From The Mexia Evening News, April 27, 1922:
"Locate Famous Old Player
Charles Sweasy, who played with original Cincinnati Reds, is found in Texas
Dropping into Fort Worth for an exhibition game, scribes with the Cincinnati Reds discovered a member of the famous team of 1869 living in the city...(Sweasy) is seventy-five years of age and in feeble health. When the Reds won the pennant in the National League in 1919 an effort was made to dig up all the members of the 1869 team. George Wright and Cal McVey reported but Sweasy did not and it seems it was not even known he was alive until he identified himself the other day. He has prospered in business and is passing his last days in comfort."
The only problem with this is that Charlie Sweasy, the captain of the 1875 Reds, died in Newark on March 30, 1908.
2 comments:
Do we really know which guy was the right Charlie Sweasy? I have no idea, but the idea that the guy who died in 1908 was misidentified by some later researcher is not implausible. We would have to check out obituaries of the 1908 Sweasy and see what they say.
I came across this article about a year ago and, based on the possibility that Sweasy could have still been living in the 1920's, felt it necessary to double check everything.
There's no doubt that the Charlie Sweasy who died in Newark in 1908 was Sweasy the ballplayer. The evidence based on the public records is conclusive.
The Sweasy living in Texas is also identifiable from public records and it can easible be proven that he wasn't Sweasy the ballplayer. The guy was a liquor salesman who lived most of his life in the southwest.
I'm not sure if Sweasy the liquor salesman claimed to be Sweasy the ballplayer or if it was just a big misunderstanding but he defintely was not Sweasy the ballplayer.
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