3491 E. Deckerville Road, Cass City, Michigan 48726
Let me start by saying I’m 46 years old. The first gas
engine I ever saw was my grandfather’s 12 HP Economy engine
that he bought in 1961 for $10.00. When he died in 1965, my Uncle
Gerald Babcock got the engine and showed it that same year at the
Saginaw Valley Live Steam Show in Caro, Michigan, in memory of my
grandfather, Zebe Babcock. Much later, in 1987 I bought the 12 HP
engine from my uncle.
However, my first engine was a 1? HP Hercules, serial number
106178. It came from my great-uncle Ben Babcock. He sold it to my
uncle Franklin D. Babcock for $8.00. and I bought it in 1966 from
him for $8.00. I paid for it with dimes and quarters. To finance my
first car, a 1962 Dodge, I sold this engine in 1971 for $35.00. It
went to the Diamondale, Michigan, area.
I would really like to find the engine again. If anyone knows of
or owns number 106178, please let me know.