Thank you for the link to the info. Unfortunately, the person who posted it is no longer a TreasureNet member, so I cannot ask him/her where the "started in 1865" info came from. I'm interested in finding the source of that info because it contradicts what the button-backmark book says about the start-date of the M.C. Lilley Company. One of that book's co-authors, Bruce Bazelon, is a personal friend of mine. He will want to hear about any info in his book that is incorrect. But I'll need solid proof that "started in 1865" is correct. I can't just say "Hey Bruce, somebody on the internet says the Lilley Company started in 1865."
The info in the backmark-book comes from researching the Columbus Ohio "City Business Directory" archives. The "City Directory" is an annual listing of every business in the city. (Most major cities have that type of Business Directory listing, published every year, going back decades or even centuries, depending on the age of the city.) It seems like if the Lilley Company was in business in 1865, it would have been listed in the 1865 City Directory. The backmark-book says "Lilley was a bookbinder and publisher who entered the business of making [fraternal] lodge regalia in 1870." If solid proof exists that Lilley started that business in 1865, Bruce Bazelon will want to know about it, to "fix" the book in its next printing. But I can't just tell him "somebody on the internet says so."
