Handed down the generations since late 1700's. Brought out my family heirloom a Tyrolean Smoking Pipe that my GGG Grandfather Joseph Smith (1740-1815) (not the mormon founder lol) had in Augsburg,Bavaria before he came over and settled in New York state (Tompkins County) in 1763. The Family Bible notes he was a maker of cow bells and sadly fell off a hay wagon and died in 1815 in Dryden, NY. (Thankfully not before he had a son in 1808 who was my GG Grandfather Byron Isaac Smith) . Not sure the exact dating on this heirloom except the pipe was brought over from the old country in 1763. Wish there was some better documentation on who may of smoked this pipe between Bavaria and NY.
Pictured is my GG Grandfather Byron Isaac Smith (1808-1886) and he gave the pipe to my Great Grandfather Byron Alonzo Smith (1838-1904), also pictured who handed down the pipe to grandfather when he was in his 20's (his picture taken in 1912) and lived in Houston...then my dear Dad took custody of it in 1943 when he was 29 in Oklahoma City. The pipe then traveled to the following states of residence that my folks had in between... Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and finally Indiana , where i was born in 1955. So for sure the pipe was not smoked between 1943-1973...Thankfully Dad had this pipe packed away safely.
To my knowledge it was last smoked by my grandfather sometime before he passed in 1943. My dad was a pipe smoker but said he never smoked it during his pipe smoking days for fear of breaking the porcelain. He gave it to me when i was 18 back in 1973. It is still in remarkably great shape and i have smoked it several times in recent years.
Hope to attach a quick vid of this pipe in action. Both my pipe smoking sons ages 33 and 29 want this pipe after i kick the bucket, so it will be interesting in that regard. It was proposed that i bring the pipe to the next family gathering and do a vid of all 3 of us passing this historic pipe around. May the circle be unbroken!
