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FIRST NATIONAL
BASE BALL CLUB OF HANCOCK, MICHIGAN
CLUB HISTORY
The history and
makeup of the Hancock Base Ball Club of Michigan is difficult to recreate
because of the highly mobile nature of the U. S. population at the time. But it
also gives a vivid example of how the mobility of Americans helped baseball
spread so quickly during the 1860s and 1870s and establish itself as the
national pastime.
The village of
Hancock, which is situated on the north shore of Portage Lake in Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula, was not even settled until 1858. But then the Quincy Mining
Company set up a base there the following year and the prospect of steady work
in the copper mines had caused Hancock to swell to a town of 1,600 by the time
the 1860 census. The population remained pretty steady in the ensuing years,
but women and children gradually joined the miners and turned Hancock from a
mining camp to a true community. Although the 1863 Michigan directory conceded
that the Hancock surrounded by “an uninhabited wilderness … covered with
swamps,” it boasted that the village did have “seven mails per week” along with
“several stores, groceries, and mechanic shops, three hotels, etc.”
Population stability
was more difficult to achieve than a surge of population and many settlers in
Hancock soon moved on because they could not adjust to the harsh climate and the
isolation. This was especially the case among the many European immigrants who
spent their first few years in the town and then decided to cast their lot
elsewhere. Hancock was especially hard hit by such departures after an 1869
fire that destroyed much of the village.
As a result, many
efforts were made to foster a sense of community. The 1863 Michigan directory
reported that Hancock had “three churches … a masonic society, known as ‘Quincy
Lodge,’ and an association called ‘St. Patrick's Society.’” More social
organizations were added after the war, including a baseball club.
Several baseball
clubs sprung up in the Upper Peninsula in 1868, representing such towns as
Negaunee, Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon. (Peter Morris, Baseball Fever,
222-223) It’s possible that Hancock also had a club that year, but if so, all
trace of it was obliterated by the fire of 1869. As a result, the town got its
first known club in 1870 when a club was organized that took its name from the
First National Bank.
1870 was of course
very late for a town to get its first baseball club, but the spread of baseball
to remote regions like Hancock was an important development nonetheless. By
this time, many of the areas in which baseball was well established were
beginning to lose interest because of the advent of professionalism. As a
result, baseball’s introduction to remote regions like the Upper Peninsula was
an important way to keep the true spirit of the game alive.
The First Nationals
of Hancock played series in 1870 with the German Socks of Calumet and the
Houghton Base Ball Club. The latter series was especially hard fought, with the
Houghton Club winning the first game by a single run and the First Nationals
rebounded to capture the second contest. Hancock eked out the third and
deciding game 52-50, and a game account in the Houghton paper implied that the
outcome had much to do with the support that the First Nationals received from
the community. “The Hancock people,” the report observed, “are proud of their
nine, and showed it by the way they backed them up. If the residents on this
side of the Lake would have a good nine, they should be willing to aid them in
clearing up a place where they could both practice and play match games.” (Portage
Lake (Houghton) Mining Gazette, August 11, 1870)
The excitement built
in 1871 and in August the First National Club went on a tour that saw them play
five clubs from Marquette County – the First City Club of Marquette, the
Negaunee and Ishpeming nines, the Independent Club of the New York Mine, and a
picked nine from Marquette County. All five matches resulted in victories for
the First Nationals, so they returned home as conquering heroes.
Alas for Hancock’s
champion ball club, their tour prompted the Ishpeming Club to go into practice
and then embark on a tour of their own. Traveling in the Upper Peninsula in
late September was not ideal, and the club spent two days stranded in Marquette
by rough seas. But after many adventures, they made it to Hancock and defeated
the First Nationals, a win that enabled the men from Ishpeming to proclaim
themselves “the champion base ball players of the Upper Peninsula.” (Marquette
Mining Journal, October 21, 1871)
The rivalries
between the baseball clubs representing these towns continued in the ensuing
years, despite the very short ballplaying season permitted by the climate. That
was aptly symbolized when the preparations of First Nationals for the 1872
season led to this bold proclamation appearing in a Houghton newspaper: “This
club, having won the championship of Houghton county and Lake Superior for the
season 1871, is now prepared to hear from all other clubs on Lake Superior.”
Whether the boast originated with the club or not is unclear, but the Calumet
Club assumed that it did and its secretary issued a curt rejoinder. “Will the
Secretary of the First National Club,” he inquired, “please inform the readers
of the Gazette how they obtained the championship of Houghton county, and at the
same time how they lost it?” (Portage Lake (Houghton) Mining Gazette,
April 18 and 25, 1872)
At times, work
suffered as a result of the passion for baseball. A newspaper in Sault Saint
Marie, for example, gave this description of a practice of a baseball club
composed of tugmen: “With three tugs at the bay, tied up to the dock, with one
man left to blow the whistle if a wild tug comes in sight, the rest go out and
practice. At the first signal from the lookout, all hands ran, helter-skelter,
get up steam and run up as far as the mission, discover a steam barge coming
with three vessels in tow, they hold a hurried consultation and agree to d--n
the barge and then return to practice.” (Sault Saint Marie Enterprise;
reprinted in the Ishpeming Iron Home, September 19, 1874)
Although they
claimed an honor to which they weren’t entitled at the start of the 1872 season,
the First National Base Ball Club of Hancock ended the year by capturing a
legitimate honor. In the summer, a convention was held and a method was arrived
at to determine which of the four clubs in Houghton County was the best.
Although not all games were completed by the time the weather became too cold,
it was generally acknowledged that the First Nationals had won and the club
members received a badge signifying that distinction.
More important than
any badge was the boost that baseball received from so many becoming passionate
about the sport. A Houghton reporter expressed this eloquently when he wrote:
“To one who has been inclined to belittle the importance of base ball as a game
of sport, the scene at the Hancock grounds last Saturday, when the Independents,
of Ripley, and the First Nationals played, was surprising. The crowd present
was large. It was composed of all classes, and included many strangers
sojourning in the neighborhood. The ladies, too, were well represented, and
apparently enjoyed the game. That many people are not only interested in base
ball, but that they grow as enthusiastic over it as do the members of political
parties during a hard-fought campaign over the respective issues in contest, was
last week fully illustrated. Though the game was between two local clubs, the
lines were well drawn, and each side was continually urged on and encouraged by
the cheers and bravos of its friends. It can no longer be denied that base ball
is in reality the national game in the United States. When, day after day, it
can call together crowds of people throughout the land, it is useless to deny it
the position it claims. That it does furnish innocent amusement and excitement
to thousands is patent, and, so doing, much of its alleged abuse can be
forgiven.” (Portage Lake (Houghton) Mining Gazette, June 18, 1874)
Inevitably, however,
the same troubles that had started to plague other communities in the 1860s made
their way to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. By 1874, matches were being played for
large stakes and tournament were starting to be marred by accusations of
imported players and questionable tactics. The disputes continued in 1875,
making it clear that the spirit of the amateur era was finally coming to an end.
(Peter Morris, Baseball Fever, 325-326, 350-351)
A beautifully
preserved photograph at the Michigan Technical University Archives and Copper
Country Historical Collections captures the nine men who played for the First
National Base Ball Club of Hancock in their game against Houghton on August 11,
1870. They are regaled in spiffy uniforms consisting of white shirts (many of
them offset with ties of various descriptions), dark pants, and belts that bear
the name of their club. There is no mistaking the pride the men felt in
representing the town of Hancock.
But while the
photograph vividly demonstrates the role that a baseball club could play in
building a sense of community, it also carries suggestions of how fleeting that
civic pride could be. Only three of the men in the photo went on the tour of
Marquette the following season. And as is shown by the profiles that follow,
while several of the club members remained in Hancock and became pillars of the
community, more than a few of them soon left to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
MEMBERS
John Bittenbender:
Left fielder John Bittenbender was born in Pennsylvania around 1850 and worked
in a saw mill while living in Hancock. He left town within a few years of
playing for the First Nationals, and it appears that he eventually settled in
Jackson County in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, where he worked as a day laborer.
Albert A. Brockway:
Center fielder Albert Brockway was born in Copper Harbor, Michigan around 1848.
His father Daniel was a mine agent who was one of the pioneer settlers of Lake
Superior County, while his mother’s diaries of those early years can be found in
the Michigan Technical University Archives and Copper Country Historical
Collections. Albert became county treasurer of Keewenaw County in 1883 and held
that position for many years. He never married, and as of 1930 was living in
Livonia, outside of Detroit.
William Harry:
William Harry, the third baseman of the First Nationals, was a tinsmith who born
in England around 1842 and immigrated to the United States in 1862. He was
still in Hancock in 1887, but eventually moved to Detroit. He appears to have
died between 1910 and 1920.
Joseph Johnson:
Joseph Johnson was the club’s right fielder in 1870. The only man by that name
in the 1870 census was a twenty-three-year-old Canadian-born miner who was
living in Franklin. But even assuming that is the right man, he has vanished by
the time the 1880 census was taken.
David S. Kendall:
Club vice president David Kendall was born in New York State in July of 1828.
He worked as a retail merchant and bookkeeper and was still living in Hancock,
unmarried, in 1900.
Otto Charles Kunath:
Otto Kunath, the club’s first baseman, was born in Wisconsin on September 26,
1850. The family moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula while he was young, and
Otto worked as a tinsmith while living in Hancock. By 1880, he had moved to
Austin, Minnesota, where he worked as a butcher. Eventually, he settled in the
delightfully named town of What Cheer, Iowa, and ran a jewelry shop. He died on
November 7, 1929, and is buried in Keokuk.
Max H. Mandelbaum:
Max H. Mandelbaum, the club president in 1872, was born in Dennenlohe, Bavaria,
on September 28, 1828. After immigrating to the United States, his family lived
briefly in New York City before settling permanently in Cleveland. In 1855,
Mandelbaum moved to northern Michigan, settling first in LaPoint and then moving
to Hancock five years later. After initially working as a clerk, he started his
own business in 1864 and became one of the city’s most respected merchants.
Only one year after serving as club president, Mandelbaum died in Hancock on
October 18, 1873. He left behind a wife and five children, the youngest of whom
had been born only ten days earlier.
Thomas D. Meads:
Thomas Meads, the club’s shortstop, was born in Brighton, England, on April 12,
1840, and emigrated to Cleveland in 1856. In 1868, he moved to Hancock, where
he worked at first as a watch maker and jeweler. In 1876 he was elected county
clerk and register of deeds, serving for at least three terms. He later got
into real estate and as of 1910 was living in Calumet Township.
Archibald James
Scott: A.J. Scott, the club’s catcher, was born near London, Ontario, on January
24, 1849. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his uncle Donald and at age
fifteen enlisted in the 52nd Wisconsin, Company D, which was led by
his uncle. He moved to Houghton in 1867 and initially worked as a clerk in a
drug store. After the great fire of 1869, he opened his own store and became a
successful druggist. He was led the organization of a town fire department in
1870 and was fire chief for twenty-six years. He served seven terms as village
president and then became Hancock’s first mayor after incorporation. Scott was
also Director of the Superior Trust, president of the Eva Mining Company,
builder and proprietor of Hotel Scott, and vice president of First National
Bank. He even employed Charles L. Fichtel, the captain and manager of the 1887
Hancock Base Ball Association. Nonetheless, when he served as captain of the
First Nationals in 1871 his leadership skills were questioned by a reporter who
wrote that Scott, “did not appear to be the best man for the position; he was
too easily excited, and dropped too many balls.” Scott died in Milwaukee on
March 8, 1915.
James Walls Trembath:
Second baseman James Trembath was born on February 21, 1852, in Cornwall,
England. His family crossed the Atlantic and settled in northern Michigan in
1866, where James became a miner. He eventually moved on to Colorado, where he
died on November 22, 1924.
J.V. Trembath: The
name of the club’s pitcher appears to have been either John V. Trembath or John
T. V. Trembath but he was not a brother of James Trembath. He was listed as a
miner on both the 1870 census and the 1880 census, and by the latter year had a
wife and three daughters. But no trace of him can be found after that.
Others: Frank
Atwood, Jacob Baer (one of four vice presidents in 1872), Bryant, Corey,
McLaughlin, Edward Ryan (one of four vice presidents in 1872), W. J. Robinson,
Sackle.
Sources: This entry
is based upon the research I did for my book Baseball Fever (Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 2003). Specific newspaper sources are either
listed in the footnotes or can be found in that book. In addition, Cathy Greer
of the Michigan Technical University Archives and Copper Country Historical
Collections provided a great deal of information about the club members.
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