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MISSING PIONEERS BY LAST KNOWN LOCALE AND BY CLUB
ORGANIZED BY LAST
KNOWN LOCALE
(See
below under club listing for more details.)
NEW YORK (NYC): Albro Aiken, Bernard J. Hanigan (other NY); Eugene
Bonker, Rafael Julian de la Rua (Haymakers); George B. Ketchum (Niagara of
Buffalo); Frank Manley Bonta, George G. Campbell (Central City of Syracuse)
NEW YORK
(Brooklyn): Francis A. Biggs, Bill Boyd and Brock Carroll (all Pastimes);
Anthony Elmendorf (Excelsiors); Waddy Beach, Harrison Brainard (other NY); Augustus C. Allen (Clifton
of Buffalo); Dave Torrey (Ontario of Oswego); Eben Smith (Forest City of
Cleveland)
NEW YORK
(Newburgh): Charles F. Brown, A. S. Mapes, Henry C. Millspaugh, S. B. Reeve,
Eldrige Gerry Stevens (all Hudson Rivers)
NEW YORK
(Matituck): Tice Hamilton (other NY)
NEW YORK
(Suffolk County): William P. Labon (Pastimes)
NEW YORK
(Troy): James McKeon (Haymakers)
NEW YORK
(Albany): George S. Dawson, Aaron De Graff, Charles W. Gibbs (Excelsior);
Frederick Barker Perkins (Kent of Grand Rapids)
NEW YORK
(Oswego): Martin V. “Mart” Wadleigh (Ontario)
NEW YORK
(Binghamton): Walter C. Osborn (Excelsior of Albany)
NEW YORK
(Syracuse): James Barnes, Charles Tamkin (Syracuse); John E. Harwood, James G.
Noakes (Central City)
NEW YORK
(Rochester): Teddy Adams (Central City)
NEW YORK
(Warsaw): Clayton Eugene Gill (Kent of Grand Rapids)
NEW YORK
(Buffalo): Herbert Jewell (Excelsiors of Brooklyn); Robert Bach, Stephen
Bettinger, John Higgins, Alfred A. Holley, William F. Miller, John B. Sage, John
W. Van Velsor, Joseph Warren (Niagaras); Henry Barnum, Benjamin J. Holloway, Le
Dran B. Lamphier, Cyrenius Chapin Pickering, Richard L. Robertson, Albert B.
Young (Cliftons)
NEW
JERSEY (Newark): Alexander Bailey, Thomas Buckley (Irvington); Ichabod W. Dawson,
James Linen, Albert J. Littlewood, Isaac “Joe” Terrill (Eureka of Newark); Henry
T. Dusenberry (Newark Club)
NEW
JERSEY (Jersey City): Charles Bliven, Peter T. Donnelly, Henry & John McMahon,
William Willis (Champion); Simeon Golding (Ontario of Oswego)
NEW
JERSEY (Paterson): Michael Toomey (Olympics)
NEW
JERSEY (Irvington): Mahlon Stockman (Irvington)
NEW
JERSEY (East Orange): Frederick B. Pullen (Mutual of Janesville)
NEW
JERSEY (Hoboken): Peter D. Shreves (other NY)
NEW
JERSEY (Rutherford): Charles Hunt (other NY)
NEW
JERSEY (Union): Leonard G. Cohen (other NY)
NEW
JERSEY (Harrison): A. E. “Ed” Yale (Central City of Syracuse)
NEW
JERSEY (unspecified): James Brown Bach and Henry Bull (Niagara of Buffalo),
Patsy Dockney (any town with a tavern)
MASSACHUSETTS (Brookfield/North Brookfield): James Breckenridge Cummings, Albert
H. Foster, Anson B. Poland (Lightfoot)
MASSACHUSETTS (Worcester): David M. Earle, John Lawton Hibbard, John J. Upham
(Lightfoot of N. Brookfield)
MASSACHUSETTS (Boston): Ben Stevens (Lightfoot of N. Brookfield); Merrick
Franklin Prouty (Excelsior of Chicago);
Capt. William Henry
Alline, Edward Lincoln “Ned” Arnold, Samuel Bradstreet, Jr.,
James D'Wolf Lovett (Lowell)
MASSACHUSETTS (Ware?): Charles and Henry Torrey (Lightfoot of N. Brookfield)
MASSACHUSETTS (Oakham): George W. Stone (Lightfoot of N. Brookfield)
MASSACHUSETTS (Florence): Edmund F. Connell, Michael H. Dunn, Edward H. Hammond,
Philip Mara, John McGrath, James Mehan (Eagle)
MASSACHUSETTS (Springfield): Andrew Robertson (Eagle of Florence)
MAINE (Togus?):
Thad. Noble and Gustavus Smith (Middletowns)
CONNECTICUT (New London): Edward Eames Millard (Utica)
CONNECTICUT (New Haven): Patrick F. Whalen (Eagle of Florence)
DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA: Joseph E. Doyle (Forest City
of Rockford); Milo Dwight Hamilton (Franklin of Detroit)
PENNSYLVANIA (Philadelphia): Elias Cope and Harry Lex (Keystones); Raymond Burr
(Pythian)
PENNSYVANIA (Allegheny/Pittsburgh): Algernon S. Bell, James M. Carr, William H.
Lockhart, Ambrose Lynch, William Ralston Jr. (Allegheny); Robert Pitcairn
(Mountain of Altoona); Henry Pudder (Eagle of Dayton, Ky.); Samuel C. Lane
(Detroit)
PENNSYVANIA (Altoona): Joseph Wilkinson Askew (Mountain)
PENNSYLVANIA (Tyrone): David T. Caldwell (Mountain)
OHIO
(Cleveland): Lemuel O. Rawson (Forest City); Jonathan Van Norman (Detroit)
OHIO
(Toledo): Billie J. Billings (Daybreak of Jackson)
ILLINOIS
(Chicago): F. H. Bostock, Alexander D.
Kennedy, James Malcolm, G. Charles Smith (Excelsior); Edward Atkins (Franklin of Detroit); Walter L. Wilkins (Kent of Grand Rapids)
ILLINOIS
(Rockford): Rufus C. Bailey (Forest City)
ILLINOIS
(Pecatonica): Daniel A. Stitsel, Edward J. Thompson (Pecatonica BBC)
ILLINOIS
(Peoria): Henry Simoneau (Detroit)
ILLINOIS
(Rockvale): William Ballard Osborne (Forest City of Rockford)
WISCONSIN
(Eau Claire): George W. Robertson (Clifton of Buffalo)
WISCONSIN
(Ashland): James W. Clarke (Forest City of Cleveland)
WISCONSIN
(Janesville): Del Bump, William G. Heller, Pete Lenehan, Edgar M. Smith
(Mutual); George Jerome Hitchcock (Forest City of Rockford)
WISCONSIN
(Lind Center): James H. Manny (Forest City of Rockford)
IOWA
(Iowa City): Denton F. Sawyer (Forest City of Rockford)
MINNESOTA
(St. Paul): Edward B. Smith (Niagara of Buffalo)
NEBRASKA
(Omaha): Francis Babbit Hibbard (Lightfoot of N. Brookfield)
VIRGINIA
(Portsmouth): Henry Cobean (Independent of Mansfield)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Simon Burns (Mutual of New York)
GEORGIA (Atlanta): Jimmy Gregg, Dick Williford (Gate City)
TEXAS:
Joe Leggett (other NY)
COLORADO
(Denver): Thomas Garret Putnam (Syracuse); Henry Dietz (Independent of
Mansfield)
COLORADO
(Trinidad): Herbert Stark (Central City of Syracuse)
CALIFORNIA (Riverside): Richard H. Thorn (NYC other)
CALIFORNIA (Long Beach): Eugene S. Boswell (Central City of Syracuse)
CALIFORNIA (San Francisco): George Fox (National of Washington)
CALIFORNIA (unspecified): Fred C. Joslin (Kent of Grand Rapids)
MICHIGAN: Note that many of these will likely be found in March when the
1897-1920 Michigan death database becomes available.
MICHIGAN
(Detroit): Lyman Hayden Baldwin, David E. Barry, William DeGraff, Dr. Justin J.
Dumon, Charles Dupont, John Horn Jr., William K. Parcher, Frank J. Phelps
(Detroit); John H. Atkins, Thomas Crane, Michael Dempsey, Benjamin French
Duncklee, Henry R. Durney, Julius P. Gilmore, Jordan P. McMillan, William F.
Moore, Charles C. Robinson, Charles M. Rousseau, Beecher Skinner, James H.
Walker (Franklin); William Harry (First National)
MICHIGAN
(Livonia): Albert Brockway (1st National of Hancock)
MICHIGAN
(Jackson County): John Bittenbender (1st National of Hancock); George
L. Harrington, William P. Hewitt (Daybreak)
MICHIGAN
(Grand Rapids): George R. Allen, Charles H. Deane, William Sylvester Earle,
Henry B. Grady, Delony Gunnison, Arthur R. Morgan, George H. Morgan, Silas K.
Pierce, Alexander Porter Sinclair, Sam B. Sinclair, John B. White (Kent)
MICHIGAN
(Houghton): Clarence E. Eddie (Franklin of Detroit)
MICHIGAN
(Negaunee): Joseph Winter (Early Riser of Detroit)
MICHIGAN
(Hancock): David S. Kendall (First National)
MICHIGAN
(Calumet Township): Thomas D. Meads (1st National of Hancock)
THE SOUTH
(unspecified): Henry Herrick Bond (Eagle of Florence)
THE WEST
(unspecified): H. L. Fairchild, Will E. Tanner (Clifton of Buffalo)
HAWAII
(Honolulu): Robert Grieve (Detroit)
SOUTH
AFRICA: Charles Ward (Detroit)
PLACE
UNKNOWN, 1895: Arthur Van Norman (Detroit)
BY CLUB AND WITH ADDITIONAL DETAILS
HUDSON
RIVER OF NEWBURGH, NEW YORK
Charles F. Brown, pitcher, born in New York state around 1844, lawyer.
Still alive in 1914.
A. S.
Mapes, pitcher from 1861 to 1864, died in winter after 1865 season, need date
and Mapes’s full name.
Charles
Mapes: According to an online family genealogy, he was born on September 19,
1837, and died on November 6, 1920. Where?
Henry C.
Millspaugh, an attorney, was born around 1845 and was still in Newburgh in 1880
but seems to have left or died soon afterward.
S. B.
Reeve: S. B. Reeve played for the Hudson River Club from its inception until
1863. He was a jeweler who was born around 1831.
Eldrige
Gerry Stevens died in June of 1893. Need exact date.
EXCELSIOR
OF BROOKLYN
Anthony Elmendorf: He left the Excelsiors for the Civil War and served in
Company G, 48th NY Infantry. On 4/16/1887 his widow Sarah L applied for death
benefits and she is listed in 1888 Brooklyn CD as his widow. Only possible one
age 10 in Waterloo, NY, on 1850 census.
Herbert
Stewart Jewell b 3/4/1845 Brooklyn; worked in the family’s flour business;
1888-90 Brooklyn CD Herbert S. Jewell flour 23 Lefferts Pl; 1910 census Herbert
Jewell, miller, wife Lida, Milwaukee Wis; 1920 census Buffalo, NY.
PASTIME
OF BROOKLYN
Francis A. Biggs was born around 1830 and died in Brooklyn in March of 1889.
(need details)
Bill Boyd
was connected with Brooklyn City Hall and one account described him as a
penitentiary official. He was still alive and living in Brooklyn in 1889, but
has not been positively identified.
Brock
Carroll was reported to be already dead in an 1877 article. Civil War records
show a Brock Carroll serving as a private in the 3rd Regiment of the New York
Cavalry, but no other trace of this man has been found.
William
P. Labon was born in 1823 in England and was still alive as late as 1910, having
by then retired to Suffolk County.
MUTUAL OF NEW YORK
Simon Burns: born 1838 Ireland, apparently in South Carolina in 1879.
OTHER
NYC/BROOKLYN CLUBS
Albro Aiken, the shortstop of the Unions of Morrisania, reportedly became a
prosperous metropolitan lawyer.
Waddy
Beach of the Eckfords was reported to have vanished by 1887, though he was
apparently still alive.
Harrison
Brainard, brother of Asa, was three years younger than Asa, and possibly a Civil
War vet. He was a hotel keeper in Suffolk in 1870, but hard to trace after
that.
Leonard
G. Cohen of the Gotham club was born around 1840 and became a fruit dealer. He
appears to have been living in Union, NJ, in 1910.
Patsy
Dockney was born in 1845 in Ireland, grew up in Hoboken and served for three
years in the Civil War. He was dead by 1893 but when and where?
Tice
Hamilton of the Atlantics was living in the “country” in 1879. Most likely, he’s
Stephen Tyson Hamilton, b. 7/32 Jamaica, Queens, who later lived in Southold,
Suffolk County. Stray notes from the Eagle: BE 6/18/91 Tice Hamilton of
Matituck, L.I. BE 6/15/61 S. Tice Hamilton, the milkman. BE 4/18/02 Mrs. Tyson
L. Hamilton of Matituck, L. I.
Bernard
J. Hanigan. Possibly a Civil War veteran, we have no trace of him after his
playing career ends in the late 1860s.
Charles
Hunt of the Mutuals of New York was the brother of Richard Hunt, who played in
the major leagues. Charles was born around 1839 and was living in Rutherford,
New Jersey, in 1910.
Joe
Leggett of the Excelsiors absconded with several thousand dollars from his job
at Brooklyn City Hall. A family genealogy says he died in Galveston on July 25,
1894, but that has never been confirmed.
Peter D.
Shreves: Born 1844 New Jersey, in Hoboken on 1900 census.
Richard
H. Thorn pitched for several of the important early clubs. He later worked in
the Washington Market as a fruit dealer and was still working there in 1887. On
the 1900 census, he’s in Riverside, California.
UTICA BBC
Edward Eames Millard died 1919 New London, CT. Need date.
IRVINGTON
BBC
Alexander Bailey: After his base ball playing days, he lived in Newark, working
as a clerk. Bailey died sometime between 1900 and 1910.
Thomas
Buckley played for the Newark Club in 1864 and 1865 before joining Irvington in
1866. Like former Newark Club teammate Bailey, he remained with the Irvington
team through 1869. In 1860 Buckley was living in Newark working as a salesman.
He could not be located on any census after 1860.
Mahlon
Stockman: By 1870 Stockman was working as a bookkeeper. Sometime after 1880, he
became Irvington’s town clerk, a position he still held in both 1900 and 1910.
Stockman died after 1911.
OLYMPIC
OF PATERSON
Michael Toomey was the pitcher for the Olympics from 1866 through 1869 also
serving as club treasurer in 1865 and 1866. References in the Paterson
Directory list him as a saloon keeper in 1890 and then list his wife as being a
widow in 1891-92.
EUREKA OF
NEWARK
Ichabod
Dawson was born in 1832 in New York. He formed his own patent leather
manufacturing business, I. W. Dawson & Co. Dawson died sometime between 1891
and 1901.
James
Linen was born in 1841 in Pennsylvania. He served in the 26th New Jersey from
September 1862 to June 1863.
Albert J.
Littlewood was born in England. He was a jeweler and apparently died by 1900.
Isaac
“Joe” Terrill: An Isaac Terrill died on 5/25/1917, but the Newark paper has only
a death notice, no obituary.
NEWARK
BASE BALL CLUB
Henry T. Dusenberry was born in New Jersey about 1833. In 1873 he represented
the sixth ward on Newark’s Common Council. He died between 1873 and 1880.
CHAMPION
OF JERSEY CITY
Charles Bliven was working as a clerk in a store in 1870. He was probably
deceased by 1880.
Peter T.
Donnelly worked as a plumber and probably died between 1893 and 1897.
Henry &
John McMahon were brothers who were members of the Champion club from
1865-1868. Both brothers worked as butchers.
William
Willis was a steward in 1900 and may have died before 1910.
MANSFIELD
OF MIDDLETOWN
Thad.
Noble and Gustavus Smith were said to be living at the Old Soldier’s Home in
Togus, Maine as of 1902. Noble is actually in a different Old Soldier’s Home in
Maine on the 1900 census and there’s a pension card for him, but the date is
unreadable.
KEYSTONE
OF PHILADELPHIA
Elias P. Cope: Elias Cope was born in Philadelphia around 1845, served in the
104th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D, and became a butcher like his
father and raised six children. On the 1900 census, Cope’s wife Elizabeth is
listed as married but Elias was not living with her.
Harry Lex:
Apparently Harry J. Lex, who was born in Philadelphia on b. March 9, 1848,
worked as a stockbroker and died at his home, 1701 Wallace St., Philadelphia, on
Sept. 6, 1907. But don’t have definitive proof this is him.
PYTHIAN
OF PHILADELPHIA
Raymond Burr, club delegate
ALLEGHENY
BASE BALL CLUB
Algernon S. Bell died in either 1879 or 1880, aged 40. Need details.
James M.
Carr was born around 1831 in Pennsylvania and was last listed in the Allegheny
city directory in 1871.
William
H. Lockhart was born in Scotland in May of 1838, served in the Civil War and his
wife Ellen filed for a Civil War widow’s pension in September of 1904. Need
details.
Ambrose
Lynch was born in Ireland in 1839 and died in late June of 1888. Need details.
William
Ralston Jr., was born around 1844 in Pennsylvania but seems to leave the area or
die in the late 1860s.
MOUNTAIN
OF ALTOONA
Joseph Wilkinson Askew was born in 1829 in East Nottingham, Maryland and was
still in Altoona in 1880 but his whereabouts after that are unknown.
David T.
Caldwell was born around 1836 in Pennsylvania and was living in Tyrone in 1920.
Robert
Pitcairn was born in May of 1836 in Scotland and by 1870 he had moved to
Pittsburgh, where he was still living in 1900.
UNION OF
LANSINGBURGH/HAYMAKER OF TROY
Eugene H.
Bonker was born around 1848 in New York and grew up in Lansingburgh, where his
father worked as an expressman. By 1880, Bonker and his entire family had moved
to Manhattan where Eugene, still single, worked as an engineer.
James
McKeon, club president,was born around 1835 and was the brother of Peter. He
was a local alderman during the 1860s and the sheriff of Rensselaer County from
1870 to 1873 but seems to have left town or died soon afterward.
Rafael
Julián de la Rúa was born on January 28, 1848, in Matanzas, Cuba. By 1860, the
twelve-year-old was a student at a small school in Newton, Massachusetts. He
left the school without graduating after a single year and that seems to have
ended his baseball career. Rafael de la Rúa was next heard from on September
23, 1874, when he applied for U.S. citizenship, giving his occupation as
merchant and his address as 15th and 32nd streets in New York.
NIAGARA
OF BUFFALO
James Brown Bach was born in 1836 and died in New Jersey in July of 1914 – need
details.
Robert
Bach was James’s older brother and the original secretary of the Niagaras. There
is no trace of his whereabouts after 1857.
Stephen
Bettinger was born in December of 1847 and was still living in Buffalo as late
as 1930.
Henry
Bull was born on February 6, 1844, and was apparently living in New Jersey in
the mid-1930s.
John
Higgins was born around 1833. When the 116th Infantry was formed,
Higgins became a captain and was joined in command of the regiment by fellow
club members Edward Chapin and George M. Love. Higgins received several
promotions and was a lieutenant-colonel when he was given a disability discharge
on September 19, 1864. After the war, he worked as a bookkeeper for the Buffalo
firm of A. Rumsey & Co. He was reported as being dead by 1897, but the details
of his passing are not known.
Alfred A.
Holley: Myron Holley’s younger brother Alfred was born in 1851 in New York. He
left Buffalo after playing the outfield for the Niagaras and his whereabouts
after that have been hard to trace. He was reportedly still alive in 1906, and
may have moved to Oswego.
George B.
Ketchum apparently died in the Bronx on March 19, 1913, at the age of 81. Need
to confirm it’s the right man.
William
F. Miller, who was born in New York around 1822, was a prominent Buffalo
attorney. He was in a partnership with Albert P. Laning, later a partner of
Grover Cleveland. He died between 1880 and 1882, but details are lacking.
John B.
Sage was born in New York around 1832 and joined the family business in
lithography and printing. He served as president of Buffalo’s National League
club from 1881 to 1885 and was later named official printer of National League.
He was still alive in 1900 but was reported seriously ill in May of 1903 and
appears to have died soon afterward.
Edward B.
Smith: Edward B. Smith, the club president in 1868, was born in December of 1837
and became a prominent Buffalo builder. He later was president of Buffalo’s
National League club in 1879 and 1880. Smith then moved to St. Paul, Minnesota,
and owned the city’s minor league park.
John W.
Van Velsor was born in New York State in August of 1839 and ran a bakery on Main
Street in Buffalo. He was alive when the 1910 census was taken on April 23 but
appears to have died later that year.
Joseph
Warren, the publisher and proprietor of Courier, died in 1876 – need
details.
CLIFTONS
OF BUFFALO
Augustus C. Allen was born in 1847 in New York state and was the son of a land
agent. By 1880, the whole family had moved to Brooklyn.
Henry
Barnum was born in 1847 and was the son of a wealthy Buffalo merchant who owned
“Barnum’s Bazar.” He was listed as a clerk on the 1870 census, but died not
long after that.
H. L.
Fairchild: an 1897 article reported that he had left Buffalo and headed west,
but efforts to identify him have been unsuccessful.
Benjamin
J. Holloway was born in New York state around 1847 and as of 1870 was working as
a foreman. He was last listed in the Buffalo city directory in 1877 and died
that year or soon afterward.
Le Dran
B. Lamphier was born in New York state around 1848 and worked as a painter,
fireman and foreman. He was still in Buffalo in 1908 but had died by 1909.
Cyrenius
Chapin Pickering was born on November 30, 1849, in Buffalo and became a
manufacturing chemist and wholesale liquor dealer. He was still living in
Buffalo in 1917 but may have died that year.
George W.
Robertson was the older brother of Richard, born around 1846, but nothing else
is known about him. He may have moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Richard
L. Robertson was born in New York state around 1848, the son of a well-to-do hat
and cap maker, and he eventually succeeded his father in the business. He
married in 1883 and had one child. He was still living in Buffalo in 1923 but
his wife was listed as a widow in the 1925 city directory.
William
E. Tanner was born in New York around 1848, the son of a wealthy merchant. As
of 1870, he was working as a telegraph operator and the 1880 census shows him as
a city fireman with his wife Cora and their baby. But soon after that he headed
west for parts unknown.
Albert B.
Young was born in New York state in October of 1848 and eventually became
president of the Cling Surface Company. Young was still living in Buffalo as
late as 1930.
SYRACUSE
BASE BALL CLUB
James Barnes was born around 1833 in Tenterden, England and was a brother of
fellow club members Charles and George. He was still living in Syracuse in
1906.
Thomas
Garret Putnam was born on January 24, 1840, and became a lawyer. He eventually
moved to Denver and appears to have died around 1903.
Charles
Tamkin was born in March of 1835 in Tenterden, England and was still in Syracuse
in the early twentieth century.
CENTRAL
CITY OF SYRACUSE
Teddy
Adams: Ted or Teddy Adams is the most baffling mystery among the players of the
Central Citys. He became the club’s shortstop in 1865 and was a fixture there
for most of the club’s existence, with the exception of the 1866 season. George
Geer later called him “the famous Ted Adams” and maintained that “the press of
the country had it that Adams played the [shortstop] position second to none,”
even comparing him to George Wright. No doubt this was an exaggeration, but
Adams was deemed good enough to spark rumors he would sign with the professional
Troy Haymakers after the Central Citys gave up baseball in 1870. Articles in
1878 and 1886 reported that he was still living in the area, and in 1900 George
Geer wrote, “Shortstop Ted Adams is still residing here, and likes to talk over
old days with the present generation.” Then a 1908 piece reported that he was
living in Rochester. But the only Theodore Adams who ever appears in the census
in Syracuse is much too young to be the ballplayer, and doesn’t match any of the
other known facts.
Eugene S.
Boswell was born around 1851 and as of 1920, he was living in Long Beach,
California.
Frank
Manley Bonta was born on April 14, 1845, in Amber, New York. He was still alive
as late as 1930, living in Manhattan at the time.
George G.
Campbell was born around 1845 in New York State. He later moved to Manhattan,
where he was living as of 1910. He appears to have died around 1920.
John E.
Harwood was born around 1846 and served in the Civil War, then later owned an
engraving store in Syracuse. He died around 1929.
James G.
Noakes was born on February 4, 1840, in Sussex, England. After emigrating to
the U.S., he married a Syracuse woman in 1862. He served in the Civil War as a
musician for the 149th New York and was taken prisoner at Chancellorville. The
exact date of his death is not known, but his wife filed for a Civil War’s widow
pension and the date on the application appears to read July 31, 1909.
Herbert
Stark was born in 1853. He later moved to Trinidad, Colorado, and reported in
1882 that he was a confectionary manufacturer, the holder of the city seal,
foreman of a volunteer fire company, end man in a church choir, and captain of
the Trinidad Base Ball Club. As of 1887, he was postmaster of Trinidad.
A. E.
“Ed” Yale was a younger brother of John W. Yale who was born around 1835 and his
full name appears to have been Andrews Edward Yale. He was living in Harrison,
New Jersey, as of 1910.
EXCELSIOR
OF ALBANY
George S. Dawson was born around 1839 in New York. His father, also named
George, was the proprietor of the Albany Evening Journal, while the younger
George worked as a printer. George S. Dawson enlisted in the Civil War and
became a captain in the New York 2nd Artillery, but his whereabouts
after that are not known.
A.
DeGraff: The only A. DeGraff in the Albany CDs was Aaron De Graff, born 1805
NY. He was in Albany CDs until the 1880s.
Charles
W. Gibbs was born around 1838 in New York and grew up in Albany. He enlisted in
the Union Army as a lieutenant and served in the 44th New York
Infantry for more than two years, earning promotion to captain. He applied for
a disability pension in 1870 and his wife applied for a widow’s pension in 1914.
Walter C.
Osborn was the club president. The only man by that name was born around 1834
in New York State, served in the Civil War, and later worked as a clerk in
Binghamton.
ONTARIO
OF OSWEGO
Simeon Golding: Presumably this player was the 23-year-old man in Oswego on the
1870 census who was listed as “Simon Golding,” a boiler maker. The 1912 article
stated that Golding was living in Jersey City, but I’ve found no trace of him
there or anywhere else after 1870.
Dave
Torry (sometime spelled Torey or Torrey) was reported to be living in Brooklyn
in 1912 but has not been identified.
Martin V.
“Mart” Wadleigh died in 1919 – need details.
LIGHTFOOT
OF NORTH BROOKFIELD
James Breckenridge 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 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 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 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.
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.
Anson B.
Poland 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 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, 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 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.
EAGLE OF
FLORENCE
Henry Herrick Bond moved to the south due to health problems and died in 1881 at
the age of 34. Need details.
Edmund F.
Connell, dead by 1895
Michael
H. Dunn, whereabouts unknown as of 1915
Edward H.
Hammond, dead by 1895
Philip
Mara, dead by 1895
John
McGrath, whereabouts unknown as of 1915
James
Mehan, whereabouts unknown as of 1915.
Andrew
Robertson, born and raised in Florence, spent his later life in Springfield. He
probably died at some point after the team reunion of 1916 and before 1926.
Patrick
F. Whalen was a Florence native who moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and was
reported to be alive in 1926.
LOWELL OF
BOSTON
Capt. William Henry Alline: b. 1843, still alive when his wife died in 1923.
Edward
Lincoln “Ned” Arnold: alive in 1923.
Samuel
Bradstreet, Jr.: attended Harvard but left without graduating; became a Boston
stock broker, still alive 1918.
James
D’Wolf Lovett: Alive 1924.
NATIONAL
OF WASHINGTON
George Fox was a Georgetown graduate who was lured into joining the Nationals on
their 1867 tour by the offer of a job in the Treasury department. A 1902 note
said he was working as a lawyer in Nome, Alaska, and then he was reportedly
living in San Francisco in 1906.
INDEPENDENT OF MANSFIELD
James
Cobean was born around 1848 in Ohio, and was living in Portsmouth, Virginia, in
1920.
Henry C.
Dietz was born around 1844 in New York State, stayed in Mansfield for several
years and worked as a painter, but was gone by the mid-1870s. He may have moved
to Denver.
FOREST
CITY OF CLEVELAND
James W.
Clarke was born in New York State in June of 1842 and was a partner in the firm
of Ingham, Clarke & Co., book sellers, while he lived in Cleveland. Like fellow
club member Theo Branch he moved to North Dakota during the 1880s. By 1900, he
was living in Ashland, Wisconsin, and by the 1910 census his wife was listed
there as a widow.
Lemuel O.
Rawson was born in Connecticut in March of 1838 and served separate terms in the
Union Army in the 84th and 150th Ohio regiments. He died
in 1902 – need details.
Eben
Smith was a Brooklyn native and the brother of Sydney Smith.
EAGLE OF
DAYTON, KENTUCKY
Henry Pudder was a Pennsylvania native and a river boat pilot. He moved back to
Pittsburgh sometime before 1880.
EXCELSIOR
OF CHICAGO
F. H.
Bostock: Bostock played for the first nine in 1859 and the only possibility is
Frank Bostwick, a druggist, who was listed on the 1860 census as being born in
1830 in England. He enlisted in the 65th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Scotch
Regiment) under the name F. H. Bostock, but it’s not clear what happened to him
after that.
Alexander
D. Kennedy was born in Illinois in 1842 to Scottish-born parents. He became a
fire insurance agent and was still alive in 1895. He may have died on March 14,
1917.
James
Malcom/Malcomb/Malcolm: Malcolm played for the Excelsiors from 1858 through
1860, serving as vice president in 1859 and president in 1860. Despite being
very well remembered, Malcolm remains a mystery. Various spellings of his name
have been cited, and the only census listing for him is in 1850 when he is
listed as James Malcom, age 25, engineer, born in Illinois to Scottish-born
parents.
M. F.
Prouty: Prouty played in 58 and 59. The name is so unusual that it’s very
likely he was Merrick Franklin Prouty, who was born in Spencer, Massachusetts,
on March 27, 1829 and lived almost his entire life in the Boston area. If he
was indeed the ballplayer, his stay in Chicago was a brief one, as he was back
in Chicago by the time the 1860 census was taken and subsequently served for
three years in Company C of Massachusetts’s 25th Infantry.
G.
Charles Smith: Smith played in 1858 and 59 and was treasurer in both 1859 and
1860, a position he again held in 1866. He was still in Chicago in 1888, when a
newspaper account reported, “Many of the old members say G. Charles Smith was
the father of the Excelsior base ball club. Mr. Smith shakes his head at this
and modestly declares that the nine was already organized when he became a
member. He gives a reflective tug to his gray mustache, runs his hand through
the thick, silvery locks on his forehead, and becomes pleasantly reminiscent.”
Stephen Freedman, in “The Baseball Fad in Chicago, 1865-1870,” identifies Smith
as being George C. Smith, a prominent banker. The basis of this identification,
however, is not clear, and while this banker was frequently mentioned in the
newspapers, he was always referred to as George C. Smith, while the member of
the Excelsiors was also referred to as G. Charles Smith. For that reason, I
suspect that he may be a man who died a few months after the above article was
published and whose obituary described him as G. Charles Smith, age 61, and one
of the oldest cutters in Chicago. (Chicago Inter-Ocean, September 22,
1888)
FOREST
CITY OF ROCKFORD
Rufus C.
Bailey was born in Auburn, Maine, on July 28, 1833. After graduating from
Amherst College in 1853, he headed west and settled in Rockford. In 1873,
Bailey was elected a county judge and he served in that position for more than
thirty years. As of 1910, he was still living in Rockford but appears to have
died shortly afterward and apparently not in Winnebago County.
Joseph E.
Doyle was born around 1849 and was a native of the District of Columbia. After
baseball, Doyle lived for a while in Cincinnati and New York but eventually
returned to Washington. As of 1920, the widowed Doyle was living at a home for
the aged and infirm.
George
Jerome Hitchcock, a Civil War veteran, died in Janesville, Wisconsin, in January
of 1905. Need exact date.
George E.
King was born in New York State in August of 1844. He later became a bank
cashier, a Rockford alderman and was a bank president by the time of the 1896
Harry Wright Day celebrations. The following year, however, he and his wife
Alice moved to Circle City, Alaska, to become an Alaska agent for the North
American Transportation and Trading Company. By 1909 he was dead. A George E.
King died in Winnebago County on April 28, 1905, which is probably him.
James H.
Manny was born in New York State in October 1838. During the Civil War, he
served in the 11th Illinois Infantry for three months. In 1870,
Manny and his wife were living at Henry Starr’s hotel along with many other club
members. Manny worked as an agent for a reaper manufacturer and was still
living in Rockford in 1880. He may have moved to Lind Center, Wisconsin, and
died in 1920 but there are some discrepancies.
William
Ballard Osborne: Ballard Osborne was born in February of 1848, right around the
time that his parents moved from New York State to Byron, Illinois. By 1900, he
was living in Rockvale, Illinois.
Henry W.
Price was born in New York State in May of 1837. He apparently died between
1902 and 1904, when his wife was listed as a widow.
Denton F.
“Danny” Sawyer was born around 1850 in either Illinois or Wisconsin. Sawyer got
married around 1878 and moved to Iowa City, where he worked for the Iowa City
power company and as a clothier. By 1910, he had retired and was still living
in Iowa City.
PECATONICA CLUB
Daniel A. Stitsel was born around 1828 in Pennsylvania. He arrived in
Pecatonica in 1854 and married his landlady’s daughter six years later. He
became a hardware and iron merchant and aside from briefly relocating to
Chicago, lived in Pecatonica for the rest of his life. The 1900 census shows
him as retired and the cemetery lists his year of death as 1905, while a death
index lists January 8, 1906. Need date.
Edward J.
Thompson was born in
1836 in Ohio, served in the Civil War, and died in 1873 but not in Winnebago
County; need details.
MUTUAL OF
JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN
“Del” Bump: The identity of the player Smith referred to as “Del Bump” remains
in some doubt. There was only one man with a plausible name: Delos S. Bump, who
was born around 1837 in New York State and spent much of his life on a farm in
Buffalo County, Wisconsin. In 1864, he enlisted in Wisconsin’s 36th Infantry,
serving for sixteen months. Eventually he returned to Buffalo County, where he
farmed and later worked as a carpenter. He died there on July 31, 1902. But
I’ve found no indication that this man ever lived in Janesville, which is in an
entirely different part of the state from Buffalo County. Also, Del Bump was
still playing for the Mutuals in 1874, which seems unlikely for a man born in
1837. Did Delos Bump move to Janesville after the war, and continue to play
until quite a bit older than might have been expected, or was Del a nickname of
one of the men named Bump who did live in Janesville?
William
G. Heller was born in Wisconsin around 1853 and grew up in Janesville. He never
married, and was still living in Janesville in 1931.
Pete
Lenehan was born around 1851 in Ontario, Canada, to Irish immigrants who
eventually moved to Janesville. Lenehan was still living in Janesville in 1880,
but his whereabouts after that have not been determined.
Frederick
B. Pullen was born in February 1849 in New York City and grew up in Janesville.
The son of a clergyman, Fred followed in his father’s footsteps, leading
churches in East Orange, New Jersey, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was still
living in East Orange in 1920.
Edgar M.
Smith was Frank L. Smith’s older brother, born around 1849. He appears to have
died young, as no trace of him has been found after 1870.
GATE CITY OF ATLANTA
Jimmy
Gregg was the pitcher of the Gate City Club and his twist deliveries baffled
opposing batters. But there was no man by that name in the census in Atlanta,
so his identity remains just as baffling.
Dick Williford was the center fielder of the original
nine, but his identity is a complete mystery.
DETROIT
BASE BALL CLUB
Lyman Hayden Baldwin was born in Michigan on April 18, 1844, and was still
living in Detroit in 1910.
David E.
Barry was born in Michigan in October of 1845 and was still living in Detroit
but had retired and he seems to have died soon afterward.
William
DeGraff was born around 1846 in Michigan and was a cashier at the Detroit
National Bank.
Dr.
Justin J. Dumon was a dentist who was born in New York State around 1832. In
1868, he was accused of larceny and acquitted, then disappeared.
Charles
Dupont was born in Detroit on February 12, 1842, and enlisted in the 4th
Michigan Infantry at the start of the war. He never married and was still
living in Detroit in 1900, but appears to have died soon afterward.
John Horn
Jr., was born in Sidmouth, Devonshire, England, on September 7, 1843. Horn was
still living in Detroit in 1915 but his exact date of death is not known.
S. C.
Lane became the club’s pitcher in 1868. The circumstances and other references
to him in the local papers suggest that he was a professional player, while
another note implied that he had formerly played for the Lincolns of
Pittsburgh. Based on these facts, he was almost certainly a man named Samuel C.
Lane, who was born in Allegheny around 1847. On the 1860 census, the Lane
household included Ambrose Lynch, who was the catcher of the Allegheny Base Ball
Club and was voted best catcher at the 1867 Detroit tournament. Also of note is
that Samuel Lane’s younger brother George played in the major leagues in the
1880s. Samuel Lane later worked as a painter and was living in Pittsburgh in
1910.
William
K. Parcher, who was born in Maine around 1835, later became the vice president
of the Globe Tobacco Company.
Frank J.
Phelps was born around 1838 in Michigan and ran a store at 256 Jefferson in
downtown Detroit. A 1903 article stated that Phelps had died around 1889 and he
disappeared from the cd around 1887.
Henry
Simoneau was born around 1833 in Canada and he and his brother Leander ran a
Detroit drug store in the 1850s. Henry moved to Peoria and continued to work
there as a pharmacist until after the turn of the century.
Arthur
Van Norman was born in Canada. He worked as a bookkeeper while living in
Detroit but by 1873 had moved to Jackson to work as superintendent of the
Central car shops. He was subsequently promoted to secretary and manager and
also served as an alderman. In 1878, he returned to Detroit as proprietor of
Biddle House but was dogged by financial troubles. Notes in 1879 placed him in
both Colorado and Ohio, but his whereabouts after that are difficult to trace.
A 1903 article stated that he had been dead for several years and according to
an online genealogy he died on June 17, 1895. Need details and confirmation.
Dr.
Jonathan Mack Van Norman was born in 1824 in Canada and attended McGill Medical
School in Montreal. He graduated in 1850 and established a medical school in
Bronte, Ontario, with Dr. Anson Buck. He later moved to Detroit. On April 18,
1873, the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune reported that Van Norman had been
convicted of smuggling. He subsequently moved to Cleveland and apparently died
there in 1894. Need details and confirmation.
Charles
Harrison Ward was born on September 19, 1850, and he and fellow club member Milt
Ward were the sons of Eber Ward, a ship magnate and Michigan’s richest man.
Charley attended the state agricultural college (now Michigan State University)
from 1864-1866, then took courses at Bryant and Stratton and worked in bank from
1867-69. He became known for being a spendthrift who wasted every cent his
father let him have. In 1893 a relative described him as “a kind of roving
renegade” and a 1900 Michigan State alumni directory listed him as a banker in
Cape Town, South Africa.
FRANKLIN
OF DETROIT
Edward Atkins was the youngest of three brothers who were members of the
Franklin Club. He was born in Vermont around 1839 and later moved to Chicago.
John H.
Atkins was a third brother who was born in Vermont around 1837. Unlike his
brothers, he became a brick mason and was still living in Detroit in 1890.
Thomas
Crane was born in Canada in April of 1833 and immigrated to the United States
when he was five. After apprenticing in Mt. Clemens, he moved to Detroit and
became a printer and a member of the board of directors of the Detroit
Typographical Union. Crane later gave up the printing business due to health
problems and went to sea. But in 1874 he returned to the newspaper business as
a circulating agent for the Detroit News and was still in that position in 1897.
Michael
Dempsey was born in New York State around 1833 and died in Detroit in March of
1890. Need details.
Benjamin
French Duncklee was born in Newport, New Hampshire, on October 12, 1835 and was
still living in Detroit in 1890. He had died by 1897.
Henry R.
Durney was born around 1830 and died around 1904.
Clarence
E. Eddie was an attorney who left Detroit around 1862 and moved to Houghton in
the Upper Peninsula to practice law. In 1865, he was elected as a circuit judge
but he died in early 1869 without completing his term. Need details.
Julius P.
Gilmore was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, around 1839. He worked as a
bookkeeper for the Preston National Bank and after the death of his first wife
he married a daughter of the proprietor, David Pearson. In the 1880s, Gilmore
became a Detroit alderman.
Robert
Grieve moved to Hawaii in 1863 and was still living there in 1897.
Milo
Dwight Hamilton was born in Blandford, Massachusetts, on October 5, 1828. In
1888 he moved to Washington, D.C.
Jordan P.
McMillan was born in Canada around 1835 and moved to Detroit in 1852, was living
in Detroit in 1897 and apparently was still there in 1910.
William
F. Moore was born around 1835 in Ireland and was still a Detroit job and book
printer in 1897.
Charles
C. Robinson was a coppersmith who lived in Detroit until at least 1890.
Charles
M. Rousseau was born in October of 1841 in Canada, but immigrated to the United
States as a baby. He was still in Detroit in 1900.
Beecher
Skinner was born in Ireland around 1838. He seems to have either left Detroit or
died during the 1870s. In 1897, John Drew reported that he was dead.
James H.
Walker, who was born around 1836 in New York, was still living in Detroit in
1914.
EARLY
RISER OF DETROIT
Joseph
Winter was born in Germany around 1838 but appears to have grown up in
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. By 1859, he had moved to Detroit, where he worked
as a saddler. By 1870 had gotten married and returned to the Upper Peninsula.
He was still living in Negaunee as of 1891, but his wife was listed there as a
widow on the 1900 census.
DAYBREAK
OF JACKSON
Billie J.
Billings, Jr., was born in Batavia, New York, in 1838. His father was a wealthy
hardware merchant who moved the family to Jackson in 1853. Billings was a
regular for the Daybreaks throughout the club’s existence, also serving as club
treasurer and being elected treasurer of the state baseball association in
1865. The family business was sold in 1867, and the younger Billings
subsequently moved to Chelsea, where he continued to work as a retail merchant.
He later moved to Toledo and appears to have died between 1904 and 1907
George L.
Harrington became a farmer and remained in the Jackson area until his death
around 1911.
William
P. Hewitt was president of the Daybreak Club and a member of the first nine. He
and fellow club member Stephen Welling purchased the Jackson grocery owned by C.
L. Mitchell in 1863. Nonetheless, I have not been able to pinpoint him on the
census.
FIRST
NATIONAL BASE BALL CLUB OF HANCOCK, MICHIGAN
John
Bittenbender was born in Pennsylvania around 1850 and seems to have died in
Jackson County in 1930. Need details.
Albert
Brockway was born in Copper Harbor, Michigan around 1848. He never married, and
as of 1930 was living in Livonia, outside of Detroit.
William
Harry 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.
David S.
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.
Thomas D.
Meads 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.
KENT CLUB
OF GRAND RAPIDS
George R. Allen was born around 1847 in Ohio.
Charles
H. Deane, born around 1840 in Michigan
William
Sylvester Earle: William S. Earle was born in New York City on September 10,
1845, and became superintendent of Grand Rapids Postal Carriers.
Clayton
Eugene Gill, born March 14, 1850, in Wethersfield, New York, living in Warsaw,
New York, in June of 1915. In 1919 he was a candidate for the New York state
assembly.
Henry B.
Grady, born in Florida around 1848, a partner in Kortlander and Grady, a Grand
Rapids liquor distributor.
Delony
Gunnison was born in 1849 in Michigan and became a real estate agent.
Fred C.
Joslin was a Civil War veteran who later moved to California.
Arthur R.
Morgan was born in Michigan around 1851 and worked as a boot salesman and in
insurance and real estate.
George H.
Morgan was born around 1845 in Massachusetts and became a shingle dealer.
Frederick
Barker Perkins was born in Michigan on June 13, 1843. In the 1870s he moved to
Albany, New York, and operated a retail grocery store.
Silas K.
Pierce died in 1904 in Grand Rapids (need date).
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.
John B.
White, the brother of T. Stewart White, was born on June 14, 1843 and joined his
brother in the lumber business. He appears to have died between 1900 and 1910.
Walter L.
Wilkins was born in August 1842 in Vermont, was a partner in A.G. Spalding’s bat
factory and later moved to Chicago. |
