The source for Golenbock’s claim that Fruin was the first to introduce the game to St. Louis was Shepard Barklay. Barklay stated that “(it) was in the early (1850’s) that Mr. Frain brought the game to St. Louis..."
Barklay was a member of a prominent 19th century St. Louis family and a bigwig in his own right. Born in 1847, Barklay went to St. Louis University, got his law degree from the University of Virgina, and studied civil law for two years at the University of Berlin. He was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1872, was a candidate for mayor in St. Louis, and was elected to the circuit court of St. Louis in 1882 (by a huge majority). Barklay was elected to the Missouri Supreme Court in November of 1888 and served for ten years. He also served for a time as the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. Barklay passed away on November 17, 1921.
Barklay’s grandfather was Elihu Shepard, one of the most influential St. Louisians of the 19th century. Shepard was a captain in the Mexican war, the founder of the Missouri Historical Society (god bless him), and one of the original promoters of the city’s public school system. The Shepard School in St. Louis is named after him.
I can understand how Golenbock placed such weight on Barklay’s claim regarding Fruin and early baseball in St. Louis. The guy was a bigwig, a former Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court, and knew Fruin personally (having played baseball with him in the the 1860’s). But his statement about Fruin bringing the game to St. Louis in the early 1850’s is not accurate. Based on Fruin’s statement alone, Barklay’s account is provably wrong.
It looks like Barklay is the Abner Graves of St. Louis baseball.
Showing posts with label Jere Frain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jere Frain. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Jeremiah Fruin
Alfred Spink interviewed Jeremiah Fruin for his 1910 book, The National Game. Fruin stated explicitly that he was not the “father” of baseball in St. Louis. “No, I do not claim to have been the first to introduce baseball in St. Louis,” he said, “but I was perhaps the first to show the boys how to catch the ball easily rather than by fighting it, how to trap the ball, to make a double play and that sort of thing.” The most Fruin says about his role in the development of the game in St. Louis is that he learned to play the game in New York while playing with some of the top teams such as the Excelsiors and Atlantics, that he brought his knowledge of the game to St. Louis and “gave the boys I found playing…a few lessons on the improved methods (of play).”
Jeremiah Fruin is a fairly interesting guy. He was born on July 6, 1831 in Glen of Aherlow, County Tipperay, Ireland. His family immigrated to the states in 1833 and settled in Brooklyn. Fruin’s father was a contracter and owned his own construction company, so it seems that the family was reasonably successful. Fruin served with the 72nd regiment, N.Y.S.M (“the National Rifles”) as an officer prior to the Civil War (and prior to the regiment being taken over by German immigrants). During the war, he served with the union’s Quartermaster Corp and was stationed in St. Louis in 1861.
After the war, ruin remained in St. Louis working in street and sewer construction (and playing baseball with the Empires) before starting his own company, Fruin & company general contractors, in 1872. Fruin’s company (which changed its name to the Fruin-Colnon co. in 1908 when Fruin added his son-in-law to the business) was rather successful and did a great deal of streetcar and railroad work for the city. He became something of a big shot in the city, serving as police commissioner, and counting among his friends numerous St. Louis politicians, judges, and businessmen. In the 1880 census, three servants are listed as members of his household which speaks to Fruin’s success and status.
Fruin died on March 10, 1912 of arteriosclerosis. He left behind a wife, Catherine, and two children, Catherine and John.
Note: A lot of this research opened up for me when it became obvious that "Jere Frain" was Jeremiah Fruin. I have to thank Richard Hershberger for pointing me in the right direction on that one. Peter Golenbock mentioned that "Frain" had played for the Charter Oaks and the Empires and Richard pointed out that there was a "Fruin" playing for the Charter Oaks in 1859. Further research discovered that Jeremiah Fruin played for both the Charter Oak Club of Brooklyn and the Empire Club of St. Louis. I believe that the misunderstand with regards to Frain/Fruin was due to a letter Shepard Barklay wrote, discribing his ballplaying days, in which he mentioned "Mr. Frain".
Jeremiah Fruin is a fairly interesting guy. He was born on July 6, 1831 in Glen of Aherlow, County Tipperay, Ireland. His family immigrated to the states in 1833 and settled in Brooklyn. Fruin’s father was a contracter and owned his own construction company, so it seems that the family was reasonably successful. Fruin served with the 72nd regiment, N.Y.S.M (“the National Rifles”) as an officer prior to the Civil War (and prior to the regiment being taken over by German immigrants). During the war, he served with the union’s Quartermaster Corp and was stationed in St. Louis in 1861.
After the war, ruin remained in St. Louis working in street and sewer construction (and playing baseball with the Empires) before starting his own company, Fruin & company general contractors, in 1872. Fruin’s company (which changed its name to the Fruin-Colnon co. in 1908 when Fruin added his son-in-law to the business) was rather successful and did a great deal of streetcar and railroad work for the city. He became something of a big shot in the city, serving as police commissioner, and counting among his friends numerous St. Louis politicians, judges, and businessmen. In the 1880 census, three servants are listed as members of his household which speaks to Fruin’s success and status.
Fruin died on March 10, 1912 of arteriosclerosis. He left behind a wife, Catherine, and two children, Catherine and John.
Note: A lot of this research opened up for me when it became obvious that "Jere Frain" was Jeremiah Fruin. I have to thank Richard Hershberger for pointing me in the right direction on that one. Peter Golenbock mentioned that "Frain" had played for the Charter Oaks and the Empires and Richard pointed out that there was a "Fruin" playing for the Charter Oaks in 1859. Further research discovered that Jeremiah Fruin played for both the Charter Oak Club of Brooklyn and the Empire Club of St. Louis. I believe that the misunderstand with regards to Frain/Fruin was due to a letter Shepard Barklay wrote, discribing his ballplaying days, in which he mentioned "Mr. Frain".
Baseball Comes To St. Louis
It’s always been my understanding that baseball was first introduced in St. Louis in the early 1850's by Jere Frain, a 'contractor' who moved to St. Louis from New York. Frain had played for the Charter Oak Club of Brooklyn and was captain of the Empire Club of St. Louis in 1864. Peter Golenbock wrote, in The Spirit of St. Louis, that Frain laid out the first baseball diamond in Lafayette Park in St. Louis and showed the locals how to play the game. I've seen this mentioned in other sources but I've never seen any evidence to support the claim. When researching Frain, all I've ever found were other sources that told the same story as Golenbock. It seems that the story has just been accepted and gets rehashed whenever the history of baseball in St. Louis is told.
However, I found a letter from a man named Merritt W. Griswold, reprinted in Richard Peterson's St. Louis Baseball Reader, in which Griswold claims to have brought the game to St. Louis in 1859. In this letter, Griswold tells how he first published the rules of the game, along with a diagram of the playing field and the positions of the players, in the Missouri Democrat newspaper in the winter of 1859/60. He claims that at the same time he was organizing a baseball club called the Cyclones. Their first match game, he wrote, was played against a club called the Morning stars in 1860. Interestingly, he stated that the Morning Star Club played town ball and he convinced them to play by the "national" rules. The Morning Stars defeated the Cyclones at the old Fairgrounds in north St. Louis and the game ball was gilded, engraved with the score of the game, and used as a trophy ball "for years" in St. Louis. Griswold wrote that the last he heard of the ball it was in the possession of the Empire Club. The Cyclones, he said, disbanded when the civil war broke out and the players went off to fight "on one side or the other".
While I've never been able to confirm anything about the Frain story, i was immediately able to find some evidence supporting some of Griswold's claims. He stated in the letter that he had played for the Putnam Club of Brooklyn in 1857 and then for the Hiawathas of Brooklyn in 1858 and 1859 (before moving to St. Louis). Checking the teams and rosters of the NABBP from 1857-1859, I found a Griswold playing for the Putnams in 1857. The Hiawathas were not members of the NABBP during the time frame and so I couldn't find their roster but there is a record of them playing a game against the Osceola club of Brooklyn on July 31, 1858. The Hiawathas are also mentioned as being in existence in 1859, although no games are mentioned. While this is hardly proof positive that Griswold is telling the truth and that he, rather than Frain, is the “father” of baseball in St. Louis, it does put his story on some factual ground.
If Griswold's account is truthful then we have a primary source that places the beginning of baseball in St. Louis (as played by the "national" rules) in 1860 (or possibly as early as 1859). While this conflicts with the Frain account, I'm much more comfortable with Griswold's letter than I am with the Frain mythology. On its face, while the two stories are similar, the Frain account just sounds like something somebody made up in 1864, telling stories in the bar after a game. It sounds like legend to me. The Griswold account has a more truthful ring to it.
However, I found a letter from a man named Merritt W. Griswold, reprinted in Richard Peterson's St. Louis Baseball Reader, in which Griswold claims to have brought the game to St. Louis in 1859. In this letter, Griswold tells how he first published the rules of the game, along with a diagram of the playing field and the positions of the players, in the Missouri Democrat newspaper in the winter of 1859/60. He claims that at the same time he was organizing a baseball club called the Cyclones. Their first match game, he wrote, was played against a club called the Morning stars in 1860. Interestingly, he stated that the Morning Star Club played town ball and he convinced them to play by the "national" rules. The Morning Stars defeated the Cyclones at the old Fairgrounds in north St. Louis and the game ball was gilded, engraved with the score of the game, and used as a trophy ball "for years" in St. Louis. Griswold wrote that the last he heard of the ball it was in the possession of the Empire Club. The Cyclones, he said, disbanded when the civil war broke out and the players went off to fight "on one side or the other".
While I've never been able to confirm anything about the Frain story, i was immediately able to find some evidence supporting some of Griswold's claims. He stated in the letter that he had played for the Putnam Club of Brooklyn in 1857 and then for the Hiawathas of Brooklyn in 1858 and 1859 (before moving to St. Louis). Checking the teams and rosters of the NABBP from 1857-1859, I found a Griswold playing for the Putnams in 1857. The Hiawathas were not members of the NABBP during the time frame and so I couldn't find their roster but there is a record of them playing a game against the Osceola club of Brooklyn on July 31, 1858. The Hiawathas are also mentioned as being in existence in 1859, although no games are mentioned. While this is hardly proof positive that Griswold is telling the truth and that he, rather than Frain, is the “father” of baseball in St. Louis, it does put his story on some factual ground.
If Griswold's account is truthful then we have a primary source that places the beginning of baseball in St. Louis (as played by the "national" rules) in 1860 (or possibly as early as 1859). While this conflicts with the Frain account, I'm much more comfortable with Griswold's letter than I am with the Frain mythology. On its face, while the two stories are similar, the Frain account just sounds like something somebody made up in 1864, telling stories in the bar after a game. It sounds like legend to me. The Griswold account has a more truthful ring to it.
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