By Bob Cudmore

Outdoorsman, historian and educator Donald R. Williams of Gloversville owes a lot to his grandfather, John Whitman.

"He was a carpenter, Adirondack guide and farmer up in the Adirondacks," Williams said. "And I inherited all my love of the Adirondacks and my love of tools and all those things from my grandfather."

Williams' latest book is a hefty volume with plenty of pictures called "Grandfather's Tool Chest."

Williams continued, "He was my inspiration for writing the book and getting all that information down that includes the stories in the ways the tools were used, over 400 tools. It's a book that weighs almost four pounds and includes 400 color photographs and all the stories that go with the tools."

A "spud" was used to pull bark off hemlock trees. Hemlock bark was used to produce tannic acid for tanning leather, a process that provided employment in the north woods especially in the 1800s.

"Bung starters" were used to help install bungs or wooden plugs in barrels.

Another tool looks like a tennis racquet holding a u-shaped piece of cedar. It was used to fluff up feather beds.

Williams said he thinks burlap bags can be categorized as tools, "They make work easier, an extension of our hands, making it possible (for people) to get out of the caves."

Burlap can be made from flax which grows in the field. Burlap bags are used to carry potatoes and other objects, even an order of groceries. Burlap has been used for wallpaper, rag rugs and sack races.

The uses of some of the tools in Williams' book are not known. He tried to find the purpose of an object that looks like a polished rolling pin. The Adirondack Museum made inquiries and searched the Internet to no avail. "Right now we have no idea what it is," Williams said.

The cover of the book is like the cover of a tool chest. Williams said he started collecting tools 50 years ago. "As I collected the tools I collected the stories.

The indexed book showcases tools of various trades, household tools and specialized tools. The book costs $55 and is available at Mysteries on Main Street in Johnstown and by mail from Williams at 435 North Main Street, Gloversville, N.Y. 12078. It's not on Amazon. Williams said he was afraid of being lost in the shuffle in the huge online operation.

Williams, now 88, worked 35 years in education, 20 years as principal of Kinsgborough Elementary School in Gloversville. When he applied for his teacher's pension some years ago he told the clerk that his great aunt, Emma Timmerman, had set a record for the longest pension by living to 111. "I'm going to break that record," Williams declared. He and his wife Beverly have five children.

His first history book placed frontiersman Nick Stoner as a fictional character in 33 local history stories. Since then Williams has been a prolific author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.

For 20 years Williams wrote a weekly column for the Recorder, Leader Herald and two other newspapers. His articles on history and the outdoors have appeared regularly in several magazines.

Like his grandfather, Williams is an Adirondack guide, founding president of an association of guides, "The more we educate people about the outdoors more will care for the outdoors."

Williams said it's good and bad that more people are discovering the Adirondacks, "What are you going to do with these huge crowds of people? It's good they're getting to the outdoors but it's also got to be controlled and watched over."