|
SYRACUSE BASE BALL CLUB
There were some
signs before 1858 that Syracuse would be a fertile ground for baseball clubs.
Town ball was played near Clinton Square as early as the 1830s, prompting the
Syracuse Common Council ordinance to ban ball-playing in both Clinton and
Hanover Square in 1845. (Ron Gersbacher, “Play Ball! A History of Early
Organized Baseball in Syracuse,” Portraits of the Past (a publication of
the Onondaga Historical Association) 7 (1994), n.p.) An 1856 article reported
that, “Ball playing is all the fashion now. It’s excellent exercise, and the
men as well as youngsters enjoy it.” (Syracuse Standard, April 30, 1856.
In an unusual move, the writer of the article expressed regret that “Fashion
deprives” womanhood of “the benefits that might be derived from indulgence in
such sports.”)
A list of rules
based upon the Knickerbocker Rules was even printed in the Syracuse Standard,
apparently in 1855. (A copy of the clipping in the files of the Onondaga
Historical Association is hand-dated May 16, 1855. The list includes 17 rules
and is based upon the Knickerbocker Rules, but the numbering is different and
there are a number of other differences.) Nonetheless, it took several more
years before baseball activity in Syracuse began to take shape. Some subsequent
accounts suggested that the Syracuse Base Ball Club began play in 1857, which is
entirely possible, but contemporary documentation of this claim is lacking.
Instead, an article in the Standard on October 6, 1858, reported that the
“Syracuse Base Ball Club has been organized but a few weeks” and listed the
officers of the new club, including president George Grattan, vice president
William H. H. Gere, secretary M. H. Avery and treasurer Frank Carroll. (Syracuse
Standard, October 6, 1858)
Once established,
the club showed considerable enthusiasm, playing at least seven intrasquad
contests that were reported in the Standard during October and November
of 1858. The first two games seem to have been rather informal – six players
facing seven in the first one and ten playing against nine in the second, with
“short fielders” and “long fielders” scattered about as needed. In addition,
the two sides in these matches were chosen by the captains. (Syracuse
Standard, October 6 and 15, 1858)
But the remaining
contests became more structured, with clubs of nine per side representing the
married and single members. The club established grounds for these matches near
West Fayette and Geddes Streets and spectators began turning out to watch.
According to Syracuse historian Ron Gersbacher, the club even added reversible
belts (black on one side, white on the other) to their uniforms in order to
choose and distinguish the two sides. (Ron Gersbacher, “Play Ball! A History of
Early Organized Baseball in Syracuse,” Portraits of the Past (a
publication of the Onondaga Historical Association) 7 (1994), n.p.) The play
also showed signs of improvement, with increased emphasis on “scientific
playing” and on showing “an eye to the strong points, and a will and muscle to
go in for them, that would do honor to much older clubs.” (Syracuse Standard,
October 15 and November 8, 1858)
Competition between
the married and single members of the Syracuse Base Ball Club continued well
after the weather began to turn cold. After one November game, the Standard’s
reporter noted that a large crowd of spectators had turned out despite the
inclement conditions. The writer added optimistically that, “the interest they
manifested during the progress of the game, showed that Base Ball is bound to be
an institution in Syracuse as well as elsewhere.” (Syracuse Standard,
November 11, 1858) A few days later, he added, “Base ball playing has become an
institution in our goodly town, sure enough. The Club formed here during the
season has increased to a goodly number, and with numbers comes good players and
good spunk.” (Syracuse Standard, November 15, 1858)
When the spring of
1859 rolled around, it became clear that baseball had indeed taken root. The
Syracuse Base Ball Club organized in early May and set up grounds on Lodi Street
and regular practice days. (Syracuse Standard, May 9, 1859) After
beginning the season with another married versus single contest, it began facing
outside competition.
The first such match
was scheduled to be played against a club called the Salt Point Club, but there
is no record of the result. (Syracuse Standard, July 6, 1859) By
contrast, the first contest between the Syracuse Base Ball Club and an outside
opponent attracted very thorough coverage. The match was played in Canastota on
August 18, 1859, and the emphasis was on ceremony.
“The Canastota
Club,” began a game account, “desirous of a pleasant day’s sport in competition
with one of older date than their own, sent a friendly challenge to the Syracuse
Club, which was accepted, and the game came off yesterday afternoon at
Canastota.” The Syracuse players brought several other club members along with
them and the party was “cordially received” by their hosts.
The playing field
itself proved most unsatisfactory, as “too much grass formed a very slippery and
insecure footing, and the very many little depressions and elevations of an
ordinary meadow field rendered entirely uncertain the course of a bounding
ball.” Nevertheless, “good fellowship” prevailed throughout the match, as there
was “not a harsh or unkind word between the contestants … all and each quietly
but vigorously plied himself to the game.”
When play concluded
with the Syracuse Base Ball Club victorious by a 44-38 count, the winners “gave
three lusty cheers and a tiger for the Canastota Club, which was promptly and as
heartily responded to by Capt. Plank’s men; and then all adjourned to – (did you
think I was going to say drink? – you are mistaken – I did not see a drop of
the ardent taken during the afternoon) – supper.” After the two clubs did
“ample justice” to the feast prepared by the host nine the Syracuse Club
returned home and passed a resolution thanking the Canastota Club for the
generous hospitality. (Syracuse Standard, August 19, 1859)
It was a model of
how a baseball match was supposed to be conducted, and the same spirit prevailed
when a rematch was staged in Syracuse in September. After the contest concluded
with another narrow win for the Syracuse Base Ball Club, the two clubs enjoyed a
hearty supper at the Timby & Sherman saloon and “the best of feeling
prevailed.” The Canastota Club presented the host club with the baseball that
symbolized victory, toasts and brief speeches were made, and a good time was had
by all. (Syracuse Standard, September 16, 1859)
Good fellowship
again prevailed at a match played in Oswego on September 23. After the Syracuse
Club beat the host Frontier Club, an Oswego newspaper wrote that the visitors
“are a fine looking company of men, and are very handsomely uniformed. Each
member is a gentleman in every respect.” (Oswego Times, reprinted in
Syracuse Standard, September 24, 1859)
In the next recorded
match of the Syracuse Club, however, a new spirit of competitiveness emerged for
the first time. The opponents were the Olympics, a local club that had already
lost to the Syracuse Base Ball Club at least once, although the date and score
are unknown. As a result, it was announced that the rematch on September 28
would feature the Olympics and the second nine of the Syracuse Club.
Unfortunately, there
was confusion on this point and on almost every other aspect of the ill-fated
contest. A game account reported that “many of the players” who showed up to
represent the Syracuse Club were in fact members of the first nine, although
this was denied by both clubs. Worse, only seven Syracuse players were on hand
at the scheduled hour and the umpire had already announced a forfeit when two
more men arrived. The Olympics sportingly agreed to go ahead with the match,
but the late start made it impossible to play nine innings. Some sort of
agreement was reached, but when darkness began to fall with the score close, it
turned out that the two sides had very different understandings of what had been
decided. Play was finally ended in the seventh inning with the Olympics one run
ahead.
An account of the
game in the Standard dwelled mostly on positive aspects, describing the
fine fielding plays that were made and the home runs that “were unequalled, and
elicited hearty applause.” But the author of the account was apparently a
member of the Olympic Club and his comments about the disputed points provoked
more controversy. A member of the Syracuse Club angrily denounced misstatements
in the account and accused the Olympics of doing “all in their power to protract
the game” while they were winning so that the umpire would have to stop play.
Meanwhile a member of the Olympics conceded that the Syracuse Club had not used
members of its first nine and tried to be conciliatory, remarking that “the
Syracuse Club … has always taken the deepest interest in our welfare.” Yet he
couldn’t resist the urge to add that his club did “not wish to make our victory
appear greater than it really is,” thereby further antagonizing the members of
the Syracuse Club who disputed the outcome.
For his part, the
editor of the Standard was disgusted by the squabbling. He apologized to
his readers for publishing the letters at all, explaining, “We were not aware
that the report published yesterday, contained anything of an objectionable
character, and having admitted that we can do no less than publish an answer.
But we desire to give notice that we do not consider a discussion of Base Ball
disputes, of sufficient interest to the public to fill our columns hereafter.” (Syracuse
Standard, September 29 and 30, 1859)
Not surprisingly,
the Onondaga Historical Association’s collection of clippings from the
Standard includes no more articles about baseball. It’s possible that the
Standard did continue covering baseball and that those issues were
unavailable or were not searched. But the timing suggests that the editor of
the Standard had decided that baseball no longer merited attention.
This means that we
don’t know much about the activities of the Syracuse Base Ball Club in October
and November of 1859. It’s possible that weather or scheduling problems
prevented additional play. But an article the next year stated that the
Frontier Club of Oswego had been beaten twice by the Syracuse Base Ball Club in
1859, and the lack of known coverage of the second match suggests that the
squabbles had prompted the Standard to boycott baseball. (Syracuse
Journal, September 22, 1960)
In any event, the
Syracuse Base Ball Club began preparation for another season of play in the
spring of 1860. Officers were elected, details attended to, and the campaign
launched with another game between the club’s single and married members.
Significantly, however, it was a new paper – the Journal – that carried
accounts of the club’s doings. (Syracuse Journal, May 3, 19 and 23, 1860)
Matches against
rival clubs soon followed, but they proved far more contentious than in 1859 (or
at least the Journal was far more willing to report on disputes than the
Standard had been). In particular, a series against a club from
Cazenovia caused no end of controversy. The first match was played on neutral
grounds in the village of Chittenango and attracted a sizable crowd that
included “hundreds of ladies” along with ball players from the towns of Oneida,
Canastota, Chittenango, Syracuse, Manlius and Cazenovia. “Considerable sums of
money” were bet on the contest, which saw the Cazenovia club come out on top by
the score of 32 to 20. (Syracuse Journal, August 1, 1860)
The second game was
played in Cazenovia and this time it was the Syracuse nine that emerged
victorious. But the loss prompted the Cazenovia Club to allege that there had
been “collusion between the umpire and the Syracuse players.” In response, the
Syracuse Club maintained that the umpire was a “man of honor” from Utica who had
been selected by the Cazenovia Club and was “a stranger to the Syracuse Club.” (Syracuse
Journal, August 25, 27 and 28, 1860)
The Syracuse Club
won the third and deciding game and were declared “champions of the field in
Central New York.” (Syracuse Journal, September 9, 1860) The bold
proclamation led to more challenges. Matches against the Frontier Club of
Oswego and the Union Springs Club ensued in September, both of which were won by
the Syracuse Club without any reported incidents. (Syracuse Journal,
September 22 and October 30, 1860) The Cazenovia Club also issued a challenge,
but there is no record of it being accepted. (Syracuse Journal, September
19, 1860)
Perhaps that is just
as well because the two recorded matches that were played by the Syracuse Base
Ball Club in October of 1860 both ended in acrimony. On the 10th,
the opponent was the Utica Club and game accounts suggested that all had gone
smoothly. The Syracuse players cut an impressive figure in “a picturesque,
Zouave-like uniform, consisting of blue cap, white flannel jacket, red breeches,
and cricketer’s shoes.” After a closely fought 20-19 win by Syracuse, the host
Utica Club treated their guests to an elegant supper. The presentation of the
ceremonial ball was accompanied by speeches, singing and “the utmost good
feeling.” (Syracuse Journal, October 12, 1860, based on accounts in the
Utica Herald and Utica Telegraph)
Yet as soon as the
Syracuse Club left town, the bickering began. Both the Utica Observer
and the Utica Telegraph complained that umpire John Wilkinson Jr. of the
Olympic Club of Syracuse had favored the victors. Another Utica paper, the
Herald, offered a tepid defense of Wilkinson, noting that the “rules of the
New York game” require acceptance of the umpire’s decisions. But the piece went
on to criticize those decisions and to state that it was a mistake to let
Wilkinson umpire, since “the Olympics are only an offshoot of the Syracuse City
Club, and feel as much interest in the latter’s success as in their own.”
(Wilkinson, indeed, was the younger brother of two members of the Syracuse Club,
one of whom was the club’s scorer in the match.) The article concluded by
declaring that “the Utica Club can beat Syracuse any day in the week.” (quoted
in the Syracuse Journal, October 13, 1860) The Syracuse Journal
responded in kind, gloating: “We admit that it is decidedly ‘tough’ that both
the Cricket and Base Ball Clubs of boasting Utica should be beaten in the same
week by the Syracuseans, but it seems to us that it would be much better for the
beaten parties to keep their temper.” (Syracuse Journal, October 13,
1860)
The next match for
the Syracuse Club, a rematch with the Union Springs Club on the 12th,
followed a similar pattern. The match was played at Auburn for a purse of
twenty dollars and was ended by darkness after seven innings with the Syracuse
Club clinging to a narrow lead. At the finish, “cheers were given by the
Syracuse boys for the Union Springs Club, which were heartily responded to by
the latter Club.” Both clubs were also thanked by the Logan Club of Auburn,
which had offered the purse in order to watch the “scientific playing” of “such
masters of the game.” (Auburn Advertiser, reprinted in the Syracuse
Journal, October 15, 1860)
One again, however,
the good will was dissipated by subsequent grumbling in the newspapers.
Syracuse scorer Alfred Wilkinson was forced to defend himself against
unspecified allegations. (Syracuse Journal, October 20, 1860) This was
followed by a claim that the pitcher and catcher of the Syracuse nine had been
“imported” for the occasion, a charge that brought an equally sharp retort. (Syracuse
Courier, October 30, 1860)
On that sour note, the 1860 season came to an end and to all intents and
purposes, so too did the career of Syracuse’s pioneer baseball club. Over the
winter, a match on ice was proposed against the Union Springs Base Ball Club,
but there is no record that the ice became strong enough to allow it to take
place. (Syracuse Journal, December 21, 1860) By the spring of 1861, the
Civil War was under way and baseball activity in Syracuse pretty much came to a
halt. One meeting was held to try to organize a new Syracuse Union Base Ball
Club, and a couple attempts were made to arrange contests with clubs from Utica
and Union Springs. (Syracuse Journal, July 10 and October 15, 1861;
Syracuse Courier, September 18, 1861) But the reality that “most of our best
ball players are playing ‘ball’ with the rebels” proved too much to overcome. (Syracuse
Courier, September 18, 1861)
By the time the war
ended, the first baseman of the Syracuse Base Ball Club was a casualty of the
Battle of Peach Tree Creek and many of the other club members decided to retire
from active play. As a result, the new Central City Club was formed to
represent Syracuse and was mostly made up of younger players. Yet the members
of Syracuse’s pioneer club did not lose their interest in baseball. An 1886
article reported that men like Harrison Geer, Frank Carroll, Charles Tamkin and
Alfred Wilkinson of the Syracuse Base Ball Club were still in town and “may be
seen at Star Park at almost every game. They still retain their old-time
interest in the game.” (Sporting Life, January 13, 1886)
CLUB MEMBERS
Matthew Henry Avery:
Matthew Avery was born in Middletown Springs, Vermont, on March 27, 1836, the
son of a Congregational minister. He operated a book and stationery store in
Syracuse before the Civil War, but at the outbreak of the war he raised a
company of cavalry at Syracuse and was soon appointed as captain. He commanded
the 10th New York Calvary for most of the next four years and became
a colonel. He was brevetted Brigadier General, on March 13, 1865, for
“gallantry in action at Sailor’s Creek, Va., and for faithful and meritorious
services.” He went into the oil business after the war and died on September 1,
1881, in Geneva, New York.
Charles Barnes: see
Central City Club
George Barnes:
George Barnes was born in Tenterden, England, on October 1, 1827. He began
working in the office of a local solicitor at the age of 13, then four years
later was convinced by his uncle to emigrate to the United States. Upon
arriving in Syracuse, he worked as a mason and then as a clerk in the office of
pioneer lawyer John Wilkinson. Wilkinson then helped him obtain a good position
with the Syracuse and Utica Railroad. In 1856, Barnes moved to Ohio to work for
the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, but that railway soon experienced
financial setbacks and he returned to Syracuse. It was over the next few years
that he was an active member of the Syracuse Base Ball Club. In 1860, he and a
partner opened a business that manufactured mower and reaper knives and cast
steel. Eventually the two parts of the business were divided, and Barnes
created a knife-making firm that became highly successful, employing some 1,500
workers and doing business all over the world. George Barnes also helped found
that State Bank of Syracuse and the Trust and Deposit company of Onondaga
County. Barnes was a large, powerfully built man who retained an interest in
baseball and cricket throughout his life. During the 1880s, however, he became
afflicted by locomotor ataxia, a disease that left him in constant pain. He
died on October 17, 1892, in New York City, while returning home from a trip to
Europe that he had taken in hope of reviving his flagging health.
James Barnes: James
Barnes was a brother of Charles and George. He was born around 1833 in
Tenterden, England, and moved to London to study music. He followed his
brothers to Syracuse, where he was the organist for several churches and ran a
music store. He later went to work for the Onondaga Savings Bank. In 1879, he
became secretary of the Trust and Deposit company of Onondaga County and
remained in that position for many years. He was still living in Syracuse in
1906.
Peter John “P. J.”
Brumelkamp: P. J. Brumelkamp was born in Holland in August of 1838, immigrating
to the U. S. at age nine. He became a successful Syracuse businessman, running
a men’s furnishing store and working as a contractor. He also became prominent
in Democrat politics and was eventually named superintendent of the Onondaga
Salt Springs. He died on February 17, 1902.
Jacobus C. Bruyn: J.
C. Bruyn died in Syracuse on October 30, 1868, age 48.
John Germond Butler:
John G. Butler was born on March 16, 1834, in Utica, but his family settled in
Syracuse when he was four. He worked as a bank teller before the war, then
enlisted in a regiment that became known as Butler’s Zouaves (Company D, 3rd
New York). He rose to the rank of Colonel but had to be mustered out when he
contracted typhoid fever, a development that he later described as one of the
“great sorrows” of his life. After the Civil War, he worked in Annapolis and
Mexico before returning to Syracuse in 1885 to become secretary and treasurer of
the Syracuse Water Works. When the Spanish-American War broke out, Butler again
enlisted. He lived long enough to set the outbreak of World War I and to
express regrets that he was too old to serve his country again, although his son
did enlist. Butler died in Syracuse on October 4, 1917.
Francis Edward
Carroll: Frank Carroll, the first president of the Central City Club, was born
in Philadelphia on November 16, 1830, the son of Irish immigrants. He moved to
Syracuse in 1849 and opened a store that sold gas fixtures and plumbing
supplies. He served as an alderman during the 1860s and then was elected mayor
in 1871. After serving two one-year terms, he returned to private life but his
business had suffered while he was mayor and he was forced to close the store.
He became a plumber and remained in Syracuse until his death on April 16, 1912.
Augustus Byron
Cheney: A. B. Cheney was born on August 7, 1829, and his life was marked by a
series of tragedies. When he was 11, two of his uncles were killed in a powder
explosion at the Syracuse factory where they worked. His younger brother George
was a gifted chess player who was killed in the Civil War. A. B. Cheney was
married by then, but his wife died around 1869, leaving him a widower with five
young children. He moved to a farm on the outskirts of Syracuse, eventually
remarrying and living there until his death in late May 1905.
Charles D. Davis:
Charles D. Davis was born around 1833 in Massachusetts and was simply listed as
s “gentleman” on the 1860 census.
William Henry
Harrison “Harry” Geer: Harry or Harrison Geer was born on July 25, 1814 in
Utica. He moved to Syracuse. And became a professional photographer. His son
George played professional baseball in the 1880s and then became a minor league
manager. William H. H. Geer died in Syracuse on June 12, 1894, just shy of his
eightieth birthday.
Sidney Brooks
Gifford: Sidney Gifford was born in Syracuse around 1834 and lived there his
entire life. He went to work for the New York, Albany & Buffalo Telegraph
Company as a messenger boy while still a teenager. The company was bought by
Western Union and Gifford went along, eventually rising to become the local
telegraph superintendent. After a fifty-two year career in the telegraph
business, he retired and devoted his last years to studying in his large
personal library. He also retained his love of baseball to the end. He died in
Syracuse on July 13, 1920, at the age of 85.
George Gratton or
Grattan: Gratton was the first plumber in Syracuse and at one point a partner of
Frank Carroll. He and his wife Mary were still in Syracuse in 1862 but then
they vanished.
John H. Ireland:
John H. Ireland was born in Herefordshire, England, on February 3, 1833, and
arrived in Syracuse in 1848. His name appeared in the first Syracuse directory
of 1853 and when he died on May 2, 1921, at the age of eighty-eight, his
obituary stated that he was the last man who could make that claim, as well as
the last survivor of the city’s first baseball club. For most of the
intervening years, Ireland had worked as a dry goods clerk.
John F. Kidder: John
Kidder was born around 1831 in New York State and was listed on the 1860 census
as a city engineer.
Francis A. Marsh:
Francis A. Marsh was a printer who was born around 1819. He appears to have
been strictly a nonplaying member.
Levi Snow Mayo: Levi
Mayo was born around 1839 and worked as a local agent for the United States
Express while living in Syracuse. He eventually moved to New Haven,
Connecticut, and went into the insurance business. He died in New Haven on
February 25, 1915.
David McClelland:
David McClelland was born in New York City on April 29, 1825. He worked as a
clerk before the war and later became a hatter. He died in Syracuse on
September 18, 1882.
John McNamara: John
McNamara was born in Ireland around 1830 and was listed as a tailor on the 1860
census.
Alfred Moore: Alfred
Moore was born in England around 1823 and was listed as a railroad baggageman on
the 1860 census.
William W.
Ostrander: William Ostrander was born around 1837 and served in the 149th
New York for nearly three years during the Civil War. He later worked as an
undertaker, a clerk and a hardware salesman. His war service remained a vivid
memory and in 1913 he even travelled to Chattanooga to attend a reunion of
Confederate Veterans. While there, he enjoyed swapping tales with his onetime
enemies, and especially enjoyed listening to descriptions of the Battle of
Gettysburg from the opposite perspective. He died in Oran, New York, on August
24, 1922.
Richard Paine Jr.:
Richard Paine was born in New Rumney, England, in 1824. He worked as a wig
maker and died in Syracuse on December 2, 1892. Some later accounts referred to
him as Richard Page but contemporary records make it clear that this was a
mistake.
Richard Husted
Parker: R. H. Parker was born on January 22, 1831, in Onondaga Hill, New York.
He became a successful cigar manufacturer. He died in Syracuse on January 4,
1911.
Thomas Garret
Putnam: Thomas G. Putnam was born on January 24, 1840, and became a lawyer. He
eventually moved to Denver and appears to have died around 1903.
Charles B. Randall:
Charles B. Randall was born around 1837 and he too became a lawyer. When the
war broke out, the first baseman of the Syracuse Base Ball Club enlisted in the
New York 12th. He earned promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was
assigned to 149th. He was severely wounded at Gettysburg but soon
returned to active duty. While leading his troops to victory at Peach Tree
Creek on July 20th, 1864, Randall was killed. After the war, a
thirty-page commemorative book was issued that paid tribute to his bravery.
George Davis
Redfield: George Redfield was born around 1833. He died at St. Anthony,
Minnesota, on March 27, 1871, at the age of 37, leaving a wife and three
children.
Stiles Mortimer
Rust: Stiles Rust was a lifelong resident of Syracuse, being born there on
October 16, 1825, and passing away on August 10, 1896.
Harvey C. Sherwood:
Harvey Sherwood was born around 1835 and grew up in DeWitt, a town near
Syracuse. He moved to Syracuse and worked as a liveryman, then headed west to
Michigan. He died in Watervliet, Michigan, on August 10, 1888.
William D. Stafford:
William Stafford was born around 1839 in New York State and is listed as a
railroad conductor on the 1860 census.
Charles Tamkin:
Charles Tamkin was born in March of 1835 in Tenterden, England. He was
apprenticed to the father of the Barnes brothers and during one of George
Barnes’s visits home he heard him speak favorably of life in the United States.
He followed the Barnes brothers to Syracuse, then to Ohio and back to
Syracuse. After settling permanently in Syracuse in 1861, he opened a billiard
parlor that became a popular hangout for the city’s fashionable young men. Over
the next forty years, he ventured into making pianos and velocipedes (bicycles)
but billiards remained his primary business and he operated the parlor for some
four decades. Like the Barnes brothers, he continued to play cricket after
giving up baseball.
Horace H. Walpole:
Horace Walpole was born in March of 1837 in New York State and served in the 122nd
New York Infantry for nearly three years, attaining the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel. After the war, he ran a Syracuse insurance agency for many years.
During the 1890s, his health began to fail and the widowed Walpole spent his
last years at a home for disabled veterans in Ohio. He died on June 3, 1903.
Alfred Wilkinson:
The Wilkinson brothers were the sons of pioneer Syracuse resident John
Wilkinson, the city’s first lawyer and first postmaster. The older Wilkinson
also selected the name of the city because of the resemblance between its
salt-water springs and those of the ancient Sicilian city of Siracusa. Alfred
Wilkinson was born around 1832 and he and his brother both became prominent
Syracuse bankers. He died in Syracuse on July 7, 1886.
Joshua Forman
Wilkinson: J. Forman Wilkinson was Alfred’s older brother. He was born on June
12, 1829, and graduated from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was a
railroad man before the war, but then like many club members, served in the New
York 149th during the war. After the war, he became a banker. He
died in Syracuse on May 4, 1889.
J. W. Yale: see
Central City Club
Other Members:
Baker, William Beebe, H. D. Brewster, Brockway, Byron, J. R. Clark, A. G. Cook,
James R. Mann, Mosher, M. Myers, Palmer, T. R. Radcliff, Roberts, John Ryan,
John W. Sherman, Tracy, Van Houten, A. J. Young, A. C. Younglove.
Sources: My
principal source is the clipping collection of the Onondaga Historical
Association. The articles are hand-dated, which is why some dates are unknown
and others questionable. Thanks to Larry McCray for providing me with copies of
the articles. Also valuable were Charles E. Colton, “Saltine Town Early Power
in Diamond,” Syracuse Post-Standard, January 3, 1910, Ron Gersbacher,
“Play Ball! A History of Early Organized Baseball in Syracuse,” Portraits of
the Past (a publication of the Onondaga Historical Association) 7 (1994),
n.p., and an untitled piece in Sporting Life on January 13, 1886.
|
