The Lucas Family, Part Two

When it comes to the history of 19th century baseball in St. Louis, the members of the Lucas family that we're really interested in are the children of James H. Lucas. Specifically, we're interested in his sons, J.B.C. Lucas, Robert Lucas and Henry Lucas.

As mentioned yesterday, James Lucas married Marie Emilie Des Ruisseau in Arkansas in 1832. When he died in 1873, his estate was divided among his widow and children. The children of James H. Lucas included William Lucas, who was born in 1836; J.B.C. Lucas, born in 1847 (and, according to the census records, was commonly referred to as Charles); Nancy L. Johnson, born in 1849 and married to Dr. John B. Johnson; Robert J. Lucas, born in 1850; Elizabeth L. Hager, married to John S. Hager; James D. Lucas; Joseph D. Lucas, born in 1856; and Henry V. Lucas, born in 1857.

John B.C. Lucas was born on December 30, 1847, died in September of 1908 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis. He is significant because he was the president of the Browns Stockings of St. Louis from 1875 to 1877. You can find more posts on him in the sidebar, including a photo and brief biography.

Robert Lucas was born in 1850 and died on May 18, 1922. He is significant because he played for the championship Union Club's first nine in the late 1860s. According to the box scores, Lucas pitched, caught and played the outfield for the Unions. He was also an attorney and, like most of the members of his family, was involved in the real estate business. Robert Lucas was described in the St. Louis Daily Republic as being an "effective left-handed twirler of the Union Club, [who] could fill any position with credit" and there is evidence of his playing baseball as late as 1875.

Henry V. Lucas was born on September 5, 1857, died on November 15, 1910 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery. He is significant because he was the founder of the St. Louis Maroons and the Union Association. Lucas' Maroons club, in 1884, was the first St. Louis baseball team to win a national championship and, in 1885, became the second St. Louis club to play in the National League (the first being his brother's Brown Stocking club). I've written plenty about Henry Lucas and you can find all of those posts over in the sidebar.

I've also posted some information about the division of James H. Lucas' estate and more general information about the wealth of his children that you may be interested in looking at. But the main point I'd like to make here is that the sons of James H. Lucas were involved in St. Louis baseball across three decades, from the 1860s into the 1880s. They were involved with three of the biggest clubs in the history of 19th century St. Louis baseball: the Unions, the Brown Stockings and the Maroons. You literally can not write the history of 19th century St. Louis baseball without mentioning the Lucas brothers. And I didn't even mention a cousin, Charles Lucas, who, like Robert Lucas, was a member of the Union Base Ball Club.

As I said yesterday, I could write a great deal more about the Lucas family and how significant they were in the history of St. Louis baseball but a lot of that stuff is here on the blog if you're inclined to look for it. My goal was just to briefly untangle the Lucas family genealogy for you and I think I did that.

The Lucas Family, Part One

It's impossible to tell the story of 19th century baseball in St. Louis without an understanding of the Lucas family and their place in the city's history. The sons of James Lucas played an important roll in the development of St. Louis baseball across three decades and their position in St. Louis society, I believe, helped legitimize and popularize baseball among the elite of the city. While I could probably write five thousand words on the family and their involvement in baseball, what I want to do here is lay out a quick genealogy of the family and some brief notes of interest. If you're interested in more information about the Lucas family, I'd recommend James Neal Primm's Lion of the Valley and Howard Conrad's The Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis.

I'll begin by quoting Conrad. Jean Baptiste Charles Lucas was the "founder of a family which has been among the first in St. Louis for nearly a century..." He was "born August 14, 1758, in the ancient town of Pont-Auderner, Normandy, France, and died in St. Louis, August 18, 1840." The first J.B.C. Lucas is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis. At the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin, Lucas moved to the United States in 1784, with his wife, Anne Sebin, and settled near Pittsburgh. Conrad writes that Lucas, a man of "very superior attainments and active temperament," was "elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1795, and in 1801 President Jefferson sent him west on a confidential mission, the object being to ascertain the temper of the French and Spanish residents of Louisiana. In 1803 he was a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, and after the cession of Louisiana to the United States he was at once appointed by President Jefferson commissioner of land claims and judge of the Louisiana Territorial Court. In 1805 he removed his family to St. Louis...At the same time he began investing his means in lands and lots in St. Louis and adjacent thereto, and thus laid the foundation of a splendid family fortune. He was in all things a leader during the years of his residence in St. Louis, and helped to lay not only the foundation of the city, but the foundation also of the commonwealth of Missouri. He died full of years and honor, and left a vast estate to his son, James H. Lucas, and his daughter Anne L. Hunt."

The children of J.B.C. Lucas and Anne Sebin, besides James and Anne, included Robert Lucas, who was born in 1788, educated at West Point and died in 1813; Charles, who was born in 1792, was prominent in St. Louis politics and killed in a duel with Thomas Hart Benton in 1817; Adrian, who was born 1794, was a planter and drowned while crossing an icy lake in 1804; and William, who was born in 1798 and died in 1837.

James H. Lucas, according to Conrad, "the fourth son of J.B.C. Lucas, was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1800, and died in St. Louis, November 12, 1873." Like his father, he's buried in Calvary Cemetery. "He first attended St. Thomas College, in the State of Kentucky, at which institution he had for schoolmates, among others, Jefferson Davis...Afterward he attended Jefferson College of Pennsylvania, and then studied law at Hudson, New York." He settled for a time in Arkansas, where he taught school and practiced law and, in 1832, married Mary Emilie Des Ruisseau (or, as Conrad spells it, Desruisseaux). After the death of his last surviving brother, William, in 1837, Lucas returned to St. Louis where he was placed in charge of his father's estate. "To the care, conservation and development of this property he devoted the remaining years of his life, and he was also identified with many public enterprises. He was among the original subscribers toward the building of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, in which he took $100,000 worth of stock, and he was the second president of that company...He was the first president and organizer of the St. Louis Gas Company; was also a director in the Boatmen's Savings Institution, and was interested as a stockholder and director in many other financial enterprises. He was a member of the banking firm of Lucas, Symonds & Co., of St. Louis...His large holdings of real estate in St. Louis were improved during his lifetime to a great extent, and in 1872, previous to his making a division of his property, he was the owner of two hundred and twenty-five dwellings and stores."

Anne Lucas Hunt was the only daughter of J.B.C. Lucas. She was born in 1796 and died in 1879. Her first husband was Captain Theodore Hunt, a United States naval officer who died in 1832. In 1836, she married Wilson P. Hunt, the cousin of Theodore Hunt, who died in 1842. After the death of her second husband, she spent the remainder of her life managing the estate she inherited from her father and in various charitable organizations. I mention her because there is a road in St. Louis named Lucas and Hunt, which is named after her and her family.

Tomorrow, I'll cover the children of James Lucas but I'd like to point out one thing. The Lucas family was the wealthiest family in St. Louis. They were probably the largest landowners in St. Louis, with the Chouteau/Laclede family being their only real competition, and were involved in most of the largest businesses in the city. Their name and influence is all over the city, if you know where and what you're looking at. Besides Lucas and Hunt Road, there's a neighborhood and a park named after the family. Most of the prime real estate in downtown St. Louis was owned at one time by the Lucas family. The Old Courthouse, pictured above, sits on land donated to the city by the Lucas family. That's a nice piece of real estate, isn't it? And the family gave it away. That's how wealthy they were.

Some Specifics About The Wealth Of The Lucas Family

There's an interesting article in the January 4, 1880 edition of the Globe-Democrat that provides a list of people who paid taxes on property valued at over $25, 000. Essentially, it's a list of the wealthiest landowners in St. Louis. On the list are numerous names connected to the history of St. Louis baseball. The Cabanne family, the Carrs, the Turners, and Rufus Lackland all had ties to the Union Club while Samuel Davis was the father of Cyclone Club member Jonathan Davis.

What really stands out is the wealth of the Lucas family. Henry Lucas owned property valued at $257, 580, J. B. C. Lucas $290, 810, and Robert Lucas $289, 920. Six members of the family were among the twenty wealthiest landowners in St. Louis. And those numbers don't include property owned outside of the city or any other investments.

While I'm talking about the Lucas family, I might as well point out something that I don't think I've ever mentioned. The family was involved in St. Louis baseball in one form or another across three decades. Robert Lucas was a player for the first nine of the Union Club for several years in the 1860s, J. B. C. Lucas was the president of the Brown Stockings in the 1870s, and Henry Lucas was the president of the Maroons and the founder of the Union Association in the 1880s.

The Partition Of The Lucas Estate

In June, 1875, the Circuit Court appointed, at the suggestion of the heirs and devisees of James H. Lucas, Messrs. George S. Drake, Isaac H. Kelm and Julius Pitzman, Commissioners, to divide the lands belonging to said estate in eight parts or shares, of equal value, and to apportion the same amongst his children, namely: William Lucas, John B. C. Lucas, Nancy L. Johnson, wife of Dr. John B. Johnson, Robert J. Lucas, Elizabeth L. Hager, wife of John S. Hager, of San Francisco, James D. Lucas, Joseph D. Lucas and Henry V. Lucas. This partition includes all the lands belonging to said estate, situated in Iron County, Reynolds County, Ripley County and St. Louis County, of all the unimproved lots in the City of St. Louis, and of some central property not heretofore disposed of by Mr. Lucas.

Several years prior to his death, Mr. Lucas provided for his family by conveying his elegant residence on Lucas Place, two new stores on the west side of Fourth street, between Olive and Locust streets, and three large stores at the northeast corner of Fourth and Locust streets, to his wife, and by conveying most of his improved property to his children in equal parts, but the improved property in the central part of the city included in the partition was not divided by Mr. Lucas in his lifetime on account of the difficulty of making a perfect and equitable division...

The total value of the estate divided in this partition amounts to about $3, 500, 000, according to the estimate of the Commissioners.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 23, 1876

Giants On The Ball Field, Part Three

The insurance men were fond of relaxation and found it in baseball.  Wallace B. Delafield of Delafield & Snow was one of the best players in the Commercial Club, as was Edwin Fowler.  Martin Collins, an honorary member of the Empire Club was an enthusiast on ball play and offered the first prize in the shape of a championship belt, which is now in the possession of Walter S. Parr, one of the ex-presidents of the Empire Club.  A.W. Howe of the insurance firm of Howe & Capen played in the Union Club.

Among the most active players in early days was Fred W. Benteen, who joined the Union Army at the beginning of the Civil War, through which he served with such distinction that he won the shoulder straps of a Major in the regular army, gained further honors and promotion in Custer's famous cavalry fights on the frontier, and is now living at Atlanta, Ga., with the rank and pay of a retired Brevet Brigadier General, devoting much of his time to literary pursuits, being a contributor to Recreation, a New York magazine.  In his ball playing days in St. Louis he was a member of the Cyclone Club, to which also belonged the well-known Olive street druggist, Morris W. Alexander, who ranked as a first-class runner of bases and wielder of the bat, the latter quality being doubtless acquired by frequent handling of the pestle.  It was in those ball playing days of his youth that "Aleck" made a 'home run' by marrying the daughter of Mr. John Young, who was engaged in the saddlery business on Main street and a member of the Empire Club.  Mr. Young made no pretensions to being a player, but he was an acknowledged authority on the rules and in great demand as umpire, which position he sustained much more creditably and satisfactorily than many of his later day successors.  He is still living in St. Louis on Westmoreland place. 

Ferdinand L. Garesche, now connected with the Edison Electric Light Company, was originally a Cyclonist, and could make the bases as quickly as the best of sprinters.  He was what was then a rara avis, a left-hand batter, and played shortstop to the Queen's taste.  He later joined the Union Club.

The first regular field captain of the Empire Club was Jerry Fruin, late Police Commissioner.  He was a hard hitter, good manager and unsurpassed second baseman, a position which was then, as now, considered by many as the key of the field.  His firm of Fruin, Hambrick & Co. has some large contracts for paving the streets of New York City now under construction.

Robert J. Lucas was the effective left-handed twirler of the Union Club, and could fill any position with credit.

Justice Jas. J. Spaulding was one of the longest term active members of the Empire Club.  He was a fine fielder and superior second baseman, which position he filled after Jerry Fruin's retirement.

James H. Fitzgibbons, the architect and builder, pitched for the Empire Club during several seasons and proved of the greatest value to that organization.  He first began pitching while at Yale College and was one of the hardiest men ever on a ball field.  On one occasion when the success of the Empire Club was at a critical point, he persisted in pitching through four innings although his hand had been cut open and was bleeding.

-St. Louis Daily Republic, February 9, 1896

One thing that's becoming a problem with this series of posts is the tags.  Blogger gives me something like 200 key strokes to tag each post and with the number of players and clubs mentioned it's just not enough.  I'm simply unable to tag every player mentioned in each post and that will create problems when trying to find or retrieve information.  I've been thinking about putting links to some of my better posts in the sidebar and this little problem might force me to do it.  Of course, there's always the search function.  

Anyway, on to some of the things that I found interesting about the above information:

-I didn't know that Ferdinand Garesche and Robert Lucas were lefties.  While Lucas seems to fit into the pattern of the emergence of left-handed pitchers in the later part of the 1860's, I'm not sure what to think about Garesche.  I have no idea how much of a rare bird a left-handed batter was during the antebellum era.

-James Fitzgibbons (who, some may know, I've often confused with Gerald Fitzgibbon and James Fitzgerald) was a Yalie.  Somewhere (perhaps in The National Game) there's a reference to Yale coming to St. Louis to play baseball but I've never been able to run it down.  Fitzgibbons (not to be confused, remember, with Fitzgibbon or Fitzgerald) most likely played a role in bringing the Yale Club to St. Louis.    

The Brown Stockings Open The Season

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