Tragedy On The Meramec

The Meramec River

The body of John Kane, a young man about 29 years of age, was recovered on Friday last from the Meramec river, in which he was drowned on Sunday.  He was a resident of this city and was of a party of base ball players who went out to the Meramec river, on the Pacific Railroad, to play ball.  Going in the river for a swim, he took cramp and was drowned.

-Missouri Republican, June 6, 1869


Kane is the third pioneer-era, St. Louis baseball player, along with Asa Smith and Alexander Crosman, who I'm aware of that met a watery end.

And Now You Know The Rest Of The Story

The Match Game of Base Ball Interrupted--The match game of base ball, on Gamble avenue, yesterday, was brought to a somewhat abrupt termination.  While the game was in progress a German Home Guard came upon the field and persisted in remaining in the way of the players.  After having been asked two or three times to retire behind the line he was then taken by the arm by the person appointed to keep the field clear, when he (the Home Guard) attempted to strike him.  The blow was returned, the German going down.  He then went away, and in about half an hour afterwards a detachment of Home Guards came and surrounded the whole field, creating quite a panic among a number of ladies and gentlemen who were assembled to witness the game.  The order was given to take all the players to Turners' Hall as prisoners, but Mr. Griswold (formerly a captain in the Home Guards) and a few others persuaded the acting captain of the Home Guards to withdraw his men from the field.  The Guards were withdrawn.

-Missouri Republican, August 23, 1861


One of the interesting things about the information that I've recently found in the Republican is that it contradicts a lot of the information about the Civil War era as presented by E.H. Tobias.  I have a great deal of respect for Tobias and regard him as one of the pioneers of baseball history.  His work, appearing in The Sporting News in 1895 and 1896, is invaluable and he had access to a great deal of primary source material that has been lost to us.  However, as I find more and more primary source material from the period, I'm beginning to find errors in Tobias' account and his conclusions regarding baseball in St. Louis during the Civil War.

The description of the game above is one example.  Tobias' account is much more dramatic and he gets several key facts about the game wrong.  The two most significant things he was wrong about was the date of the game (describing it as the Empire Club's anniversary game, which was held in April) and the motivation for the conflict (that he describes as involving a pennant flying over a tent that the Home Guard mistakenly believed was a pro-Succession flag).  While Tobias was correct that a baseball game was broken up by the Home Guard and that Merritt Griswold played a role in easing a tense situation, this was not the Empires' first anniversary game and it had nothing much to do with Civil War politics.

Tobias' account of the game makes for a much better story but his version was not entirely accurate.  That saddens me a bit because it was probably my favorite story from the St. Louis pioneer era and it turns out to not be exactly true.  I guess my favorite story from the period now is the one about Alex Crosman getting eaten by sharks.  

The Commodore McDonough

Okay, it took me all of two minutes to find a couple of pictures of the Commodore McDonough, which I believe was Alex Crosman's first command.  

The real interesting thing here (besides Crosman being a member of the Cyclone Club and all that baseball stuff) is that the second picture shows the Commodore McDonough shelling James Island, South Carolina.  James Island is seperated from Charleston, South Carolina by the Ashley River and Wappoo Creek and just happens to be where I moved after getting out of college.  It was a nice place to live and work and the weather was great.  As an added bonus, I lived exactly four miles from Folly Beach and, as an employee of Charleston County, I got to play golf at the Municiple Golf Course for free.  

So not only was Alex Crosman eaten by sharks but during the Civil War he shelled the place that I would call home 126 years later.  

The USS Kansas

The first Kansas was named for the Kansas River, which is formed by the confluence of the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers at Junction City and northeastern Kansas, and flows some 200 miles before emptying into the Missouri River at Kansas City...

The first Kansas was built at Philadelphia Navy Yard with machinery taken from prize steamer Princess Royal; launced 29 September 1863; sponsered by Miss Annie McClellan; and commissioned at Philadelphia 21 December 1863...

She departed New York Harbor 29 November (1871) for Cuba and arrived Havana in December. The gunboat left that port 25 February 1872 to obtain supplies and await Comdr. A. F. Grossman who headed another Nicaragua-surveying expedition. She was employed gathering data on potential interoceanic canal routes until returning to Key West 13 July...

 Her final year of active service was devoted to cruising in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, at the time a region of considerable unrest. She sailed from Pensacola 8 July 1875, and arrived Portsmouth, N.H., on the 21st. She decommissioned there 10 August and laid up until sold at Rockland, Maine, to Captain Israel L. Snow 27 September 1883.

-Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

I won't pretend that I know anything about the Civil War era navy but that is one rickety looking boat.  I had a hard time imagining how Alex Crosman either fell off his ship and drowned or (according to the better story) got eaten by sharks while trying to save two of his sailors who had gone overboard.  But looking at the above picture of the Kansas, I can see how it happened.

Sadly, there was no picture of the Commodore McDonough, Crosman's other known command, at the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships but there was a nice entry on the ship: 

Commodore McDonough, an armed side wheel ferry, was purchased 5 August 1862 in New York; fitted out at New York Navy Yard; and commissioned 24 November 1862, Lieutenant Commander G. Bacon in command.

Commodore McDonough joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Port Royal, S.C., 11 December 1862. Throughout her service, she operated in South Carolina waters, primarily off Charleston, but often cruising up the many rivers of that coast to bombard shore installations, cover the landing of troops, engage Confederate batteries, and perform reconnaissance. In the continuing operations in Charleston Harbor, she frequently bombarded the forts protecting the city.

At the close of the war, she assisted in harbor clearance at Port Royal, and on 23 August 1865, while under tow for New York, she foundered. 

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but now's as good a time as any.  Alexander F. Crosman's last name is variously spelled Crossman or Grossman and his middle initial is sometimes given as "T."  So sometimes, in a given source, you might come across an Alexander T. Grossman who is actually Alex Crosman, former Cyclone Club member.  Trust me when I tell you that it took me awhile to figure that out and that it took me a longer while to run everything down to make sure I wasn't dealing with multiple people.   

A Couple Of Links Between Crossman and Matthews

The annual examination at the National Naval Academy has closed.  On the last day, Commodore Perry presented to the Institution the first American flag unfurled in Japan...

The following gentlemen were presented with Diplomas, entitling them to the grade of Midshipman...Alexander F. Crossman...

-Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, June 22 1855

The following Passed Midshipmen have been promoted to Masters from the 4th of November, 1858...Edmund O. Matthews...Alex F. Crossman...

-The Charleston (SC) Mercury, November 13, 1858

We know that Matthews was scheduled to enter the Naval Academy in the fall of 1851 and that Crossman graduated in 1855 so I think it's safe to say that they were there at the same time.  Also, the fact that they were both promoted at the same time lends some support to the idea that they were commissioned around the same time.  

It's possible that the two men knew each other before they were stationed together in St. Louis.  

No Mention Of Sharks

A dispatch received from the U.S. Consul at Jamaica confirms the report of the drowning of Captain Alexander T. Crossman, commanding steamer Kansas, but gives no details.

-Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, April 29, 1872

The details that I have (and the information is second hand at best) is that Crossman was eaten by sharks off the coast of Panama while trying to save two sailors.  I'll take this as partial confirmation of that story while freely admitting that I really want the story to be true.     

Giants On The Ball Field, Part Two

The legal fraternity was numerously represented in amateur days, and among others of that profession who took part in the sport was Judge E.T. Farish, whose present proportions hardly vouch for the assertion that he was then a very active and sprightly man.  Judge W.V.N. Bay of the state Supreme bench was an honorary member of the Empire Club, and witnessed every game that he possibly could.  He was a New Yorker by birth, and prior to coming West was a ball player on the banks of the Hudson River.  John S. Fullerton, a prominent member of the bar, Brigadier General in the Union Army and later Postmaster of this city, belonged to the Cyclone Club.  General Basil Duke of the Confederate Army, who was practicing his profession in St. Louis at the opening of the war was also a member of the Cyclone Club as was Dr. Gratz Moses, Rufus Gamble, Alfred Bernoudy, Recorder of Deeds, and Edward Bernoudy, whose widow is and has been for many years connected with the office of the Superintendent of Public Schools.  John T. Davis, the late millionaire dry goods merchant, played with the same club, and in after years, when he became head of the house founded by his father, Samuel C. Davis, organized and equipped a club of his own employees, gave it the name of his firm and was a playing member himself.  Another Cyclonist was Joseph Gamble, now occupying a pulpit in an Eastern State.  And still another was Edward Bredell, a scion of one of the leading St. Louis families, who joined Mosby's men in Virginia.  The Mathews brothers, Leonard and W.H., leading druggists, were of the same club, as also was the third brother, E.O. Mathews, the last player of the family who became a Commodore in the United States navy.  Other members were Alex Grossman, son of a United States army captain, Willie C. Walker, a leading wholesale boot and shoe merchant, and John Waddell, nephew of General D.M. Frost, who after the collapse of the Confederacy returned to Missouri and became State Insurance Commissioner.  The noblest Cyclonist of them all is still living in St. Louis...in the person of Missouri's National Democratic Committeeman, Colonel J. Griff Prather.

 -St. Louis Daily Republic, February 9, 1896 

At this point I should probably state that I find it increasingly difficult to remember what information I've posted on the blog and what I've saved for various other projects.  A great deal of the work I've done on the antebellum clubs and their members I've not posted for proprietary reasons.  Most of the information in the Republic article is not new to me but I think much of it hasn't been posted here yet and should be new to regular readers of this blog (all four of you).  The exciting thing about this article is that, beside being a extraordinary source of information, I'm getting a chance to share some information with you that I've held back for various reasons.

As an example of this complicated relationship between my research, this blog, and my other projects, I don't think I've ever posted anything about Jonathan Davis.  However, over the last year I've learned a great deal about him and have a nice little biographical sketch of him written up.  I knew that Davis was the son of Samuel C. Davis and took over his father's business.  What was new to me was the information about Davis starting the Samuel C. Davis Base Ball Club.  That's great stuff and I'll have to incorporate it into my other work.  It actually impacts to areas of my research: the history of the Cyclone Club and the history of postbellum amateur mercantile clubs.  

  

I also like the description of Griff Prather as "the noblest Cyclonist of them all."  That's definitely getting edited into his biographical sketch.

I should mention that the "John S. Fullerton" mentioned in the article as a member of the Cyclone Club is actually Joseph Scott Fullerton.  Also, "Alex Grossman" is Alex Crosman, the only baseball player that I know of who was eaten by sharks.            

Alex Crosman Holds A Unique Place In Baseball History

While putting together a piece on the Cyclone Club, I was researching Alex Crosman, who was mentioned by both Leonard Matthews and E.H. Tobias as a member of the club. There was some difficulty in finding information on him because his name was spelled variously as Crosman, Crossman, and Grossman. He was tough to run down. Anyway, it took me a few hours to nail it down but I finally found his date of birth, date of death, and some other biographical information.

It seems that Crosman (the spelling that I've accepted) was a graduate of the Naval Acadamy and was stationed in St. Louis in 1860. Another club member, Orville Matthews, the younger brother of Leonard Matthews, was also a graduate of Annapolis and stationed in St. Louis. During the war, Crosman commanded the Commodore M'Donough in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

It was really tough to find information about Crosman's date of death and after running him through just about every database that I could think of I was on the verge of giving up and calling it a lost cause. Then I decided to do a basic Google search and got a hit on a New York Times article. This article was published on February 9, 1902 and mentioned Crosman's niece who was involved in the theater in New York. It also mentioned, in passing, Crosman and the way that he died.

It seems that Alex Crosman-baseball player, naval officer, Civil War veteran-was, according to The New York Times, "eaten by sharks in Panama waters in the late sixties while trying to save the lives of two sailors."

Alex Crosman was eaten by sharks.

I don't mean to make light of what was a tragic situation and a heroic death. I certainly don't mean to mock Crosman, who was an honorable man and gave great service to his country. But seriously. It was something like four o'clock in the morning and I had been digging into this for hours without any real success-looking through census data, checking cemetery records, searching death records, etc-when I found out the guy had been eaten by freakin' sharks. Honestly, when I first read the Times article, I started laughing. And I still find it amusing.

I think it's a very real possibility that Alex Crosman is the only baseball player whose cause of death will be listed in the records as "eaten by sharks."