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.

Pecuniary Prospects In St. Louis

In Volume 4 of the Mears Collection, there is an article dated July 17, 1869, that has to do with the tour of the Olympics of Washington.  The Olympics were an important pioneer-era club, whose members included A.G. Mills, Davy Force, Robert Reach (the younger brother of Al Reach) and Nick Young and, like many of the big Eastern clubs of the era, they embarked on an extended tour.  However, it appears that the Olympics' tour was not a particularly smooth one and a member of the club, quoted in Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870, stated that "We had trouble everywhere, even in such small jumps as from Cincinnati to Mansfield, Ohio, nothing went properly..."  The article in the Mears Collection has to do with the failures of the Olympics to keep an engagement with the Forest City Club of Rockford, Illinois but, at its end, is a series of letters, documenting negotiations between Asa Smith and the Olympics, attempting to set up a game between the Olympics and the Unions.  While the negotiations appear to have been successful, the Olympics never made it to St. Louis.  The article appears to be a response to a previous article where the Olympics laid all of the blame for their failure to play in Rockford and St. Louis on Forest City and the Unions and offered the defense of those two clubs.

For our purposes, the important thing here is not the recriminations that were being thrown around but, rather, the negotiations between Smith and the Olympics, which document how these important games were arranged in the later part of the pioneer era.  Smith, in the defense of his club, was kind enough to publish the record of the negotiations and it offers a fascination look at the politics of baseball in 1869:

Washington, D.C., June 29, 1869.
Dear Sir, - It is somewhat uncertain whether we can go as far west as St. Louis or not.  We will try, however, to do so.  Please address us at Cincinnati (after July 1st),...what the pecuniary prospect will be in St. Louis.  This would determine us somewhat, as we do not wish to lose money by taking an extensive trip.  Hoping &c.,
F.A. Schmidt, Cor. Sec'y, O.B.B.B.

Union Base Ball Club, St. Louis, July 2, 1869.
F.A. Schmidt, Esq., Sec'y, Olympic B.B.C. - Dear Sir - Your favor of June 29th, inst. received.  I cannot assure you of very bright pecuniary prospects.  The Atlantics and Unions, of Morrisania, last year, drew less than $300.  If our clubs here were able to give you an even game, I could assure you of a large attendance, but from the way things look I cannot assure you of anything.  Our club would be happy, &c.  Very respectfully,
Asa W. Smith, Pres't.  U.B.B.C.

Cincinnati, July 4, 1869.
A.W. Smith, Pres't.  U.B.B.C. - Sir. - Yours of 2d instant received.  We will be happy to play your club next Thursday, July 8th, and trust that the game will be pleasant and profitable.  Very truly yours,
N.E. Young, Treasurer  Olympic Club.

Smith went on to state that "In his statement to you, Mr. Young says that he telegraphed to St. Louis on the 5th inst., and shortly after his telegram he received a letter from me, which induced his club to stay away.  I don't think that Mr. Young has laid the blame on the right shoulders."

Obviously, it was all a question of money and that's understandable.  Smith was honest with the Olympics and essentially told them that they'd make less than $300 and guaranteed them nothing.  I would have to assume that the Olympics lost money on the tour and didn't see any monetary reason to go to St. Louis or Rockford.  The problem was that they had already agreed to the games and, I guess, that was a bit of a scandal.

The 1869 Missouri State Base Ball Association

The adjourned meeting of the State Base Ball Convention occured last evening, in the hall of the Empire Club, on Third street, Capt. C. Overbeck, temporary Chairman.

On call of the Convention it was found that the following Clubs were represented:

Union, Empire, Lone Star, Resolute, Magnolia, Rowena, St. Louis, Iron State, Olympic, Eckford, Missouri, Baltic, Buck Eye, Atlantic, Haymakers, Turner.

The election of permanent officers resulted in choice of Asa W. Smith, of the Unions, President; James Foster, of St. Louis, 1st Vice President; Joseph Ketterer, of Lone Star, 2d Vice President; F.T. Caroll, of Resolute, 3d Vice President; Thos. McCorkle, of Union, Recording Secretary; G.D. Barklege, of Iron State, Corresponding Secretary; C. Overbeck, of Lone Star, Treasurer.

After which, a committee of five were appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, who were instructed to report at the adjourned meeting on the 18th inst.

-Missouri Republican, June 11, 1869


To the best of my knowledge, the Missouri State Base Ball Association was founded in 1868 so this would have been the second election of officers.  While Asa Smith was reelected president of the association in 1869, it appears that all of the other officers were new. 

Our Late Worthy President

There will be a called meeting of the Union Base Ball club in parlor No. 5 at the Southern hotel, on Saturday evening next, the 8th inst., at eight o'clock, to adopt resolutions and take such other action as may be deemed necessary upon the sad and unexpected death of our late worthy president, Asa W. Smith.

All other base ball clubs are politely and urgently invited to send delegates to this meeting, without further notice, to unite with us in doing honor to an esteemed and respected member of our fraternity. 

By order of the club.
W.C. Steigers, Treasurer.

A meeting of the "Missouri State Association of Base Ball Players" is hereby called for Saturday evening, the 8th inst., in parlor No. 5 at the Southern hotel, to co-operate with the Union Base Ball club in such action as they may take upon the death of Mr. Asa W. Smith, late president of the Union Base Ball Club.  A full attendance of delegates from the various clubs comprising the organization is requested.

By order of the president, Wm. Medart.
F. Williams, Secretary.

-St. Louis Republican, August 4, 1874


I've been thinking about the death of Asa Smith lately and the importance of the 1874 season in general.  If the Empire Club's victories of 1865 represent the end of the pioneer era in St. Louis then the death of Smith marks the end of the amateur era in the city.  In 1875, the professional clubs would dominate St. Louis baseball and this, in many ways, was the culmination of everything that Smith was working towards over the last decade.  It's rather tragic that he didn't live to see the birth of openly professional baseball in St. Louis and a St. Louis club competing for a national championship but professional, championship baseball, that continues in St. Louis to this day, is his legacy.  Smith had pretty much been out of baseball since about 1870 or 1871 but the things he put into motion, in the second half of the 1860s, created the environment that allowed for the birth of modern St. Louis baseball. 

I've been thinking about the proper way to construct the story of the 1866-1874 amateur baseball era in St. Louis and, in many ways, it's the story of Asa Smith.  It just happens to be a rather convenient narrative point that he dies as the era ends.  

We Are Ready

So, maybe I was a bit hasty yesterday in saying that Harvard didn't play a game in St. Louis on their 1870 tour.  Looks like things were a bit more complicated:

Until yesterday morning it was not known that the Harvard club were prepared to play in St. Louis, but a telegram received by Mr. Asa W. Smith, president of the Union, yesterday morning, put that idea to rest.  The Harvard club inquired if the Union were ready and Mr. Smith laconically replied "Come on, we are ready."  They are expected to arrive this morning and the match will be played at the base ball park during this afternoon between the Harvard University nine and the Union club.  They were supposed to leave Louisville last night at half past ten o'clock.

-Missouri Republican, July 23, 1870


There was also an ad in the paper promoting the game.  According to the ad, game time was at 3 o'clock.  Remember that.  It's relevant to tomorrow's post.  

That Explains That

The Harvard club of base ball players, which is making a tour of the country, was expected to play the Empire club of this city yesterday and the Union club on Saturday next, but owing to the oppressive heat of the weather and the fatigued condition of the Harvards the project has been abandoned for the present.  Asa W. Smith, president of the Union club telegraphed on Tuesday to the president of the Red Stockings, offering them their grounds and the whole proceeds of the gate money if they would come here and play a game with the Harvards on Saturday next.  The answer was received yesterday morning and stated that it would be impossible for them to come.  It also stated that the Harvards were so terribly worn out that they begged to be released from their engagement here.  A favorable response was made and there will be no game.

-Missouri Republican, July 21, 1870


Years ago, in the New York Times, I found the itinerary of the Harvard Clubs' 1870, that included games against the Empires and Unions.  I looked for years to find any evidence that the Harvards came to St. Louis and played a baseball game but to no avail.  Now I know why.

The reference to the Red Stockings is interesting.  It has to be a reference to the famous Cincinnati ball club because the St. Louis Reds didn't come into existence until 1873.  It looks like this was a missed opportunity to get the Cincinnatis back to St. Louis.   

And I almost titled this post "Harvard Dainties Can't Handle The St. Louis Heat" but didn't want to be cruel. 

The Top Twenty Games In 19th Century St. Louis Baseball History: # 11

11. July 22, 1867: Union Club vs. Washington Nationals

The base ball match this afternoon between the National Club, of Washington, and the Union Club of St. Louis, resulted in the defeat of the latter.  Score, 113 to 26.  The Empire Club will play the Nationals to-morrow. 

-Chicago Tribune, July 23, 1867


The Nationals were in the middle of a historic three week tour of the Midwest, putting on a showcase for Eastern baseball, and visiting Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Rockford, and Chicago. On the tour, the only loss the Nationals suffered was to the Rockford club, who upset the Eastern power behind the pitching of the young Albert Spalding. 

On July 22, they crushed the Unions in St. Louis and, the following day, they beat the Empires 53-26.

Prior to July 1867, St. Louis baseball had been mostly a local affair, with the clubs competing amongst themselves.  The Empires and Unions, the two best clubs in the city, had stepped out to play some clubs in Illinois and Iowa, with mixed results (as we'll see later).  But, in 1867, the big boys came to town and showed the St. Louis clubs just where they stood in the baseball hierarchy.

This game was the first time that a St. Louis club played one of the Eastern powers.  Regardless of the outcome of the game, it represents an effort by the St. Louis baseball fraternity to compete on a national level.  The St. Louis clubs wanted to test their talent against the best clubs in the country and, in 1867, they started to do that.  Now, that didn't work out very well and this game also represents the first of numerous beatings that St. Louis would suffer at the hands of the best clubs in the country.  But every journey begins with one step and this was the first step towards St. Louis becoming a significant factor on the national baseball scene.

I should also mention the fact that, in my opinion, this game represents an overall plan by Asa Smith, of the Union Club, to bring St. Louis into the national baseball mainstream.  Following the Civil War, St. Louis baseball lagged behind the national baseball trends and Smith recognized this.  I believe that he realized that without a state baseball association, without joining the NABBP, without enclosed ballparks, without charging for admission, without compensating players and without stepping up to play the best clubs in the country, the St. Louis clubs would never be able to challenge for the national championship.  Smith's goal was for the Unions to challenge the Eastern powers for the championship and he knew that he couldn't get his club there if things didn't move forward.  He knew that he needed to create an environment and an infrastructure that would support his club as they endeavored to compete nationally.

On the whole, Smith's plan failed.  It could be argued that it led to the breakup of the Union Club in 1870 and, once it was obvious that the St. Louis clubs couldn't compete with the national baseball powers, to a period of decline in the popularity of the game in the city.  But Smith was right.  His plan was the correct one and he's one of the great visionaries in St. Louis baseball history.  His failure doesn't take away from his vision.  The fact that his club lost to the Washingtons by 90 odd runs doesn't mean that he wasn't right in wanting to compete against the big boys.  I think it just means that he was a bit ahead of his time.  The St. Louis clubs weren't good enough to play against the best Eastern clubs in 1867.  But, just as Smith foresaw, there would come a time when they would be.       

This Estimable Young Gentleman

The numerous friends of [Asa Smith] will be deeply grieved to learn that he was drowned yesterday morning while bathing at Biddleford Pool, Maine.  The announcement was received by the following telegram:

Biddleford Pool, Maine, July 31.
E.P. smith, care Asa W. Smith & Co., St. Louis:
Your  brother Asa was drowned this morning while bathing.  Every effort was made with lifeboat to save his life.  Your mother desires you to come here at once.
E.H. Wheldon.

No particulars were received of the sad affair, so the circumstances attending it are merely conjecturable.  The beach at Biddleford Pool is over two miles long, running for the principal distance north and south, but on the north it takes a turn east, running out about three-quarters of a mile to the "Point of Rocks," where there is a boat-house.  The lifeboat mentioned in the telegram is, in fact, a pilot boat, only used as a lifeboat in emergencies, and not constructed with especial reference to that service.  A few hundred feet south of the Point of Rocks is a ledge known, locally, as "the Barn Door Ledge;" and near the southern extremity of the beach is another and little larger ledge, about the same distance in the offing.  When the tide rolls in heavily, there is an undertow formed, running out to sea in a strong current past Barn Door ledge, and it is supposed that Mr. Smith was caught in this current and was unable to stem it.  To get to his assistance with the boat, unless it happened that it was already manned, a party would have to go out over a rugged road to the Point of Rocks and bring the boat around the point to the beach, requiring many minutes' time.  This was precisely what happened to Mr. Truman A. Post of this city, at the same place, two-years ago; but, fortunately, he was saved, although by the narrowest chance.  Mr. Smith was a good swimmer, but the water from the undertow is cold, and it is supposed that he was so chilled as to be unable to support himself until the boat arrived.

He was twenty-nine years of age, and was the sixth and youngest son of Sol. Smith, Esq., known over the world as an actor and theatrical manager, and was universally esteemed by his friends for his probity and personal good qualities.  He was engaged with his brother, E.P. Smith, as a banker and broker, under the firm of Asa W. Smith & Co.  Mr. E.P. Smith left yesterday evening for Biddeford.  At four o'clock, he received a telegram stating that search was still being made for the body of his brother.

-St. Louis Republican, August 1, 1874


I always find it kind of surprising that, in all of the obituaries and notices of Smith's death, there is no mention of the role he played, as a member of the Union Club, in the development and growth of baseball in St. Louis.  He was one of the most significant figures in the history of 19th century St. Louis baseball and I would argue that he was the most significant figure of the pioneer era in the city.  In my opinion, the three most important people, in the history of St. Louis baseball, were Asa Smith, Chris Von der Ahe and Branch Rickey.  And, sadly, there are only a handful of people in world today who could tell you who the man was.   

Spiritualism Extraordinary, or The Ghost Of Asa Smith

Well, this evening we were in the back parlor with quite a number beside, when a modest, quiet gentleman called for a sitting.  Foster [the spiritualist] was loath to leave his friends, but we insisted; he passed through to the front room and told the new-comer to write the names of deceased friends or relatives on the slips of paper, carefully fold them and place them on the table.  Returning to us, he left the stranger to his literary efforts.  Conversation was very merry for a few minutes, Foster in the gayest spirits, when suddenly he turned pale and dropped his cigar, saying: "That man has called up the spirit of a drowned man, who has come directly in here to us, and is hovering around [Charles] Pope..."

To witness this last phenomena we all closed in around the table, when Foster took up the papers hitherto untouched, that were folded on the table.  As the third touched his forehead a ghastly pallor overspread the extremely florid face of the medium.  "Why, Pope," he says, "though this gentleman has called this spirit here he comes as much to you as to him, his name is Asa.  He's a slim gentleman with high prominent nose, he was drowned in Biddiford pool."

"Good God," I ejeculated, "Mr. Pope, it's Asa Smith, Mark's brother."  Then finding the assembled shades were friends of the whole party, we made a family affair of it and sat down.

The whole interview was entirely satisfactory, and some very strange things were done and said.

-St. Louis Republican, February 14, 1875


We're coming up on the sixth anniversary of this website and, in all that time, I believe that this is the first supernatural ghost story that I've been able to pass along.  The whole article was about the writer and Pope's skeptical visit to Foster, the medium, and how they came away convinced that he was not a fraud.  The stuff about Asa Smith was just kind of random and probably the most interesting reference I've ever seen to one of the most significant figures in St. Louis baseball history.  In all honesty, I can't really say that I ever expected to hear a ghost story about Asa Smith.   

Professionals, Part Two

I recently posted a few excerpts from Anthony Lampe's The Background of Professional Baseball in St. Louis, which appeared in the October 1950 issue of the Missouri Historical Society's Bulletin.  One of the more interesting things Lampe wrote about was the early origin of professionalism in St. Louis, which contradicted the conventional wisdom regarding when St. Louis baseball players first started playing for pay but agreed with some of the conclusions that I've made after looking at the evidence.  However, I only shared a bit of what Lampe wrote and, since he had more to say on the subject, I'd like to share some more of his fantastic article:

A few conclusions may be drawn from the 1868 season.  Because of the great interest in the game, St. Louis was obviously destined to enter professional baseball at an early date; early in the season the Unions had actually been professionals, as their sole occupation was playing baseball.  Secondly, Chicago emerged as the natural rival of St. Louis as the key city of the midwest, which would soon challenge them on the diamond, as Eastern clubs had already done.  Thirdly, St. Louis teams lacked only a stronger managerial system to get the players in shape and keep them that way.  The desire for a strong team to represent the city was present, but for some years no organizing genius appeared to take over, partly because of the incompatibility of baseball and gambling.  As baseball grew, betting increased, and gamblers soon had control of the game.

After noting a anti-professional article that appeared in a St. Louis paper in 1870, he went on to write that "This article was undoubtedly printed in the local papers to cast reflections on professional ball players.  Because no individual had yet come forward with the will--and the capital--to bring a professional team to St. Louis, local ball fans were anti-professional, in a sort of sour-grape attitude."

The most important piece of information in Lampe's article is his conclusion that the Union club was paying its players in the late 1860s.  I agree with this conclusion and would add that the Empire club was also most likely compensating its players in some form during this period.  Lampe also believed that this experiment in professionalism was a failure.  He wrote that "When the [1868] season opened the Union Club had been determined to engage in no other work but that of baseball, but as the season progressed game attendance fell off, because of the poor showing of the team.  Lacking financial resources, the team members were forced to find some other means of employment."  The "poor showing" that he was talking about was not the overall performance of the club but rather their showing against the Eastern professional clubs that came to St. Louis in 1868 and handily defeated the best clubs in the city.

I agree that the poor showing against the Eastern professionals had a negative effect on baseball in St. Louis.  However, the reason I believe this is different than the reason that Lampe believed it.  Lampe wrote about the lack of a strong managerial system and the lack of a willful individual to shape professional baseball in St. Louis.  I believe that St. Louis had several individuals who shaped the game during the pioneer era and could be described as strong, willful managers.  Specifically, Asa Smith was a man who had an important impact on St. Louis baseball and helped evolve the game in a positive, forward manner.  Smith attempted to institute a plan to put St. Louis baseball on an even footing with the best clubs in the East but this plan floundered and died after the Unions suffered defeat upon defeat at the hands of the Eastern professionals.  In my opinion, it wasn't a lack of visionary management that doomed the first attempt at creating a professional baseball market in St. Louis.  Rather, it was the lack of success on the field that doomed the vision.  Smith wanted his Union club to compete for the national championship but they simply were not good enough to do so.  He overreached and failed.  This failure tarnished the idea of professionalism in St. Louis.

I don't believe that it was the loses themselves that brought about the failure of Asa Smith's grand plan but rather what the losses said about the plan.  There was a conflict during the pioneer era between the forces that advocated professionalism and the fans, players and clubs that were anti-professionalism.  Smith was obviously on the right side of history but that wasn't evident in 1868.  He advocate what, in St. Louis, were radical changes to the baseball landscape.  Paying players, enclosed ballparks, charging for games, competing against the best clubs in the nation, joining the NABBP, creating a state baseball association, and other innovations which, while common in the East, were new and radical in St. Louis.  There must have been forces lined up against him that fought these changes.  There must have been forces that were hoping and waiting for him to fail so that they could go back to the old way of doing things.

I believe that, in the post-war era, Smith looked at the Eastern clubs, saw how they were doing things and attempted to re-create their organization plan in St. Louis.  It was an attempt to bring St. Louis into the baseball mainstream that obviously failed.  But that failure was not a result of a lack of managerial vision.  If anything, the failure came about because Smith did not take the final, radical step needed to compete against the Eastern powers.  Like the Brown Stockings in 1875, Smith should have looked to the East and bought himself the best players he could find.  Interestingly, Brown Stockings' management was made up largely of former Union club members and they took the step that Smith did not.  They finally succeeded in setting up a professional baseball club in St. Louis where Smith, their former club member, had failed.  But the baseball world of 1875 was not the baseball world of 1868 and what was acceptable to Brown Stockings' management was just too radical for Smith and the Union club in 1868.

Smith, in 1868,  took St. Louis baseball as far as he could.  He recognized that the pioneer era was ending and the professional era was being born.  Smith attempted to bring the old, pioneer era St. Louis clubs into the new age and, in certain ways, succeeded in doing so.  The St. Louis baseball landscape was changed for better because of the work Smith did in the late 1860s.  But it would take his former club mates to create a successful professional club and it would take a German tavern owner to create business model that made professional baseball profitable in St. Louis.       

The Recovery Of Asa Smith's Body

The funeral of Asa W. Smith, Esq., will take place to-day, at 2 1/2 P.M., from the Church of the Messiah, corner Ninth and Olive streets. Rev. Dr. W.G. Elliott, who for many years was the friend and pastor of the late Sol. Smith, Esq., father of the deceased, will officiate, reading the church service and preaching a short discourse.

The body of the young banker, whose sudden death is so much regretted, arrived in this city yesterday by express, having been forwarded from Biddleford, Me., by Major E.W. Whedon.

As soon as it was known at Biddleford Pool that Mr. Smith was drowned, every possible effort was made for the recovery of his body. Boats were sent out in every direction to watch for its appearance on the surface of the water, or in the coves and eddies along the coast. Rewards were offered by the family of the deceased, but all efforts seemed to be fruitless. At length, on the nineteenth day after the sad occurrence, two boys were out in the bay fishing, and discovered something floating on the surface. As they approached it a human head was visible, and soon the full outlines of the body came to view. The young lads, by means of ropes, drew the body into the boat, and rowed to the shore. An inquest was held at Biddleford on the body, and friends recognized it as Mr. Smith. The flesh in some places was gone and the limbs considerably swollen, but on the whole the body was in a better state of preservation than was expected.

Soon after the drowning of Asa, Mrs. Smith, by the advice of friends, left Biddleford Pool for South Norwalk, Ct., where she has relatives. Mr. Prentice Smith soon followed his mother to the latter place, and remained until Wednesday last, when he left for [St. Louis,] arriving on Friday evening. Mrs. Smith will remain for the present at South Norwalk, her health not permitting a return to [St. Louis.]

Mr. Sol Smith, the actor, a brother of the deceased, arrived from New York yesterday morning. The remaining brothers will attend the funeral to-day, with the exception of Mark Smith, the oldest and most distinguished member of the family. He is now on his way home from Europe, but will not arrive in New York until next week.

-New Orleans Times-Picayune, August 27, 1874 (originally published in the St. Louis Democrat on August 23, 1874)

I had never heard the story of how Asa Smith's body was recovered and had assumed that the body was lost at sea. Smith is a person for whom I have a great deal of admiration and respect and I was actually rather happy to find out that his body was recovered, a proper funeral held and his remains are at rest. I'm sure that sounds odd to some. Smith is a historical obscurity who nobody cares about but here I am with an emotional attachment to the man and his story. I'm relieved that he received a decent burial and I'm looking forward to finding his grave and getting some photos of it.

A couple of notes of interest:

-Rev. Dr. W.G. Elliot was William Greenleaf Elliot, the founder of Washington University in St. Louis, where Asa Smith went to school and founded the Union Base Ball Club.

-Mark Smith, who is mentioned as being in Europe, never made it home to the United States. He died in Paris in August of 1874. As I've written before, it was a difficult summer for the Smith family.

A Few Quick Notes About Asa Smith

I'm in the process of writing a long piece on Asa Smith and thought I'd pass along a few things I dug up recently:

-The Daily Picayune, while reporting the death of Smith's mother on November 24, 1887, describes him as "one of the most popular young men in St. Louis" before his death in 1874.

-Sadly, Smith's brother Mark, an actor, died in Paris in August of 1874, just a few weeks after Asa drowned in Maine. It must have been a difficult summer for the Smith family.

-According to the Globe, there is a "marble shaft" at Bellefontaine Cemetery inscribed with the names of Asa Smith, whose body was never found, and Mark Smith, who was buried in Paris. This monument is located near the grave of their father, Sol Smith, and other members of the family.

Giants On The Ball Field, Part One

You will be surprised when you read below that this dignified bank president, that railroad manager or that rushing business man was once a promising backstop or a "reliable man in the field."  The appended chapter of local history is rich in happy recollection and interst.  There are judges, merchants, bankers, lawyers, engineers, capitalists-scores of busy men of to-day who were marvels in the baseball field.

Asa W. Smith, seventh son of the pioneer actor-manager of the West, Sol Smith, was the founder and for many years president of the old Union Baseball Club, an organization that ranked high in anti-professional days.  At the time of his death, in 1874, by drowning at Biddeford Pool, Maine, where he was spending his summer vacation, he was a member of the banking firm of Kelligher & Smith, and ranked high both in social and business circles.  Probably no one of the young St. Louisans could have been taken away whose loss would have caused such general and poignant sorrow.  He was a friend and companion, whose qualities of head and heart were of the finest character, and in business he had already proven successful.  He was an ardent devotee of the national game, and a No. 1 player.  Two of his brothers belonged to the same club, and another, Mark L. Smith, was one of the finest comedians of the country.  

Judge Shepherd Barclay of the State Supreme Court was another of the brilliant players of the Union Club, ad sustained the difficult position of pitcher with great effect.  He was also a fine fielder.

On February 9, 1895, the St. Louis Daily Republic published an article entitled "These Busy St. Louis Men Were Giants On The Amateur Ball Field."  This article, the beginning of which is produced above, mentions well over one hundred St. Louis baseball players from the antebellum pioneer era and the postbellum amateur era.  The article also gives some biographical information on about eighty of these players.  I'm going to post the entire article here over the next few days.

Once you've read the entire article, I'm sure that you'll agree with me that this is one of the most significant sources of information that exists for the era.  The only other sources that presents so much unified information is the Tobias series and Spink's The National Game.  The 1895 Republic article is truly extraordinary in its scope and relevance.  

I should note that this significant discovery was the work of John Maurath of the Missouri Civil War Museam and he was kind enough to pass it along to me.  I can't thank him enough.

Edit:  No more late night posting for me.  I not only misidentified the paper the article was in (the Daily Republic, not the Republican) but it also appears I had some issues with the concept of noun/verb agreement.  Not to mention my normal problems with spelling.  On the bright side, my English As A Second Language class is going well.       

A Thorough Southern Gentleman

Mr. Asa W. Smith, brother of Mr. Mark Smith, the actor, and an old and most highly esteemed member of the Union Base Ball Club of St. Louis, was drowned in the surf, while bathing off Biddeford Poole, Maine, on the 31st ult. He was a thorough Southern gentleman, and tried his best to keep up the high status of base ball as a gentleman's game.

-Forest and Stream, August 27, 1874

This Is The Hour Of Lead

Under The Water

The Sad Drowning of a Son of Old Sol Smith

Pulled in by the Undertow at Biddeford Pool

Our readers will learn with profound regret that Mr. Asa W. Smith, of (St. Louis), son our late well-known fellow-citizen, Mr. Sol. Smith, came to his death by drowning at Biddeford Pool, yesterday morning, while bathing. The dispatches, which are very meager and unsatisfactory, say that every effort was made to save him, but without avail. Whether he was taken with cramp or drawn out by the undertow, or died from exhaustion is a matter of conjecture; but most likely the latter, as the lifeboat seems to have been brought into requisition and strong efforts made to rescue him.

The Bathing Ground

Those who have visited this place of resort will remember that the bathing ground is distant half a mile or more, southeast, from the little hamlet called The Pool. All boats and sailing craft lie at the wharf, three quarters of a mile west of the beach, and these boats, in order to be used, would have to be carried across the neck of land, through the village, and so down to the shore, or rowed down through the harbor and around East Point, and its rugged reef of rocks, a distance of five or six miles, so that the chance of rendering any of these boats of any avail in such an emergency would be desperate enough...

In all likelihood, young Smith was swimming at the usual hour with the bathers, at 11 o'clock, and ventured too far or was drawn out by a hidden reflux of the tide, which is, we are told, sometimes the case, where the rollers are very heavy at the nothern end of the beach, and after a gallant struggle for life was

Compelled To Succumb

before the boat could be gotten to him. Doubtless, too, everything which kind hearts and strong arms could do was done. No doubt the brave skippers pulled well and heroically with their life-boat, straining and tugging every nerve to the rescue...But it seems to have been in vain.

Diis Aliter Visum

Asa W. Smith was the seventh son of "Old Sol"-called such by everybody, out of regard rather than derision or disrespect-yet the first to join his father in the eternal world. His age was 29. Mark Smith, the popular actor, we believe, is the elder of the brothers.

Probably no one of the young men of St. Louis could have been taken away whose loss would occasion such

General And Poignant Sorrow.

He was a friend and companion whose qualities of head and heart were of the rarest character. He was intelligent, quick-witted and humorous; honest, generous, genial and carried everywhere an influence which made him always the favorite of whatever social circle he mingled with. In his business he had been very successful, and no doubt, had he lived, would have proved one of our moust valuable and influential citizens. His loss will be long and most deeply deplored.

The Telegraphic Announcement

The following telegram, received at the banking-house of Asa Smith & Co., No. 208 North Third street, yesterday, conveyed to the brother of the deceased and friends the first information of the sad event:

Bidgeford Pool, Me., July 31.-S.P. Smith: Your brother Asa was drowned this morning, while bathing. Every effort was made with a lifeboat to save him. Your Mother desires you to come here at once. E.H. Whedon.

In response to the telegram, Mr. Smith started last evening.

-The Milwaukee Sentinal, August 3, 1874 (From The St. Louis Democrat)


After I read the above account of Smith's death, I started thinking about Emily Dickinson's poem After great pain a formal feeling comes. It's odd how the brain works.


After great pain, a formal feeling comes--
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Toombs--
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?

The Feet, mechanical, go round--
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought--
A Wooden way
Regardless grown,
A Quartz contentment, like a stone--

This is the Hour of Lead--
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons recollect the Snow--
First--Chill--then Stupor--then the letting go--


This has always been one of my favorite poems. And I have no idea what it's about. Probably something about death or bees, I really don't know. In fact, I really never understand what Emily Dickinson is talking about. I just think she has the most unique voice in all of literature.

But I do know that if Dickinson had gotten out more and had been a baseball fan, she could have dedicated that poem to Asa Smith upon his passing.

C. Orrick Bishop And The Brown Stockings

Bishop had played amateur baseball while attending Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and pursuing legal studies in Louisville. His playing career ended when he opened a law practice in St. Louis during 1867, but Bishop remained active in promoting local amateur baseball. This long-time love for the sport persuaded Bishop to accept a major role in the development of the Brown Stockings. Team officials, impressed by his intimate knowledge of the game, appointed him as managing director and entrusted him with recruiting players for the team. Approaching this mission very seriously, Bishop spent a month away from his thriving legal practice to travel the East Coast in search of ballplayers. He focused his efforts in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, cities whose teams had previously traveled to St. Louis.

Bishop signed three players-shortstop Dickey Pearce, right fielder Jack Chapman, and first baseman Herman "Dutch" Dehlman-from the roster of the 1874 Brooklyn Atlantics. While in Brooklyn, Bishop also secured the services of Lipman Pike, who had played the previous season with the Harford Dark Blues...

Bishop discovered the rest of his starting nine in and around Philadelphia...(specifically among) the Easton, Pennsylvania, amateur team...

Bishop had put together a fine team, and the Brown Stockings' shareholders commended him for performing his duty "in a manner highly satisfactory to his confreres in the new venture." But by hiring a starting lineup of ballplayers born in either New York or Pennsylvania, Bishop had risked alienating some sectors of St. Louis society that yearned to see the city represented by homegrown talent.

-From Before They Were Cardinals

I think the interesting question here is who specifically made the decision to bring in the "Atlantic/Easton professionals." While I had always assumed that it was a collective decision by the Brown Stockings board, Jon David Cash makes it sound here as if it was Bishop's decision alone. As managing director, he was tasked by the board to put together the team and he then proceeded to head East to sign the players. Certainly he had the support of the board in this decision to bring in "outsiders" but a great deal of credit must be given to Bishop.

This decision to bring in the Eastern players was a watershed event in the history of St. Louis baseball and had a tremendous impact on the future of the game in St. Louis. I don't think that it's a coincidence that the Brown Stockings' board was made up of several members of the Union Base Ball Club, whose former president was Asa Smith, the visionary and forward-thinking modenizer of the St. Louis game in the 1860's. Certainly Smith had had a tremendous impact on the thinking of his fellow club members who sat on the Brown Stockings' board and I believe that if Smith had been alive in 1875 he would have approved of bringing in the Eastern players.

The Death Of Asa Smith

The sad and unexpected death of Asa W. Smith created a profound feeling of regret throughout the city and in no circle was it more keenly felt and deplored than amongst the base ball fraternity by whom he was respected and beloved to an unusual degree. He was a genial and accomplished gentleman whose pleasant disposition, agreeable manners and kindly heart endeared him to all who were favored with his friendship. It was meet and proper that a special meeting was held in parlor No. 8 Southern Hotel by representatives of the Base Ball Brotherhood with whom he had long borne a prominent part. The following clubs were represented: Union, Empire, National, Turner, Rowena, Red Stockings, Benton, Niagera, Rival, Artisan, and Westerns of Keokuk.

-E.H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, January 25, 1896

Smith, who had been involved in an attempt to revive the baseball activities of the Union Club in the summer of 1874, was vacationing in Maine. On July 31, while his family members watched, Smith was swimming in the ocean when he disapeared under a wave. He never resurfaced.

The death of Asa W. Smith, president of the Union Baseball Club of St. Louis, was reported in the papers of August 2 and 3 (1874). Asa, who was a son of Sol Smith, the actor, was accidentally drowned off the coast of Maine, at Biddeford Pool. The Keokuk Baseball Club had arrived in St. Louis, but the game scheduled with the Unions was abandoned.

-W.E. Kelsoe

Smith's death but an end to the attempt to revive the Union Base Ball Club.

The Ebb

It was manifest at this time that the interest in base ball matters in St. Louis had been on the ebb for a year or two as in fact had been the case in every part of the country where the playing had been left to purely amateur organizations. The cause of the decline was natural and is to be accounted for by reasons which were apparent to all in any way familiar with the game. The distance of the grounds from the business part of the city at this time when electric cars were not in vogue and the absorption of the attention of the fraternity by other matters had prevented the old time frequency of local contests while the superiority in almost every case of visiting nines, entirely or in a great part composed of professionals, exercised a depressing influence on the home clubs which were obliged to bear repeated defeats because they were altogether made up of amateurs.

-E.H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, December 28, 1895


Tobias wrote these words while discussing the 1870 and 1871 seasons and it ties in with the article from the Cincinnati Daily Times from July of 1868 that I was talking about in this post. The game, during this era, was certainly in a transitional phase. The changes that took place in the game during the late 1860's and culminated in the advent of the National Association in 1871 certainly were not universally popular among "the fraternity" and for someone like Tobias, who had been a part of the Empire Club since the end of the Civil War, the direction that the game was taking was not one that he approved.

In But Didn't We Have Fun, Peter Morris speaks directly to some of the issues that Tobias raised in 1895:

By the close of the Civil War, the elements that would lead to the end of the pioneer era were in place. In 1866 and 1867 the game seemed more vibrant than ever. But when doubts about the old standards began to arise, devotees turned to the traditional leaders and found that most of them had departed the scene. This led to a period of reexamination that moved baseball away from its childlike innocence and into the professional era.

In the process, attitudes underwent subtle alterations that produced changes in how baseball was played. The game's prevailing spirit of forthright honesty gave way to competitiveness, and this in turn revealed that other elements of the game's spirit were fragile. The "patience of hope" that sustained clubs after a convincing loss began to be replaced by demoralization. An unquestioning adherence to playing by the rules yielded to efforts to find loopholes in them. Unswerving allegiance to one's club was succeeded by a more mercenary approach.

The first generation of leaders of the St. Louis baseball scene were, by 1870/71, no longer active in the game. Men like Asa Smith and Jeremiah Fruin, who had been incomparable leaders in the post-war era, had left the game just at the time when their leadership and experience were needed to help their clubs adjust to the new realities of the baseball world. Smith had done an outstanding job in recognizing the new trends and helping the Union Club adapt but as these trends reached their pinnacle Smith had retired from the field and the Unions essentially died as a baseball entity rather than further compromise their "gentlemanly" principles. The Empires and Unions, the two great clubs of the post-war era in St. Louis, would soon be overtaken on the playing fields by the Red Stockings and, later, the Brown Stockings.

It would take St. Louis baseball several years to recover from this "ebb" and to fully adapt to the changes that were taking place in the game. It's ironic that a decade after St. Louisians first picked up the game, they had just about caught up with the baseball mainstream. They were involved in the game on a national level, playing teams from all over the country both at home and on the road. They had built enclosed grounds and were charging admission to games. Despite Tobias' protest that the St. Louis clubs were "purely amateur," St. Louis players were most likely receiving compensation. They had developed a strong state association and had organized a system to decide a championship. But just as they were making substantial changes in the way the game was organized in St. Louis, baseball was undergoing a radical change that would leave men like Tobias questioning what was happening to the game that they loved. It would not be until 1874 and 1875 that baseball in St. Louis would recover from the shock of the changes that baseball was undergoing in the late 1860's and regain the popularity that it had in the immediate post-war era.

E. C. Simmons And The Union Club

I got an email yesterday from John Mena of the St. Louis Unions Vintage Base Ball Club and when I was checking out their website I noticed that they mentioned that E. C. Simmons was the first captain of the Unions of St. Louis. I didn't recall ever seeing Simmons mentioned as an original member of the Unions, let alone the captain, so I did a little quick digging.

In The National Game, Al Spink quotes Jeremiah Fruin as saying that "E. C. Simmons, now at the head of the Simmons Hardware Company, was I think the first captain of the Unions. But he was so overbearing and arbitrary that his players fell out with him and he went in another direction and started a team of his own."

Edwards C. Simmons was born in Fredrick, Maryland on September 21, 1839 and, according to Bertie Charles Forbes in Men who are making America, he "trekked to St. Louis when a young lad." As president of the Simmons Hardware Company, "he made St. Louis the greatest hardware centre on earth..."

In 1854, Simmons, at the age of 16, was working for Child, Pratt, & Co., the largest wholesale hardware store in St. Louis at the time. By 1860, according to Kennedy's St. Louis city directory, he was working for Wilson, Levering, & Waters, the company that would become the Simmons Hardware Company. His is truly one of the great American success stories.

Fruin's claim, however, that Simmons was one of the founders of the Union Club or the first captain of the club is without merit. According to E.H. Tobias, "The original Union Club was composed of high school pupils who organized under the name in 1860 with Asa W. Smith, president; Robert Niggeman, vice-president; J.P. Freeman, secretary; E.F. Finney, treasurer...In the latter part of '61 the Union Club disbanded on account of the Civil War and did not reorganize until 1865. Of those who belonged to the original club Asa W. Smith, Wm. E. Greenleaf and J.P. Freeman were the promoters of the new organization."

Simmons is mentioned by Tobias as a member of the Unions in 1865. On May 31, 1865, the Unions played a match against the Empires and Tobias noted that "E.C. Simmons now of Simmons Hardware Co. was substituted for O. Garrison (in center field)." There is no mention of him through 1865 as either the captain or as an officer of the club.

Fruin, of course, did not arrive in St. Louis until 1861 and he had no first hand knowledge of the antebellum Unions. His conversation with Spink took place fifty odd years after the fact and it's understandable that his memory is faulty. However, while Simmons had nothing to do with the founding of the 1860 version of the Unions, he was an original member of the post-Civil War Union Club. While it's highly unlikely that he ever captained the first nine, the rest of Fruin's statement (regarding Simmons leaving the club and starting a new one) is possible and needs more research.

The Arrangement Of Its Playing Nine Was Deferred

I posted before about the claim by The New York Times that the Union Club "disbanded" in November of 1870. While it's certainly an interesting and reasonable assertion, it doesn't exactly appear to be the case. E. H. Tobias, while writing in The Sporting News (December 28, 1895) about the 1870 and 1871 baseball season in St. Louis, has a different interpretation with regards to the end of the Union Club.

While detailing the election of officers for the various St. Louis clubs in 1871, Tobias wrote the following:

The Union Club was officered by Asa W. Smith, president; W. B. Edgar, vice-president; C. O. Bishop, secretary and Chas. H. Turner, treasurer. The arrangement of its playing nine was deferred until quite late in the season. Strong, pitcher, and Maxwell, second base, had severed their connection with the club and cast their fortunes with the Washington University nine and as several other players were away from home at college the organization of its players was impossible at the usual date.

So it's Tobias' assertion that the Union Club, itself, did not disband in 1870/1871 but rather that they had difficulty, for various reasons, in fielding a nine.

He goes on to write that "The State Base Ball Association held its annual election on May 10 (1871), in the hall of the Empire Club...The Union Club had no delegate present." It's rather significant that the Union Club was not represented in the state association, an organization that was built by Asa Smith. The decision by the Union Club to not field a nine and not take part in the state association, I believe, speaks to something more significant than just a problem with players being away at college. While the specifics of the Times claim may not be accurate, it may be correct in its assertion that the members of the Union Club were unhappy with direction that baseball was taking and had decided to no longer take part in the game.

"During all this season the Union Club had not been heard from, much to the regret of the champion Empires, who despairing of meeting home mettle worthy of their steel, finally resolved to go South (in September of 1871)..." Tobias' report of the Empires trip to New Orleans confirms that the Union Club had not fielded a nine all season. In the January 4, 1896 issue of The Sporting News, Tobias goes on to write that in the spring of 1872, "The Union Club remained in a comatose state with but feeble efforts being made to resuscitate it." He also firmly states that the Union Club "had folded its tent and stolen away..."

(In 1874) Asa W. Smith and a few more of its old members attempted to revive the old Union Club, but the undertaking proved to be up-hill work for though it was announced as prepared to enter the base ball arena against all other clubs and did enter into arrangements for games, it had great trouble in bringing onto the field a full nine at the critical moment. On several of these occasions, by consent, their nine was filled up from members of other clubs who chanced to be present. Many rumors were set afloat in the month of May to the effect that the club was about to come to the front with a stronger team than it ever had or that existed in the city, but all these reports proved baseless...The Western Club of Keokuk came to St. Louis (in June) under an agreement to play the Union Club but at the appointed hour the latter club was unable to present a nine. Under these circumstances an impromptu nine was secured at the park consisting of three Unions, three Empires, one Red Stocking, one Turner and one from the Gymnasium Club...The Unions, in its game with the Boston Club (in June), put on players from other clubs...

-E. H. Tobias, The Sporting News, January 18, 1896

The Union Base Ball Club that took part in the fantastic 1874 season in St. Louis was a bastardized version of the vanguard championship club that had been such an important part of the history of St. Louis baseball during the post-Civil War era. This attempt to revive the Union nine did not survive the death of Asa Smith in August of 1874.