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KENT OF GRAND RAPIDS
CLUB HISTORY
Regulation baseball arrived in Grand Rapids in 1859 and the city’s first
organized club was made up of many prominent citizens – the president of the
club was destined to become attorney general of the state. But the activities
of the Pioneer Club were cut short by the Civil War and it was not until 1867
that Grand Rapids featured serious baseball competition. (Peter Morris,
Baseball Fever, 49-51)
The two clubs were
the Kents and the Peninsulars and for two years they forged a friendly yet
intense rivalry. In 1883, an unknown writer penned this idyllic description of
those two seasons: “Grand Rapids’s first glory in the base ball profession was
radiated from the Peninsulars and the Kents, which were formed about 1867. The
ball grounds were all of the ‘green’ or open field between Lyon and Bronson
streets which had been the camping ground of the old Tenth cavalry under Col.
Foote. The present residence of Mr. James A. Rogers on Lyon street was then the
last house on the east of the city settlement, the grove which surrounded his
house ceasing just beyond. The ground was admirably adapted for any sort of
field sport and there was room for a dozen ball diamonds. This place was the
scene of many hard fought contests on emerald aceldama. Often during the period
following the organization of these clubs a number of games would be going on
especially during practice hours. A silver ball suitably engraved was ‘hung up’
as gift of the citizens to the champion club and this ball was many times
transferred to a different nine which had been compelled to work hard for its
possession.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, May 18, 1883)
Of course the
realities of fielding a baseball club were much more mundane. Fortunately, we
know more about this side of the activities of the Kent Base Ball Club than of
most contemporary clubs from a variety of sources – the club’s log book has been
preserved and is now housed at the Grand Rapids Public Library, contemporaneous
newspaper accounts provided many additional details, and even the 1883 article
cited above had much to say on the subject.
An initial abortive
effort to organize the Kent Base Ball Club was actually made in the spring of
1866. The club held at least one meeting and elected a slate of officers that
included Lewis H. Withey as president, C. W. Wright as secretary pro. tem., and
Stewart White as secretary. They also chose Wednesday and Friday evenings as
their practice days and staged a few practice sessions at the old campground on
Lyon Street. But within a few weeks the members appear to have lost interest
and no more mention of local baseball clubs appeared in the Grand Rapids papers
that year. (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, May 15, 16, 18 and June 7, 1866;
Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, May 16, 17 and 18, 1866)
Another effort was
made in 1867, prompting one sportswriter to recall, “An attempt was made, last
spring and summer to organize and keep alive a Base Ball Club in our city. A
club was formed, officers elected, and one or two meetings held, and from some
unaccountable cause, no more after, and nothing more was heard of it, except
when some of our young men would get together and talk over the things that
were.” (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, April 6, 1867)
This time the Kent
Base Ball Club proved more successful. The initial organizational meeting was
held on the evening of April 4 at “Perkins’ boot and shoe store in the old Abel
block on Monroe street.” Some twenty young men were in attendance, and they
adopted a constitution that was eventually signed by forty-three members and
included such provisions as one stating that a “fine of twenty-five cents be
imposed for disputing the decisions of the umpire, for refusing obedience to the
captain and for non attendance.” A slate of officers was also elected,
consisting of president Silas K. Pierce, vice president D. K. Hulburt, secretary
Lawrence C. Earle, treasurer A. P. Sinclair and directors W. S. Earle, L. H.
Withey and John M. Avery. (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, May 18, 1883;
Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, April 6, 1867)
Despite the
preparations that had been made and the lack of emphasis on competitiveness, the
summer of 1867 would prove that the reality was not that simple – the members of
the Kent Club wanted a bit more than “exercise and fun.” This was made
particularly evident at the club’s meetings. After only three months, the
three-man board of directors, “for non-performance of duty were dishonorably
discharged July 15, and Fred Joslin, Will Hubbard and Charlie Mills chosen in
their place. A resolution was also adopted punishing neglect of duty by any
officer with expulsion. On July 8 the secretary, L. C. Earle, was discharged
and G. W. Perkins chosen to his place, and Charlie Eaton was discharged for
non-payment of dues.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, May 18, 1883)
Other signs of
unrest also emerged from the meetings. The original plan to stage 5 a.m.
practices on Mondays and Thursdays and 4 p.m. practices on Tuesdays and Fridays
“continued but a little while, as the days and hours were constantly changed.”
Even the meetings themselves were changed from weekly to biweekly, and “were
occasionally noisy, but good order was general, for stringent rules were
adopted.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, May 18, 1883)
On the field,
however, it was a different story as the members of the Kent Base Ball Club and
the whole city caught “base ball fever.” As soon as the club was organized,
balls, bats and bases were ordered. The members were so anxious to get started
that they staked out the grounds so that everything would be “in readiness” when
the eagerly awaited equipment arrived. (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, April
9, 1867)
As soon as the
necessary implements were on hand, the club staged its first practice game at
the campground. In an account of the practice game, a reporter for the Daily
Democrat noted that he hadn’t noticed the winner, “nor do we care muchly,
and that, in our opinion, is about as deep an interest as our readers or the
boys themselves have in the result. They want exercise and fun and that they
get in this athletic game.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, April 13,
1867) But a reporter for the Daily Eagle filled in the missing details,
supplying the names of both sides and the final score for a series of scrimmages
that were held over the next few weeks. (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat,
April 13, 19, 20, 24 and 25, 1867)
Before long the club
was approaching its constitutional limit of fifty members and was becoming
anxious to face outside competition. (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, April 25,
1867) When a challenge was received from the Custer Club of Ionia, a special
meeting was held to accept the challenge and arrange the details. (Grand
Rapids Daily Eagle, May 9 and 10, 1867)
The match took place
on May 24 and proved a big event in Grand Rapids. Readers of the Daily Eagle
received instructions the day before that they could reach the grounds of the
Kent Club by traveling east on Lyon Street past Division Street until they
reached the “brow of the hill.” (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, May 23, 1867)
Some 2,000 spectators did indeed turn out and were treated to seeing the
hometown ballplayers dressed in black pants, white shirts “tastefully
embroidered in blue,” leather belts, white caps trimmed in blue and canvas
shoes. (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, May 24, 1867)
The Custer Club won
the match handily, but that didn’t spoil the festive mood at all and both clubs
shared in supper at the Rathbun House afterward. (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle,
May 24, 1867) Even more important, the “base ball fever” soon spread all over
Grand Rapids and at least five new clubs were organized during the next week. (Grand
Rapids Daily Eagle, May 29 and 31 and June 1, 1867)
The most important
of these clubs was one formed by “the middle aged and youthful sporting men of
the 4th and 5th Wards” that chose to be known as the
Peninsular Club. Over the next year and a half this club’s rivalry with the
Kent Base Ball Club would become the focus of local baseball interest.
The object of both
clubs was a silver ball that was originally donated by local jeweler P. J. G.
Hodenpyl for a tournament held in Grand Rapids on July 4, 1867. (Grand Rapids
Daily Eagle, June 10, 1867) The Kent Club captured the silver ball that day
with an 88-39 win over another local club called the Centrals, but instead of it
becoming their permanent possession, the silver ball instead became the symbol
of local supremacy.
The first
challengers of the Kent Club were the Peninsulars. Competition between the two
clubs began on July 26, 1867, and the more experienced Kents won by a 58-30
margin. Undeterred, the Peninsulars issued another challenge and won the
rematch, although the silver ball was not at stake this time. (Grand Rapids
Daily Eagle, August 30, 1867) The third and final contest between the two
clubs occurred in September during the Kent County Fair and saw the Peninsulars
squeak out a 68-67 victory to win a twenty-five dollar purse. (Grand Rapids
Daily Eagle, September 27, 1867)
By the close of the
1867 season, the Peninsular and Kent clubs were recognized as the two best clubs
in Grand Rapids, and the Kent Club had managed wins over several other Grand
Rapids clubs as well as ones from Grand Haven and Muskegon. Nonetheless,
neither club had any success against Ionia’s two top clubs. As a result, when a
baseball tournament was held at the Ionia County Fair in October, the Peninsular
and Kent pooled their forces to create an all-star squad known as the Valley
Citys. Even so, the representatives of Grand Rapids were handily defeated. It
was a portent of things to come.
In the spring of
1868, the Kent Club organized in late March and chose new officers who included
President John White, vice president, Fred C. Joslin; secretary, A. B. Porter;
directors, Henry Baars, N. B. Scribner, C. W. Mills. (Grand Rapids Daily
Democrat, May 18, 1883) While quite a few of the players from the previous
year had “retired on their laurels,” there were still plenty of players
available and no shortage of enthusiasm. (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, May
29, 1868) The rivalry for the silver ball was soon renewed and a lengthy set of
rules were adopted to ensure fairness. (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, May 26,
1868)
The first
championship match occurred on May 28 and it saw the Peninsulars pull out a
thrilling 21-20 victory that earned them possession of the silver ball. The
Kents soon issued a challenge for a rematch, which was played on June 23. This
contest was also close until the seventh inning, when the Peninsulars put
together a twenty-six-run inning. It was the end of the rivalry and it pretty
much ended the Kent Base Ball Club.
The club played at
least one more game that summer, but it was called after five innings because of
excess heat. (Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, July 18, 1868) Thereafter, the
activities of the Kent Club faded out. According to the 1883 history, “The
meetings through the summer were semi-occasional, and on Sept. 29, 1868, the
last recorded meeting was held. The season was closed and the wonderful
organization never revived.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, May 18, 1883)
An effort was made
in the spring of 1869 to reorganize the club but it proved unsuccessful. (Grand
Rapids Daily Eagle, April 5, 1869) While we cannot be certain of the
reasons for the club’s demise, it seems logical to blame it on three factors
that led many clubs of the era to disband. The first was that the players were
growing old and, as a later account put it, becoming “too busy in business to
toss the sphere.” (Grand Rapids Eagle, April 16, 1879) The second was
the club’s lack of success against its rivals from Ionia and, ultimately,
against the Peninsulars. Finally, there was the coming of open professionalism
in 1869 – a development that left clubs like the Kent Base Ball Club with no
reason to believe they would become more competitive.
The experience of
their cross-town rivals suggests that it was wise for the Kent Club to disband
when it did. The Peninsular Club continued to play until 1870 when they lost to
a local club called the Dexters that consisted of “mere boys.” Nor did the club
receive any sympathy, with one reporter advising them never “to appear in the
base ball arena again, unless they are challenged by some old woman’s club.
With one or two exceptions, the players are worse than bad, and the several
defeats they have suffered already this season should convince them that they
cannot play base ball.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, August 9, 1870)
When the Peninsulars did indeed elect to give up baseball, the same reporter
sniffed, “After their terrible defeat by the Dexters, a lot of small boys, they
concluded wisely that they could not play the national game and disbanded.” (Grand
Rapids Daily Democrat, August 12, 1870)
With both the Kents
and the Peninsulars defunct, the 1870s were dreary ones for baseball in Grand
Rapids. An 1874 article noted that it had been quite a few years since baseball
had “been a rage in the Valley City.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, May
10, 1874) The next year saw several efforts to again establish baseball in the
city, including the formation of one club called the Kent Base Ball Club. (Grand
Rapids Daily Democrat, June 29, 1877) But none of them really took, and by
1879 a reporter, observed, “It has been pretty thoroughly demonstrated that no
amateur club can keep up the interest in the ‘National Game’ in our city, from
the fact that they cannot compete successfully with the professional clubs with
which they may cross bats, and it is not at all encouraging to have a club that
can be beaten all of the time.” (Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, September
18, 1879) That same year, members of the Kent and Peninsular clubs played a
series of old-fashioned games that attracted as much notice in the local press
as did the activities of any of the city’s younger clubs. (Grand Rapids Eagle,
April 16, May 23, June 4 and June 11, 1879)
Professional
baseball finally arrived in Grand Rapids to stay in the early 1880s and caused
many locals to forget the earlier days. But of course there were still a few
who retained vivid memories of those earlier clubs. As the 1883 article put it,
“Among those who today display but little outward interest in base ball are some
who were the fiercest of players fifteen years ago. And the games played when
every inning would tally from a dozen to forty runs were as exciting then as
those when it often takes nine full innings to get a single run.” (Grand
Rapids Daily Democrat, May 18, 1883)
CLUB MEMBERS
George R. Allen:
George R. Allen was born around 1847 in Ohio. He and his brother Stanley
operated a furnishing establishment on Monroe Street. He subsequently became
associated with the Grand Rapids Savings Bank and served as a school board
officer.
John M. Avery: John
M. Avery was born in Ovid, New York, on July 20, 1847. In 1868, he and T.
Stewart White became partners in a a lumber firm. White became one of the
city’s best known lumber men, but Avery didn’t live to see that as he died on
May 17, 1873, in Grand Rapids.
John Frederick Baars,
Jr: J. Fred Baars, Jr., was born in Rhode Island in 1849. The family moved to
Michigan around 1858 and the elder John Frederick Baars became city treasurer of
Grand Rapids. The younger J. Fred worked as treasurer of a Grand Rapids
furniture company, but his marriage ended in divorce and he left town in 1895.
He conducted a lumber commission business in Duluth, Minnesota, and eventually
moved to New York, where he died on April 7, 1915.
William Henry Baars:
J. Fred Baars’ brother William was born in Rhode Island in 1851 and died in
Grand Rapids on November 13, 1880.
Otis H. Babcock:
Otis H. Babcock was born around 1852 in New York. He worked as a messenger for
the City National Bank, later being promoted to teller. He died in 1919.
Andres Bevier:
Andres Bevier was born in 1847 in New York and worked as a clerk. His obituary
appeared in the Press, Jan. 31, 1912.
Charles H. Deane:
Charles H. Deane was born around 1840 in Michigan and became a master
machinist. Like many other club members, the end of his days on the diamond
coincided with his starting a family – he got married in 1866 and his first son
was born in 1869.
Lawrence Carmichael
Earle: L. C. Earle was born in New York City on November 11, 1845. His family
moved to Grand Rapids in 1857 and he became the secretary of the Kent Club in
1867. Although he was soon replaced, his enthusiasm for the game was so great
that his art studio contained “several sketches of base ball players in
different attitudes.” His water color paintings soon made him famous, and he
moved to Chicago in 1869 and then to Munich. Of all his paintings the best
known was one of a Dutch boy that became the trademark of the National Lead
Company and later of Dutch Boy Paints. In 1910, he returned to Grand Rapids,
where he died on November 20, 1921.
William Sylvester
Earle: William S. Earle was born in New York City on September 10, 1845, and was
Lawrence Earle’s first cousin. By 1884, he was superintendent of Grand Rapids
Postal Carriers.
Charles W. Eaton:
Charlie Eaton was born around 1840 in Michigan and became a Grand Rapids
merchant. Although he was drummed out of the Kent Club for not paying his dues,
he was welcomed back to play in the 1879 old-fashioned games.
Clayton Eugene Gill:
Clayton E. Gill was born on March 14, 1850, in Wethersfield, New York. He moved
to Grand Rapids after the war and became a banker, but eventually returned to
New York and was living in Warsaw, New York, in June of 1915. In 1919 he was a
candidate for the New York state assembly.
Henry B. Grady:
Henry B. Grady was born in Florida around 1848, and reared in Fordham, New
York. He became a partner in Kortlander and Grady, a Grand Rapids liquor
distributor.
Delony Gunnison:
Delony Gunnison was born in 1849 in Michigan and became a real estate agent.
Delony Street was named in his honor.
George D. Herrick:
George D. Herrick was born on June 28, 1840. After serving in the 17th
Michigan Infantry during the Civil War, he became a music dealer and the
Superintendent of Music in the public schools of Grand Rapids and Muskegon.
William O. Hubbard:
William O. Hubbard was born in Oswego, New York and worked as a clerk.
Edward H. Hunt:
Edward H. Hunt was born July 10, 1838, in Utica, New York. He moved to Grand
Rapids in 1854 to work for a private banking house operated by his uncle. He
enlisted in the 8th New York Cavalry in 1861 and was taken prisoner
the following year at the Battle of Harper’s Ferry. He was immediately released
and spent the balance of the war in Washington as a clerk in the office of the
Quartermaster-General. He returned to Grand Rapids after the war and became
assistant cashier of the City National Bank.
D. K. Hulburt or
Hurlburt: Hulburt or Hurlburt was the original vice president of the club, but
his identity is not entirely clear. Most likely, he was a man named Dwight
Hurlburt, who was described as being the most extensive wool buyer in the state
and who later moved to Chicago.
Fred C. Joslin: Fred
Joslin was a Civil War veteran who later moved to California.
Benjamin F.
McReynolds: Benjamin McReynolds was a Civil War veteran who served as secretary
of the Grand Rapids Police and Fire Commission from 1882 until his death on
January 12, 1907.
Charles Warren
Mills: Charles Warren Milles was born in Grand Rapids on August 31, 1850. He
was one of the first graduates of the College of Pharmacy of the University of
Michigan in 1870. He died in May of 1892 in Tela, Honduras.
Arthur R. Morgan:
Arthur R. Morgan was born in Michigan around 1851 and worked as a boot salesman
and in insurance and real estate.
George H. Morgan:
George H. Morgan was born around 1845 in Massachusetts and became a shingle
dealer.
Frederick Barker
Perkins: Fred B. Perkins was born in Michigan on June 13, 1843. He enlisted in
the “Grand Rapids Greys” when the Civil War broke out but does not appear to
have ended up serving. In the 1870s he moved to Albany, New York, and operated
a retail grocery store.
Gaius William
Perkins: Fred’s younger brother G. W. Perkins was born in Grand Rapids on July
16, 1847. He became a wool merchant in lived in Los Angeles for a while, but
returned to Grand Rapids before his death in 1934.
Silas K. Pierce:
Silas K. Pierce was the club’s initial president and brought experience to the
position, having captained the Custer Club of Ionia in 1866. He was born around
1842 in New York and was a sergeant in the Fourth Michigan Cavalry during the
war. He was photographed by Mathew Brady. Pierce died in 1904.
Alonzo B. Porter:
Lon Porter was born around 1850 in New York and served as club secretary in
1868. Unlike most club members, he was still playing baseball in the mid-1870s
and was also a director of an 1874 organization that sought to bring
“first-class base ball club” to Grand Rapids. He became a bookkeeper and was
manager of the Grand Rapids Clearing House and secretary-treasurer of the Wales
Barrel Works. He died in 1928.
Leon C. Remington:
Leon C. Remington was born around 1840 in New York State. He served along with
Silas K. Pierce in the 4th Cavalry Regiment Michigan, enlisting in 1862 and
being mustered out in 1865. He married the daughter of a Grand Rapids judge in
1867 and worked in the shirt business. He died in 1921.
Nestell “Ness” Bonee
Scribner: Ness Scribner was born in Grand Rapids on March 15, 1849, and became a
copper, tin and sheet iron manufacturer.
Alexander Porter
Sinclair: A. Porter Sinclair was born in Dixboro, Michigan, on February 16,
1845, and served in the 14th Regiment of the Michigan Infantry. After the war,
he became an insurance agent and also served as a Grand Rapids alderman during
the 1880s.
Sam B. Sinclair: Sam
B. Sinclair was born around 1846 in Michigan and became a grocer.
Charles Robert Sligh:
Charles R. Sligh was born in Grand Rapids on January 5, 1850. When he was
eleven, his father enlisted in the Michigan Engineers and Mechanics’ Regiment
and was fatally wounded. Sligh worked as a tinsmith and a traveling salesman
until founding the Sligh Furniture Company in 1880. The firm became one of the
city’s most successful businesses and Sligh sat on the board of several other
Grand Rapids companies. He also got into politics, running for governor of
Michigan in 1896 for the Silver Party and serving two terms as mayor of Grand
Rapids from 1906 to 1910. He died in September of 1927. His furniture company
went under two years later, which was a major setback for Grand Rapids, but his
son ultimately revived the firm.
Benjamin F. Stevens:
Benjamin F. Stevens was a lumber dealer.
Lewis F. Waldron:
Lewis F. Waldron was born around 1850 in Illinois and worked as a store clerk in
store. Along with Porter, he took part in the 1874 effort to bring a
“first-class base ball club” to Grand Rapids. He died in 1918.
Thomas Stewart
White: T. Stewart White was born in Grand Haven, Michigan, on June 28, 1840. He
served as the club’s secretary in 1866 and became a prominent lumberman,
eventually having charge of all of the logs that ran through Grand Rapids. He
was also the director of the Fourth National Bank of Grand Rapids.
Walter L. Wilkins:
Walter L. Wilkins was born in August of 1842 in Vermont and worked as a salesman
while he lived in Grand Rapids. In 1876, he and his brother James opened a
factory in Hastings, Michigan, to make croquet equipment and baseball bats.
Walter Wilkins let his brother buy his interest in 1878, and James Wilkins then
brought in A. G. Spalding as a partner. The Spalding and Wilkins Manufacturing
Company soon became the country’s leading manufacturer of baseball bats.
Although no longer a partner, Walter Wilkins remained involved in the factory
until it was destroyed by fire. He later moved to Chicago.
Lewis H. Withey:
Lewis H. Withey was born in Michigan around 1847 and was the son of a Grand
Rapids judge. After attending Williston Seminary in Massachusetts, in 1867 he
founded a lumber firm called Lewis Withey and Company. He also became president
of the Michigan Trust Company. He died in 1925.
Others: G. F.
Blevins, R. A. Blumrich, A. E. Dick, Edward H. Donnelly, C.T. Henderson, C. F.
(or J. F.) Nelson, Henry W. Pierce, A.W. Stevens, and John D. White. The Kent
Club log books lists at least twenty-nine additional club members, though most
of these men probably did nothing more than pay the membership fees and
occasionally attend practices.
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