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LIGHTFOOT OF NORTH BROOKFIELD (MASS.)
In
1904, the members of the Lightfoot Base Ball Club of North Brookfield,
Massachusetts, staged a memorable reunion that included most of the men who had
played baseball there some fifty years earlier. The aged pioneers were issued
badges that read “Lightfoot Base Ball Club, North Brookfield, 1850” and were
given the “freedom of the town,” which they took advantage of by making stops at
the Essex House and the West Brookfield Tavern. The players also found plenty
of time to reminisce about those long ago days and while their memories may have
included some inaccuracies, they do paint a vivid portrait.
The
Lightfoot Club dated its origin to 1850 and was so named “because the members
were specially active and agile on their feet. They used to run up and down
North Brookfield’s main street every night for practice.” (“A Famous Old Team:
The North Brookfield Lightfoots, Baseball Heroes of the 50’s, Who Held a Reunion
Last Week,” Springfield Republican, August 28, 1904)
The
game played by the Lightfoots for most of their history was known at the time as
“round ball” and later became known as the Massachusetts Game. The members of
the Lightfoots claimed to have never lost while playing by those rules, earning
them recognition as champions of Western Massachusetts. At the reunion, club
member David Earle gave a talk on the history of the club from its inception,
but unfortunately none of the accounts saw fit to recap Earle’s remarks. As a
result, we have no idea of how many matches they played or of many other key
details.
Another club member did, however, provide a description of the rules followed by
the Lightfoots. “The rules of the old Massachusetts game,” recalled Henry
Hibbard, “called for not less than nine and not more than fourteen players on a
side. But there was invariably a full complement of men. The ball field was in
the form of a square, not the diamond shape of the present day, the batter
standing in a four-foot circle. The first base was thirty feet to the right of
the batter and the fourth base, or home, thirty feet to his left. The bases
were sixty feet apart, forming three sides of the square. The thrower stood
thirty-five feet in front of the batter, the catcher, of course, being behind
him. The referees were seated ten feet behind the thrower. The ball was to be
thrown anywhere over the four-foot ring, provided it went to the right of the
batter, or to his left in case he was left-handed. It was stipulated that the
ball used must not weigh more than two and three-quarters ounces, or less than
two and one-half ounces. Batted balls must be caught on the fly to put the
player out. One hundred runs constituted a game. The other positions in the
out-fields were ‘first behind’ and ‘second behind,’ two shortstops, one to the
right, the other to the left of the batter and about twenty feet from him, one
on each of the four bases, one each behind second and third bases, one farther
back between these men and one to the right of the ‘first’ and ‘second behind.’”
(“The Most Unique Base Ball Reunion on Record,” Omaha Sunday World-Herald,
September 25, 1904)
According to an 1859 article, Hibbard became so well known as an authority on
the rules of the Massachusetts Game that he was invited to referee and to make
the baseballs for a historic 1859 match played between Amherst College and
Williams College. (“A Famous Old Team: The North Brookfield Lightfoots, Baseball
Heroes of the 50’s, Who Held a Reunion Last Week,” Springfield Republican,
August 28, 1904) It’s a nice story, but unfortunately a game account states
that a man named William Plunkett served as referee. (Pittsfield Sun,
July 7, 1859; reprinted in Dean Sullivan, Early Innings, 32-34)
When the Civil War broke out, the Lightfoot Club disbanded and many of the
players served in the Union Army. The club reorganized at the war’s end and in
August of 1865 it met a rival from Brookfield in a match billed as being for the
championship of Central and Western Massachusetts. It was the thirty-ninth
anniversary of this match that was being celebrated by the 1904 reunion.
The
big contest was scheduled to begin on Friday, August 18, 1865, and since a
“round ball” match was played until one club had scored 100 runs, it was to
continue for as many days as necessary. The site was the West Brookfield Common
and anticipation was at such a fever pitch that business in all of the
Brookfield villages was put on hold until the match was concluded. As if added
incentive was needed, each side put up a stake of $250.
Play began on the 18th but runs proved difficult to come by and the
match was still being contested on the 21st with the Lightfoots ahead
by 24 to 14 but the requisite 100 runs still very far off. At that point,
however, “a batted ball rolled under a carriage and was picked up by a girl and
handed to a Brookfield player, who was thus enabled to put out the North
Brookfield player.”
Referee Seth Wetherbee ruled the runner safe because of the extra help,
prompting a dispute. Eventually, the Brookfield players refused to play any
further, ending the match. This left the stakeholder in a dilemma, and an
effort was made to persuade him not to pay the North Brookfield side their
winnings, but in the end he chose to do so.
That was the last match that the Lightfoots played by the Massachusetts rules.
They soon switched to the New York rules and played by them in 1866 and 1867.
The results are largely unknown, but we do know that the undefeated record of
the Lightfoots came to an end.
After the 1867 season, the Lightfoot Base Ball Club of North Brookfield gave up
the sport for good and the players moved on with their lives. But their days on
the ball field obviously remained very fond memories, as almost all of the
surviving members returned to North Brookfield in 1904 for the reunion. Also
invited to the reunion was Seth Wetherbee of Warren – the man who had refereed
the famous 1865 match. In honor of his service, Wetherbee was presented with a
silver fruit dish.
Sources: “A Famous Old Team: The North Brookfield Lightfoots, Baseball Heroes of
the 50’s, Who Held a Reunion Last Week,” Springfield Republican, August
28, 1904; “The Most Unique Base Ball Reunion on Record,” Omaha Sunday
World-Herald, September 25, 1904; Tim Murnane, Sporting Life,
September 10, 1904
MEMBERS
James Breckenridge Cummings: Baseman James B. Cummings was born in North
Brookfield on July 31, 1844. He enlisted when the Civil War broke out and
served for three years in the 36th Massachusetts. He got married
after the war and went to work at a North Brookfield shoe factory. He was still
living there in 1886 but he did not attend the 1904 reunion, suggesting he had
died in the interim. A James B. Cummings died in Brookfield in 1901.
David M. Earle: David M. Earle, an outfielder for the Lightfoots, was born in
North Brookfield on August 15, 1838. He served in the 15th
Massachusetts during the war, rising to the rank of captain and being wounded at
Antietam. After the war, he farmed in North Brookfield and then moved to
Worcester and became a deputy sheriff. At the time of the 1904 reunion, he was
reported to be living in Washington and Worcester.
Albert H. Foster, the “second behind” of the Lightfoots, was born in New
Braintree on November 12, 1839. By 1860, he had settled in North Brookfield and
had a job stitching boots. He enlisted in the 15th Massachusetts on
May 1, 1861. Although taken prisoner at Ball’s Bluff and held at Richmond for
four months, he served until July of 1864. After the war, he became a coal
dealer and was still living in North Brookfield in 1920. His wife appears to
have filed for a widow’s pension in 1929.
Francis Babbit Hibbard: Outfielder Frank Hibbard was born on March 27, 1842, and
was one of three brothers to play for the Lightfoots. He worked as a shoemaker
in North Brookfield, but by the 1880s he had moved to Nebraska and become a
farmer. His farm, Evergreen Farm at Irvington-on-the-Papio, became well known
around Omaha. He was still living on his farm near Omaha in 1910.
Henry A. Hibbard: Henry Hibbard, the first behind, was born on May 16, 1839. He
became a dentist and moved to Missouri before settling in Fort Worth, Texas.
Despite the distance, he and his brother Frank both came back to North
Brookfield for the 1904 reunion.
John Lawton Hibbard: Infielder John Hibbard was the oldest of the three
brothers, being born on April 6, 1833, in West Brookfield. In 1856, he married
Abigail Poland, the sister of fellow club member Anson Poland. When the war
broke out, he enlisted in the 34th Massachusetts, serving as a
musician and joining in Sherman’s March to the Sea. He then settled in
Worcester, where he worked as a schoolhouse janitor. A John L. Hibbard died in
Worcester in 1908.
James Kirkham: There was contradictory information about whether outfielder
James Kirkham attended the reunion, but it appears that he was the only
surviving member who did not attend. He has not been identified in the
censuses.
James Nichols: Baseman James Nichols was not at reunion and the coverage implied
that he was dead. But he too has proven difficult to pinpoint in the census.
Anson B. Poland: Anson Poland, an outfielder, was born on September 20, 1835.
He worked as a shoemaker and later as a farmer. He was still living in North
Brookfield at the time of the 1904 reunion.
Benjamin “Ben” Stevens: Ben Stevens, the third behind of the Lightfoots, was
born in Andover on June 18, 1840. He worked as a shoemaker before the war, then
enlisted in the Massachusetts 15th and was wounded at Antietam and
the Battle of the Wilderness. He later moved to Boston and worked as a prison
officer.
George W. Stone: George Stone, the “thrower” of the Lightfoots, was quite a bit
older than most of the players, being born around 1825. He was later a boat
maker and a representative. He was living in Oakham at the time of the 1904
reunion.
Charles and Henry Torrey were both basemen and neither men attended the reunion,
with coverage suggesting he was dead. It seems likely that they were brothers
Charles Adams Torrey and Henry Augustus Torrey, who were born in Ware on
September 19, 1840, and September 25, 1842, respectively. Charles died on
September 1, 1878, while what became of Henry is not known.
John J. Upham: Infielder John Upham was born in North Brookfield on May 22,
1836. He was a shoemaker before the war, then enlisted in the 42nd
Massachusetts and served for a year. After the war he moved to Worcester and
worked in clothing sales. A John J. Upham died in Worcester in 1910 and as the
former ballplayer’s wife filed for a widow’s pension that April, it seems
certain it was the man.
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