Edward Bredell, Class Of 1859

I got a copy of Jeffry Wert's Mosby Rangers in the mail this week.  Although I've read bits and pieces of the book before, I wanted to take a closer look at the battle in which Edward Bredell was killed, as it never seemed too clear as to what happened.  Wert's book is an excellent history of John Mosby's guerrilla unit and does have a great account of the battle, which I'll pass along shortly.  But, while looking for more information about Bredell's military record, I made a rather important discovery:  Edward Bredell attended Brown University.

Bredell, according to various sources, was a member of Browns' class of 1859 and was certainly at the university during the 1855-56 term.  According to A Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Brown University, 1855-1856, Bredell was a first-year student, staying at University Hall and studying science.  His course load included classes in mathematics (geometry and algebra), chemistry, physiology and a foreign language (either French or German).  The 1857-58 catalogue does not list Bredell as a student at Brown and the Historical Catalogue of Brown University (1914) lists him as someone who attended the university but did not graduate.  It's unclear if Bredell was still at Brown in 1856-57 but, if he returned for a second year, he would have taken classes in natural philosophy, rhetoric, history, intellectual philosophy with a choice of electives among civil engineering, practical chemistry, and geology.

This is extremely significant for a couple of reasons.  First, Bredell was studying science and this was a course of study that would have a practical application in his life.  In May 1859, Bredell was named the business manager of the Missouri Glass Company, a company co-owned by his father.  If you look at the operations of the company, it's obvious that a great deal of practical scientific and engineering knowledge was necessary to run a company like that.  Bredell gained that knowledge at Brown University.  Also, Merritt Griswold, who also worked at the Missouri Glass Company, was an engineer and it appears that the two men shared a love of science, as well as a love of baseball.  We know how the two men, being co-workers, met and, with their shared science background, we can begin to imagine how they may have formed a friendship that had a significant impact on the history of St. Louis baseball.

More importantly, to that history and friendship, it's likely that Bredell had been exposed to the New York game while at Brown, which is located in Providence, Rhode Island.  Brown University played a significant role in the history of collegiate athletics and, specifically, in the history of collegiate baseball.  Providence, itself, had a history of ball-playing that dated back, at least, to the 1820s, a baseball club was formed there in 1857 and Brown had baseball clubs by the early 1860s.  I have little doubt that baseball was being played in Providence and at Brown when Bredell was there and, given his baseball activities in St. Louis a few years later, it's likely that he first played the game while a university student.  At the very least, Bredell most likely saw the New York game being played while a student in Providence.

This information completely changes the story of how the Cyclone Club was formed in the summer of 1859.  Previously, it always appeared that Griswold instigated the formation of the club.  We knew that he had played the game in Brooklyn and there are several sources that state that he formed the club.  Based on the information that we had, it was obvious that Griswold introduced the New York game to St. Louis and was behind the formation of the first club.  We also know that Bredell played a role in the formation of the Cyclones and he has been credited as the club's co-founder but I always assumed that it was Griswold who was behind everything and he had just talked his friend into starting the club with him.  However, with the information that he had either seen or played the New York game while a student at Brown, Edward Bredell assumes a much more prominent role in this story.

In the April 21, 1895 issue of the St. Louis Republic, Leonard Matthews and Ferdinand Garesche, two members of the Cyclones, gave a brief history of the club.  The writer of the article (most likely E.H. Tobias) stated that "In the summer of 1859 a meeting was held in the office of the old Missouri Glass Company, on Fifth street between Pine and Olive.  M.W. Griswold, a clerk in the company's store, who had lately moved to St. Louis from Brooklyn, N.Y., an enthusiast on baseball, aided by the exertions of Ed Bredele, had gathered together the nucleus of a club..."  Reading this again, it sounds like Griswold and Bredell were working together to put together a baseball club and that makes sense.  If Bredell had played baseball at Brown and gained an appreciation of the game, it must have been a wonderful thing for him to meet Griswold and learn of his love of the game.  There couldn't have been many people in St. Louis, if any, with a practical knowledge of the New York game and here were two of them working together at the Missouri Glass Company.  I can imagine the two men forming a friendship over this rare, mutual interest and deciding, together, to form a baseball club.  The Cyclone Club was formed out of the friendship of Griswold and Bredell and their mutual love of the New York game.

Also, I think we have to be open to the idea that it was Bredell, rather than Griswold, who introduced the New York game to St. Louis.  We assumed that it was Griswold based largely on his letter to Al Spink and on our knowledge of his background.  But, if Bredell had seen or played the game while at Brown, he would have brought his knowledge of the New York game to St. Louis several years before Griswold arrived in the city.  However, the extent of Bredell's ball-playing activities at Brown and in St. Louis prior to forming the Cyclones is unknown so I think the most we can state is that it is very likely that there were people in St. Louis, specifically Edward Bredell, that had a knowledge of the New York game prior to Merritt Griswold's arrival.  Putting it another way, it no longer appears that Griswold's knowledge of the rules of the New York game and his experience playing the game was unique in St. Louis in 1859.                      

The Civil War Reminiscences Of General Basil W. Duke, C.S.A.: Part Three

The Berthold Mansion in 1859

No opportunity for such demonstration as we wished to make was afforded until the convention, having first assembled at Jefferson City, adjourned to meet in St. Louis on the 4th of March.  We resolved to utilize that occasion in such wise as to bring matters, if possible, to a crisis and incite the popular outbreak during which we might find means to execute our project.  We wished also to act before the Republican national administration-just about to be inaugurated-might interfere.

The measures taken seem almost ludicrous in the narration, but they were the only kind we could employ, and were really better calculated, in the then excited condition of the public mind, than any others to precipitate the collision we desired without becoming ourselves actually the aggressors.  By virtue of my position as chairman of the "Military Committee of the Minute Men," I had charge of the headquarters, which were established in the old Berthold mansion, one of the early Creole houses of St. Louis; I was also empowered-so far as the Minute Men could give me authority-to inaugurate and direct such enterprises as that which I am about to describe.  I called the committee together on the night of the 3d of March, and, after a brief consultation, we decided to display on the succeeding day such unmistakable symbols of secession and evidence of an actively rebellious disposition as would be a plain defiance to the Union sentiment and challenge the Wide Awakes.  We accordingly improvised two secession flags.  The South had not then adopted a banner, so we were obliged to exercise our imaginations to a rather painful extent in order to devise a fit emblem.  We knew, however, that nothing which floated over the Minute Men's headquarters could be possibly misconstrued, and we blazoned on both flags every conceivable thing that was suggestive of a Southern meaning.  Champion and Quinlan undertook to place one of these flags on the very summit of the court-house dome, and did so at great risk to neck and limb. 

I summoned fifty or sixty of our most determined and reckless followers, put the muskets in their hands-they were also provided with revolvers-and told them they would be required to remain on duty no only that night, but as long as might be necessary.  They were more than willing to do so.  I, of course, stayed with them in command.  Among other implements of defence, we had a small swivel, which, loaded with a number of musket balls and a double handful of ten-penny nails, was planted to command the front door, and was to fired only in the event that the door was forced.  Early the next morning, when our ensigns were observed, an extraordinary commotion began in the immediate neighbourhood and soon extended over the entire city.  The flag on the court-house was at once removed.  We had expected this and could not have prevented it. 

Then a large and angry crowd collected in front of the headquarters and demanded the removal of the flag there.  When no response was made, some of the boldest climbed up on the back porch with threats of tearing it down.  They were thrown back on the pavement beneath, but none were seriously injured, although much discouraged.  I cautioned my men not to fire unless they themselves were fired on. 

The Wide Awakes sprang to arms, but showed no haste to attack.  We received notice that they had assembled and formed and were coming.  Their drums were loudly in evidence.  While unwilling to fire on the mob without the amplest provocation, we were determined to fire on the Wide Awakes so soon as they were in sight; for after the repeated threats they had uttered, their appearance at such a time would have been an unmistakable demonstration of hostility.  Frost's brigade of state militia, as fine a body of the kind as I ever saw and exceedingly well armed, drilled, and disciplined, was ordered under arms to assist the police in keeping the peace.  This force was about seven hundred strong, and would have cheerfully sided with us had the Wide Awakes and the mob attacked.  With such other aid as would have been rendered under the excitement of conflict, we could certainly have taken the arsenal in the melee and before the affair ended.

-The Civil War Reminiscences of General Basil Duke, C.S.A.


So we have the Minute Men, the Wide Awakes, the Missouri state militia, the St. Louis police and an angry mob all gathered together at the Berthold mansion, with things spiraling out of control and violence in the air.  What happened next?  Join us tomorrow to find out.

The above picture of the Minute Men's headquarters came from the Missouri History Museum's website and they provide the following information about the mansion:

This stately brick mansion was the home of Bartholomew Berthold, a prominent merchant and fur trader in St. Louis. Berthold passed away before this photograph was taken, but members of his family, including his wife and children, are shown standing in front of the house. Located on the northwest corner of Fifth and Pine streets, the home later served as the headquarters of the Minute Men, a secessionist paramilitary group established in St. Louis in January 1861. The formation of the Minute Men countered the Unionist, and predominantly German, Wide Awakes organized by Col. Frank Blair Jr., and provided support for a vocal minority advocating secession. A secessionist flag proudly flew from the mansion’s front porch. Various descriptions of the flag exist, but the Missouri Republican reported at the time that it was a black flag with a crescent in one corner, an upside down flag in the center, and a single star in the other corner.

I'm going to check the Missouri Republican and see if I can find anything interesting on the whole affair.

Also of interest is the strong possibility that Merritt Griswold was in the crowd that day, serving with the Wide Awakes.  We know he was at Camp Jackson and, as an officer, I think that it's likely that he was there, in opposition to his friend and clubmate.  

The Civil War Reminiscences Of General Basil W. Duke, C.S.A.: Part Two

Basil Wilson Duke

It is almost impossible to estimate how vastly the chances of Southern success would have been augmented had Missouri been permitted to take her place in the Southern column...But important as was the acquisition of Missouri to the Confederacy, the possession of St. Louis was scarcely less so.  There were in the city abundant supplies of all kinds necessary to the conduct of military operations.  To hold St. Louis was well-nigh equivalent to the complete control of the immense shipping of the great river, at least to the fleet of steam-boats which habitually harboured there; and this would not only have enabled supplies to be distributed at all points of the South where they were most needed, but would have effectually prevented the occupation and control of the lower Mississippi waters by the Federal gunboats. 

But if the possession of Missouri and the city of St. Louis was important to ultimate Confederate success, the seizure of the St. Louis arsenal was a matter of vital and immediate necessity.  The arsenal contained sixty thousand stand of small arms, thirty-five or forty pieces of artillery, and a vast store of ammunition and military equipments.  An almost invincible force could have been promptly armed from this source, and such a force would have been at once recruited; for with the capture of the arsenal by the secessionists all doubt and vacillation would have disappeared from their ranks.  It would have assured the most timid and hesitant, and have been the signal for an instant and overwhelming uprising, both in St. Louis and the state, in behalf of the Southern cause  Such an evidence of purpose and of capacity to deal practically with the situation would have settled in advance the questions which the convention had been called to determine.  The earnest and resolute men on both sides thoroughly realized this, and to seize or defend the arsenal became the watchwords of all who really "meant business." 

Unfortunately for the hopes of the Southern men in St. Louis, however salutary such policy may have proven for the future of the country, their leaders temporized  They admitted the extreme importance of capturing the arsenal, but insisted that it ought not to be attempted until after the convention had acted.  This counsel seemed fatuous to the younger men, who thought that something should be done to influence the election of the delegates and the decision of the convention, and believed that, as matters were being handled, the game was going against them.  They resolved, therefore, to make an organization of their own, with a view to prompt and decisive measures, and also as an offset to Blair's "Wide Awakes," who soon became exceedingly insolent and aggressive.  This movement was inaugurated, as I remember, by Colton Greene, James R. Shaler, Rock Champion, Overton W. Barrett, Samuel Farrington, James Quinlan, Arthur McCoy, and myself.  Greene was subsequently a brigadier-general in the Confederate service.  Shaler was one of the bravest and most efficient colonels whom Missouri gave to the South.  Barrett served gallantly and with distinction, and Champion, Farrington, and McCoy, after winning the highest reputation for courage and fidelity, died under the Southern flag. 

This organization was designated the "Minute Men," and was of a semi-political and military character.  We made no secret of the organization or of our purpose, but openly proclaimed both.  It grew to be about four hundred strong, and was divided into five companies, commanded by Greene, Shaler, Barrett, Hubbard, and myself, which subsequently composed a battalion of the state guard, of which Shaler was elected major.  The chief and primary object of this organization was the capture of the arsenal.  We were handicapped, however, not only by the scruples and remonstrances of the older and more conservative men, but by the difficulty of procuring arms.  The muster-roll of the Minute Men could have been increased to a much larger number, but we wished to enlist only the kind of material which could be relied on for any service and in any emergency, and no more than we could arm in some fashion.  We had no funds with which to purchase arms, and those fitted for the use of soldiers were not to be easily gotten even with money.  During February we secured some sixty or seventy old muskets, but armed the greater number with revolvers and shot-guns, which were indeed better weapons for street fighting.

-The Civil War Reminiscences of General Basil W. Duke, C.S.A.


The period that Duke was writing about was January and February of 1861, after the convention called by Governor Jackson had decided against secession but a couple of months before Fort Sumter.

I've read this section of Duke's memoirs numerous times and it never fails to shock me.  I find it very difficult to put myself into his mind and to understand things from his perspective.  The steps that he and his friends were taking and the actions that he was proposing are so alien to me that I just find it impossible to relate to what he's talking about.  And what he was talking about was armed insurrection against the dully constituted government of the United States.  Duke, in early 1861, was formenting rebellion in St. Louis.  He was, to be honest, a traitor.  We can sit here all day and debate the rights of a given state to succeed from the Union but I believe that Duke's actions in early 1861 were treasonous.  It's one thing to take political action to effect succession but it's another to put together an armed militia and plot to seize the United States armory in St. Louis.

I'm not condemning Duke here.  I couldn't tell you what I would have done if I was alive in 1861 and, in his writings, he comes off as a man of honor and integrity.  I have no doubt that Duke was acting on principle and that he believed the Federal government was oppressive and illegitimate.  But that doesn't change the fact that his actions were treasonous.  He was putting together an army and was planning on attacking a government military installation.  That's crazy.  That's John Brown crazy.

The thing is I don't think Duke was particularly a unique individual in 1861 St. Louis.  There were plenty of other men who actively supported what the Minute Men were doing and the other side was also actively organizing during this period.  Duke's Cyclone Club teammate, Merritt Griswold, was a member of the pro-Union Wide Awake militia that Duke mentions above.  The city was divided and I think that any chance of civil discourse was gone.  Both sides were arming themselves and looking for a fight.  The country, and St. Louis, was tearing itself apart and the normal rules and laws were out the window.

And in the middle of all of this craziness, baseball was being played in St. Louis.  It has to be remembered that the men who were playing baseball in St. Louis were not just names in a box score.  They were living, breathing human beings who were personally involved in this great crisis.  Baseball was simply just one part of their lives.  Duke was one of the pioneers of baseball in St. Louis but he was much more than that.  It's important, I think, to put both pioneer baseball and Basil Duke in the context of their times and that's what I'm trying to do here.            

Still More About The Missouri Glass Company

The Missouri Glass Company's Works are situated in the First Ward of the city of St. Louis, west of the Arsenal.  The Company was incorporated by an act of the Legislature and went into operation under their charter on the 29th day of May, and elected Edward Bredell, President, and Edward Daly, Secretary; and  now, having erected their additional buildings and completed their furnaces, cutting and mould rooms, are prepared to furnish the trade of St. Louis with a superior quality of Flint and Green Glassware equal to any manufactured in the United States, and will furnish it on such terms as if will be advantageous to the trade to purchases of them.  Having the facilities for manufacturing their own moulds, will continue to introduce all new styles and patterns that may be desirable.  They will keep on hand a stock of all the staple articles sold by Druggists, Grocers, Glass and Lamp Stores. 

Persons wishing ware made from private moulds are particularly requested to give orders at least 30 days before they wish the goods, to insure prompt delivery. 

A large assortment of Black Bottles, viz.: Hocks, Brandies, Schnaps, Claret, Champagne and Bitters.  They will be continually adding to their stock.  Samples of ware can be seen, and orders left at their office, No. 33 North Fifth street, between Pine and Olive streets, and at their works, corner Lemp and Utah streets, South St. Louis, west of the U.S. Arsenal. 

-Daily Missouri Republican, December 26, 1859


The significant thing, as far as baseball is concerned, that we find in this classified advertisement for the Missouri Glass Company is the relationship between the company and druggists, something I forgot to point out yesterday.  This is significant because Cyclone Club members Maurice Alexander, Leonard Matthews and William Matthews all worked in the apothecary business.  One can image that they met Merritt Griswold and Ed Bredell by buying bottles from the Missouri Glass Company.  

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Missouri Glass Company

I'm serious.  This article, which appeared in the Daily Missouri Republican on October 23, 1859, is absolutely everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about the Missouri Glass Company.  Since the thing runs three thousand words, I'll give you some of the important information up top:

-The company was founded in May of 1859.  This is interesting because it helps us date Merritt Griswold's arrival in St. Louis.  One would have to believe that Griswold, who went to work for the company when he moved to St. Louis, arrived after the company came into existence.  Griswold coming to St. Louis in the late spring or early summer of 1859 fits with the information that we already have.

-Edward Bredell, Jr., Griswold's Cyclone Club teammate, was actually the company's business manager.  That surprised me a bit.  I knew he worked for the company but didn't know that he ran it.  So, basically, Griswold worked for his teammate.  

-Archibald Gamble, the father of Cyclone Club members Joseph and Rufus Gamble, was one of the investors in the company.  I knew about the relationship between the Gamble and Bredell families and this just supports that.  

Anyway, if you read this whole thing (and I do recommend it), you'll know more about 19th century glass making than 99.9% of the people on the planet.  So, you'll have that going for you: 

  

The Manufacture of Glass In St. Louis—Interesting Visit To The Works—A Morning With The Glass Blowers.—Everybody is acquainted with the transparent, hard and brittle substance which is called glass, for its use is limited to no country, and to no condition of life.  The Knowledge of its properties is universal.  The babe that delights to flatten its nose against the window pane, glories in its translucency, which it soon comes to understand; and it does not require long to find out that glass, though hard and durable, will break, as shown by the careless knocking off a tumbler from the table or the casual displacement of the camphor bottle from the mantel.  We used to think that glass was everywhere, being led to this conclusion by the number of broken bits which found their way into the balls and heels of our youthful trotters when, in summer, we flung our shoes into a corner and “went barefoot.”  But everybody don’t know all about glass, about the way it is made and how fashioned into the beautiful shapes which meet us everywhere we go, and about the people who, if they do not exactly “live” in glass houses at least spend a good deal of time there.

For our own part, until the other day, we had never been inside a glass house, and, except by hear-say, which the lawyers will tell you is poor testimony, knew as little of the manufacture of glass as we did of glaciers.  We take it for granted there are others as ignorant as we, and will be surprised if some notes which we have picked up will not prove both interesting and instructive.

The Missouri Glass Works.

West of Arsenal stand the Works of the Missouri Glass Company, a corporation which was chartered by the Legislature last winter, but which was not fully organized till May last.  The stock of this Company is principally owned by Edward Bredell, Sr., Archibald Gamble and James W. and Samuel Wallace.  The latter two are brothers, and practical men, having been in the business, one twenty-seven and the other twenty-five years.  The Company have five acres of ground, on which are something like $50,000 worth of improvements.  Edward Daily is the Secretary of the corporation, and the business management of the concern is in the hands of Edward Bredell, Jr., who has an office near the corner of Olive and Fifth streets.  The Messrs. Wallace have the general superindendence of the works, direction of the men employed, &c. 

Facilities Enjoyed.

The facilities for making glass here are excellent, and it is said they will compare very favorably with those afforded at any other point in the country.—The great desideratum is sand of the proper quality, and in this particular the Missouri Glass Company avail themselves of very great advantages.  In Franklin county, this State, on the line of the Pacific Railroad, is a bluff of sand of remarkable whiteness and fineness, which is fifty feet in height, a quarter of a mile long and goodness only knows how deep, which probably contains enough to furnish the whole world for a century.  The bank may be said to be inexhaustible.  Such is the fame of this sand that a quantity of it is exported to Pittsburgh, and is thought to be the best for manufacturing glass in the known world.  We have a sample of it which is as fine and white as loaf sugar.  The transportation of the sand to the works is attended with but little cost.  A car is switched off immediately under the “quarry,” which is easily loaded and brought to the city at trifling rates of freight.

Another considerable item is the clay used in making the pots in which the materials of the glass are fused.  The pots must be of such a quality as to withstand the most intense heat without breaking or cracking; and as at best these vessels cannot last more than a few months, their constant manufacture becomes a matter of economic necessity with every glass establishment.  The German clay has long been considered of most excellence to withstand fire in making glass, but it has been ascertained that the clay which is found in large quantities at Cheltenham, in this county, and which for two or three years has been used for fire-brick, possesses all the qualities required for the purpose alluded to, being heavy, ductile, coherent, compact, and showing great lack of fusibility. 

In the particulars of sand and clay, therefore, the Missouri Glass Company may take advantage of natural conveniences which are not enjoyed to the same extent, perhaps, at any other large city in the country.  There are various other facilities found herebouts which make St. Louis an important point for the location of glass works.  The principal draw-backs, as we learn, which place this city behind Pittsburgh in this respect is the difficulty of obtaining hands and the difference, in favor of the latter place, in the price of coal.  But these drawbacks are more than counterbalanced by superior advantages. 

The Premises.

As we have before said, the grounds of the Glass Company embrace five acres, situated west of the Arsenal, in the lower part of the city.  The improvements consist of several buildings, erected expressly for the different purposes for which they are used, being divided off in separate compartments.  We do not intend to describe these buildings, but only to say that they appear to us to have every convenience required.  Piled up about the yard is a great quantity of glassware in boxes-“right side up with care”-awaiting shipment, with here and there a heap of straw or hay to be used in keeping the breakables a proper distance apart when they shall be placed in layers in barrel, hogshead or box.  Elsewhere is a mass of old glass of every shape known to geometry and of rainbow hues-broken tumblers, window panes, bottle necks, inkstands, pitchers, etc., etc., etc.  On the whole, the grounds look as though business was done there, and that of an interesting kind.  The reader will please step with Mr. Bredell and us into

The Pottery.

Here is a long, dry cellar, as it were, paved on the bottom, and appearing as neat and cleanly as a good housewife’s kitchen.  The pots for melting glass are made here.  After the clay has gone through a mill, and been ground into fine particles, it is passed through a sieve, to relieve it of all extraneous substances.  It is then put into a large trough, and water poured upon it, to give it consistency, when it is ready to be mixed like bread.  The dough, for the mixture looks something like that, is moulded and moulded and moulded, day after day, being trampled by a pair of good-sized feet, attached to the lower part of the body of a stout Hibernian, till it becomes smooth and moist throughout, and every particle adheres.  This requires about two weeks, at the end of which time the clay is moulded into the shape of large deep tubs, called pots, which are set aside for six or eight weeks, to become perfectly dry.  The pots are heated to a very high temperature before they are put in the furnace, which is done to prevent their cracking and flying to pieces. 

The Mixing Room.

The mixing room is the place where the materials for the manufacture of glass are prepared.  Flint, or white glass, is made of sand, potash, saltpeter, oxyd of lead, arsenic, manganese, and sometimes other substances.  The sand has to be washed, burned and sifted, to relieve it of all organic matter, which, if left, would give a greenish tinge to the glass.  Everything about the room is kept with most scrupulous neatness and care.  It is necessary in order to turn out superior qualities of work, that this apartment should be at all times perfectly clean; and we opine that no pastry cook in the incorporation of the ingredients of an extra fine cake is more attentive and particular than the workmen in this department. 

In one corner of the mixing room is a place to refine and purify pearl-ash.  The refined quality is used for flint glass and the residue, which is called “slurry,” is thrown aside to be employed for green glass, or the poorer quality.  The oxyd of lead, which forms one of the components of glass is made on the premises in a neat building erected for the purpose.  The process is an interesting one.  There is a sort of oven, containing an iron bath tub into which receptacle pigs of lead are thrown and subjected to the heat of the furnace.  The lead melts, and as a draft of air is allowed to pass over it, forms a scum.  This is pushed back over the inclined rim of the bath tub, where it is baked to more thoroughly extract the metallic substances, and comes out the oxyd of lead.  It may do to state here that the process of oxidation increases the weight of the lead ten per cent, a pig of one hundred pounds producing one hundred and ten of the oxyd. 

The Green Glass House.

We are now ready to enter the green glass house and see the men at work making bottles.  Green glass is the commonest quality, and is made of sand, lime, soda and salt.  The materials are not worked with much particularity and care, as this would add to the cost of the ware.  The color from which it takes its name is produced by the foreign substances, which it requires considerable labor to remove. 

The green glass-house is a square building, having in the center a large furnace, provided with five pots.  A fireman for day and night stands pitching lumps of coal upon the fire continually, and we can assure the reader climate thus generated is exceedingly warm, being over a thousand degrees in intensity.  Every one of the pots holds twelve hundred pounds of material, and each is “worked out” every day, thus turning out, independent of waste, six thousand pounds per week.  The pots in the green house furnace last from three to four months before becoming unfit for further use.  In the building are twelve annealing ovens, where the glass is placed after it has gone through the manipulations of the blowers, for the purpose of cooling it gradually to make it less brittle.  The process of annealing, or nealing, as the workmen call it, is one exceedingly simple, but of the highest importance.  We were shown a lump of unannealed glass which looked strong enough to “fell a bull,” but which broke into countless pieces on the merest touch of our pen-knife.  No sooner does a piece of work leave the hands of the blowers than it is taken to the oven, where it remains from thirty-six to fifty-two hours, the heat being allowed to die out slowly beneath it. 

The Glass Blowers.

In the green-house we saw fifteen men and twenty boys at work.  The men were ranged around the furnace, each with his hollow iron rod or stem.  Dipping the end of this pipe into one of the pots containing the molten factitious metal, the workmen twirls it out with a quantity of the white semi-fluid attached.  Keeping the rod revolving he passes the “dip” over a stove plate which serves to roll the glass out.  Then applying his metal to the tube, he inflates the glass with air till it assumes a certain size, when he gently dips it into a mould which opens or shuts with the touch of his foot.  Another blow in the tube presses the glass against the sides of the mould, filling it completely, and after a moment’s pause the mould is thrown open, like waffle irons, disclosing the shape of a soda bottle, Godrey’s cordial vial, castor oil bottle, essence vial, or whatever the matrix is intended to fashion.  It is amusing to witness the contortions of countenance shown by the blowers when filling their tubes with wind.  Their cheeks swell up to a most extraordinary size, as though practice had given them a strange ability to stretch; their eyes appear to sink in their heads, and wear a peculiar wildness which, under other circumstances, would be alarming, and every feature is irresistibly ludicrous.  This remark, however, has not an universal application, for some of the workmen do their blowing with apparent ease.

After the bottle comes from the mould, a rim is adroitly placed upon the neck, and a sudden twitch releases from the tube the new-made vessel, which is caught on an iron prong by a boy in waiting, who takes it off to the annealing oven, the blower meantime having taken another dip into the pot.  We were astonished at the uniform good guessing of the blowers in making these dips and bringing out every time just the required amount of metal.  We were told that, in taking out from the pot, an experienced workman will not vary half an ounce from the proper amount in a whole day.  On inquiring how expert the blowers were in getting out work, we were informed that a deaf and dumb man named William Diamond recently made fifty-two dozen soda bottles in a day!  This was certainly proof that Diamond, though deprived of hearing and speech, is highly gifted in the way of wind.

The Flint-Glass House

Is a very commodious circular building, provided with a large “nine pot furnace.”  Here every kind of flint or white glassware is made, from an insulater for a lightening rod to the most costly globe.—This is the only establishment west of the Allegheny Mountains where plated glass is made.  Even in Pittsburgh and Wheeling, which are somewhat noted for the manufacture of glass, this kind is not made.  The large plated globes which were exhibited at the late Fair by the Missouri Glass Company, and which attracted great attention, were splendid samples, and we doubt if anything of the sort got up in this country could surpass them.  We were shown some tumblers made here which, compared with the celebrated French glass tumblers, are very little, if any, inferior.  A large business is done by this Company in the manufacture of lamp shades, chimneys, &c.  For this work the very best hands are required, men of experience in the business, judgment and taste.  It would be worth the while of anybody to visit the flint-glass house and observe the skill displayed by the blowers in the manipulation of glass.  We cannot undertake to describe the wonders we saw there, nor tell of the many pretty shapes into which we witnessed a mass of liquid glass formed.  While we were there, Mr. Samuel Wallace took off his coat, and in a few moments made an imitation of a pair of bellows, which, combining three colors, white, red and blue, brilliantly interwoven throughout, was exceedingly beautiful. 

The pots in the furnace of the flint house contain twenty-two hundred pounds of “metal,” which are worked up twice a week.  As the fire (which burns day and night) is all underneath, and the flames are not allowed to communicate directly with the glass, as is the case in the green house, the pots last about twice as long, or from six to eight months.

In the flint house is an annealing oven sixty-two feet long, in which pans are fixed on rollers, and the ware to be “nealed” is gradually removed from the heat of the fire immediately under the entrance or “door,” to the rear, where, at the expiration of the allotted time, it is taken out, ready to be packed and shipped. 

Thirty-four men and boys are at present employed in the flint house, which number is to be increased twelve in the course of a couple weeks.

Glass Cutting, The Mould Room, &C.

The cutting room is a kind of finishing department for the finer ware.  Here lamp-globes are “roughed” on the outside by placing them on a lathe and allowing them to revolve against a bundle of small wires dipped in wet sand.  The inside is “roughed” by filling the globe with sand and placing it in a revolving cylinder, lined with straw.  The most interesting work done in this department, however, is cutting designs upon vases, shades, &c., which is performed simply by holding with the hands the article to be cut against a very soft grindstone.  The visitor cannot help feeling astonishment at the proficiency shown by the workmen in this.  It is in this way that emblems, figures and other sketches we see on various articles of glassware are made, and it is this tedious and skillful work which accounts for the costliness of such.

The mould-room is the place where the different moulds for bottles, tumblers, pitchers, and in short for nearly everything that is manufactured from glass, are kept.  The moulds must present the highest degree of polish, and hence those of brass are best.  The reader will form some idea of the importance of this branch of the business when he is informed that less than $20,000 worth of moulds would hardly do to carry on anything but a very limited business.  It requires one man’s undivided time to keep the moulds in a perfect condition of cleanliness.

Near the mould-room is an apartment devoted to the making of flint glass vials, syringes, etc., from tubes prepared into lengths of six or eight feet.  The manufacture of syringes and kindred druggists’ ware is an important feature of the business of the Missouri Glass Company, a large quantity being exported even to Pittsburgh, which place, notwithstanding its reputation in the matter of glass, cannot begin to compete with St. Louis in this particular. 

Concluding Remarks.

We have already used up so much space that we cannot dilate upon other branches of the business of the Company.  The whole number of men employed at present is one hundred and five, which will be considerably augmented in a few weeks. 

The reader who has had the patience to follow us from the beginning of this article, will have probably concluded that the manufacture of glass in this city is likely to become of great commercial importance.  We certainly think it will, for it is already assuming proportions which, a few years ago, would have been deemed almost preposterous to think of.  Any department of trade that promises to be of benefit to the place where it is carried on should be, and is generally apt to be, encouraged. 

Griswold Resigns The Presidency Of The Cyclone Club

The game of base ball now so popular in this as in Eastern cities, was ushered in yesterday afternoon, by the Cyclone Base Ball Club, on their old grounds in Lafayette Park, on which occasion they had the pleasure of having united with them in the game, representatives of the Morning Star, Empire and Commercial Clubs.  As was the case last season, a jolly time was had, especially when a member in his eager endeavors to catch the ball would step into some sunken hole, (left to ornament the park,) thereby changing his movement into that of the Zouave drill, or more properly speaking, lofty tumbling of a gymnast.  But we are happy to say this is soon to be remedied, as the clubs have petitioned the Common Council for the privilege of leveling the same at their own expense, which petition has been referred to the Park commissioners, and only awaits their action, when the improvements will be immediately commenced, provided the Commissioners do not delay the matter until it is too late in the season for starting the grass on places that are to be filled.  We notice the Club is composed of the same members as last year, but a slight change has been made in the officers, caused by Mr. M.W. Griswold resigning the Presidency, which is now filled by the promotion of the Vice President, Mr. Leonard Matthews, and the election of Mr. Benteen as Vice President, Mr. M.W. Alexander, Secretary, Mr. F.L. Garesche, Treasurer, and Messrs. Wm. Matthews, J. Riggin, Jr. and E. Bredell, Jr., Trustees.  The Cyclones play every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon.

-Missouri Republican, March 7, 1861


There is some very important information in this brief article from the Republican.  The mention of Lafayette Park as the Cyclones' "old grounds" should lay to rest any debate about whether or not they were playing in the park prior to 1861.  Now that debate was mostly (or only) taking place in my own mind but I'm back to being comfortable in stating that the Cyclones played at Lafayette Park in 1859 and 1860.

More important is the reference to Griswold resigning the presidency of the club prior to March 1861.  There are a couple of secondary sources that state that Leonard Matthews was the club's first president and I always found that to be odd.  I always wondered why Griswold wouldn't have been elected president.  He basically formed the club and introduced the New York game to St. Louis.  Why wouldn't he have been president of the Cyclones?  Now, in any club and election, there is politics involved and I just figured Matthews was a more popular figure among the club members.  But this article implies that Griswold was president in 1860 and that leads me to question whether or not he was president in 1859.  That would make more sense than Matthews being president and Matthews election to the club presidency in 1861 would explain the references in the secondary sources, which date to the mid-1890s at the earliest.  Matthews was remembered as being the president because he was the last president.   

A Empire/Commercials Match From 1860

The match game of Base Ball between the Commercial and Empire Club, resulted in favor of the Commercial.  Owing to the late hour at which the game was commenced, only five innings could be played, on which the game was decided.

-Missouri Republican, October 10, 1860


According to the St. Louis Daily Bulletin, this game was played on October 7, 1860.  Note that Merritt Griswold was the umpire.  

And Now You Know The Rest Of The Story

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

-Missouri Republican, August 23, 1861


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

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

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

The Carr Place Nine

Carr Place nine play the Lucas Amateurs a game at the Union Grounds at 10 o'clock this morning.  

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 25, 1884


I mention this little tidbit about a Carr Place baseball club simply to note the tradition of ball-playing in the Carr Park neighborhood.  The original Carr Place nine was the Morning Star Club, who was playing town ball at Carr Park in the late 1850s, was introduced to the Regulation game by Merritt Griswold and played the Cyclones in the first match game in the history of St. Louis baseball.  The tradition of bat and ball games in the Carr Park neighborhood was almost thirty years old when the above game was played.    

Perfectos Win Griswold Trophy Ball

As I mentioned last week, the St. Louis Baseball Historical Society presented the Merrit W. Griswold Championship Trophy Ball to the winner of a tournament played between area vintage base ball clubs.  The tournament was held Saturday and the Brown Stockings, Unions, Cyclones and Perfectos all vied for what we hope will become a treasured St. Louis baseball tradition.

Brown Stockings vs. Perfectos

The Griswold Trophy Ball is a recreation of the trophy ball awarded by Griswold and the Cyclone Base Ball Club of St. Louis to the Morning Star Base Ball Club of St. Louis in 1860, commemorating the Morning Stars victory over the Cyclones in the first match game ever played in St. Louis.  Griswold took the game ball from the match, had it gilded and inscribed with the date of the match, the two participants and the score.  Throughout the 1860s, the ball was awarded to the club that claimed the championship of St. Louis and came to represent baseball excellence in the city.  One of the goals of the St. Louis Baseball Historical Society is to revive this tradition and to bring awareness to the contributions of Merritt Griswold to the history of St. Louis baseball.

The St. Louis Perfectos Base Ball Club won the round-robin tournament and were the first recipients of the Griswold Trophy Ball.  Steve Pona, founder, president and generalissimo of the St. Louis Baseball Historical Society had the pleasure and honor of awarding the trophy to the club.

Congratulations to Steve, who worked hard to put all of this together, and, of course, congratulations to the Perfectos.

The St. Louis Baseball Historical Society Presents: The Merritt W. Griswold Championship Trophy Ball

The St. Louis Baseball Historical Society, in conjunction with some of the vintage baseball clubs in the area, has a great event taking place this weekend:

BASE BALL CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY FIRST AWARDED 151 YEARS AGO TO BE PRESENTED AGAIN

St. Louis, MO - On Saturday, October 1, 2011, a base ball tradition that dates back to 1860 will be revived by the Saint Louis Baseball Historical Society with the presentation of “The ‘Merritt W. Griswold Championship Trophy Ball’ to the champion club of regional vintage base ball nines.

“The new championship trophy ball is named after a man who should be recognized as one of the most significant figures in St. Louis baseball history,” stated 19th century baseball historian and author Jeff Kittel. “Griswold was a true base ball player, evangelist, teacher and organizer. He was the first to introduce the “New York” rules of base ball to St. Louis and personally taught players the intricacies of the new game. Moreover, he helped develop the structure under which amateur teams organized and competed.”

The new “Merritt W. Griswold Championship Trophy Ball” is a re-creation of the original gold trophy ball he commissioned in 1860 to commemorate the very first competitive match between two athletic clubs in St. Louis; a game that Griswold organized. The game was played on July 9, 1860 between the Morning Star Club and The Empire Club. The Morning Star defeated the Empires by a score of 50-24 on a field just west of the Old Fairgrounds. (Note: It is not yet known if the original gold championship trophy ball had a formal name. The original trophy ball was last seen in the mid-1880’s.)

“We’re bringing a significant piece of St. Louis base ball history back to life,” stated Kittel. “The original gold championship ball was a coveted trophy awarded to the club that won the city championship. And the club that held the gilded ball was recognized as not only the best club in the city but also the best club in the state of Missouri and, often, the champion base ball club of the West.” Kittel added, “This trophy grew to become the symbol of base ball excellence in the American Heartland and the most treasured award a St. Louis base ball club could possess.”

The original gold trophy ball, commissioned by Griswold, was engraved noting the date, the teams and the score. The new ball will feature the exact same engraving.

July 9, 1860 

Morning Star 50

Empire 24

“On the surface, the gilded ball symbolized the championship of St. Louis baseball,” stated Steve Pona, founder of the Saint Louis Baseball Historical Society. “But the ball was also representative of the pioneering spirit of the men who laid the foundation for what would become one of the country’s great baseball towns. Without the passion and dedication of these men, our community would be a much different place.” Pona continued, “It feels right to bring the memory of Griswold and his peers, as well as this piece of our history, back to life.”

Vintage base ball is played by the rules and customs of the game in 1860. There are four teams that compete locally and many teams, regionally. The schedule of play runs from March to October with each team playing an estimated 35 game schedule.

“The entire St. Louis Vintage Base Ball community is excited about the revival of the tradition of awarding the championship gold ball to St. Louis’ top club,” stated Ted “Doc” Yemm co-founder of the St. Louis Perfectos. “There couldn’t be a more deserving person for this honor than Merritt Griswold.”

------------------------------

Merritt Griswold Biography:

• Born in New York City in 1835

• Played baseball with the Putnam Club of Brooklyn in 1857 and the Hiawatha Club of Brooklyn in 1858 and 1859

• Moved to St. Louis in 1859

• Worked for the Missouri Glass Company

• With Edward Bredell, Jr., founded the Cyclone Base Ball Club of St. Louis in late Spring 1859 and served as the club’s field captain

• Discovered a town ball club, the Morning Stars, in St. Louis and taught them the rules of the New

York game of base ball, leading to the establishment of the Morning Stars as a base ball club

• Published the rules of the New York game in the Missouri Democrat on April 26,1860, leading to

the creation of multiple new base ball clubs in St. Louis

• Played in the game between the Cyclones and the Morning Stars on July 9, 1860, the first

competitive match game played in St. Louis history

• Ordered the ball that was used in the first game from a company in New York

• Served as an umpire for St. Louis games until he moved back East during the Civil War

• Served as an officer with the 3rd Regiment of the United States Reserve Corp, the “Home Guards,” from May, 1861 until August, 1861 and his unit was involved in the capture of Camp Jackson in May, 1861

• Was an engineer who was awarded multiple patents

• After leaving St. Louis, he lived most of his life in Englewood, New Jersey

• Died on March 24, 1915

• In 1910, Griswold wrote a letter to Al Spink, the founder of The Sporting News and author of The National Game, within which he laid out the early history of base ball in St. Louis and his involvement in the establishment of the game in the city. The letter was published in the second edition of The National Game and is one of the most important documents in St. Louis baseball history.

The schedule for the games Saturday is as follows:



VINTAGE BASE BALL CITY CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT THIS WEEKEND

‘Merritt W. Griswold Championship Trophy Ball’
To Be Awarded for First Time Since 1876

Location: Emmeneger Park, Kirkwood, MO

    9:00 - Brown Stockings vs Unions
    10:30 - Cyclones vs Perfectos
    12:00 - Perfectos vs Unions
    1:30 - Brown Stockings vs Cyclones
    3:00 - Cyclones vs Unions
    4:30 - Perfectos vs Brown Stockings
    6PM - Merritt W. Griswold Championship Trophy Ball Presentation

   
I sadly am going to unable to attend (damn you, real life) but it's going to be a great event and I hope you can get out to Emmeneger Park to catch the festivities.  This is something that we've been working on for some time and it's great to see it come to fruition.  Good luck to all the clubs involved. 

Griswold Back In New York

Glassmaker's Clay-Evens & Howard's

Cheltenham Fire Clay, of Missouri, used for

years in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, &c.  For Sale

by

Merritt W. Griswold

sole agent, 101 Maiden Lane, N.Y.

-Boston Daily Advertiser, August 8, 1863

We know that Griswold was still in St. Louis in August of 1861 when he mustered out of the Home Guards and we know that at some point he moved back east.  However, we don't know exactly when he returned to New York or under what circumstances.  Actually, there's quite a bit about Griswold that we don't know but that's neither here nor there.  The point of all of this is to show that Griswold was in New York by August of 1863 and, having already set up a business, had most likely been in the city for at least a few months.  Therefore, we can state that sometime between August of 1861 and the summer of 1863, Griswold left St. Louis and moved back to New York.  

I had always assumed that Griswold left St. Louis during the war years to escape the chaotic political and military situation and return to a more familiar and normal setting.  And it certainly looks like he did leave St. Louis during the war.  But the more I think about it, the less comfortable I am saying he left because of the war.  Certainly, St. Louis was not an enjoyable place to be during the Civil War.  The city was under martial law and the threat of attack by Confederate forces.  The population was divided and there was a large number of Confederate sympathisers in the city.  And Missouri itself was a battleground, just as divided as St. Louis.  Griswold's experience in St. Louis as a Yankee outsider in a militantly divided, slave-owning city may not have been particularly pleasant.  

But then it dawned on me that New York wasn't exactly a calm oasis during the war years and was probably just as divided as St. Louis.  You had the draft riots and talk of making New York some kind of neutral, free and open city.  New York certainly wasn't a Republican, pro-Union stronghold.  So if Griswold was trying to escape from the chaos of the war, he probably shouldn't have moved back to New York.  

In the end, the question of why Griswold left St. Louis remains unanswered.   

The First Meeting Of The Cyclone Club

In the summer of 1859 a meeting was held in the office of the old Missouri Glass Company, on fifth street between Pine and Olive. M.W. Griswold, a clerk in the company's store, who had lately moved to St. Louis from Brooklyn, N.Y., an enthusiast on baseball, aided by the exertions of Ed Bredele, had gathered together the nucleus of a club, and after one or two preliminary meetings, the Cyclone Baseball Club was formed, the first in St. Louis, and the first west of the Alleghanies. The uniform adopted was blue flannel cap, blue flannel pants, with white stripe and white leather belt. Leonard Matthews was elected president; M.W. Griswold, field captain; Rufus Gamble, catcher; Fred Garesche, shortstop, and the positions of pitcher, basemen and fielders were filled by first one and then another of the players.

-St. Louis Republic, April 21, 1895

This article in the Republic, based on the recollections of Matthews, Garesche, and Maurice Alexander, is significant because it pushes back the beginnings of the regulation game in St. Louis into the summer of 1859. My assumption, based on Griswold stating that he was playing with the Hiawathas of Brooklyn in 1859, was that the Cyclone wasn't founded until the fall of 1859 and game play was limited until the spring of 1860. Now, however, we have a source that explicitly states that the Cyclones were active in 1859.

This is in line with Tobias' statements that the regulation game was being played in the city in 1859. However, there is an interesting problem here. There is no byline on the Republic article and we can't be certain who wrote it. But I would bet dollars to doughnuts that Tobias wrote this article. I've spent way to much time with the Tobias source and know the idiosyncrasies of his writing. The style, the punctuation, the spelling, the phrasing-it all screams Tobias to me. Also, note the date. Tobias began to publish his letters (or, more accurately, his series of epistolary articles) in The Sporting News in October of 1895, just a few months after this article appeared in the Republic. One would assume that Tobias had been doing the research and putting the series together prior to October and this article was the result of his interviews with former members of the Cyclone Club as he was putting together his longer work. If this is true then Tobias is still the only source that makes the claim of regulation games in 1859.

Still, this is a significant source that's rich in details about the club. I want to thank John Maurath from the Missouri Civil War Museum for sending me a copy.

Some Pictures of 19th Century St. Louis

I was browsing the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog the other day and found some great pictures of St. Louis taken during the 19th century. Since I think it gives a nice feel for what life was like in St. Louis during the 19th century and helps put the history of St. Louis baseball in context, I thought I'd share them with you.

First up is a picture of downtown St. Louis that was taken sometime between 1860 and 1865. This is basically where the Missouri Glass Company, where Merritt Griswold and Ed Bredell worked, would have been located. It's now essentially the northwest section of the Arch grounds and the Laclede's Landing area. This is what the city looked like when the earliest baseball clubs were being formed.



This is a print from 1874 showing the St. Louis Fairground just north of downtown. If you look at the far left of the picture, you'll see the beginning of an open field. According to most sources, this is where the first match game, between the Cyclone and Morning Star baseball clubs, was played.



Here's a picture of the Eads Bridge under construction that must have been taken around 1873. The first bridge that spanned the Mississippi at St. Louis, the bridge was opened in 1874. I think that the bridge is a symbol of the growth and maturity of the city that can also be seen in the entry of two professional teams into the National Association less than a year after the bridge was opened.




Another picture from the 1870's, this one shows the Olympic Theater.



Here's a series of pictures of the riverfront taken between 1870 and 1899 that give you a nice sense of the economic vitality of 19th century St. Louis.








Finally, a series of street scenes taken in the 1890's.

Bat And Ball Games In St. Louis Prior To The Advent Of Baseball

It was in the latter years of the '50's that base ball found a permanent lodgement here and in 1860, 1861, and 1862 it became quite "the craze," and assumed definite proportions. This was not accomplished without considerable opposition and the overcoming of much prejudice. Cricket had long had a strong hold on lovers of out door sports and St. Louis possessed several good clubs, notable among them being the Jackson, which enjoyed quite an extended reputation and deservedly so too. The advent of base ball was met with sneers and derision, denouncements and obstructions. But its votaries or "cranks" had the "craze" bad, very bad, and they stood in to win, which they did and their success proved the downfall of cricket. Upon the disbandment of these clubs quite a number of cricketers enlisted in the ranks of base ball and proved skillful players.

-E. H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, October 26, 1895


Tobias also wrote, in the next installment of his series on the history of baseball in St. Louis, that "Prior to the starting of any of (the first baseball) clubs, what was called 'Town ball' had quite a footing in St. Louis." One would imagine that the popularity of bat and ball games such as town ball and cricket in St. Louis in the first half of the 19th century helped pave the way for the spread of baseball in the city. While there is no doubt that Tobias is correct when he says that there was resistance to the new game from those who played the old, a solid tradition of bat and ball games in the city helped create an infrastructure that baseball could co-op.

This is one possible explanation for why the game, once it first appeared in the city in 1859, took hold so quickly. By the summer of 1860, there are at least six base ball clubs already playing in St. Louis and there may have been as many as ten. Players, clubs, ball grounds, equipment, etc. were already in existence when the game first arrived in St. Louis. While this infrastructure may not have been perfectly and completely co-opted by the new game, it certainly had to have helped facilitate the introduction and acceptance of a new bat and ball game.

While I look at the prior existence of bat and ball games in St. Louis as something that had a positive impact on the introduction and growth of baseball in St. Louis, this didn't necessarily have to be the case. In one sense, baseball, town ball, and cricket were natural competitors for the time and loyalties of people in St. Louis. As Tobias wrote, there was opposition to and prejudice against the new game. Merritt Griswold wrote about his interactions with the Morning Star Club when they were still playing town ball and the efforts that it took to get them to try the new game. While it appears that the existence of a bat and ball game infrastructure helped in the establishment of the game in city, it could have just as easily impeded that establishment and crushed the game in its cradle. While that didn't happen, it certainly could have and there was no reason to believe in 1859 that baseball would plant its roots in St. Louis as deeply as it did.

The Morning Star Club

One of the earliest match games played was between the Cyclone and Morning Star Clubs on grounds just back of where now stands the amphiteatre in the Fair Grounds and resulted in the Morning Stars winning the game, by a score of 36-21. The players on the Morning Star nine were: Wm. Henry, 1b; Robt. Henry, c. and captain; Jno. Henry, lf; David Naylor, rf; Dolf, 3b; Chas. Scudder, 2b; Richard Perry, ss; Martin Burke, p; H. H. Franklin, cf...Capt. Martin Burke, pitcher of the Morning Star Club, went into the war of the Rebellion on the Confederate side and in a short time was brought home severely wounded. He did not long survive and was buried here. The ball won by the Stars on this occasion was sent East to be gilded and inscribed and on its return the defeated gave a supper to the victors at the Planter's House. A legend is extant that a few years after Jerry Fruin borrowed the ball and forgot to return it. Both (the Morning Star and Cyclone Clubs) were disorganized by the war, most of the Stars going into the Union Army under Maj. Zagonyi, in command of Gen. Fremont's Body Guard...

-E. H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, November 2, 1895

Tobias' account of what happened to the trophy ball from the first match game played in St. Louis appears to be supported by Merritt Griswold. In his letter to Al Spink, Griswold wrote that "the ball used in that first match game was for years used as the championship trophy, it going from one club to the other, and the last the writer ever heard of it, it was in the possession of the Empire Club." Fruin, of course, was a long-time member and captain of the Empire Club. Griswold also wrote that he was the person who sent the ball East to be gilded and engraved.

The Morning Star Club was a town ball team that played at Carr's Park and were convinced by Griswold to try baseball. After a bit of coaching, the Morning Star Club "never played town ball" again.

The Empire Club Celebrates Their Anniversary

Illustrative of the discipline maintained (by Jeremiah Fruin) is an incident that occurred soon after the Home Guards were put into service throughout the city. The Empire Club was celebrating the anniversary of its organization by a match game between the married and single men on Gamble Lawn, and as usual had erected their tent at a convenient spot for the safe keeping and change of clothing, ice water, and other refreshments. From the tent pole was suspended a blue and gilt banner that originally had been presented by Col. John McNeil to one of the old volunteer fire companies from whom it was inherited by the Empire Club. About the middle of the game when the large attendance, composed mostly of ladies and children, was getting at fever heat interest, it was suddenly discovered that the grounds were almost completely surrounded by detachments of Home Guards, a squad of whom marched straight to the middle of the field surprising the players and causing such consternation among the audience that it quickly dispersed amid the shrieks and cries of the terrorized women and children, and to the deep indignation of the members of the club, some few of whom giving way to their anger, seized on bats, bases (they were movable in those days) and anything with which they could make a fight. Fruin sprung to the front of the soldiers, ordered the ball players back and caused a suspension of hostilities. Among the players, as an invited guest, was Capt. Griswold, an officer in the Home Guards and a member of the Cyclone Club, who accounded Fruin's peace-preserving efforts by addressing himself to the officer of the intruders, a somewhat fresh importation, from whom it was soon learned that they had been informed and so believed that the banner was a secession flag and the gathering was one of rebels. It was impossible to make the officer understand the truth of the situation. His "Dutch was up" owing to the imprecations and jeers that had been hurled upon him and his men and he would not be appeased without taking several players prisoners to headquarters at Turner Hall on Tenth street just South of Market. As further proof of his prowess the officer also took along that much despised and tear provoking "Secesh" banner. At Turner Hall, Col. John McNeil was in command. He quickly recognized his own old banner and understood the situation by at once liberating the prisoners. It was owing mainly to Fruin's ready action and control of his men that no actual conflict took place on the ball field, for one over-act on the part of a ball player would have doubtless caused an indiscriminate firing from the Home Guards, wherein the women and children would have suffered and perhaps another chapter of the "Slaughter of the Innocents" added to the history of those dark and troubled days.

-E. H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, November 2, 1895




While Tobias doesn't give a date for this game, the implication is that it took place in 1861. Al Spink writes in The National Game that the Empire Club was founded on April 16, 1860 so this game was marking the first anniversary of the club's founding and most likely took place during one of the most chaotic periods in the history of St. Louis. If the game was being played in the middle to late April of 1861, it takes place as the struggle for control of the city between Union and Secessionist forces is coming to a head.

In March of 1861, the Missouri Constitutional Convention votes to stay in the Union but not to supply military aid to the Federal government. On April 12, Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter. On April 20, pro-Confederate forces seize the arsenal at Liberty, Missouri. On April 29, Nathaniel Lyons seizes the arsenal at St. Louis for the Union. On May 1, Gov. Jackson calls out the Missouri Militia. And on May 10, Lyon seizes Camp Jackson.

In the middle of all of this, the Empire Base Ball Club celebrated their anniversary by playing a game.

Note: The picture at the top of the post is of the St. Louis arsenal. The second photo is of the Nathaniel Lyons monument in St. Louis. The arsenal can be seen in the background.

Griswold And The Henson Gun

I've written before about my belief that Merritt Griswold was an engineer by trade based on the fact that he had worked for the Knox Railway Clamp Company and two patents that he held for a "ventilating apparatus" and a type of window glass. Since then I've discovered that Griswold, while living in St. Louis, worked for the Missouri Glass Company, which also seems to fit the profile of an engineer. Another piece of information that supports the idea that Griswold was an engineer is his involvement in 1872 in an attempt to sell a new type of gun to the United States government.

In the records of the United States Congress there is a document entitled Proceedings And Recommendations Of The Board On Heavy Rifled Ordnance, Instituted Under the Act of June 6, 1872, For The Selection Of Breech-Loading and Muzzle-Loading Rifled Ordnance For Experiments and Tests. The Board on Ordnance met in the summer of 1872 in New York City and it appears that one of the things they were doing was attempting to select a new type of artillary gun for the army. Merritt Griswold is mention in the minutes from the board's August 14, 1872 meeting.

New York, August 14, 1872

The board met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10.30 a.m., all members being present.

A letter from the Chief of Ordinance was read, transmitting the report on an 8-inch gun of Mann's pattern.

The board then proceeded to a consideration of the propositions of Nathan Thompson...of Brooklyn, New York, and, after discussion, they were laid over for the present.

A letter was received from Merritt W. Griswold, of New York, calling attention to the breech-loading and breech-recoiling gun inventedby Mr. Henson. The letter was accompanied by a drawing. Mr. Griswold was present, was invited to meet the board on Monday next.

The board then discussed the feasibility of a plan of converting cast-iron smooth-bores into rifles. No conclusion being reached, the board adjourned to 11 a.m. of the 15th instant.

Griswold is mentioned again in the minutes from the board's meeting on August 19th:

August 19, 1872

Messrs. Merritt Griswold and Henson, being present, exhibited a model of the Henson gun, and described its mode of performance and its construction. After the withdrawal of these gentlemen, the gun was discussed and the following resolution was passed unanimously:

Resolved, That the board does not recommend for experiments and tests,under the provisions of the act of June 6, 1872, Henson's breech-loading and breech-recoiling gun, presented by Merritt W. Griswold.

In the appendix of the Board's report, two letters that Griswold wrote to the Board are reproduced, along with the drawings of the Henson Gun submitted by Griswold:

Office of Merritt W. Griswold & Co.,
104 Chambers street, New York, August 14, 1872

Dear Sir:

I beg leave to submit herewith a drawing (a gun will be also submitted if desired) of "Henson's breech loading and breech-recoiling gun,"that in actual practice has given results superior to a solid gun of the same caliber, and accomplishing much beyond the impressions formed by a theoretical examination.

At each discharge the butt recoils from the barrel proper, which latter does not appear to receive the least shock, thereby leaving a clear open space for reloading.

A trial was made of placing an independent paper wad between the powder and breech, and it was left in the same position after the discharge that it occupied prefiously, though the shot had been projected with great force and the breech recoiled to its proper position for reloading.

Hoping to hear from you, I remain yours, &c.,

Merritt W. Griswold

The second letter gives more details about the specifications of the Henson gun.

I think several things can be learned from this information. First, this is more confirmation that Griswold was a mechanical engineer. Second, he was living in New York in 1872. This is important because it's difficult to track Griswold's movements in the 1870's and 1880's. Finally, this gives us the name and address of Griswold's company-Merritt W. Griswold & Co. on Chambers St. in New York.