in parts of PA back then. I know of a family that bought three new Pierce Arrows at the same time in the ’20’s from owning some wells. They ended up selling everything a few years later when they dried up.

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Jim,

The Drake well in Oil City, Pa is kind of the start. By the way, your new car is Gorgeous.

Bill

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Bill,

I will do some looking up of numbers next year, err, I mean, next week.

That is, if I remember.

Happy New Year to all!

Peter

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Gents,

The hills of that part of Pennsylvania remain dotted with little oil rigs.

I knew of a number of folks (in my youth) who owned a few pumps and when the price of oil spiked, they would start pumping.

Then, when the price dropped, they would stop because it cost more to suck it out of the earth than it was worth.

My Uncle Joe, the second owner of my P-A, had had a guy working for him who held an annual pig-roast, and for the young buck’s amusement, he had drivable VW tubs in which we could scoot up and around the hills of North Eastern PA.

No seat belts, no roll bar!

The roads on which we scooted were oil pump access roads and we passed dozens of pumps on our sojourns.

What a HOOT!

Peter

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Peter,

That was back in the day you worried if you got the mineral rights with your land purchase. I don’t think they came with my condo.

Bill

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Bill,

You have “found”” three Pierce-Arrows that do not appear in the PAS Master Vehicle Register. I will see to it that they are recorded.”

[Author]

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