1859.39

The source of the trouble

 "CLUB ORGANIZED, - A base ball club was organized in St. Louis, Mo, on the 1st inst.  It boasts of being the first organization of the kind in that city, but will not, surely, long stand alone.  It numbers already 18 members, officers as follows: President, C. D. Paul; Vice do, J. T. Haggerty; Secretary, C. Thurber; Treasurer, E. R. Paul. They announce their determination to be ready to play matches in about a month.

Source: Under-identified clipping in the Mears collection - The Clipper or the Spirit of the Times - annotated "Sept 1859" in hand. Facsimile provided by Craig Waff, September 2008.

-Entry 1859.39 of the Protoball Chronology


Protoball Chronology entry 1859.39 is problematic.  I've dealt with the problem mostly by ignoring it or rationalizing my disinterest in it by noting Larry McCray's description of the source as "under-identified."  But if we're to have a complete understanding of early baseball in St. Louis, we have to deal with 1859.39 and, to that end, I decided to take a closer look at the thing.

There are three aspects of 1859.39 that have to be looked at if we're to make any sense of the thing.  First, we need to deal with the issue surrounding the sourcing.  Second, we need to analysis the information contained within the source.  Finally, we need to consider the implications of the information gleaned from the source.  Hopefully, by doing this, 1859.39 will cease to be a thorn in my side and become a celebrated part of early St. Louis baseball history.

I. The Source

 I have nothing but the utmost respect for the work done by Larry and his group of diggers at Protoball and, being involved in the project myself, I know how the sausage is made.  I know that Larry isn't going to put something up on the site that isn't properly sourced.  Protoball is one of the best baseball history sites out there and I personally believe that it is the very best.  The integrity of the site can not be questioned.

With that in mind, I took Larry's description of 1859.39 as "under-identified" seriously.  It's always been a big red flag for me.  As a historian and researcher, I try to be meticulous in my sourcing.  You have to document your sources.  It's rule number one.  Document the source not just so that your work can be checked but so that others can find the source and use it or build on it.  A second-hand reference to a primary source is much different than the original source itself.  As a historian, I make judgements based on the sources I see but other people may reach different conclusions and sometimes they may reach better conclusions.  You have to allow others to see the original source so that they can reach their own uninfluenced conclusions.  And when you can't properly document the source, you tell people that, as Larry did with 1859.39.

But it was obvious that there was something there, although I didn't know what it was.  The source was provided by Craig Waff, a fantastic researcher who was well respected within the community of 19th century baseball historians.  I didn't know Craig but I know people who knew him and they all speak highly of him.  If Craig Waff found this and passed it along to Larry then there had to be something to it.  I couldn't be dismissed out of hand.

So where did Craig find this?  The entry at Protoball says that it was found in the Mears Collection and came from either the Clipper or the Spirit of the Times.  The first time I saw 1859.39, I had no idea what the Mears Collection was.  When I decided to get serious about digging into this, I did some research on the collection and found the scrapbooks contained in the collection online.  If you've been reading this site the last month or so, you know that I found the Mears Collection and that it contains an incredible wealth of information.  But the reason I went looking for the Mears Collection in the first place was to check the sourcing for 1859.39 and I was able to confirm that the information was in Volume 1 of the Mears Baseball Scrapbooks, grabbing the picture at the top of the post as proof.

But that was only the first step.  The problem with the Mears scrapbooks is that the sourcing within them is inconsistent.  Sometimes you can tell where the information comes from and sometimes you can only approximate the date.  And that's not good.  For 1859.39 to have any significance, we need to know where exactly it came from.  Waff gave us a general clue that it came from the Clipper or Spirit of the Times and that information is based on the nature of the Mears Collection, which contains the papers of William Rankin and Tim Murnane, but, based simply on the information we have in the chronology entry, we can't be sure what paper it originally appeared in.  This is what Larry meant when he notes that the source is under-identified.           

However, there is one more clue.  There is a hand-written note on the article from the Mears Collection that says "Sept. 1859" and you can see that in the picture above.  This, of course, implies that the article appeared in an issue of either the Clipper of Spirit of the Times in September of 1859.  And that's all the information I needed to run this thing down.

I started with the Clipper.  Fulton History has a nice online collection of 19th century New York newspapers that includes numerous back issues of the Clipper.  The search engine didn't return any information so I decided to browse the individual issues.  I have another, unrelated project I'm working on and I needed to look at back issues of the Clipper from the mid 1850s anyway so I started going through page after page, beginning in 1854.  About 2:30 in the morning, I remembered that I needed to check September 1859 and started looking through that.  And I found what I was looking for in the September 3, 1859 issue:

   
It was a rough looking copy and there was some damage at the bottom of the page, where the article appeared, but there was no doubt that this was the same article as the one that appeared in the Mears Collection.

So, based on this, we can identify 1859.39 as coming from the New York Clipper of September 3, 1859.  One problem solved.

II. The Information

So we confirmed that 1859.39 originally appeared in the Clipper in September 1859 but what information can we glean from the source.  Let's quickly go through what the source says:

• "Club Organized. - A base ball club was organized in St. Louis, Mo., on the 1st inst."

This appears to be self-explanatory but there is a little wrinkle that we need to look at.  Obviously, the source relates the organization of a baseball club in St. Louis in 1859 but when exactly in 1859 did this happen?

The club organized on "the 1st inst." and that implies the first of the month.  "Inst." is an abbreviation for instant and refers to the previous first of the month.  With this notice appearing in the September 3rd issue of the Clipper, my immediate thinking was that the club was organized on September 1, 1859.  The notice appears on September 3 and the 1st inst., in relationship to September 3, would be September 1.  However, that's simply not possible.  There is no way that the information got from St. Louis to New York and into the Clipper in two days.  Therefore, "the 1st inst." can not refer to September 1, 1859 and most likely refers to August 1, 1859.  If the club organized on August 1, that's plenty of time for the information to reach New York and find its way into the newspaper.

• " It boasts of being the first organization of the kind in that city, but will not, surely, long stand alone."

And here it is.  This is the most important piece of information in the notice and what makes 1859.39 so significant.  According to the Clipper, the first baseball club in St. Louis was formed on August 1, 1859.  This directly contradicts the Cyclone thesis - the idea that the Cyclones were the first baseball club in St. Louis - and the testimony of members of the Cyclone Club, several of whom stated that they formed the first baseball club in St. Louis in the summer of 1859.

While there is a great deal of evidence supporting the Cyclone thesis, there is no primary source evidence of their existence prior to 1860.  We have Griswold publishing the rules of the game in the Missouri Democrat in the spring of 1860 and then references to the match between the Cyclones and Morning Stars in July.  If you want to be technical, the earliest reference we have to the Cyclones comes from July 1860.  There is no primary source evidence that notes their existence prior to that.

I've been looking for primary source confirmation of the Cyclone thesis for years and have come up with very little.  I've discovered evidence around the edges - stuff like when Griswold came to St. Louis, when the Missouri Glass Company was formed and Ed Bredell's likely exposure to the game in the East.  All of that supports and strengthens the thesis.  But there is no smoking gun.  I'm looking for an article or notice of the formation of the club and have been unable to find it.

But we have 1859.39 and the formation of an unknown club in St. Louis on August 1, 1859.  Assuming that the club was playing the New York game (a reasonable assumption based on the fact that the notice appeared in the Clipper), then this is the earliest known reference we have to a baseball club in St. Louis.  Not only that, it's the earliest reference we have to baseball in the city.  We can argue the Cyclone thesis all we want but the fact remains that this is the earliest documented baseball club in St. Louis history.  And, it's important to notice, the club itself makes the claim that they are the first baseball club in St. Louis.   

•  " It numbers already 18 members..."

Eighteen members is the absolute minimum number of members that a baseball club could have.  If they're playing the New York game, they need nine men a side and, therefore, eighteen members to play a game.  It's really not enough guys.  A baseball club of the era really needed about thirty playing members to ensure that enough people showed up on club days to have a game.  It's possible that the Unknown Club added more members after its formation but it's also possible that the club fell apart due to a lack of members.

• "...officers as follows: President, C. D. Paul; Vice do, J. T. Haggerty; Secretary, C. Thurber; Treasurer, E. R. Paul."

 I've been able to identify three of the four officers of the Unknown Club.

Chas. D. Paul, according to the 1860 census, was born Missouri in 1840 and was living with his father, Edmund W. Paul.  He was working as a printer.

E.R. Paul, according to the same source, was born in Missouri in 1838 and was also living with his father.  He worked as a real estate agent, most likely with his father, who was also a real estate agent.  The 1860 St. Louis directory lists E.R. Paul's occupation as clerk, so he was probably working as a clerk for his father.  One assumes that his first name was Edmund, like the father.

It's obvious, based on the sources, that Charles and Edmund Paul were brothers.   

There is a Charles H. Thurber in the 1860 city directory, working as a clerk in an insurance office and it's likely that this is the C. Thurber of the Unknown Club.  According to the 1860 census, there was a Charles Thurber living in St. Louis, who was born in 1842.  The Missouri Historical Society has some information about Charles H. Thurber that confirms that the Thurber in the city directory is the Thurber in the census.  According to their information about the Charles H. Thurber papers, "Charles H. Thurber was born in 1842 and mustered into the Union Army at the St. Louis Arsenal on 11 July 1861 as a 2nd Lieutenant in Buell’s Battery, Missouri Volunteers.  Throughout 1861 and 1862 he was mustered into various batteries until his battery was transferred to the 1st Missouri Light Artillery, Battery I in August 1862. The battery was part of the Army of the Tennessee and was at the Battle of Shiloh. Eventually Thurber returned to Missouri and was captain of Company L of the 2nd Missouri Light Artillery Battery that participated in forcing General Joseph O Shelby’s retreat from western Missouri. Thurber died in 1891."  I'll post more information on Thurber soon. 

There are numerous J. Haggerty's in the city directory and the census.  Most are blue collar workers, although one is an engineer.  There is one John Haggerty in the census who was 19 and listed his occupation as laborer but I've not as yet made what I believe to be a positive identification. 

• "They announce their determination to be ready to play matches in about a month."

Who were they going to play?  "Matches" implies games played between clubs but if they're the first baseball club in St. Louis, who would they play a match game against?  Maybe they're talking about intra-club matches.  I don't know.

 III. Implications

I've written before about the need to recognize what we know and separate that from what we think we know.  By this, I mean that we need to recognize what facts we've established through primary source documentation and separate that from the things that we think we know based on secondary sources and deductive reasoning.  It's important to remember that a lot of what I do involves deductive reasoning, intuition and guess work.  There's so many holes in the historical record, especially prior to 1860, that we make a lot of educated guesses about what was happening.  We have to remember that a lot of this is guess work rather than established fact.

1859.39 is an established fact.  An unknown baseball club formed in St. Louis on August 1, 1859.  This unknown club is the earliest documented club that we know of.  Evidence of this club predates the evidence we have regarding the Cyclones, Morning Stars, Empires and Unions.  That's a fact.  That's real.  Unless other evidence presents itself, we have to accept that the Unknown Club is the earliest St. Louis baseball club we have evidence of.

This is extremely significant because it brings the Cyclone thesis into question.  The testimony of the former Cyclones leads us to believe that the club was established in the summer of 1859 but there is no primary source material supporting this.  The Unknown Club was established in the summer of 1859 and we know that for a fact.  It's much easier at this point to make an argument that the Unknown Club was the first baseball club in St. Louis history and that the Cyclones didn't form until 1860.  Occam's razor forces me to this position.

1859.39 and the Unknown Club forces us to re-evaluate the Cyclone thesis, Merritt Griswold's role in introducing the New York game into St. Louis and everything we know about the origins of the game in the city.  It is a significant source and running it down, I believe, is one of the most important things I've done as a researcher.  It brings everything into question.      

And this is not, in any way, a negative thing.  This is something to be celebrated.  I've been trying to find primary source material about St. Louis baseball in 1859 for years, without any success.  Now I have it.  I've proven (with the extraordinary help of Craig Waff and Larry McCray), beyond a doubt, that baseball was being played in St. Louis in 1859 and that the first club formed that year.  Did all of this happen exactly as I expected it to happen?  Absolutely not.  But it's done.  It's an established fact that can never be erased.  That's a fantastic thing.

Now I just have to deal with the fallout and I'll start by posting a restatement and re-evaluation of the Cyclone thesis here in the near future.      

The 1861 Rules

There is an ad in the August 8, 1864 issue of the Missouri Republican for a book entitled The Finger-Post to Public Business.  The subtitle of the book is Containing the mode of forming and conducting Societies, Clubs and other Organized Associations and the ad mentions that it contains the "Rules of Cricket, Base Ball, Shinny, Yachting and Rowing, and Instruction concerning Incorporations..."

Being the industrious fellow that I am, I thought I'd see if I could find a copy of this book and, it just so happens, that there is a copy online at Google Books.  It turns out that The Finger-Post to Public Business contains the "Rules and Regulations Adopted by the National Association of Base-Ball Players, Held in New York, December 11, 1861."  

The 1861 rules (or the rules for the 1862 season) are interesting in themselves but they are not as significant as the 1857 rules, which defined the modern game, the 1858 rules, which allowed the umpire to call strikes on the batter, the 1860 rules, which introduced the batter's box, or the 1863, which allowed the umpire to call balls.  I don't consider myself to be an expert on the minutia of 19th century baseball rule changes but those four sets of rules, I believe, are the most significant of the antebellum and war years.  I haven't gone through the 1861 rules in detail but it may be that they introduced the use of chalk foul lines, which is a unique distinction.  

More importantly, we see here, in the use of newspaper advertising, a way in which the rules of baseball were spread from New York throughout the country.  The Finger-Post was a book published in New York and it could be purchased from the publisher by anyone in the United States for $1.50.  Send your money to New York and you would receive your book in the mail.  Simple enough.  But if it wasn't for the growth of daily newspapers in the antebellum era, someone in St. Louis would never have discovered that he could have purchased the book.  When we talk about the growth of baseball and its spread outside of New York, newspapers and the new information technology of the era are an important part of the story.         

Only A Game Of Trap-Ball

On the second of October [1819], there was a game of cricket played at Wanborough [Illinois] by the young men of the settlement; this they called keeping Catherine Hill fair, many of the players being from the neighbourhood of Gadalming and Guildford, &c...

This day [October 2, 1820] was kept at Wanborough, as last year, instead of Catherine Hill fair; but as some of the young men were gone to a county court at Palmyra, there was no cricket-match, as was intended, only a game of trap-ball.  There have been several cricket-matches this summer, both at Wanborough and Birk Prairie; the Americans seem much pleased at the sight of the game, as it is new to them.

-Two Years' Residence In The Settlement On The English Prairie, In The Illinois Country


These references to cricket and trap ball, as I mentioned yesterday, are the oldest references that I'm aware of to ball-playing in Illinois.  Given the sparseness of the population in Illinois prior to 1818, I would be pleasantly surprised to find a reference to a ball game that predates this one.  I believe we still need to take a closer look at the 18th century French settlements in Illinois but nothing I've seen to date, other than the Gratiot reference, has been fruitful with regards to ball-playing among the early French settlers.  The two earliest references that I know of that mention ball-playing in the Trans-Appalachian West date to the late 1790s and ball-playing references in the West prior to 1820 are rather rare.  So the English Prairie reference is a significant one.

Two Years' Residence was written by John Woods and published in London in 1822.  According to Robert Rogers Hubach's Early Midwestern Travel Narratives, "John Woods...was a British farmer who settled on the English prairie in 1819.  His book gives a favorable view of conditions there and contains a full account of his life and much valuable information on social, economic, and political conditions in Illinois during 1819-1821.  It includes notes on travel, agriculture, towns, and American customs."  John Drury, in Old Illinois Houses, described English Prairie as "a semi-utopian colony of British immigrant-farmers" that was centered around Albion, Illinois, in Edwards County.  The English nature of the settlers explain why they were playing cricket and trap ball, both well known English ball games.

I should also point out that the 1820 reference is the earliest, as well as one of the few, references to trap ball being played west of the Appalachians.

Note: The picture at the top of the post comes from the David Block's Baseball Before We Knew It site.  Please don't sue me, David.            

A Pioneer School House

The above illustration comes from A History of Edgar County, Illinois.  Published by Wm. Le Baron, Jr., & Co. in 1879, the book appears to have been one in a series of Illinois county histories that were published in the late 1870s.  The Edgar County history is notable because it contains the Jonathan Mayo town ball reference, which, if I've dated it correctly, is a reference to the second oldest known instance of ball-playing in the Illinois Country.

Based on the research that I've done, I believe the game that Mayo witnessed took place in 1822.  The oldest known reference to a ball game in Illinois is the Wanborough cricket and trap ball references from 1819 and 1820.  Since I don't think I've ever written anything about the Wanborough reference, I'll post something about that tomorrow.  But my point here is that the Mayo reference is rather significant and that makes the Edgar County history a fairly important work.

What I really want to point out, however, is this illustration.  It's entitled "A Pioneer School House" and, if you look at it closely, the details reveal something rather fascinating.  On the side of the school house, in the yard behind the boys by the creek, there are three boys.  It appears to me that the boy on the left has a bat in his hand and the middle boy has his arm thrown back, as if in the act of pitching a ball.  This looks to me like some sort of ball game, played by school boys.

I find this significant.  There are numerous accounts of ball games being played by school children in Illinois during the first half of the 19th century.  The most popular ball games were bullpen and town ball, although there are references to other games, such as long town, being played as well.  But it is well established, based on the recollections of people who were children in Illinois during the pioneer era, that bat and ball, safe-haven games were a popular pastime.  And here we find an illustration portraying that.

It should be pointed out that this was not an illustration portraying a contemporary event but, rather, an illustration made specifically for the 1879 book in which it appeared.  It is, essentially, a work of fiction put together by the illustrator to convey an idea about what life was like during the pioneer era in Illinois.  Having said that, the illustration is based on the testimony of people who lived in Illinois during the era and it has to be one of the earliest portrayals of Illinois baseball in existence.     

The First Amusement Col. Mayo Remembers

In the early times, fifty or sixty years ago, when the modern games of croquet and base-ball were unknown, the people used to amuse themselves with marbles, "town-ball"-which was base-ball in a rude state-and other simple pastimes of a like character.  Col. Mayo says, the first amusement he remembers in the county was a game of town-ball, on the day of the public sale of lots in Paris, in which many of the "young men of the period engaged."

-The History of Edgar County, Illinois


As this history of Edgar County was published in 1879, "fifty or sixty years ago" would put the playing of town ball in Paris, Illinois, at sometime in the 1820s.  Col. Jonathan Mayo moved to Paris Township in 1827, although it appears that he moved to Edgar County in 1817.  If we could date the reference to the sale of public lots in Paris, we'd have a better idea of when this game was played. 

And, again, this reference speaks to the ball-playing culture that existed in central Illinois in the decades prior to the Civil War.    

The Young Men Had A Game Of Ball

Illinois State University, or, as we like to call it, ISU

In the month of June, 1858, the Normal students had an excursion to view the site of the future seat of learning, and on their return the young men had a game of ball on the green grass where now we see the business part of the town, and the site was one of the best that could possibly be imagined for that purpose.  The writer has a distinct and vivid remembrance of the scene, and to his mind the view was one of the most charming ever met.  He watched the game as a spectator, and remembers wondering whether the town would ever grow enough to encroach upon what was then called by the students the "ball-ground."  The spot was covered only with grass as late as 1863.

-The History of McLean County, Illinois


This game of "ball" was played in Normal, Illinois, and again gives us an example of the ball-playing culture that existed in central Illinois in the antebellum era.  The site the students went to visit would be the future site of Illinois State, which was founded in 1857.  The book this reference comes from was published in 1879.

One thing we need to look at is the possibility that the game played was the New York game.  There is no specific evidence to suggest that it was but it's possible.  The New York game was being played in Chicago in 1858 and would be played in St. Louis in 1859 so the game had already arrived in the Midwest and was spreading through the area.  Now, most would argue that the New York game, at this time, was largely restricted to the urban areas of the Midwest and that it wouldn't reach the more rural areas of Illinois and Missouri until after the Civil War, in the 1865-67 period.  But I'm not entirely convinced of this.  There is some evidence that the game was being played in Mason County, Illinois, as early as 1861 and it's likely that places like Freeport, Illinois, had the game prior to 1865.  While I have absolutely zero evidence to support this, I'm open to the idea that some central Illinois communities may have been playing the New York game as early as 1858.     

 

Sockball

Illinois College

Entering Illinois College in 1840, I found the word further transformed.  The first syllable only was used in our game of "bull-pen," called also "sock-ball."  Four players, among whom a ball was passed from hand to hand, stood at the corners of a square of about fifty feet; inside the square four other players danced about, who must dodge the swift balls sent at them by the players on the corners when these thought that they could score a hit.  The phrases "sock him" and "sock it to him" were used.

-The Dial, Volume XXXII (1902)


This comes from a letter, written by Samuel Willard, that appeared in The Dial in 1902 and there are several things of interest here.  First, Willard was actually writing in regards to the etymology of the word "sock" and its development from the word "sockdologer."  The other things that are important in the letter relate to the ball-playing culture that existed in central Illinois in the forty years prior to the Civil War.

Bull-pen was a game that appears to have been very popular in central Illinois in that period and most likely was the most popular and most played ball game in the area, especially among school children.  It is mentioned time and again in memoirs and histories.  Willard is just one more reference to a game that we already know a good deal about, although his letter does contain a nice description of the game.  However, this is the first reference I've seen equating bull-pen with sockball.  Sockball was mentioned by name in Henry Philpott's article A Little Boy's Game With A Ball, published in 1890, but I think this is the only reference we have to the term being applied to a game played in Illinois.  Actually, Willard and Philpott are the only two references I know of that mention a game called sockball but I haven't really looked at it too closely.

Another interesting thing is the fact that this game was played at Illinois College, which is located in Jacksonville, Illinois.  The Social Order of a Frontier Community, a book which has influenced my thinking with regards to the spread of bat and ball games in United States, is, essentially, a social history of Jacksonville from 1825 to 1870 and Illinois College and its students play an important part in that story.  Don Harrison Doyle, the book's author, doesn't mention baseball or town ball or sockball or anything like that in what is really a fantastic book but his ideas about how frontier communities developed during the antebellum era and how they structured themselves in a search for stability and order in a very chaotic world gave me a lot of ideas about the role ball games played in the development of frontier society.  I find it ironic that I found a reference to ball-playing in the town that Doyle used to illustrate his thinking about frontier society.          

William Packwood's Obituary

William H. Packwood

Closing a life that for more than half a century was interwoven with Oregon history, death came at 1:30 this afternoon to Judge William H. Packwood, aged 85, who was the last surviving member of the group that signed the state constitution when Oregon was admitted to the Union.

   Judge Packwood was venerated by innumerable friends in all parts of the country and was revered by thousands of men who had been in his employ during the years that he was identified with the growth of the state.  Traces of his work appear in ever corner of Baker County.

   Three children survive.  They are Mrs. J. L. Rand and William H. Packwood, of Baker, and Jefferson Packwood, of Seattle.  Two daughters are dead.  There are 14 grandchildren.

   Funeral arrangements had not been completed today, but they will be conducted from St. Francis Cathedral.

   No man in Baker County had a history more interesting than that of Judge Packwood.

   Few pioneers there are in Oregon who can point to a record such as Mr. Packwood's, from the day when he first set foot on Oregon soil in 1849 to the time of his death.  Mr. Packwood, bowed under the weight of his 85 years, was still an active citizen, and at the time of his death was concluding a book on the early pioneer history of Oregon, a work to which he devoted the major portion of his recent months.  In this history, George H. Himes, of the Oregon Historical Society, has expressed intense interest and declares that it will be an invaluable addition to the historical records of Oregon.

   Mr. Packwood was born at Jordan's Prairie, north of Mount Vernon, Ill, October 23, 1832, and lived there until he was 15 years old.  In his youth he met and talked to Abraham Lincoln and could recall conversations he had with the man who was to become America's greatest President.  When a boy of 15, in the Summer of 1848, he obtained the reluctant consent of his parents and enlisted for service in the Mexican war.  He never saw service in Mexico, but instead started on a march to Oregon in May, 1849, serving as an orderly until he joined his regiment at Vancouver.

   Mr. Packwood used to recount in an interesting manner how, at Astoria, he saw the timbers which had been gathered for the keel of the first steamboat to ply the waters of the Columbia, the "Columbia," which made its first trip up the river in 1850.

   The youthful pioneer went back to California in the following year and served with Major Wessels in making treaties with the Indians of California.  That same year trouble arose with the Indians of the Coquille and Coast tribes and Mr. Packwood was put in command of an expedition and started by boat to Port Orford.  The schooner Lincoln, however, was wrecked in a storm at Coos Bay, January 3, 1852, and this it was which linked Mr. Packwood's early life with Curry and Coos counties and which made it possible for him later to become a member of the constitutional convention.  Some supplies were saved from the wreck of the Lincoln and, after camping for a short time, Mr. Packwood took his command overland to Port Orford and subjugated the turbulent redskins.  He was discharged from Army service September 23, 1853, after having served five years.

   Although he had not yet reached his majority, Mr. Packwood was at last a free agent to do as he wished.  He formed a partnership with George H. Abbott and took up mining, made a little stake and then he and Mr. Abbott bought horses, sold their claims and, after packing and freighting for a while, took up ranching in Curry County.  Indians became troublesome and the youth was made Lieutenant of a volunteer company, captained by Mr. Abbott.  They subjugated the Indians again and then, in December, 1854, he went prospecting to California.  He returned to Oregon and in 1855 was elected Captain of a company to enter the Indian War.  He was commissioned Captain of the Coquille Guards by Governor George L. Curry.  He took an active part in the Indian War and was instrumental in bringing about the surrender of the three warring tribes.

   Mining again attracted the young pioneer and he went in 1857 to the Sixes River mines and soon after was elected by unanimous vote of Curry County to represent it at the state constitutional convention.  He was then a youth of 25 and had never even voted, but had taken part in making laws in mining camps and had presided as chairman at miners' meetings.  He was worried somewhat as to his qualifications and appealed to Mr. Abbott, his old partner, for advice.

   "Be yourself," was Mr. Abbott's sole advice, and thus equipped he joined the convention made up of citizens who were destined to become leaders in Oregon's affairs.  Of that little body of men which drew Oregon's constitution, two later were Governors, four were United State Senators, two were Representatives to Congress, one was a Federal Judge, one became Attorney General of the United States and Mayor of Portland, one State Attorney General, six judges of the state courts one Mayor of Portland and one had the triple distinction of being successively Representative of Congress, Governor and United States Senator.  Of all this list of distinguished pioneers and the others who were members of that convention, Mr. Packwood was the survivor.

   The elk in the Oregon seal was placed there at Mr. Packwood's suggestion at that historic convention, while he was also active in the debate on the many questions which came before the body.

   It was not long after this that Mr. Packwood went to Siletz and Yaquina, where he was sub-agent for the Indians.  He did not stay there long, but returned to Coquille, where he raised cattle and horses and then was elected County Assessor, not even knowing he was a candidate until election day.

   Business reverses took his ranch away from him in 1862 and, interested in the Blue Bucket strike in Eastern Oregon, he left for this section and helped lay out the town of Auburn, then the mining center of the entire district.  He engaged in merchandising, freighting and packing at once and the first year he was there organized the Auburn Water Company, which, after many years, became the greatest water company in the entire Baker district, and the plant, which cost $225,000, is now giving water to the city of Baker.

   Among his earlier experiences in Baker County was one which he never liked.  He was elected one of three judges to try a Frenchman for poisoning his partner.  The Frenchman was convicted by a jury and was hanged.  This was in 1862.

   The same year, October 16, Mr. Packwood married, soon after being appointed School Superintendent of the newly-created Baker County.
   Among the achievements which he recalled with pride was that he signed the first call for the Union Republican party in Baker to send delegates to the convention and he stumped every precinct in the county for Abraham Lincoln.

   He had not been in Baker County long before his mines failed and he lost $45,000.  He did not have the money, but Mr. Packwood always paid his debts and for years was busy in paying for something which many men might easily evaded.

   For many years then, until 1887, he gave his time to organizing water companies and building ditches in the county.  In 1888 he was elected Police Judge of Baker City and held that office for five years.

   The call of gold again was heard by Mr. Packwood in 1893, when he was 61 years old, and he went to Port Orford to engage in beach mining, but he found that the reports of the strike had been colored and he returned to Baker and went with the Columbia Gold Mining Company.  Soon after he became Assistant Postmaster of Baker, then Baker City, and he held that position until he was 78 years old, when he resigned.

   For the last six years Mr. Packwood was retired from active business, but he kept an interest in public affairs which was little short of amazing.  There must have been something in that historical convention which brought a community of interests among its members.  Like the late George H. Williams, Mr. Packwood was an ardent football follower and never a game was played but he was on the sidelines "rooting."

-Oregonian (Portland, OR), September 22, 1917


I find it amazing that I know more about the life of William Packwood, who interests me largely because he played a baseball predecessor game in Southwestern Illinois in the late 1830s or early 1840s, than I do about someone as significant to the history of 19th century St. Louis baseball as Merritt Griswold.  Or maybe I know that Packwood played four-old-cat because he was, historically, a more prominent figure than Griswold.  I don't know. 

I do know that I've been trying to run down information about people who have given testimony about playing predecessor games in Illinois and Missouri and Packwood is certainly the most prominent figure that I've come across.  The man lived a rather full and interesting life.  

William Packwood

We played marbles and we played a game of ball in which there were four corners, four batters, and four catchers, ‘four old cat’ as it was then called.

-Reminiscences of William H. Packwood

Packwood was born in Illinois in 1832 and lived in Mt. Vernon and Sparta.  From the best I can tell, in his Reminiscences, he was talking about playing ball while he was going to school in Sparta, which places the reference in the late 1830s or early 1840s.  

[Packwood] was born in Illinois, October 23, 1832.  His father immigrated from Virginia to Illinois.  Mr. Packwood attended school from his sixth to his twelfth year.  The next six years were spent in working on a farm in the Summer and clerking in a store in the Winter.  In 1846 he enlisted in what was known as the Mounted Rifles, and with 24 others under Captain Morris, served as an escort to General Wilson, on his way to California, who had been appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs on the Pacific Coast.  In April, 1850, Mr. Packwood came with his company to Oregon in a vessel commanded by Captain McArthur, father of the late Judge L.L. McArthur.  The company remained at Vancouver, Wash., until the next year when it was ordered to report at Benicia, California.  In December, 1851, his company was ordered to Port Arthur, and was shipwrecked near Coos Bay on January 3, 1852.  He was discharged from the Army in 1853, and then began mining and packing.  At the breaking out of the Indian war of 1855-6, he offered his services and served as captain in the volunteer service.  In 1857 he was chosen as a delegate to the constitutional convention of Oregon, from Curry County.  In 1861 he went to Eastern Oregon, expecting to engage in the cattle business, but the gold discovery that year caused him to abandon this idea.  He was one of the founders of the town of Auburn, nine miles from Baker City, a very important point in its day.  For many years he was engaged in large mining enterprises in Baker County.  He is among the best known and most highly respected citizens of Baker County.  He was the first County School Superintendent of this county. 

-Oregonian (Portland, OR), June 13, 1909


Packwood lived a rather interesting life and is well-remembered as a pioneer in Oregon.  However, he should also be remembered as a pioneer ball-player in Illinois and the greater St. Louis area.  I found his obituary in the Oregonian and I'll try and post that tomorrow.    

 

I'm So Close

A base ball match for $500, between the two champion clubs of Massachusetts, commenced [in Worcester, Mass.] to-day.  When the play stopped, the Excelsiors of Upton stood 67, and the Union of Medway 33.  The play will be resumed.

-Missouri Republican, October 12, 1859

The Rochester Base Ball players and the All England Eleven cricketers, practiced the game this P.M.  The Base Ball players amalgamated with the cricketers and nine innings a side were played, the scores being 11 and 18.  The cricketers did not make much headway from the want of knowledge of the technicalities.

-Missouri Republican, October 23, 1859


These are the two earliest references to baseball games that I've yet found in a St. Louis newspaper.  I have no doubt that somewhere in the Missouri Republican is a 1859 reference to baseball in St. Louis and I will find it.  I'm close.  Just have to do the work.   

Town Ball In Pocahontas, Illinois

Football and baseball, as played today, were unknown games.  What was known as townball, however, was a popular sport.  This was played with a yarn ball covered with leather, or a hollow, inflated rubber ball, both of which were soft and yielding and not likely to inflict injury as is so common today in baseball.  Townball was much played in the schoolhouse yard during recess and at the noon hour.

-Illinois in the Fifties, or, A decade of Development, 1851-1860


References to town ball, like the one above, are fairly common.  They come from a variety of histories that were written in the last quarter of the 19th century or at the beginning of the 20th century and are based on the recollections of people who were children during the settlement period of the Trans-Appalachian frontier.  So many of these references revolve around the subject's school days that it's fairly well established that town ball was one of the most popular games played by school children during the first half of the 19th century.  Sadly, most of the historical references to town ball come from these secondary sources and primary source references to the game, outside of Philadelphia, are rare.

I've collected a lot of these town ball references from secondary source material but this one stands out for one reason.  The writer, Charles Beneulyn Johnson, was writing about his childhood in Pocahontas, Illinois, which is maybe fifty miles east of St. Louis, and this is the first reference to town ball that I've seen from the area.  While there are not many primary source references to bat and ball games in St. Louis prior to 1859, I have found several references to games within a fifty to a hundred mile radius during the 1820-1850 period and I think that's significant.  If these games were being played in the general region, I would argue that this is evidence that they were being played in St. Louis.  It's not the conclusive evidence I'm looking for but it helps.

Also, I like Pocahontas.  It's a nice little town.  If you're ever there, stop at the Powhaten and get something to eat.  They have great food.           

A Praiseworthy Enterprise

All travelers speak of the physical deterioration of American men and women from the average old world standard.  All agree that the want of muscular exercise, or the prevalence of particular obnoxious kinds are the predisposing causes of this deterioration...

Within a decade - partly owing to the example set by the general introduction of the Turner's societies and an appreciation of our national defect by teachers and writers for youth - a reform has set in, in the shape of gymnastic clubs, base ball clubs, and other organizations devoted to the cultivation of the physical man.  These associations are highly praiseworthy, and are generally conducted with decorum.  Few, except the best of our citizens, whether minors or adults, would seek satisfaction in innocent and beneficial recreation.  Hence we find the much more numerous class of both who might lower the respectability of such diversions...and turn to the race-course, the gambling house, the grog-shop or the brothel.  

-Missouri Republican, August 30, 1863


I don't know if I've ever heard of the possibility that baseball spread and grew in popularity because of some kind of progressive reform pushing physical exercise.  There was a reform movement in the 1870s, supporting shorter work weeks, that played a role in the growth of the number of amateur baseball clubs but I'm talking more about the origins of the game and how it spread in the 1850s and 1860s.  With the growth of the urban population and the physically negative effects of an urban life, it seems possible that there could have been some kind of movement encouraging physical exercise during this period and baseball was in a position to take advantage of that.  I don't really know if that's true but it's an interesting thought.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About St. Louis In 1859

St. Louis in 1854

I found a really neat book that I wanted to let you know about.  It's called The St. Louis Guide For Citizens and Strangers and was published in 1859, the year the Cyclone Club was formed.  It's just full of information that you likely can't find anywhere else.  One of the cool things about the book is all the ads for St. Louis businesses in 1859.  It's available to read for free over at Google Books, so go take a look.

The image at the top of the post is also pretty cool and I found it at a website called Uncle Dale's Readings in Early Mormon History.  Uncle Dale seems to be a kindred spirit who, like myself, enjoys reading 19th century newspapers and he has a ton of primary source material that pertains to the history of the Latter Day Saints.  I found the place to be a bit of a time sink (and I mean that in the best possible way).  You should check it out.       

Edward Bredell, Class Of 1859

I got a copy of Jeffry Wert's Mosby Rangers in the mail this week.  Although I've read bits and pieces of the book before, I wanted to take a closer look at the battle in which Edward Bredell was killed, as it never seemed too clear as to what happened.  Wert's book is an excellent history of John Mosby's guerrilla unit and does have a great account of the battle, which I'll pass along shortly.  But, while looking for more information about Bredell's military record, I made a rather important discovery:  Edward Bredell attended Brown University.

Bredell, according to various sources, was a member of Browns' class of 1859 and was certainly at the university during the 1855-56 term.  According to A Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Brown University, 1855-1856, Bredell was a first-year student, staying at University Hall and studying science.  His course load included classes in mathematics (geometry and algebra), chemistry, physiology and a foreign language (either French or German).  The 1857-58 catalogue does not list Bredell as a student at Brown and the Historical Catalogue of Brown University (1914) lists him as someone who attended the university but did not graduate.  It's unclear if Bredell was still at Brown in 1856-57 but, if he returned for a second year, he would have taken classes in natural philosophy, rhetoric, history, intellectual philosophy with a choice of electives among civil engineering, practical chemistry, and geology.

This is extremely significant for a couple of reasons.  First, Bredell was studying science and this was a course of study that would have a practical application in his life.  In May 1859, Bredell was named the business manager of the Missouri Glass Company, a company co-owned by his father.  If you look at the operations of the company, it's obvious that a great deal of practical scientific and engineering knowledge was necessary to run a company like that.  Bredell gained that knowledge at Brown University.  Also, Merritt Griswold, who also worked at the Missouri Glass Company, was an engineer and it appears that the two men shared a love of science, as well as a love of baseball.  We know how the two men, being co-workers, met and, with their shared science background, we can begin to imagine how they may have formed a friendship that had a significant impact on the history of St. Louis baseball.

More importantly, to that history and friendship, it's likely that Bredell had been exposed to the New York game while at Brown, which is located in Providence, Rhode Island.  Brown University played a significant role in the history of collegiate athletics and, specifically, in the history of collegiate baseball.  Providence, itself, had a history of ball-playing that dated back, at least, to the 1820s, a baseball club was formed there in 1857 and Brown had baseball clubs by the early 1860s.  I have little doubt that baseball was being played in Providence and at Brown when Bredell was there and, given his baseball activities in St. Louis a few years later, it's likely that he first played the game while a university student.  At the very least, Bredell most likely saw the New York game being played while a student in Providence.

This information completely changes the story of how the Cyclone Club was formed in the summer of 1859.  Previously, it always appeared that Griswold instigated the formation of the club.  We knew that he had played the game in Brooklyn and there are several sources that state that he formed the club.  Based on the information that we had, it was obvious that Griswold introduced the New York game to St. Louis and was behind the formation of the first club.  We also know that Bredell played a role in the formation of the Cyclones and he has been credited as the club's co-founder but I always assumed that it was Griswold who was behind everything and he had just talked his friend into starting the club with him.  However, with the information that he had either seen or played the New York game while a student at Brown, Edward Bredell assumes a much more prominent role in this story.

In the April 21, 1895 issue of the St. Louis Republic, Leonard Matthews and Ferdinand Garesche, two members of the Cyclones, gave a brief history of the club.  The writer of the article (most likely E.H. Tobias) stated that "In the summer of 1859 a meeting was held in the office of the old Missouri Glass Company, on Fifth street between Pine and Olive.  M.W. Griswold, a clerk in the company's store, who had lately moved to St. Louis from Brooklyn, N.Y., an enthusiast on baseball, aided by the exertions of Ed Bredele, had gathered together the nucleus of a club..."  Reading this again, it sounds like Griswold and Bredell were working together to put together a baseball club and that makes sense.  If Bredell had played baseball at Brown and gained an appreciation of the game, it must have been a wonderful thing for him to meet Griswold and learn of his love of the game.  There couldn't have been many people in St. Louis, if any, with a practical knowledge of the New York game and here were two of them working together at the Missouri Glass Company.  I can imagine the two men forming a friendship over this rare, mutual interest and deciding, together, to form a baseball club.  The Cyclone Club was formed out of the friendship of Griswold and Bredell and their mutual love of the New York game.

Also, I think we have to be open to the idea that it was Bredell, rather than Griswold, who introduced the New York game to St. Louis.  We assumed that it was Griswold based largely on his letter to Al Spink and on our knowledge of his background.  But, if Bredell had seen or played the game while at Brown, he would have brought his knowledge of the New York game to St. Louis several years before Griswold arrived in the city.  However, the extent of Bredell's ball-playing activities at Brown and in St. Louis prior to forming the Cyclones is unknown so I think the most we can state is that it is very likely that there were people in St. Louis, specifically Edward Bredell, that had a knowledge of the New York game prior to Merritt Griswold's arrival.  Putting it another way, it no longer appears that Griswold's knowledge of the rules of the New York game and his experience playing the game was unique in St. Louis in 1859.                      

An 1809 Illinois Anti-Gaming Law

An Act to prevent unlawful gaming.  Adopted from the Virginia Code. 

Be it enacted by the Governor and Judges of the Illinois Territory, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same: 

Sec. 1.  That all promises, agreements, notes, bills, bonds, or other contracts, judgments, mortages, or other securities or conveyances whatsoever, made, given, granted, drawn or entered into or executed by any person or persons whatsoever, after passing this act, where the whole, or any part, of the consideration of such promise, agreement, conveyances or securities shall be for money or other valuable thing whatsoever, won, laid or betted at cards, dice, tables, tennis, bowles or any other game or games whatsoever, or at any horse race, cock fighting, or any other sport or pastime, or on any wager whatsoever, or for the reimbursing or repaying any money, knowingly lent or advanced at the time and place of such play, horse racing, cock fighting, or other sport or pastime, to any person or persons so gaming, betting, or waging, or that shall at such time and place, so play, bet or wager, shall be utterly void and of none effect, to all intents and purposes whatsoever; any law, custom or usage to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding.

-Illinois in the Eighteenth Century: A Report on the Documents in Belleville, Ill., Illustrating the early history of the State


The above comes from a report by Clarence Alvord and appears in the Bulletin of the Illinois State Historical Library, Volume 1, Number 1, and raises a lot of questions.

The earliest reference to ball-playing in Illinois, if memory serves, is an 1818 reference to trap-ball and cricket that was being played in the English Prairie area.  While we've yet to find any references early then that, my thinking has always been that ball-playing came to the region with the first French or Anglo-American settlers.  We know that there was ball-playing going on in St. Louis in the late 18th century and I tend to think that the same was going on in Kaskaskia and the other French communities on the east bank of the Mississippi.  We also know that as new communities were springing up in central Illinois, the people who settled that area were playing what they referred to as town ball.  So it seems logical to me that the Anglo-Americans who settled southern Illinois in the first two decades of the 19th century, between the establishments of the French towns in southwestern Illinois and the Anglo-American towns in central Illinois, would also have been playing ball, in some form.

I think that this law, established in 1809, supports that idea to a certain extent.  Now it has been well established that the favorite pastime of the settlers of the area during the 18th and early 19th century was card-playing and horse racing and this law was most likely intended to curb gambling on those activities.  But we do have an interesting reference from 1795 that described ball-playing, south of the Ohio river, as being a "common diversion."  And the folks that settled southern Illinois in the first two decades of the 19th century came from Kentucky, Tennessee and western Virginia, which is most likely the area the source was describing.  Therefore, I'm thinking that the portion of the law that mentioned "any other sport or pastime" could very well pertain to bat and ball games.

While it should be noted that it's possible that the law was adopted, verbatim, from a previous Virginia law, the references to tennis and bowles are very interesting.  Given the influence of French culture in the area, it is quite likely that they did play a form of boules, a game which had been played in France since, at least, the 16th century.  It's entirely possible that jeu de boules could have been introduced into the Pays des Illinois at the beginning of the 18th century and was one of first ball-games played in the area.  Also, I would guess that tennis could be a reference to variants of jeu de paume, although I find it difficult to imagine 18th century settlers playing court tennis.  But if we assume that the French and Anglo-American settlers were playing variants of boules and tennis in Illinois in 1809 then this law would be the earliest reference to ball-playing in Illinois and the St. Louis region that we have and, therefore, is extremely significant.

Four Old Cat In Southern Illinois

We played marbles and we played a game of ball in which there were four corners, four batters and four catchers, "four old cat," as it was then called.

-Reminiscences of William H. Packwood


I can't remember how I found this reference but I either got it at Protoball or Larry McCray sent it to me.  Either way, tip of the hat to Larry, who has this reference listed in the Protoball Chronology in the 1840s.  Regardless, Packwood's story originally appeared in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, in 1915.

The importance of this reference lies in the fact that Packwood, as a young man, lived in Mt. Vernon and Sparta, Illinois, about 75 miles or so southeast of St. Louis.  He was talking about his school days in southern Illinois and, since he was born in 1832, Larry's dating is plausible.  Therefore, we can say that old cat was being played in southern Illinois in the early 1840s.  I would add that Packwood was most likely living in Sparta at the time of his schooling, that he was most certainly done with school by 1844 and that it's possible to argue that the reference could be dated to the late 1830s.          

The Young People Had Formed A Base Ball Club (And Enjoyed Themselves)

Our “Traveling Correspondent,” W.H. P., who is also a traveling correspondent of the New York Spirit of the Times, in a recent letter to that paper dated Havana, Ill., thus speaks of the excitement there on the “Base Ball” question:

I found the young people had formed a base ball club, and enjoyed themselves three times a week at the sport.  There were some good, and even expert players, and two or three would rank with the best at the North.  Among the members were the principal bankers, lawyers and merchants.  One evening last week an exciting match took place, playing commencing at four o’clock.  The court was in session, an important case was on; twenty-four hours had been occupied in selecting a jury, and among them was two members of the club.  The principal counsel was also a member, and all were itching to be out of the courtroom on the ground.  Every few minutes some one would come into court with a slip of paper of the game.  The excitement increased as cheers from the outside arose.  The solicitor could no longer withstand it and throwing down his “brief,” exclaimed, “Gentleman of the jury, d—m the case; I must see that base ball game played.”  The judge coincided and adjourned till candlelight, and all were soon on the ground, the jury being under the charge of the sheriff, were escorted to good position, the members being allowed to take part, and the game was finished satisfactorily. 

-Davenport Daily Gazette, April 10, 1861 

Havana is located on the Illinois River, about a hundred miles or so north of St. Louis, in Mason County.  

This is a real interesting reference that raises questions pertaining to how baseball spread across the United States.  We know that there was an active ball-playing community in Mason County, going back to the 1820s, and that town ball was a popular activity in the area.  So it's entirely possible that this is a town ball reference, with the local Havana variant simply being called "base ball."  However, the regulation game had reached Chicago and eastern Iowa by 1858 and St. Louis by 1859 so its possible that this is a reference to the regulation game being played in a small, rural, central Illinois town in 1861, as the Civil War was just breaking out.  The fact that the report appeared in Spirit of the Times, I think, supports the idea that this was the regulation game.     

And the idea that this was the regulation game fascinates me.  I think it's generally accepted that the regulation game spread far and wide before the Civil War but, for the most part, the spread was limited (outside of the Northeast) to the larger urban areas and that the game didn't reach the more rural areas until after the war.  St. Louis, Chicago and Davenport have the regulation game prior to the war but it doesn't reach Quincy, Illinois or Decatur until after the war.  That's the pattern of spread that's supported by the evidence that I've seen.  But this reference runs contrary to that general pattern.  Is our thinking wrong about when the game reached the rural West or is this just an outlier?  It's impossible to say but it's not out of the realm of possibility that they were playing the New York game in Havana in 1861.  Stranger things have happened. 

One thing I should point out is the possibility that the story is not true.  The whole thing seems to be a tall tale and I have serious doubts about most of the facts reported in the story.  That doesn't necessarily mean that the report of a baseball club in Havana is false and it may have just been the device upon which the writer hung his tale.  But the rest of it just seems like a country bumpkin story told to entertain New Yorkers.          

Dating The Gratiot Reference

Henry Gratiot

 
The Gratiot reference is the oldest known reference to ball-playing in St. Louis and it comes from a deposition that Henry Gratiot gave to Theodore Hunt, the United States recorder of land titles in Missouri, in 1825.  In the deposition, Gratiot was asked if he had any knowledge about a windmill in St. Louis owned by Joseph Motard, to which he answered that he had "a perfect knowledge of the situation of Motard's windmill, for when a Boy he has frequently played Ball against this same Mill."  When I first came across this reference a couple of years ago, I assumed, based on Gratiot's age, that the ball-playing he referred to in the deposition had taken place in the 1790s or the first decade of the 1800s.  Based on more research, I can confirm that the ball-playing mentioned in the Gratiot reference should be dated no later than 1800.

The 1800 date is a bit conservative and based on the work of Louis Houck, who put together a timeline in his two volume history of Missouri and placed the Gratiot reference with other events in 1800.  However, based on research into the life of Joseph Motard and his mill, I think that the mid-1790s is a more likely date for Gratiot's ball-playing days.  There are several sources that date the building of Motard's mill to 1784 or 1785 and there's another source that confirms that it had been built by 1788.  Also, there are several sources that state that the mill only stood for about a decade and there are contemporary sources from 1798 that reported that the mill had fallen into disrepair and disuse.  Therefore, I think it's safe to say that Gratiot's ball-playing took place before 1800, by which time the mill had most likely been torn down.

Henry Gratiot was born in 1789 and I think it's fair to assume that by the age of five or six, he could have been out playing ball games with the other boys of the town.  That would place the activities mentioned in the Gratiot reference to around 1795.  St. Louis was founded in 1764 so we have evidence of ball-playing in the city just thirty years after Laclede and Chouteau set foot in the area and several years before St. Louis became part of the United States.

I think that, generally speaking, when talking or writing about the Gratiot reference, I'll probably use Houck's date mostly because I have a great deal of respect for Houck's work and, also, 1800 is a nice round number.  But the reality is that there was ball-playing going on in St. Louis in the 18th century and we can date specific instances of ball-playing to around 1895. 

The picture, above, of the young Gratiot comes from the Wisconson Historical Society images collection and I don't want them to think that I would ever imagine using their images without permission and there's no way that I have a copy of the picture anywhere on my computer.  Because that would be wrong.   

A Tantalizing 1859 Reference To Baseball In The St. Louis Papers

 The Buffalo Courier avers that there has been organized in Lockport a base ball club, composed wholly of fat men-none weighing less than three hundred being admitted.  The name of the association is the "Paunches Pilate" B.B. Club.

-Missouri Republican, August 30, 1859


This doesn't seem like a big deal but, after checking my notes, I'm pretty sure this is the earliest reference to baseball I've ever seen in the St. Louis papers.  I think the earliest reference I've seen previous to this comes from May 1860, although there is a September 1859 reference to baseball in St. Louis in Spirit of the Times and the 1858 references in the Alton papers.  But as far as the St. Louis papers are concerned, this is the earliest reference to the game that I've seen.

I've been scouring the 1859 issues of the Missouri Republican, looking for baseball references in general and a reference to the Cyclones specifically with little to show for it.  I do, however, know a lot about what was going on in St. Louis that year.  Without going too much into it, I'll just say that antebellum St. Louis was a rough, dirty and violent place.  But they did have hot-air balloons, which is pretty cool.

The true significance of this piece from the Republican is in what the paper leaves out.  They forwarded information to their readers about a baseball club without explaining to them what a baseball club was, leaving us to assume that people in St. Louis were very familiar with baseball clubs in 1859.  Now we know that there was baseball and baseball clubs in St. Louis in 1859 but we haven't found any contemporary evidence to support these beliefs.  This is really the first piece of contemporary evidence from 1859 St. Louis that I've found, scant as it is.        

Griswold Resigns The Presidency Of The Cyclone Club

The game of base ball now so popular in this as in Eastern cities, was ushered in yesterday afternoon, by the Cyclone Base Ball Club, on their old grounds in Lafayette Park, on which occasion they had the pleasure of having united with them in the game, representatives of the Morning Star, Empire and Commercial Clubs.  As was the case last season, a jolly time was had, especially when a member in his eager endeavors to catch the ball would step into some sunken hole, (left to ornament the park,) thereby changing his movement into that of the Zouave drill, or more properly speaking, lofty tumbling of a gymnast.  But we are happy to say this is soon to be remedied, as the clubs have petitioned the Common Council for the privilege of leveling the same at their own expense, which petition has been referred to the Park commissioners, and only awaits their action, when the improvements will be immediately commenced, provided the Commissioners do not delay the matter until it is too late in the season for starting the grass on places that are to be filled.  We notice the Club is composed of the same members as last year, but a slight change has been made in the officers, caused by Mr. M.W. Griswold resigning the Presidency, which is now filled by the promotion of the Vice President, Mr. Leonard Matthews, and the election of Mr. Benteen as Vice President, Mr. M.W. Alexander, Secretary, Mr. F.L. Garesche, Treasurer, and Messrs. Wm. Matthews, J. Riggin, Jr. and E. Bredell, Jr., Trustees.  The Cyclones play every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon.

-Missouri Republican, March 7, 1861


There is some very important information in this brief article from the Republican.  The mention of Lafayette Park as the Cyclones' "old grounds" should lay to rest any debate about whether or not they were playing in the park prior to 1861.  Now that debate was mostly (or only) taking place in my own mind but I'm back to being comfortable in stating that the Cyclones played at Lafayette Park in 1859 and 1860.

More important is the reference to Griswold resigning the presidency of the club prior to March 1861.  There are a couple of secondary sources that state that Leonard Matthews was the club's first president and I always found that to be odd.  I always wondered why Griswold wouldn't have been elected president.  He basically formed the club and introduced the New York game to St. Louis.  Why wouldn't he have been president of the Cyclones?  Now, in any club and election, there is politics involved and I just figured Matthews was a more popular figure among the club members.  But this article implies that Griswold was president in 1860 and that leads me to question whether or not he was president in 1859.  That would make more sense than Matthews being president and Matthews election to the club presidency in 1861 would explain the references in the secondary sources, which date to the mid-1890s at the earliest.  Matthews was remembered as being the president because he was the last president.