Challmer Dickson was a husband, father, steel mill worker, and football player who died far too young.
He played football at the dawn of the organized sport, for the McKeesport Olympics team. Photos from the latter 1890s show Chal and other players in striped jerseys and also wearing the distinctive "O" sweater of the Olympics. The team was founded in 1896. In that era, the ball still resembled a rugby ball and helmets were nearly unheard of.
A photo dated 1895, when Chal was sixteen years old, shows that he and his older brother Ben Dickson played for an unidentified football team before the Olympics were founded. The team, possibly the Crimsons, was probably associated with an athletic club in or around McKeesport.
When the NFL (originally called the APFA) came along in 1920, it quickly began to schedule games on Sundays. Pennsylvania laws prohibited Sunday football games; the "O"s and most other Pennsylvania teams did not join the league right away. Even after the laws changed, the Olympics remained non-league competitors against NFL teams.
Chal did not live long enough to see the Olympics win a 1929 championship game against a team from Pittsburgh called the Majestics. The losing team was led by Art Rooney, founder of the Steelers.
Challmer Dickson married Martha Elizabeth Pearce in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on May 25, 1901. The couple had three daughters: Melissa, Cree, and Cristy.
After holding several other steel-making jobs at National Rolling Works in McKeesport, Chal took a position as a shearman. In 1906, he was killed in a terrifying accident at the mill. His father-in-law John Pearce, superintendent of the mill, attested to the facts on Challmer's death certificate. Challmer was only 26 years old when he died, leaving behind a widow and three tiny daughters.
Photos from the estate of Melissa LaVerne Dickson. If you copy them, please give credit to this good lady for her meticulous care of family heritage.
Sources:
Rooney: A Sporting Life. Rob Ruck, Maggie Jones Patterson, Michael P. Weber, p 72
Birth record of daughter Mildred Challmer Cristy Dickson
Marriage record, Westmoreland County Orphans Court
He played football at the dawn of the organized sport, for the McKeesport Olympics team. Photos from the latter 1890s show Chal and other players in striped jerseys and also wearing the distinctive "O" sweater of the Olympics. The team was founded in 1896. In that era, the ball still resembled a rugby ball and helmets were nearly unheard of.
A photo dated 1895, when Chal was sixteen years old, shows that he and his older brother Ben Dickson played for an unidentified football team before the Olympics were founded. The team, possibly the Crimsons, was probably associated with an athletic club in or around McKeesport.
When the NFL (originally called the APFA) came along in 1920, it quickly began to schedule games on Sundays. Pennsylvania laws prohibited Sunday football games; the "O"s and most other Pennsylvania teams did not join the league right away. Even after the laws changed, the Olympics remained non-league competitors against NFL teams.
Chal did not live long enough to see the Olympics win a 1929 championship game against a team from Pittsburgh called the Majestics. The losing team was led by Art Rooney, founder of the Steelers.
Challmer Dickson married Martha Elizabeth Pearce in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on May 25, 1901. The couple had three daughters: Melissa, Cree, and Cristy.
After holding several other steel-making jobs at National Rolling Works in McKeesport, Chal took a position as a shearman. In 1906, he was killed in a terrifying accident at the mill. His father-in-law John Pearce, superintendent of the mill, attested to the facts on Challmer's death certificate. Challmer was only 26 years old when he died, leaving behind a widow and three tiny daughters.
Photos from the estate of Melissa LaVerne Dickson. If you copy them, please give credit to this good lady for her meticulous care of family heritage.
Sources:
Rooney: A Sporting Life. Rob Ruck, Maggie Jones Patterson, Michael P. Weber, p 72
Birth record of daughter Mildred Challmer Cristy Dickson
Marriage record, Westmoreland County Orphans Court
Challmer Dickson was a husband, father, steel mill worker, and football player who died far too young.
He played football at the dawn of the organized sport, for the McKeesport Olympics team. Photos from the latter 1890s show Chal and other players in striped jerseys and also wearing the distinctive "O" sweater of the Olympics. The team was founded in 1896. In that era, the ball still resembled a rugby ball and helmets were nearly unheard of.
A photo dated 1895, when Chal was sixteen years old, shows that he and his older brother Ben Dickson played for an unidentified football team before the Olympics were founded. The team, possibly the Crimsons, was probably associated with an athletic club in or around McKeesport.
When the NFL (originally called the APFA) came along in 1920, it quickly began to schedule games on Sundays. Pennsylvania laws prohibited Sunday football games; the "O"s and most other Pennsylvania teams did not join the league right away. Even after the laws changed, the Olympics remained non-league competitors against NFL teams.
Chal did not live long enough to see the Olympics win a 1929 championship game against a team from Pittsburgh called the Majestics. The losing team was led by Art Rooney, founder of the Steelers.
Challmer Dickson married Martha Elizabeth Pearce in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on May 25, 1901. The couple had three daughters: Melissa, Cree, and Cristy.
After holding several other steel-making jobs at National Rolling Works in McKeesport, Chal took a position as a shearman. In 1906, he was killed in a terrifying accident at the mill. His father-in-law John Pearce, superintendent of the mill, attested to the facts on Challmer's death certificate. Challmer was only 26 years old when he died, leaving behind a widow and three tiny daughters.
Photos from the estate of Melissa LaVerne Dickson. If you copy them, please give credit to this good lady for her meticulous care of family heritage.
Sources:
Rooney: A Sporting Life. Rob Ruck, Maggie Jones Patterson, Michael P. Weber, p 72
Birth record of daughter Mildred Challmer Cristy Dickson
Marriage record, Westmoreland County Orphans Court
He played football at the dawn of the organized sport, for the McKeesport Olympics team. Photos from the latter 1890s show Chal and other players in striped jerseys and also wearing the distinctive "O" sweater of the Olympics. The team was founded in 1896. In that era, the ball still resembled a rugby ball and helmets were nearly unheard of.
A photo dated 1895, when Chal was sixteen years old, shows that he and his older brother Ben Dickson played for an unidentified football team before the Olympics were founded. The team, possibly the Crimsons, was probably associated with an athletic club in or around McKeesport.
When the NFL (originally called the APFA) came along in 1920, it quickly began to schedule games on Sundays. Pennsylvania laws prohibited Sunday football games; the "O"s and most other Pennsylvania teams did not join the league right away. Even after the laws changed, the Olympics remained non-league competitors against NFL teams.
Chal did not live long enough to see the Olympics win a 1929 championship game against a team from Pittsburgh called the Majestics. The losing team was led by Art Rooney, founder of the Steelers.
Challmer Dickson married Martha Elizabeth Pearce in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on May 25, 1901. The couple had three daughters: Melissa, Cree, and Cristy.
After holding several other steel-making jobs at National Rolling Works in McKeesport, Chal took a position as a shearman. In 1906, he was killed in a terrifying accident at the mill. His father-in-law John Pearce, superintendent of the mill, attested to the facts on Challmer's death certificate. Challmer was only 26 years old when he died, leaving behind a widow and three tiny daughters.
Photos from the estate of Melissa LaVerne Dickson. If you copy them, please give credit to this good lady for her meticulous care of family heritage.
Sources:
Rooney: A Sporting Life. Rob Ruck, Maggie Jones Patterson, Michael P. Weber, p 72
Birth record of daughter Mildred Challmer Cristy Dickson
Marriage record, Westmoreland County Orphans Court
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
