Last week I asked a Smarty-Pants question. What is the numismatic connection to Nicoll theTailor? The answer may appear somewhere in this article.

I will begin the story with William G. Jerrems, Sr. He was born in 1843 in Gainsborough,England, and went to Australia with his parents in 1859. He was married at Gainsborough toMary Adelaide Nicoll in 1867. She was the daughter of Alexander Nicoll, proprietor of "Nicollthe Tailor." William sold his printing and publishing business in 1875 to move to America, thenLondon, then New York in 1881 to work for his father-in-law. He died at French Lick, Indiana,on May 4, 1905.

In 1885, Alexander Nicoll retired from the firm of Nicoll the Tailor. He transferred ownership ofthe New York and eastern stores to his son Donald. He sold the western stores to his son-in-law,William G. Jerrems, Sr. The business became Wm. Jerrems & Sons with Nicoll the Tailorretained as a trade name.

William Jerrems, Jr. was born in Sydney, Australia, on February 5, 1869. He was the son ofWilliam George Jerrems, Sr. (1843-1905) and Mary Adelaide Nicoll (1847-1930), the daughterof Nicoll the Tailor. William came to America in 1881 on the ship City of Chester. WilliamJerrems Jr. managed the distribution center in Chicago.

William had three brothers in the family business. Arthur Wallace Jerrems (1872-1931), studiedat Harvard, Alexander Nicoll Jerrems (1874-1948) was a football star at Yale and coach for theMinnesota Golden Gophers before joining the family business, and Donald Edwin Jerrems(1885-1930).

William Jerrems Jr. was married three times. He was married (1) in a small wedding at the homeof the bride in Hinsdale, Illinois, to Frances Lee Hinckley (1870-1953) on January 21, 1891, andhad a son Walter Hinckley Jerrems (1891-1968). They were later divorced.

He was married (2) in Chicago to Genevieve Byford (1876-1930) on April 21, 1897. Thewedding was small at the home of the bride, but a thousand invitations were sent out for thereception. They had a son William George Jerrems III (1904-1969) and a daughter and divorcedin 1910 on grounds of desertion.

Genevieve Byford was a scofflaw. In 1907 she was arrested for speeding 21 MPH in Glencoe,Illinois. She paid a fine of $15.

He was married (3) to Anna Phillips Stapler (1886-1953) in about 1913. They had a son,Alexander Stapler Jerrems (1919-1995).

William G. Jerrems began collecting coins in 1882 after moving to America. He got asubscription after seeing the first issue of The Numismatist published by Dr. George Heath. Hejoined the American Numismatic Association as member #3 following Heath and Charles T.Tatman. During the organization of the club, George Heath appointed him as temporary presidentat age 22. At an organizational meeting with six attending in Chicago, he was elected 1 st ANAPresident and served October 7, 1891, to October 5, 1892.

Doctor Heath reported that Jerrems was quite helpful with the early organization of theAssociation. However, there were no specific contributions mentioned. His limited legacy was asthe first president.

It might be remembered that Augustus B. Sage was involved with formation of the AmericanNumismatic Society at age 17. Jerrems was president of the American Numismatic Associationat age 22. Perhaps they had discussions at early meetings about how to get older membersinvolved.

Jerrems advertised in The Numismatist under the name of Nicoll the Tailor. One ad stated:

In 1903, Jerrems joined five others for dinner at the Union League Club in Chicago to discussformation of a local club. On January 4, 1904, the Chicago Numismatic Society was formed withJerrems elected the first president. In 1912, Branch Number 1 of The American NumismaticAssociation was formed with many members from the Chicago Numismatic Society It lastedless than a year. The Chicago Numismatic Society fizzled out in 1915.

The ANA Branch No. 1 woke from slumber in 1917 and the Chicago Coin Club was formed in1919. I have reason to believe it is still doing well.

William went to California between 1908 and 1913 to manage the store in San Francisco. In1913 he returned to Chicago. In 1917, he left Chicago for Kansas City to manage the store there.

William retired from Nicoll the Tailor in 1930. I found one report that he went blind in the1930's. Arthur W. Jerrems became president of the board with Alexander N. Jerrems and DonaldE. Jerrems as vice presidents. Donald Edwin Jerrems died by suicide in 1930.

With the retirement of William and death of Donald, Nicoll the Tailor was out of business to bereplaced by Jerrems Tailors. They were still thinking of coins as shown by this 1930 ad:

Jerrems discussed his collecting interests in an article in The Numismatist for October 1941.

He went on to discuss his other collections:

William died at home in Kansas City, Missouri, on December 16, 1945. He was cremated andinterred at Elmwood Cemetery in Kansas City.

He formed one of the "complete" sets of The Numismatist that has been sold by George F. Kolbethree times. I assume the current owner continues to add to it.

Jerrems appears with Heath and Hooper on a medal for the 1966 diamond anniversary of theANA. The 3-inch bronze medal was designed by Frank Gasparro and struck at the PhiladelphiaMint. A comment on the medal was that the face of Jerrems was too plain to make a goodsculptural subject.

In 1891, the name of Nicoll the Tailor would have been familiar to millions of Americans. Fewof them would have cared that he was president of the American Numismatic Association.

Julia wrote:

To read the complete item description, see:
1800's 25¢ Nicoll The Tailor ((ADVERTISEMENT NOTE)) Obsolete Note(https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1800s-25-nicoll-tailor-advertisement-4734919428)

Sleuth Julia adds:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ALEXANDER NICOLL (1821-1895)(https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n03a16.html)