Thanks so much!
I am at my partners parents house at the moment, I can't wait to get home to try and work it out. I will report back with success (hopefully).
John,
It is actually a treadle machine, I did some serial number homework and came up with the year and model 15, but no where could I find the 15-__ designation. Also, with none of it in front of me at the moment, I am relatively sure I have the needle in backwards, with the flat to the right. So my plan of attack tonight is going to be reverse the needle, see if problem persists, then start the tension/threading inspection. I'll be reading up on the tension thread until then. And although the threading on this machine seems elementary compared to the industrial machine I learned to sew on, I'm somewhat confident I managed to thread it wrong. We'll see!
Again, thanks kenmore and Miriam and John.
-jake