Fenton Historical Society and The A. J. Phillips Museum recently issued the following announcement.
Did You Know...?
Fenton was home to an aviation school from 1913-1916!
Osbert Edwin Williams, a native of Pennsylvania, began the airplane production company O.E. Williams Airplane Company in 1912 as well as O.E. Wililams Flying School in 1913. At the Airplane Company shop-- located about where the Community Center is now-- students worked on repairing and building two-place pusher biplanes which were then used for flight training. The Williams's flying field was located on the north side of Long Lake. During the winter months, they would practice flying the planes off the frozen Long Lake and in the spring they would use an established field nearby. Albert Boshek, another key figure in early aviation, was another instructor at the school. In 1916, Williams decided to move his school to Mobile, Alabama. The next year, on October 25, he was killed while flying a plane in heavy winds. He was 45 years old.
Every single student at William's school eventually died doing what they loved: flying planes. Their names are as follows:
Albert Boshek
Ransom Fowler
Don McGee
Harold Burner
Leroy Wilson
Cyrus Bettis
John Burns
E.G. Knapp
J. Thad Johnson
Sid Roberts
Original source can be found here.
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