1826.3
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Base Ball Associated with Boston Gymnasium Proposal?
| Salience | Noteworthy |
|---|---|
| Tags | Contemp. "Base Ball" usageContemp. "Base Ball" usage |
| Location | |
| City/State/Country: | Boston? Philadelphia?, United States |
| Modern Address | |
| Game | Base Ball, Foot BallBase Ball, Foot Ball |
| Immediacy of Report | Contemporary |
| Age of Players | YouthYouth |
| Holiday | |
| Notables | |
| Text | [See image, below] Messrs. William Sullivan and John G. Coffin have petitioned the Councils of Boston for the use of a piece of public ground, for two years, for the establishment of a Gymnastic School–a measure of doubtful propriety, we apprehend. If a boy wants to play; let him play but do not spoil the fun by dictating the modus operandi–a game of base ball, or foot ball, is worth a dozen gymnassiums [sic], where the eye of surveillance is to check the flow of animal spirits. |
| Sources | United States Gazette (Philadelphia) March 28, 1826 |
| Warning | |
| Comment | Note that this find comes five years before town ball is seen in Philadelphia. From Bruce Allardice, email of 6/9/2021: "In the year 1823, Dr. John G. Coffin, established a journal in Boston entitled, "The Boston Medical Intelligencer, devoted to the cause of physical education, and to the means of preventing and curing diseases." The motto in the title page was as follows :- "The best part of the medical art, is the avoiding of pain." This journal some five or six years afterward, became the "Boston Medical and Surgical Journal," "
Dr. John G. Coffin (1769-1828), married. Eliza Rice.
This is undoubtedly one of the petitioners for the gymnasium.
The mentioned William Sullivan is probably Judge William Sullivan (1774-1839), a prominent local politician and lawyer.
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| Query | Does this item suggest that 'base ball' was a term used in Philadelphia in 1826? In Boston in 1826? Was the Gymnasium actually established in Boston? Was ballplaying among its activities? Was gymnastics seen in the Commons in the early years? Isn't this ref a very early appearance of the term foot ball in the US? Can we learn what rules may have applied? Edit with form to add a query |
| Source Image | |
| External Number | |
| Submitted by | David Block |
| Submission Note | Email of September 21, 2020 |
| Has Supplemental Text |
1826.3 Base Ball Associated with Boston Gymnasium Proposal?"
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