SABR Biographical Research Committee March/April Report
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SABR Biographical Research Committee March/April Report New Ballplayer Discovered Peter Morris was reading the Washington Post attempting to find information on missing player Michael Lehane, who we had listed as playing with Washington (UA) in 1884 and with Columbus (AA) in 1890-91. The Post spelled his name Leahan and said that he was from Hartford, Connecticut. We knew that Mike Lehane was from New York City, so this sounded suspicious. Joe Simenic found that Sporting Life spelled his name Lehan in 1884 and Lehane in 1890-91. Peter checked the Hartford census and found that the only likely candidate was a James Lehan. Richard Malatzky then checked Hartford city directories and found Lehan listed until 1946 when he disappeared. Richard relayed the throw to Rich Bozzone, who found Lehan’s obituary. Amazingly, the obituary said that Lehan had played shortstop with Washington in his younger days! I can see how someone could have assumed that Mike Lehane was the 1884 player, but it was a great find to discover that this wasn’t the case. Also, at the time of his death, Lehan was the oldest living former major leaguer. He was 5 months older than George Strief, who was thought to be the oldest from 1944-46. This is our Find of the Month. Snow Falls Charles Snow, co-holder of the major league record for the highest lifetime batting average for all players with at least one at bat, has been found by Dave Lambert. We knew that Snow played one game for the Brooklyn Atlantics and was born August 3, 1849 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Dave checked the birth record and found that Snow’s parents were Benjamin and Laura Snow. Benjamin, Laura, and Charles appear in the 1850 Massachusetts census living in Lowell. In the 1860 census, Benjamin has died and Laura is living with her 3 children, Charles, Ida, and Ella. In 1872, Ida Snow, the daughter of Benjamin and Laura Snow, married George Head of Brooklyn. This might be the connection that blows Snow into Brooklyn. George and Ida Head appear in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 census living in Brooklyn. Charles Snow, age 71, single, born in Massachusetts, appears in the 1920 census living in Brooklyn. Dave checked the records of Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn and found George Head was buried there January 22, 1932, Ida was buried there June 5, 1927. Also in the same plot was Charles Snow, brother-in-law of George Head. The cemetery records show that Snow died August 27, 1929 at Prospect Heights Hospital in Brooklyn. Also buried in the same plot is a family of Whites, making this the Head-Snow-White plot. It is unknown if any dwarfs are in the same cemetery. What Was Your Name Again? Oscar E. Purner, pitcher in 2 innings for Washington in 1895, has been found by Peter Morris. The state of Arizona is making an effort to help our committee by putting its death certificates online (as long as the person died before 1954). Peter found Purner by searching for the name Burner. The Mar/Apr 2004 Biographical Report Page 1 death certificate says that the deceased called himself George Burner, but his name was really Oscar E. Purner. The cemetery records also show O. E. Purner and the age is exactly right. Peter also found him on the 1910 census living in New Mexico. He was listed as Oscar E. Parmer, but was the right age, born in the District of Columbia, and was a soldier. He was also a soldier on the 1900 Virginia census, where he was listed as Purner. As hard as some of these guys try to hide, our expert researchers still manage to root them out. John Corcoran John Corcoran, catcher for Brooklyn in 1884, was from Lowell, Massachusetts. He was the son of William Corcoran and was living with his father and listed as a ballplayer in the Lowell city directories of the 1890s. Later he moved to Jersey City, New Jersey, a fact Bob Richardson was able to confirm by two subsequent newspaper articles. Bob Bailey found Corcoran’s death certificate in Jersey City and this confirmed the Lowell birth. Manager Found in Bath Edwin Curtis, the manager of Altoona in 1884, has been found by Dave Lambert. We knew that Curtis was listed in the 1900 census living in Chicago. The census showed that he was born in Connecticut. Dave was able to determine that Edwin was the son of Joseph and Celia Curtis. A search of the 1910 census found Curtis to be living in Bath, New York. The largest cemetery in Bath is Grove Cemetery. Dave checked their records and Curtis was buried there and was listed with the right parents. Very good work. Loughran and McManus, Attorneys At Law What are the odds that two missing ballplayers, who both attended the same college, both became lawyers, and both died 3 months apart in 1917 would be found by two different biographical committee members on the same day? Well, it happened as Richard Malatzky located William Loughran, catcher for New York in 1884, and Bruce Allardice nailed Patrick McManus, pitcher for Troy in 1879. Notes had indicated that catcher William H. Loughran had attended Manhattan College. Other notes indicated that he had attended Columbia. William H. Laughran actually attended Manhattan as an undergraduate, and received his law degree from Columbia. Richard found him listed as a lawyer in the New York city directories. He last appeared in 1917. Richard checked the 1917 New York deaths and found that he died August 7, 1917. His son, William H. Laughran, Jr., died in 1963. His obituary mentioned that he was formerly baseball coach at Manhattan. A tough find, as Laughran was often confused with Loughlin, the unidentified Baltimore outfielder from 1883. As for McManus, there were several notes that stated that McManus, formerly of the Troy Haymakers, had attended Manhattan College and was now a lawyer. Bruce found a memorial to Patrick McManus in the 1918 New York County Bar Annual. It said that he was born in Ireland, attended Manhattan College, practiced in Troy, and died May 19, 1917 in Orange County, New York. Richard found his death certificate showing that he died in Mount Hope, New York. Two Mar/Apr 2004 Biographical Report Page 2 outstanding finds! Ambrose McGann It appears we have another tool to help us find some missing players. The Maryland State Archives have put an index to Baltimore deaths out on the web. One of the Baltimore players we were missing was Ambrose McGann. We hadn’t been able to locate him in the census after 1910. However, he w as listed in 1920 as Ambrose McGown and in 1930 as Ambrose McCann, so he actually never left Baltimore. Richard Malatzky was able to find him in the index, dying February 2, 1941. John Coleman John Coleman pitched one game for Philadelphia in 1890. He was known to be from Bristol, Pennsylvania. Peter Morris was able to find his obituary and fortunately, it mentioned that he was a former pitcher whose battery mate was “Doc” Potts, another player whom we recently found. New Members Please welcome Bruce Allardice to the committee. Bruce’s address is 9670 N Dee Rd Apt 205 Des Plaines, IL 60016-1750 and his code number will be A5. Also welcome Eves Raja, 312-1/2 Barton St E, Hamilton, Ontario L8L 2X5. Eves’ code number will be R3. Birthday List Here are the nonagenarians celebrating birthdays in May and June. Be sure to send a card. May 1 Connie Marrero 93 May 17 Michael Balas 94 May 17 Ace Parker 92 May 20 Stan Benjamin 90 May 31 Dutch Fehring 92 June 8 Art Mahan 91 June 12 Peter Naktenis 90 June 19 Don Gutteridge 92 June 20 Bill Werber 96 Scoreboard CATEGORY IN OUT PCT Mar/Apr 2004 Biographical Report Page 3 Names 16057 58 99.640 Births 15450 665 95.873 Assumed Alive 7715 47.875 Deaths 8070 330 50.078 Bats 14844 1159 92.758 Throws 15065 938 94.139 Heights 15165 838 94.763 Weights 15128 875 94.532 Debut Dates 16115 0 100.000 Questionnaires 9985 6130 61.961 Total 92.3970 Step Right Up! Our Mystery of the Month is Harvey L. Watkins, non-playing manager of New York in 1895. Harvey left to join the circus. While touring with Barnum & Bailey in Europe, he met his wife. This is him on the 1930 census: West 108th Street Harvey Watkins 59 NYx3, first marriage at 27, manager chain theaters Edith Watkins 49 Engx3, first marriage at 17, immigrated 1906 He was last listed in the cd in 1933-34 with wife Emma E., probably the same woman, but who knows? There's a death record for an Emma Watkins age 58, who died March 23, 1937, in Staten Island that needs to be checked out. There's no death record in New York that matches Harvey. Notes were provided by Peter Morris. Mar/Apr 2004 Biographical Report Page 4 New Monthly Data Questionnaires Received: None New Information Received: DEBUT YR NAME CHANGE OR ADD SOURCE 1915 Ancker, Walter B: Apr 10 1893 (SE) 1903 Aubrey, Harry Herbert Height: 5-07 Weight: 130 (SE) 2003 Baldelli, Rocco Daniel Name: Rocco Dan Baldelli (F4) 1951 Bamberger, George Irvin B: Aug 1 1923 (V1) D: Apr 4 2004 North Redington Beach, Florida 1947 Bearden, Henry Eugene D: Mar 18 2004 Alexander City, Alabama (L6) 1954 Berberet, Louis Joseph D: Apr 6 2004 Las Vegas, Nevada (L6) 1871 Brannock, Michael J.