The Empire Club Crowns Themselves Champion

 We are glad to see that this noble national game is fast gaining ground in popularity in our city.  There are several fine clubs in St. Louis, and our readers will not have forgotten that the championship of the West is held by the Empire B.B. Club, having wrested that proud title from the Empire Club of Freeport, Ill., last 4th of July, in commemoration of which event our well-known citizen, Martin Collins, Esq., has presented the club with a magnificent belt, gotten up in the most artistic manner.  The presentation was accompanied by an eloquent and interesting speech, delivered in our friend Martin's most happy manner, and was appropriately responded to by Messrs. J. Fruin,. B. Higgins, and other members of the club, all of whom expressed the sentiment that the club would give a "hard fight" to whatever club may endeavor to take it from the Empire.

We understand that an interesting game will shortly take place between the married and single men of this club; also that the second nine propose to play any other first nine in St. Louis.

-Missouri Republican, September 7, 1865


There should be no doubt about the fact that the Empires were the self-proclaimed "Champions of the West."  I usually refer to the championship as mythical but I think self-proclaimed may be a better description.  Collins, who presented the club with the championship belt, just so happened to have been a club member and it looks like the Empires invented a championship, threw themselves a party and presented themselves an emblem of said championship.  A year later, the Chicago all-stars would show them what that what that self-proclaimed championship was worth.   

The Great Silver Ball

A great silver ball match for the championship of the Northwest will come off at Dubuque, Iowa, September 29th, 1865. The Dubuque County Agricultural Society offer a silver ball of regulation size as a prize to the club declared to be the champion base ball club of the Northwest, the championship and prizes to be played for on the grounds of the Dubuque County Agricultural Society, on Friday, September 29th, 1865, commencing at 9 1/2 o'clock A.M., and 2 o'clock P.M. The contest is open to all base ball clubs in the Northwest. Clubs from Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Iowa, are particularly invited to attend and take part in the contest.

We premise that our Empire Club-which carries the champion belt of the West-will not fail to be present and contend for the silver ball.

-St. Louis Daily Press, September 19, 1865

And now we arrive at the tale of how the Empire Club was declared Champions of the West in 1865.

The reference to the champion belt is interesting because I thought they got that after their victory in Dubuque (sorry, didn't mean to spoil the ending for you). I was talking to somebody last week about 19th century memorabilia and mentioned the belt and the trophy ball from the Cyclone/Morning Star match as the two pieces of St. Louis memorabilia I'd really like to find. My assumption is that they were both in a box in Jeremiah Fruin's attic and got thrown out after his death.

And I found the Tobias reference to the belt:

On September 6th, 1865, the Empire Club was presented with an elegantly devised belt as "champions of the West." The presentation speech was made by Martin Collins, Esq., on behalf of citizens who were interested in base ball and who desired that all Western clubs should take a whack at winning it, whenever they felt able to tackle the holders. As president of the club the late Judge John F. Walton accepted the belt in one of his most graceful speeches and it was placed in a...receptacle of the club room on Third street.

So the belt was not necessarily a representation of a championship that the Empire Club was claiming but rather a trophy to be won in a struggle for that championship. Essentially, the club was saying that they believed that they were the best club in the West and if you wanted that championship, you had to play them. If you wanted the belt, you had to beat the Empire Club.

Essentially, by winning in Dubuque, the Empire Club gained not only the Great Silver Ball but also a legitimate claim to the belt.

Martin Collins

This prominent Mason and insurance expert is upwards of sixty years of age, having been born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in the year1826. He is, however, a man of excellent preservation, and is very frequently mistaken for a much younger man. His excellent physique and his genial manner make him conspicuous among his co-workers, and during his long connection with this city he has earned and maintained the respect of all with whom he has come in contact, and more especially of members of the Masonic fraternity.

His early education was received in his native country drug store, where he combined the offices of clerk, book-keeper and salesman, and generally superintended the business. All the work which devolved upon him was well carried out, but the utter absence of any prospect of advancement induced him to go west in search of a more promising field of labor, although his friends tried to dissuade him on account of the difficulties in the way.

Hence it was that just half a century ago he found himself in St. Louis, after a tedious journey from Philadelphia, which occupied nearly three weeks, during which time he had to ride on canal-boats and stages, and short sections of railroad. For nine years Mr. Collins worked in a fancy dry goods store in this city, and in 1852 he had saved enough money from his earnings to start in business for himself. Associating himself with a friend, the firm of Rosenheim & Collins was formed, and for six years it conducted a prosperous business. It was then dissolved, and Mr. Collins was appointed, by Mayor Daniel G. Taylor, register of water rates. He proved the right man in the right place, and was reappointed by two successive mayors, an honor to which few men have attained in municipal affairs.

About thirty years ago Mr. Collins turned his attention to fire insurance business, and was appointed agent for some of the largest companies on the continent. His business gradually increased, until he is now the head of the firm of Martin Collins, Son & Company, which ranks among the most important firms in the country.

He is a Mason of good standing, and has given to the affairs of the order his most careful and conspicuous attention, having held a large number of offices in it, and having earned the reputation of being exceptionally loyal, even among such a traditionally loyal class as the Masons.

He married, during the days of his comparative poverty, a daughter of Captain Crab, of the United States Marine Service.

Mr. and Mrs. Collins have had seven children, of whom three are now living and beyond the stage of childhood.

-From Old and new St. Louis


Martin Collins was a member of the Empire Club and Edmund Tobias mentions him playing in an 1876 "old-timer's" game with other veterans of the club.