Mystery Photographs of Cecil Township Residents
By Greg Freeman. Copyright Greg Freeman. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
This page contains what we are terming as mystery photographs. These images provide great visual insight into Cecil Township's past, but some/all of the subjects remain unidentified. Elsewhere on the site, there are some similar photos like a few of those contained in the article, The Fifes of Cecil Township. Please take a moment to review these pictures and determine whether you can identify someone and their whereabouts today. We would love to solve these mysteries!
This page contains what we are terming as mystery photographs. These images provide great visual insight into Cecil Township's past, but some/all of the subjects remain unidentified. Elsewhere on the site, there are some similar photos like a few of those contained in the article, The Fifes of Cecil Township. Please take a moment to review these pictures and determine whether you can identify someone and their whereabouts today. We would love to solve these mysteries!
Believed to have been taken at Hill's Station/Montour No. 4, this photograph depicts a group of young men and boys from the mining village. The image obviously contains some handwritten notes captioning the individuals, but it is incomplete.
L to R, back row: Tussy Halo (sp?) (Is this the Tussy Halo we know today?), Nick (Ibukovich?), Gary (?) Havelka (Is this District Judge Havelka?), J. Bruno, ? Borda, Billy (?) Plute, (?) Ackard)
L to R, front row: Billy (?) Siget, (?) Morgan, Poochie (Boyd?), Andy Drilak
L to R, back row: Tussy Halo (sp?) (Is this the Tussy Halo we know today?), Nick (Ibukovich?), Gary (?) Havelka (Is this District Judge Havelka?), J. Bruno, ? Borda, Billy (?) Plute, (?) Ackard)
L to R, front row: Billy (?) Siget, (?) Morgan, Poochie (Boyd?), Andy Drilak
Cecil High School Basketball Team, 1923
(Who are these young men? We do know the individual on the far right on the front row is Ray Kemp, a prominent African American athlete from Cecil who played for he J.P. Rooneys, the semi-pro football team which was reorganized into NFL's Pittsburgh Pirates, the forerunner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.)
(Photograph provided by Mrs. Edward Sienicki, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania)
(Who are these young men? We do know the individual on the far right on the front row is Ray Kemp, a prominent African American athlete from Cecil who played for he J.P. Rooneys, the semi-pro football team which was reorganized into NFL's Pittsburgh Pirates, the forerunner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.)
(Photograph provided by Mrs. Edward Sienicki, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania)
This photograph is believed to have been taken in the early 1920s. Handwritten on the reverse: Left to Right: Pretty Williams, Clarence Kunkle, Paul Veydt, Adrian Teissier (sic), August Behling, Steven Muscovey, John Wagner, Rich Brennan, Nestor Huart, Henry Aubrey. Was this the Cecil High School team? Did the mining villages have their own respective teams?
(Photograph provided by Mrs. Edward Sienicki, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania)
(Photograph provided by Mrs. Edward Sienicki, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania)
CECIL BASEBALL TEAM
For quite some time, we had no information on this photograph and published it here with the questions, "Do you know any of these players?" and "What year would this have been?" To our delight, David Veydt sent us an e-mail with the following information. However, the photo remains here on the "Mystery People Photos" page bcause some identites are yet to be determined. The following is Dave Veydt's e-mail verbatim:
CECIL SANDLOT BASEBALL TEAM
CIRCA 1945-46
CIRCA 1945-46
Back Row L-R: Jim Coleman (manager), local undertaker; ?, Tony Monaco (2nd Baseman); ?; Donald Colligan (Outfielder); Babs Colligan (Pitcher); Vic Nonclercq (Pitcher); ?; Archie Strimel (1st Baseman); Charley Cox (Asst.), lived right across the street from the ballfield
Front Row L-R: Clement Strimel (Batboy), younger brother of Archie Strimel; Maurice Deleire; _______ Tabarella (Left Fielder); Kenny Teissier (Catcher), son of Adrian Teissier in previous photo
I know for a fact that this was not the entire team; my father, Louis Veydt Jr. was on the team from his teenage years up to the early fifties as a player, asst. manager and eventually manager and licensed league umpire, so why he is missing puzzles me. He could have been umpiring at another game or working.
The Washington Co. Sandlot League was a well-run organization that provided residents with great entertainment for many years. Other teams were Muse, Canonsburg, Strabane, Avella, Burgettstown, Meadowlands, Westland, Washington and others I can't recall off-hand.
The rivalry between Muse and Cecil was unparalleld. As a resident of Cecil, I always felt that if we beat Muse on their home-field we were obliged to leave town as quickly as possible following the game.
At my present age of 86, I feel I'm probably the foremost authority on the Cecil team since I rarely missed a game during my father's baseball career. Time dims our memories and it irks me that I can recognize all of those faces but just can't recall all of the names. That being said, if anyone has a specific question about the Washington Co. Sandlot Baseball League I would be more than happy to try to answer it.
David E. Veydt
January 9, 2019Front Row L-R: Clement Strimel (Batboy), younger brother of Archie Strimel; Maurice Deleire; _______ Tabarella (Left Fielder); Kenny Teissier (Catcher), son of Adrian Teissier in previous photo
I know for a fact that this was not the entire team; my father, Louis Veydt Jr. was on the team from his teenage years up to the early fifties as a player, asst. manager and eventually manager and licensed league umpire, so why he is missing puzzles me. He could have been umpiring at another game or working.
The Washington Co. Sandlot League was a well-run organization that provided residents with great entertainment for many years. Other teams were Muse, Canonsburg, Strabane, Avella, Burgettstown, Meadowlands, Westland, Washington and others I can't recall off-hand.
The rivalry between Muse and Cecil was unparalleld. As a resident of Cecil, I always felt that if we beat Muse on their home-field we were obliged to leave town as quickly as possible following the game.
At my present age of 86, I feel I'm probably the foremost authority on the Cecil team since I rarely missed a game during my father's baseball career. Time dims our memories and it irks me that I can recognize all of those faces but just can't recall all of the names. That being said, if anyone has a specific question about the Washington Co. Sandlot Baseball League I would be more than happy to try to answer it.
David E. Veydt
For those unidentified players, so indicated with a question mark in Mr. Veydt's e-mail, we would sure like to know who they are and declare "Mystery solved!" Do you know any of these individuals? Feel free to contact the Historical Society at cecilhistory@yahoo.com with any information you might have.
