1858 Niagara, Buffalo (Niagaras)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: unconfirmed    Team: documented

Photo-detective work: digging on a pioneer image spotted while at the Fred.

At the recent SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th-century Conference held at Cooperstown, I came across the early baseball image below. It was on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. This image is not widely known, it seems, so I sought to learn more and share what could be found.

In the process, an interesting variant of the game from 1858 was uncovered. If you enjoy unpacking old photos and tracking game evolution, then please read on.

Photo A

This photo was dated 1857 by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The placard in the display case under the image read: “Members of the Niagara Base Ball Club of Buffalo, NY, pose for their club photograph in 1857.” Yes, it is possible this photo was made in 1857, the year the Niagara club was formed. However, their organization took place in late 1857 and the club seemingly did not pick its first nine or play its first game until August of the following year. The study below points to a late August 1858 date for photo A.

The first Niagaras.
The Buffalo Morning Express reported on September 12, 1857, that the Niagara club “has been organized” and that “they have adopted the constitution and by-laws of the Excelsior Ball Club of Brooklyn.” To date, there have been no newspaper reports found of Niagara playing any games in late 1857 or in early 1858. It was not until June 1, 1858, and again on June 14, 1858, that the club was reported to be playing intrasquad games, pitting a “married” nine against a “single” nine.

The Niagaras practiced the Excelsior game in Buffalo at Seventh Street, near the state fairgrounds. The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser on June 4, 1858, suggested that Buffalonians “walk to the grounds of the Niagara Club above the Medical College, take a seat on one of their benches [and] watch the game of base ball scientifically played.” Niagara’s first game against an opposing team was played almost a year after they were formed, on August 26, 1858, at the Niagara grounds vs. the Erie Club of Buffalo. The Buffalo Morning Express on August 25, 1858, said this was “the first challenge given and accepted [in Buffalo] between clubs who play according to the rules and regulations of the National Association of Base Ball Players.”

Determining a date for photo A.
The late August 1858 photo date can be determined by first comparing the players in photo A with those identified in the circa September 1859 Niagara team photo, see facial analysis below. In all, five player identities in photo A could be suggested, while the remaining four players in photo A currently cannot be identified. The five identified men in photo A were known to be on the starting nine. Additionally, five players in the circa 1859 image were not included in photo A. Based on this, we can assume the above image was of the Niagara starting nine and from a period other than circa September 1859.

Next we charted the Niagara players in box scores, starting with the first game against Erie on August 26, 1858, and ending with the last game played in September 1860. The conclusion was that the identified men in photo A, in combination with the missing men in photo A, pointed to the photo being made within a small window of time — roughly during the period when the first Niagara game was played on August 26 versus Erie. It is therefore possible that photo A was made to commemorate that “first challenge” against Erie, one in which Niagara was victorious. Based on box scores, photo A was seemingly made after the married-single games of June 1858, a time when the club was likely determining its starting nine. Photo A could also have been made up to and including the September 3, 1858, game vs. Flour City, when the same starting nine took the train to Rochester. Subsequent box scores tell us that photo A was not made after the first Flour City game on September 3, as new players (identified in the circa 1859 photo) then joined the starting nine. Confusing, I know.

The Niagara uniform.
The players wore a white shirt with a bib in photo A, with a dark belt featuring a center buckle, and pants of a mid-tone color. This uniform was very similar to that shown in the circa 1859 image of the Niagara team by Oliver and Jane Evans. No cap was shown in photo A and no color description of the Niagara uniform has been discovered.

Dated circa 1858, possibly late August 1858. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that the players wore a shirt with a tapered bib. Both the bib and the shirt collar may have been trimmed with darker material. The quality of the photo makes it difficult to determine if the shirt bib had the letter “N” on it.

So, who’s who in photo A?
As stated, we can possibly identify five of the Niagaras in photo A: John B. Higgins (58-60) 4th from left, William F. Miller (58-60) 6th from left, John B. Sage? (58-60) 7th from left, George M. Love (58, 60) 8th from left, and Franklin Sidway (58-60) at right. These identifications were made based on the facial study below. The identity of player Sage cannot be confirmed, however according to box scores Sage played in every game for the Niagaras between 1858 and 1860 and also was the team treasurer, so he must be in this photo. The four unidentified players in photo A, as determined by box scores from the August 26 game vs. Erie and the September 3 game vs. Flour City, were B. Wells Miller (58), George B. Ketchum (58, 60), George S. Wardwell (58, 60) and Frank Demarest (58). To date, there are no known photos of these men to confirm their identities in photo A.

For the August 26, 1858, game vs. Erie, and the September 3. 1858, game vs. Flour City, the starting nine for Niagara was: pitcher B Wells Miller, catcher George Ketcham, first base William Miller, second base John Higgins, shortstop Frank Demarest, third base George Love, and outfielders John Sage, Franklin Sidway and George Wardwell. The early Niagaras had three sets of brothers: B Wells and William Miller, Franklin and James Sidway, and George and William Wardwell. Many of the men were of high-standing in the community, occupations included attorney, shipping merchant, bookkeeper, fire marshall, banker and printer. To learn more about all of the Niagara players, please reference the biographies written by Peter Morris in Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012). Years players on the first nine determined by box scores from August 26, 1858, to September 28, 1860. Image scan from Threads. Original photo from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, NY.

Player Ketchum injured his leg/ankle in the September 3 Flour City game tripping on a base and had to leave the contest. The bases were filled with sand, not sawdust, and were firmer than expected. The injury may have been serious as Ketchum did not appear in box scores for the return games with Erie and Flour City later in September 1858, and did not appear in known box scores from 1859. He returned to play in games for Niagara in 1860. Ketchum was replaced in the September 3 Flour City game by Thomas Shiels, one of the Niagara team directors. As all players seem to be standing comfortably in photo A, it is likely the image was made before the first Flour City game and when Ketchum was injured, that is, if Ketchum was actually in the photo.

Who’s not there?
Five players that were identified in the circa 1859 Niagara team image were not included in photo A, see facial analysis below. Two of these men did play for the team in 1858. They were Willian N. Loomis (58, 59) and William T. Wardwell (58-60). Both played for Niagara in the married-single game on July 14, 1858, and in the return games with Erie on September 9, 1858, and Flour City on September 24, 1858. Both men also played for Niagara in 1859 and Wardwell remained a regular for Niagara in 1860. Their absence from photo A helps to determine the late August 1858 photo date.

Three additional players identified in the circa 1859 Niagara image were not in photo A. They were Albert Bishop (59, 60), James Sidway (59, 60) and David Burt (58-60). Buffalo newspapers tell us that all three were with other local teams in 1858: Bishop with the Buffalo Club, and Burt and Sidway with the Frontier Club, which they formed in June 1858. Bishop played for Niagara starting in 1859 and left western New York for Wisconsin after playing one game for Niagara in July 1860. Burt did play in the married-single game in June 1858, his only appearance with Niagara in 1858. Both Sidway and Burt played regularly for Niagara in 1859 and 1860. The absence of Bishop, Sidway and Burt in photo A may further suggest the 1858 date for photo A. It also suggests that Niagara recruited these players from other teams to strengthen their club for the 1859 season.

Facial analysis of the Niagaras.


This facial analysis compares the players in photo A, possibly dated late August 1858, with the Niagara team photo dated circa 1859, as well as photos of the players from later in life. This analysis was made to help date photo A.

The baseball boom in Buffalo.
When looking back at the history of the game in Buffalo, the Buffalo Express on October 17, 1897, noted that “boys have always had some sort of a ball game with which to worry off some of their overplus of animal spirits.” However, the Express noted that it was not until the Niagara club was formed in September 1857 that the organized game grew. “The Excelsiors of Brooklyn were the stars,” the Express noted, “and the organization of the Niagaras was due to the efforts of two members of that team, James B. Bach and Richard Oliver, who came to Buffalo in the fall of 1857 and assisted in the formation of the club and the laying out of the diamond. […] The new game took the popular fancy and in a few months there were half a dozen local teams playing it.” When the Excelsiors of Brooklyn came to Buffalo to play the Niagaras on July 5, 1860, the Buffalo Courier reported that the home club “expect to be beaten, and as one of its members remarked, ‘It’s only proper, that the parent should be the first to whip the offspring.’”

Leading up to the first-ever Niagara game, played with Erie on August 26, 1858, Buffalo newspapers extolled the virtues of the new game. The Buffalo Express on August 25, 1858, said, “We believe in encouraging athletic sports of all kinds, for they promote the health and vigor of our youth in a great degree, and the generations to come will feel their influence.” The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser on the same day said that “there can be no doubt as to the beneficial effects of these [baseball] games upon the physique of the players, and we are pleased to notice their genial adoption by all classes.” The Buffalo Daily Republic and Times on August 24, 1858, said, “It is really a noble game, and is destined to become very popular throughout the country.” Clearly, Niagara had won over the members of the local press, or maybe they were already club members.

Other versions of the game.
Niagara played “according to the rules and regulations of the National Association of Base Ball Players,” however other versions of the game were also played in Buffalo in 1858. Note the box score below from the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, August 20, 1858: fifteen players per side and four bases called “byes.” Each team had a thrower not a pitcher, three catchers, one shortstop, and six fielders. This “base ball” game was played just six days before Niagara and Erie first demonstrated the “National Association” game, the version they learned from the Excelsiors. If anyone has more information on this early version of baseball, please send it to Threads. I’m curious.

Box score of a baseball game played on August 19, 1858, between the Star and Buffalo clubs, both of Buffalo, full view at left, detail view at right. From the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, August 20, 1858.

Thank you for your time. —-Craig

Written documentation on this uniform:
September 1858: “The Niagara Base Ball Club are making preparations for a ‘good time’ at their match with the Flour City Club of Rochester. […] The [train] cars will be decorated with the flags of the club, and will run through to Rochester stopping for breakfast with Mr. T. T. Bloomer, at Avon Saloon.” From the Buffalo Courier, September 2, 1858.

September 24, 1858, Niagara v. Flour City, Rochester, at Buffalo: “The Niagaras were dressed in their usual uniform and looked their best.” From the Buffalo Daily Courier, September 25, 1858. This game was the return match between these two clubs. The Courier on September 27, 1858, published a lengthy report of the banquet held after the September 24 match including a transcript of the toasts made and a listing of the music played. After the dinner the president of the Rochester club “presented to Mr. Bach, the secretary of the Niagara Club, the ball which had been won from them, and to which the Niagaras were entitled as a trophy of victory. […] The Niagaras would have the ball properly lettered and preserve it as a memento of this friendly contest.”

September 1858: “Blodgett and Bradford, with their usual politeness, sent us two excellent pieces of music of their publication, and in their usual superior style. The first is ‘Parted Hours’ with brilliant variations by Charles Grobe; the second ‘The Base Ball Polka’ composed by J. R. Blodgett, dedicated by the Niagara Base Ball Club to the Flour City Club of Rochester.” From the Buffalo Daily Republic and Times, September 28, 1858. John R. Blodgett was a member of the Niagara Club.

Team genealogy: Niagara, Buffalo, 1857-1870s
Niagara was formed in Buffalo, NY, in September 1857. The club went on hiatus at the start of the Civil War and reformed in 1865. Niagara dissolved in the early 1870s. Information from Peter Morris, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012).