1898 Page Fence Giants, Adrian MI

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color based on documentation from a related year. Minor details may also be missing or difficult to determine.

Rendering accuracy:Year: unconfirmed    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated early August 1897 to mid-July 1898. Image of the Page Fence Giants, one of the top African-American team of the late 1890s. Based on a photographer’s mark, this image was taken in Jefferson, Wisconsin. The date range of early August 1897 to mid-July 1898 can be determined by the appearance of player Sherman Barton in combination with player George Taylor. We’ll have more details on Barton further down the page. Taylor played with the Giants from 1895 to 1898, and was likely to have been released in July 1898. Available box scores show that he last played for the team on July 7, 1898, at Freeport, IL. The Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette reported on July 22, 1898, that the team “only has nine men now, having let one man go at Oshkosh [WI] recently.” The Giants played at Oshkosh on July 16 and July 17. The Press-Gazette did not mention Taylor by name as the player who was released. However author Mitch Lutzke confirms that “George Taylor was jettisoned from the team after he and James Patterson gave lengthy and glowing interviews about the impact of Bud Fowler on baseball, black baseball and the Page Fence Giants team, as printed on July 15, 1898, in the Oshkosh (WI) Daily Northwestern. On July 16 Taylor was said to be released due to insubordination in the same newspaper.” As photo A includes Taylor, middle row far left, we can surmise that the image was taken no later than mid-July 1898. Note that published box scores are sparse for this team during this period. Mentions of players’ “first” and “last” games on this page are by no means definitive.

Identities of the players in photo A. Top row, from left: Grant Johnson (95-98), Charlie Grant (96-98), Joe Miller (95-98) and John Patterson (95, 97, 98). Middle: George Taylor (95-98), William Binga (95-98), (Gus Parsons, mgr), Sherman Barton (97, 98) and Pete Burns (95-98). Front, on ground: Chappie Johnson (97, 98) and George Wilson (95-98). Player IDs based on other known photos of this team, and from various sources including seamheads.com. IDs for Barton and C Johnson based on facial comparisons below. Years players with team based on published box scores from 1895 to 1898, and from Mitch Lutzke, The Page Fence Giants, A History of Black Baseball’s Pioneering Champions (2018). Image scan from Christies, which stated that “the cabinet is stamped on the verso C. A. Buss, photographer, Jefferson, Wis. and inscribed Sherman Barton, Normal, Ill.” Based on this information, the photographer was most likely Charles A. Buss, who around 1905 worked in nearby Ft. Atkinson, Jefferson Co., Wisconsin.

Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that the players wore a dark-colored uniforms and that the buttoned shirt included a shirt pocket. The full team name was spelled out across the shirt, the “N” in “Giants” was centered on the button placket.

Facial studies.
Below are facial studies of players Sherman Barton and Chappie Johnson. Confirming their appearance in photo A helps to determine the date of the image.

Facial study of Sherman Barton. Left, detail view of photo A. Right, other known images of Barton from later in his career. This study confirms that Barton was included in photo A. Image second from left from Carson Lorey.

The appearance of Sherman Barton in photo A helps to determine the date of the image. Barton, a pitcher, first appeared in a Page Fence Giants game at Oshkosh, WI, on August 17, 1897, according to available box scores. Previously, the Giants had tried several different men as the team’s third pitcher to complement hurlers George Wilson and Joe Miller. The team tried Jin Chavous in late 1896, Robert Shaw in April 1897, Ed Wood(s) in May 1897, possibly a pitcher named Corkum in late July, and probably a few others, too. Exactly when Barton joined the team is unknown. He was not listed in the box score when the Giants played on July 22 in Dixon, IL., and unfortunately, there are no known box scores for the team between this date and the August 17 game. It is possible Barton joined the team in early August or before. Author Mitch Lutzke adds that Sherman Barton joined the team for a string of games in mid-August 1897. According to Lutzke the games were in Oshkosh, Omro  and Berlin, Wisconsin, and that Barton had been signed to replace Ed Woods on the roster. Available box scores from later in August and September tell us that Barton remained on the roster to the end of the 1897 season. He was a regular on the team throughout the 1898 season. His appearance in photo A suggests that the image was made no earlier than August 1897. Christies has stated that the cabinet print of photo A was “inscribed Sherman Barton, Normal, Ill.” on the back. Contemporary records show that Barton did reside in Illinois during this time. The 1897 Bloomington, IL, city directory, which included Normal, listed Barton as living in Normal at South School Street, no occupation given. The 1900 US Census also listed Barton in Normal and with the occupation of “Base Ballist.” His inscription on the back of the photo mount suggests that he was, at one time, the owner of this image.

Facial study of Chappie Johnson. Left, detail view of photo A. Right, other known images of Johnson from later in his career. This study confirms that Johnson was included in photo A. Image second from left from Carson Lorey.

George “Chappie” Johnson, Jr., briefly played for the Page Fence Giants in 1897 and then throughout the 1898 season. His short stint with the team in 1897 may suggest that photo A was made in 1898, not 1897. Johnson first joined the team in June 1897. The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer on June 11, 1897, reported that Johnson “of this city, has signed a contract to play with the Page Fence Giants this summer. He will join them in Newark probably next week.” Author Mitch Lutzke adds that Johnson made his first appearance with the team in Perry, Michigan, on June 16, 1897, where he played catcher. Other available box scores tell us Johnson appeared in a game on July 22 at Dixon, IL, and again on August 17 at Oshkosh, WI. However, Johnson did not appear in any further box scores for the team. The following year, the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer on February 10, 1898, reported that Johnson “of this city” had signed with the Giants for the upcoming 1898 season “at a salary of $65 a month.”

What can the uniform tell us?
Below is a study of the uniform worn by the players in photo A. The differences in this uniform when compared to the uniform worn in April 1897 may suggest that photo A was made in 1898. See more below.

Two photos of pitcher George Wilson. Left, detail view from a team photo dated about April 11, 1897. Right, detail view from photo A. The red arrows point out differences between the two uniforms. Note how the button overlapping the letter “F” was in a different position in each photo and that the letter forms in the view at right seem to be slightly thinner than those at left. Also note that the belt was a different style. Wilson wore a fabric belt in the image at left, and a leather belt at right. These differences may suggest the uniform worn in photo A was a new uniform, and not the same as worn in the April 1897 team photo.

Two photos of shortstop Grant Johnson. Left, detail view from a team photo dated about April 11, 1897. Right, detail view from photo A. In both photos, Johnson wore the team sweater under his shirt. The red arrows point to two different types of sleeve striping. Also note how the letter forms in the view at right may have been slightly thinner than those at left. These differences may suggest the uniform worn in photo A was a new uniform, and not the same as worn in the April 1897 team photo.

So, did the team play in Jefferson, WI, in 1898?

Unfortunately, the answer is unknown. Throughout their four-year history, the Page Fence Giants played in many of the same cities each baseball season. Newspaper reports tell us the team played in Jefferson in 1896 and 1897. They played there on May 19, 1896, according to the Madison Wisconsin State Journal as published on this day. The following year, the Watertown (WI) News on April 28, 1897, reported that the Giants were to play “at the fair grounds in Jefferson” on May 4. The same newspaper on June 30, 1897, reported that “the Jefferson Blues will play the Page Fence Giants at the fairgrounds in Jefferson next Friday,” on July 9. The Blues were an African-American team. To date, no reports have been found of the Giants playing in Jefferson in 1898.

Author Mitch Lutzke chimes in with more about where and when the Page Fence Giants played in 1898: “In 1898 the team played a bulk of their April and May games in east Ohio and Pennsylvania and also in the Detroit area. In late May they made a trip to Minnesota to play St. Paul. The rest of May and early June the Giants played back in Michigan and also in Indiana. By July they were in Illinois and then in mid-July went to Wisconsin. I had them in Oshkosh July 16 and 17, 1898, (Saturday and Sunday weekend games) and then up to Green Bay. They were in the Oshkosh area at this time — and then on August 8, 1898, they toured with the Oshkosh Indians for a week.”

Lutzke found this in the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern on July 22, 1898: “During the week beginning August 8, the Indians will tour the small towns in this vicinity [in Wisconsin] together with the Page Fence Giants, playing against each other in each town. Games have been arranged at Menasha and Waupaca and negotiations are pending for games in Omro, Berlin and Appleton. Towns having parks and no teams may secure games by addressing the management of the Indians in this city. This last trip ought to be a paying venture. The games will be hard played at will not be farces. On the following Sunday, August 14, the two teams will play in this city.” So, it’s possible officials in Jefferson, Wisconsin, negotiated a game to replace one that couldn’t be firmed up or they were added to the schedule. If you could get there by train, the Giants would play you. I didn’t find the Giants returning to Wisconsin later in the season of 1898.

If you know if (or when) the Page Fence Giants played in Jefferson, WI, in 1898, please email it to Threads. Thank you.

Written documentation on this uniform:
August 1897: “Great pains had been taken to advertise the games all about the surrounding county. The attractive posters of the Giants had also been generously distributed.” From the Traverse City (MI) Morning Record, August 24, 1897. This report was made after the Page Fence Giants cancelled a game to be played in Traverse City. Instead the team chose to play a second game in Manistee, MI, where they believed the gate receipts would be greater. Is it possible the “attractive poster” included photo A?

Team genealogy: Page Fence Giants, 1895-1898
The Page Fence Giants were formed in 1894 in Adrian, Michigan, as an independent touring team, and played their first games in 1895. The team was named after their sponsor, the Page Woven Wire Fence Co. They barnstormed between the years 1895 and 1898 and dissolved after the 1898 season. Later, several of their top players joined the Columbia Giants of Chicago. Information from wikipedia.com