Ellis Wainwright

Ellis Wainwright was a significant figure in the history of 19th century St. Louis. Born on August 3, 1850 in Godfrey, Illinois, Wainwright was a prominent businessman and brewer and his name is linked to two of the more important pieces of architecture in St. Louis.

His father, Samuel Wainwright, was the founder of the Wainwright Brewing Company, which began operations in 1846. While the history of the company is complicated, Ellis Wainwright gained control of its operations by 1875 and incorporated it as a stock company in 1883. In 1889, the company was bought by the St. Louis Brewing Company, of which Wainwright was president. The company was probably the second largest brewing company in St. Louis during the 19th century.

In 1890, Wainwright wanted a new office building for the company and hired Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler to build it. The Wainwright Building, at the corner of Seventh Street and Chestnut Avenue, was completed in 1891 and was one of the prototypes of the modern office building and the modern skyscraper.

In 1902, Wainwright was caught up in the Boodle Scandal (along with Charles Hunt Turner) and he is mentioned in Lincoln Steffens' The Shame of the Cities. As a result of the scandal, in which he was accused of bribing Missouri legislators, he fled to Paris, where he lived for the next twenty years. It appears that he returned to St. Louis in 1911, when he was indicted for his participation in the scandal, but the charges were dropped in November of that year due to the fact that all the main witnesses had either died or fled the city. Wainwright then immediately left again for Paris.

At some point in 1924, Wainwright once again returned to St. Louis and died in the city on November 6, 1924. He is buried in the Wainwright Tomb at Bellefontaine Cemetery. The mausoleum, like the Wainwright Building, was designed by Louis Sullivan and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been described as one of Sullivan's masterpieces.

The two photos above were taken by Connie Nisinger and Jim Miller respectively and appear at Find A Grave.

Wainwright, as I've been chronicling lately, was also involved in the establishment of the Union Association and was one of the owners of the St. Louis Maroons. His involvement with the Maroons is significant, I believe, because it appears to represent an attempt by the establishment of St. Louis to regain control of the city's baseball market after Chris Von der Ahe had seized control of the Brown Stockings in 1882.

Von der Ahe Arrested For Employing Labor On The Sabbath

Last week at Viva El Birdos, Larry Borowsky posted an interview with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who has just published a new book, 100 Things Cardinal Fans Should Know And Do Before They Die. In the introduction to the interview, Larry wrote that he had "never heard the one about team owner [Chris Von der Ahe] getting arrested in the second inning of an 1887 game and charged with conducting business on a [Sunday]..." Well, I had never heard that one either and, given my interest in the history of Sunday baseball in St. Louis, I had to find out what this was all about. A quick search led me to the relevant article.

The Browns and Baltimores played one inning yesterday, when the game was stopped by the police and Von der Ahe was arrested. A crowd of fully 10,000 people assembled to witness the game, many no doubt being attracted by curiosity and in the hope of seeing some excitement to vary the monotony of the Sabbath. All arrangements had been perfected in anticipation of what transpired. Every person who paid his way into the grounds was given a check which would admit him to any future game in the event of yesterday's game being stopped. A squad of twenty-five mounted police were on the grounds, under the leadership of Sergt. Floerich. The Baltimore team arrived early on the grounds, but were instructed to remain off the field. At 3:10 the gong was rung, and the home team proceeded to their places for practice. Ten minutes later the Baltimores came on the field amidst a perfect storm of applause, and after ten minutes' practice for the visitors the gong was rung and Umpire Ferguson proceeded to call "time." The Baltimores took the field, and the game commenced. In the meantime a squad of police formed in line at the western end of the grand-stand, and another across near the dressing-rooms. Latham opened by hitting to center for a base, and reached second on a passed ball. Gleason hit to Kilroy, who caught Latham between second and third, where he was run down, Gleason reaching second on the play. He reached third on O'Neill's out, but was left, Comiskey striking out. Greenwood flew out to Robinson, Purcell went out on an assist of Gleason's. Burns hit through Gleason and stole second, but was left, Tucker flying out to Welch.

Caruthers had stepped up to the plate for the second inning, when Sergt. Floerich stepped up to Bob Ferguson, and said:

"You will have to stop the game."

"All right, sir," said Bob-"Time!"

And ball playing for the day was at an end.

During the progress of the first inning Sergt. Floerich went up to the Director's box, where Mr. Von der Ahe was sitting. The Sergeant stepped up to the Browns' President, accompanied by Detectives Howard and Harrington.

"Mr. Von der Ahe, I will have to place you under arrest," he said.

"All right," was the response, "although I wish you had allowed us to play a few more innings, as the game was very interesting."

Mr. Von der Ahe smiled as he arose to accompany the detectives. An omnibus had been provided for the occasion, and the detectives, Mr. Von der Ahe, Wm. Medart, Jos. G. Lodge, Judge Scott and the Globe-Democrat reporter jumped in and were driven rapidly to the Fair Grounds Sub-Station, where a charge of breaking the Sunday law was preferred against Mr. Von der Ahe. The party was evidently expected at the station, as quite a crowd had gathered to watch the developments. In the station the prisoner and his friends were greeted by Chief Huebler, who immediately telephoned for Judge Noonan to accept the offender's bond. After a short delay, Judge Noonan arrived and the bond, but $100, or double the maximum penalty for breaking the law, was accepted, Wm. Medart subscribing to it. The Judge had evidently taken advantage of the Noonan Sunday law decision and was enjoying himself to his fullest capacity. The party was then driven back to the park, where they were greeted with shouts of applause, the crowd, no doubt, thinking that the playing would be renewed. As Chief Huebler, however, had given orders to arrest the players in case they attempted to play, Mr. Von der Ahe announced that the game was off.

When Sergt. Floerich stopped the game, the crowd, as if by one impulse, sprang into the field, and in a few seconds after the game was stopped, the diamond was filled with a surging mass of men, who hurled all kinds of vile epithets at the officers. At one time, it seemed as if personal violence would be offered them, but everything passed off smoothly, and in a short time after the players had left the field, the grounds were comparatively deserted.

The Baltimore team had made arrangements to leave for Cleveland last night, but, after the interference, Manager Barnie consented to remain over and play the game off to-day. This act on his part should be appreciated to-day by giving the visitors a rousing reception.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 11, 1887

The law in question had gone into effect on June 19, 1887 and prohibited labor or the employment of labor on the Sabbath. However, the Globe stated, on June 15th, that the City Counselor had targeted the law at saloons, beer gardens, pool halls and baseball and noted that "bakeries, barber-shops, baths, cabs, carriages and baggage-wagons, drug stores, gas and electric light companies, hotels, ice-dealers, laundries, livery stables and undertakers, meat-shops, milk depots, news-stands, physicians, restaurants, street cars, telegraph companies, and ticket offices" were not effected by the law. The Globe also noted on June 22 that Von der Ahe planned to test the new law and would not alter the Browns schedule. The saloons and beer gardens targeted also were going to fight the law.

The law began to be enforced on June 26 and by June 29, after the first arrests, it was being challenged in court. On July 9, most of the law was struck down by Judge Noonan, although he declared that the ban on the sale of whiskey was legal under Missouri law. The Chief of Police in St. Louis then ordered his men to "arrest and prosecute all persons pending or hawking their wares...on Sunday." The Globe, on July 14, stated that this order was the result of "an old ordinance which has existed on the books for years, more as a curiosity than anything else." This law may be the one that was being enforced in 1864, but that is unclear.

On July 15, Von der Ahe had his day in court and did not contest the facts of the charges against him. Under cross-examination, Sgt. Floerich testified "that the games had been played in the park for twelve years on Sundays and they had always been quiet and orderly, and had never been interfered with before." He also noted that the "ball-grounds were a private property." The defense, which included testimony from Congressman John O'Neill and former Union club member Charles Turner, essentially consisted of stating how wonderful a game baseball was and how orderly the crowds were at the games. They also argued that the law "had not in its purview the game of base-ball, but its application to labor was only to servile labor. [They] quoted other laws to show that the game of ball and kindred amusements were not prohibited...[arguing] that the law did not apply to sports and games, other than what are known as gambling games."

After a deliberation of two hours, Judge Noonan returned an opinion agreeing with the argument of the defense. He explicitly stated that the law only applied to servile labor and gambling games such as horse-racing and cock-fighting. "The evidence shows," he wrote, "that the base-ball playing was in private grounds, and no noise disturbing the peace of the neighborhood resulted therefrom, and the Court decided that the defendant committed no offense under the statute in playing base-ball and discharged him." The law did not prohibit "either expressly or by construction, base-ball, carried on decently, orderly and quietly on Sunday. I might say, in addition to this, that the game was a reasonable sport, and use of nature's powers, and, while the evidence showed that money was taken and money paid to the players, it in my mind is not within the meaning of this statute, any more than would be the playing of any piano player or singer that might come into the home of a citizen on Sunday to contribute to his entertainment." The Globe headlined their article of July 16, reporting the decision, "Base-Ball Is Recreation."

I think it's safe to conclude, based on this incident and the Edwardsville movement in 1886, that there was a general Sabbatarian movement in St. Louis at this time and they made an attempt to target baseball games. However, Sunday baseball and a loosely-observed Sabbath was a part of the general culture of St. Louis and I think this found expression in Judge Noonan's decision. In the end, the Sabbatarian movement would succeed and blue laws would be enforced in Missouri into the 1980s. But, to the best of my knowledge, those laws never effected the playing of baseball in St. Louis on Sundays. This incident stands out as an exception to St. Louis' general tolerance of Sunday baseball.

Note: For those interested, the law under which Von der Ahe was arrested stated that "Every person who shall either labor himself or compel or permit his apprentice or servant or any other person under his charge or control to labor or perform any work, other than household offices of daily necessity, or other work of necessity or charity, or who shall be quilty of hunting game or shooting on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not exceeding $50."

Also, I have to admit that I've changed the title of this post four times, attempting to accurately describe what happened. In the end, I think it's accurate to state that Von der Ahe was not arrested for organizing a baseball game or engaging in business on a Sunday. He was arrested for compelling persons under his charge or control to labor on a Sunday. When I first started looking into this, I thought he was arrested for selling beer and whiskey on the Sabbath and that this had nothing to do with baseball but, after looking into it a bit more, I realized that I was wrong. The City Counsellor was targeting Von der Ahe and the Browns because they were playing professional baseball on a Sunday.

Saving The Best For Last

The second game of the championship series between the Empire and Union Clubs came off on Aug. 8 and proved to be the most brilliant and exciting ever played in St. Louis prior to that time. Though the weather was threatening rain, there was an immense crowd present. The sun was obscured by clouds and the air kept cool by small showers at intervals not prolonged enough to materially interfere with the game except in the early part of the game when a suspension of eight minutes became necessary. The entire game was characterized by superb fielding on both sides and in that respect was never excelled upon the grounds. The Union Club desired to play with a “dead ball” but this did not meet with the approval of the Empire Club presumably for the reason that they had not, like the Union Club, had experience with it and they thought that the middle of a stream is certainly not the place to swap horses.

Things looked gloomy for the Unions, the score standing 12 to 8 against them at the close of the seventh inning. The Empires were allowed but one run in the eighth inning. The Unions started out with such hard ball punching that Stansbury, Turner and Gorman quickly found themselves each holding a base when Strong made a long, swift hit over Fitsgibbons’ head that cleared the bases and gave himself third, he finally reaching home before O’Brien and Greenleaf went out at first. This made the score 13 to 12 in favor of the Empires.

The superb fielding of the Union in the ninth inning prevented the Empire’s score being enlarged and with one run to tie and two to win, the Union went to the bat. Wolff died at first by Spaulding’s throw. Oran muffed Maxwell’s first bound and then Maxwell sent a hot one over Murray’s head that gave him second base. Stansbury followed by a long hit over Barron, bringing Maxwell home and tieing the score at 13. Another muff by Shockey gave Stansbury, the winning run amidst deafening shouts of the Union contingent. By safe batting three more runs made the Union victorious by 17 to 13 in the most remarkable game played during the twelve years of rivalry that existed between these two crack local clubs and not the least remarkable of the many remarkable incidents connected with this game is the one fact that makes the game historical, the Union and Empire Clubs never again crossed bats on the diamond.

-E.H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, December 21, 1895

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.

The Brown Stockings Open The Season

This game, which was played on March 27, 1875 and was described by the Democrat as the Brown Stockings' first of the season, was not exactly competitive. The Brown Stockings had their best team on the field and the picked nine was a motley crew. Charles Turner and Robert Lucas had been members of the Union club in the 1860's. Turner was involved in the management of the Brown Stockings as was Lucas' family. Deviney played left field for the Atlantics. Joe Blong, of course, played with the Reds in 1875 and would go on to play for the Brown Stockings in 1876 and 1877. George Seward, Frank Fleet, and Charlie Waitt all saw action with the Brown Stockings in 1875 but were not regulars. Eugene Wolff "used to be a good player" and Maynard was "a young man from Brooklyn."

Charles H. Turner

This weekend I was doing research on three projects that I wanted to get off my plate. The first was a basic genealogy of the Lucas’s, a prominent St. Louis family that was deeply involved in the history of 19th century baseball in the city. The second was the makeup of the board of directors of the 1875 St. Louis Brown Stockings. In A Newspaper Man’s Motion-Picture View of the City, Bill Kelsoe lists the members of the board and I wanted to gather some general information about the men who were instrumental in financing and organizing the team. Finally, I wanted to find more information about the social makeup of the Union Base Ball Club of St. Louis. Based on a few sources that I have, it appears that some of the members of the Union Club came from prominent and wealthy St. Louis families. That members of the Union Club came from the city’s upper class seems to be fairly unique among baseball clubs of the era and demanded more research. While I was unable to finish any of the three projects, interestingly all three research threads came together in the person of Charles H. Turner. As a wise man once said, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Charles Turner was born in 1849 to Henry S. Turner and Julia Hunt. Henry Turner was a West Point graduate and classmate and friend of William T. Sherman who served with Stephan Kearney in the Mexican-American War. Julia Hunt was the daughter of Theodore Hunt, a naval officer and favorite in St. Louis social circles, and Anne Lucas, the only daughter of J.B.C. Lucas, one of the earliest settlers of St. Louis and one of its wealthiest and most influential citizens. H.S. Turner, with the support of his wife’s powerful family, would serve as a member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, the Missouri State Legislature, and as Assistant United States Treasurer. In the 1880 census, he listed his occupation as “retired capitalist.” In the 1870’s, H.S. Turner, as a member of the Board of Aldermen, would introduce legislation that established the street car system in St. Louis. Within a few years, his son Charles would own the company that his father helped to establish.

Charles Turner, according to Jeremiah Fruin, was an original member of the Union Base Ball Club of St. Louis. Other members of Turner’s social set who were members of the club included his cousin Robert Lucas, Shepard Barkley, Joseph Charles Cabanne, Orrick Bishop, and Harry Carr. Turner, a catcher, was described as a part of the original battery of the Union nine. He also pitched and played second base for the club. His membership in the original Union Club raises some questions. If the club was founded in the early 1860’s at about the same time as the Empire Club (and they were certainly playing baseball by 1861) then Turner could not have been an original member, being too young. It’s most likely that Turner did not join the club until after the Civil War.

In 1875, Turner was involved in the founding of the Brown Stockings. With the urging of newspaper men W.C. Steigers and R.P. Thompson, “several young St. Louisans of prominence” set up an organization to create a professional baseball team in St. Louis that could compete with the professional Chicago White Stockings. The board of directors that was elected to run the new organization included J.B.C Lucas, president; W.C. Steigers, vice-president; Charles A. Fowle, secretary; and Charles Turner, treasurer. Other members of the board included Orrick Bishop, William Medart, and Joseph Carr. Interestingly, the Union Club was heavily represented on the board with Turner, Steigers, and Bishop all being members and with the possibility that Lucas and Carr were as well. The Lucas family was also well represented with Turner joining his cousin J.B.C. Lucas on the board.

While it’s unknown exactly what role Turner played with the Brown Stockings, he was involved, according to Jon David Cash, in the signing of the Louisville players in 1877. These signings which were an attempt to duplicate Chicago’s raid on the Boston Red Stockings, coupled with the gambling scandal that involved both the signed Louisville players as well as members of the Brown Stocking nine, helped to bring about the collapse of the Brown Stockings organization and the experiment with professional baseball in St. Louis.

It’s difficult to overstate the prominence of Charles Turner in 19th century St. Louis. Not only was he a member of the wealthiest St. Louis family, he also married into another prominent family. His wife Margaret was the daughter of Stephen Barlow, the cousin of Stephen Douglas and a wealthy politician and railroad magnate in St. Louis. Turner himself was the president of the Suburban Railway Company, which owned the St. Louis street car system, and the Commonwealth Trust Company. He was described by Lincoln Steffens as being a millionaire and served on the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners in the 1880’s. Turner also was a member of the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, which raised the money to put on the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

Turner’s influence in St. Louis was exposed in a negative way by Steffen in 1902. In what became known as “The Boodle Scandal,” Turner was shown to have been a member of a cabal that bribed city aldermen and state legislators in order to get legislation passed that was favorable to their business interests. In grand jury testimony, Turner was shown to have paid over $144,000 in bribes to secure legislation that would double the value of the Suburban Railway Company, which he was looking to sell. The case was tied up in court for several years and Turner died in 1906 before facing the legal consequences of his actions.

While “The Boodle Scandal” and Steffen’s exposes may have tarnished Turner’s reputation, his legacy was saved by the service of his grandson. Charles Turner Joy was the son of Charles Turner’s only daughter, Lucy Barlow Turner, and Duncan Joy. He graduated from Annapolis in 1916 and served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. During Korea, Rear Admiral Charles Turner Joy served as Commander of Naval Forces, Far East. After he passed away in 1956, a destroyer was named after him. The USS Turner Joy, pictured above, served the nation proudly until it was decommissioned in 1982.