On the north edge of town, along the Alexauken The Flemington Neshanock BBC vs Newtown “Picked Nine” Club Annual Memorial Day match at Pickering Field Newtown, Pennsylvania photo by Bucks County Tintype, 2015
Scott “Snuffy” Hengst [kneeling first row, fourth from left] The early days of base ball in Lambertville, NJ
A historical review circa 1865-1866
by Scott “Snuffy” Hengst The Flemington Neshanock BBC vs Elkton Eclipse (MD) during match at Howell Living History Farm, Lambertville, New Jersey Scott “Snuffy” Hengst [kneeling first row, third from right] PechuKucha Presentations on the Lambertville Logan and cousin Dave Zearfoss - catcher for the New York & St. Louis clubs (NL) circa 1890-1900 Early influences https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-olympic-ball-club-of-philadelphia-83e80e305f5e Ticket for the Magnolia Ball Club 1844 at the Elysian Fields and Colonnade Hotel - Hoboken, New Jersey
https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-elysian-fields-dc82eb7b6165 English touring cricket team 1859 Matches in Montreal, Hoboken, Philadelphia, Hamilton (Ontario), Rochester (NY)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_cricket_team_in_North_America_in_1859 Harper’s Weekly Oct.1859, cricket and base ball matches at the Elysian Fields
http://hoboken.pastperfectonline.com/archive/B3B1CFE2-619A-4B34-86CD-532425251015 Knickerbocker Club of NY & Excelsior Base Ball Club of Brooklyn at the Elysian Fields, September 1859
http://www.covehurst.net/ddyte/brooklyn/ancient.html; http://www.19cbaseball.com/image-knickerbocker-and-excelsior-baseball-teams.html; https://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/game-sport-baseball-1850s https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Knickerbocker_Base_Ball_Club_of_New_York The “Athletics” of Philadelphia circa mid-1860s Elias Hicks Hayhurst standing center left in light-colored vest
The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History, SABR, Spring 1984 Birth of the Logan Club News of President Lincoln’s assassination in The Beacon April 21, 1865
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1865 Base Ball in The Beacon newspaper
July 28, 1865
July 21, 1865
“A base ball club has been organized in this place.”
First practice July 28, 1865 at 2 o’clock on the Delaware Cricket Club grounds
Meeting for business at Reeve’s Photograph Room at 8 o’clock The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1865 Base Ball in The Beacon newspaper
August 4, 1865
match game Aug 4th interesting game expected Aug 11th meet for practice Aug 25th meet for play Sept 1st
August 25, 1865
August 11, 1865
September 1, 1865
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1865 Base Ball in The Beacon newspaper
September 22, 1865 October 6, 1865
September 29, 1865
match game at Belvidere Sept 22nd married & single men Sept 29th match game vs Belvidere Oct 6th
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1865 Lambertville Logan vs Belvidere Club (NJ) in 1865 Belvidere won both matches 33-10 & 56-36
The Warren Journal (newspaper), Belvidere, NJ 1865 Championship match between Mutual Club & Atlantic Base Ball Club in 1865
Currier & Ives (1866) The American National Game of Base Ball Base-ball match between the “Athletics” of Philadelphia, Pa., and the “Atlantics” of Brooklyn, N.Y., played at Philadelphia, October 30 1865 Sketched by Joseph Boggs Beale
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/37292 Base Ball in The Beacon newspaper
May 11, 1866 May 4, 1866
“…annual meeting, all the members are expected to be present.”
List of officers and players for the Delaware Cricket Club, Logan Base Ball Club, and Junior Cricket Club
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Base Ball in The Beacon newspaper
Formation of clubs in Frenchtown and Flemington in June and July 1866
June 22, 1866 June 15, 1866
July 27, 1866
“match game of base ball... between the first nine of the Logan Base Ball Club and a picked nine of the Delaware Cricket Club”
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Base Ball in The Beacon newspaper
August 17, 1866
August 10, 1866
Sept 7, 1866
formation of Young America Aug 10th prize game – ginger cake Aug 17th match game at Flemington Sept 7th
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Lambertville Logan vs Young America (youth team) & prize match game of base ball
August 24, 1866
August 17, 1866
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 August 31, 1866
Athletic BBC of Philadelphia Hicks Hayhurst pictured center left
The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History, SABR, Spring 1984 The “Athletic” Game Lambertville Logan vs Athletic BBC of Philadelphia
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Why Lambertville? Elias Hicks Hayhurst
Hayhurst umpired the prize match game in Lambertville, August 31 - one week prior to the Athletic match
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Details from The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History, SABR, Spring 1984 Dr. Jeremiah Hayhurst
Lambertville Logan Club Treasurer (1865-66) Brother of Elias Hicks Hayhurst (Philadelphia Athletic)
www.ancestry.com
The Beacon (newspaper) Lambertville, NJ The Pennsylvania Journal of Dental Science, vol. 3, January 1876 no 1. July 28, 1865 Philadelphia Athletics and Brooklyn Atlantics, Harper’s Weekly, November 1866
https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-1866-return-their-investment Lambertville Logan vs Flemington Neshanock & Minerva Club (L’ville) vs Star Club (Flem.) youth clubs September 7, 1866 September 7, 1866
www.neshanock.org
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Photo of modern day Flemington Neshanock (at right) No coverage throughout 1867 until… BASE BALL editorial by Clark Pierson “Since base ball has attained the dignity of being our ‘national game,’ it has become a ponderous and elaborate affair… Rules, as rigid as those which govern the proceedings of Congress… goodly volumes are published discussing the size, shape and weight of balls and bats… A club of novices practices daily, sometimes to the neglect of everything else, and the sore annoyance of parents and employers…”
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1867 Logan Club officers and ball players 1865 Logan Club Officers July 28, 1865 President: William V. Cooley (46yo)
Vice President: James M. Robinson (45)
Secretary: Judson Roberts (19, father Charles worked for the Penn R.R.)
Treasurer: Dr. Jeremiah Hayhurst (dentist)
Directors: Col. Ashbel W. Angel (Captain)
Theodore Frelinghuysen Skillman (23)
Theodore Abbott “recently admitted to practice” as lawyer in March 1864
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1865 May 11, 1866
1866 Logan Club Officers
President: James M. Robinson
Vice President: William V. Cooley
Secretary: T.F. Skillman
Treasurer: Dr. Jeremiah Hayhurst
Captain: Theodore Abbott Esq.
Directors: C.A. Skillman Esq., Augustus C. Barber, C.D. Coryell
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Logan Club Captain A.W. Angel
November 2, 1866
http://www.topogs.org/bcw_angel.htm The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1865 https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10476198 A.W. Angel Obituary “Colonel Ashbel W. Angel had faced death upon the sandy plains and amid the rugged mountains, had stood exposed in the thickest of the fight in numerous battles, when shot and shell spread carnage and death on every hand, had come forth with honorable wounds, and in the pursuit of an honorable living in a distant land, was stricken down almost as suddenly as by the stroke of a cannon shot, far from home and friends he loved, amid strangers. He is called to his final resting place, and with his bereaved and sorrowing family we can but cherish his memory and mourn his loss.”
July 11, 1884 (died July 5th in Panama)
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1884 Civil War monument, Mary Sheridan Park, Lambertville
A.W. Angel’s brother Capt. Charles Augustus
Company A, 35th New Jersey Volunteers Infantry killed in action near Ruff’s Mill, Georgia July 4, 1864 http://amanlypastime.blogspot.com/2015/05/for-union-dead.html Boozer’s Hardware House – 45 North Union Street, circa 1860s?
Lambertville Historical Society collection J.F. Boozer scored one run & made eight outs during the prize match game, as a member of A.W. Angel’s team
Lambertville Historical Society collection; The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866; Google Maps William V. Cooley James M. Robinson Club President (1865), VP (1866) Club VP (1865), President (1866)
History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, James P. Snell, 1881 Detail from Hunterdon County Atlas Beers, Comstock & Cline, 1873 Property owned by Logan Club members next to the Hill School
http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/10823/Lambertville+2/Hunterdon+County+1873/New+Jersey/ Detail from View of Lambertville, New Jersey O.H. Bailey & Co., 1883 School house on Coryell’s Hill and adjacent open field used for informal ball games
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:9s161835r Theodore Skillman grave site Mount Hope Cemetery
http://newjerseycivilwargravestones.org/view.php?id=9510 Augustus C. Barber – President, Lambertville National Bank Annual Report, Comptroller of the Currency to the Second Session of the Fifty-Fourth Congress of the United States, December 7, 1896.
Knights of Pythias – Theo. Abbott, A. W. Angel, A. C. Barber
History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, James P. Snell, 1881 Knights of the Mystic Chain possibly Lambertville in 1870s?
Lambertville Historical Society collection Other local teams of note Flemington Neshannock Club vs Milford Club (66-27) & Neptune BBC of Easton vs Trenton BBC “victory by the former by 18 or 19 runs”
September, 1866 October, 1866
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 Oct 12, 1866
Clubs formed in New Hope, PA and Stockton, NJ by Oct. 1866
Photo depicting a New Hope, PA amateur team circa 1870s
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1866 The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History, SABR, Spring 1984 Formation of a base ball club in Doylestown & challenge from Newtown club for proposed game on the exhibition grounds November 1866
Mercer Museum Library – Bucks County Intelligencer “Clipping File” November 13, 1866 Doylestown Tammany Club vs Newtown Penn Base Ball Club Tammany won both contests (40-37, 46-30)
Mercer Museum Library – Bucks County Intelligencer “Clipping File” November 20 & 27, 1866 August 2, 1867
Photo of 10 East Court St Doylestown, PA – site of Intelligencer offices circa 1860s
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1867; Google Maps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelligencer_(Doylestown,_Pennsylvania) Great Base Ball Match at Lambertville, July 1870
“A base ball match was played between the ‘Fat Nine’ vs. the ‘Lean Nine.’ The ‘well favored’… aggregate weight 1836 lbs. The ‘ill-favored’… aggregate weight 1084 lbs. Thousands assembled to see the sport; no circus ever drew so large a crowd… When the ‘well-favored’ trotted out their elephant, there was a perfect yell from the spectators…”
Hunterdon County Republican (newspaper), July 12, 1870 Baseball team for the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) 1873
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015651537/ Base ball game outside Bucks County Prison, Doylestown, PA (1885)
James A. Michener Art Museum Princeton College 1896
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-c1d6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 Lambertville Athletic Club circa 1900s
Lambertville and New Hope, Images of America Series, James Mastrich Lambertville Athletic Club grandstand destroyed by flood October 1903
Lambertville Historical Society collection Lambertville Athletic Club circa 1904
Notable players include:
Kline, catcher, sitting front row right
Case, pitcher and right fielder, standing back row second from left
MacKay, manager, seated middle row center
Lambertville Historical Society collection Lambertville Athletic Club circa late 1900s
Kline, standing back row third from left MacKay, manager, seated middle row center Lambertville Historical Society collection Baseball game in Lambertville circa late 1900s-1910s
Photo depicts a game at the rebuilt Ely Field ball grounds, note taller backstop fencing, larger grandstand netting on roof
Lambertville Historical Society collection Lambertville Athletic Club 1915
Case Kline
Lambertville Historical Society collection Searching for the Delaware Cricket Club grounds July 28, 1865
Delaware Cricket Club grounds
“The Club will meet for play this (Friday) afternoon at 2 o’clock upon the grounds of the Delaware Cricket Club, at the head of Union Street.”
The Beacon (newspaper), Lambertville, NJ 1865 “Lot bounded on the north by Matthews, on the east by the River Rd, on the south by lands of Weeden.. And on the west by lands of the R.R.”
Detail from North Part of Lambertville [Village], F.W. Beers 1873 The Hunterdon County Republican, Flemington, NJ 1881 1881 March, 1891
Cricket grounds
June, 1895 Cricket grounds (present day)
Google maps N Union St – north view N Union St – south view
Cricket grounds (present day)
photos taken by the author http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/pdf/c&h/HistoricalMarkerPolicy.pdf Special thanks to my wife and family &
Lambertville Historical Society Lambertville Free Public Library Hunterdon County Library The Mercer Museum Library David William Tilden Zearfoss (RIP) Jeremy Watterson at Montana Baseball History Brad “Brooklyn” Shaw and John Zinn at Flemington Neshanock BBC Liz Sheehan at PechaKucha Lambertville-New Hope Suzanne Gitomer, Liz Riegel, Fred Eisen Scott “Snuffy” Hengst is a professional researcher, amateur genealogist, and 19th century base ball enthusiast living with his family in Lambertville.
He spent seven seasons working at Major League Baseball – Advanced Media, supporting the live gameday platforms during the nascent years of the company’s web streaming technologies.
An active ballist for the Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club since 2010, he’s played in matches under rules of the 1860’s and 1870’s from Maryland to Massachusetts, on pastural farmsteads like Howell Living History Farm, and in the middle of a Civil War fort on George’s Island in Boston Harbor.
You can follow his occasional postings on the Lambertville Logan Base Ball Club at: facebook.com/LambertvilleLoganBBC