1861.1

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Chadwick Wants to Start Richmond VA Team, but the Civil War Intervenes

Salience Noteworthy
Tags Civil War, Famous
Location US South
City/State/Country: Richmond, VA, United States
Game Base Ball
Age of Players Adult
Text

Bill Hicklin notes (email of Feb 4, 2016) that "Chadwick visited his wife's family frequently and was disappointed that, as of the verge of the Civil War, there appeared to be no base ball clubs there at all."

See discussion (by Chadwick?) of forming a bbc in Richmond, to play at the Fair Grounds, in New York Clipper, March 30, 1861. [ba]

Sources

Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns, Baseball: An Illustrated History [Knopf, 1994], p.12, no ref given. 

Schiff, Millen, and Kirsch also cite Chadwick's attempt, but do not give a clear date, or a source.

Comment

Tom Gilbert, 10/5/2020, notes "Henry Chadwick had close Richmond connections. His wife was from a wealthy and prominent Virginia family and he himself traveled to Richmond and was involved in early attempts to found a NYC- style baseball club there. Antebellum New Yorkers vacationed in Virginia in the 1850s and baseball clubs played there even before the famous Excelsiors tours."

To be more exact, Chadwick's wife was the daughter of Alexander Botts, or a prominent VA family, though Alexander and his family had moved to NYC. Her uncle was Congressman John Minor Botts, her first cousin was Confederate Colonel Lawson Botts, and her mother was a Randolph, one of Virginia's First Families (FFVs). [ba]

For more on Richmond base ball, see 1859.73

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Query

Is there a primary source for this claim?

Yes, NYC 3-30-61. [ba]

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Submitted by Bill Hicklin, Tom Gilbert
Submission Note WH Email, 2/4/2016; TG Email 10/5/20



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