1859 Syracuse
Jackets required: Rare photos of the first team in Syracuse, circa 1859.
A few years ago this remarkable image below was posted online courtesy of the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse. Here stands four members of the Syracuse Base Ball Club, circa 1859. Baseball mania had just arrived in central New York and the men in the photo were dressed for the occasion. They wore white jackets, formal neckties, tall puffy caps, and decorative belts worn on top of the jackets. You might ask, did they actually play in these uniforms? Or better yet, why wear such a uniform?
Photo A
Dated circa 1859. Four members of the Syracuse baseball team. Image from the Onondaga Historical Association, Syracuse.
I believe the club did indeed play in these uniforms, though supporting documentation is naturally hard to find. They certainly came to the grounds wearing their jackets. In a game at Utica, New York, on October 10, 1860, it was reported that Syracuse “cut an impressive figure,” their uniform including “white flannel jackets.” No doubt, the jacket of the club provided a sense of showmanship, inspired by the parade dress of other local fraternities, namely firemen and militiamen. But the jacket also provided something greater. It symbolized the respectable place the club and its members held in society.
Dated circa 1859, detail view of photo A. The lightweight jackets had fabric trim sewn to the lapels, the jacket opening, and the tails. The belt carried the letters, S. B. B. C., for Syracuse Base Ball Club. To date, no color description has been found for this unique belt.
Remarkably, there is a second photo of the Syracuse team.
Photo B
Dated circa 1860. This photo of the Syracuse baseball team was published in the Syracuse Herald Journal on May 13, 1907, almost fifty years after the image was made. The Herald Journal incorrectly dated the image as 1857, see explanation below. Image scan from Carson Lorey.
In photo B the players wore a uniform very similar to that shown in photo A. One notable difference was the style of belt; it was less ornate and seemingly did not display the club name. The men in photo B also wore their white jackets tucked into their pants. The Herald Journal in 1907 identified those pictured as — top row, from left: Levi Mayo, David McClelland and George Gratton. Middle: (P. J. Brumelkamp, scorer), John Ireland, William Ostrander, A. J. Young and Charles Tamkin. Front: Frank Carroll and Richard Paine.
Generally speaking, records from the period show that these gentlemen were young businessmen and merchants living and working in the city of Syracuse. Their ages at the time of the photo ranged from about twenty-one years to about thirty-five. As for their occupations, Mayo worked as a local agent for the US Mail Express, McClelland worked as a clerk and a hatter, Gratton as a plumber (possibly a carpenter, not a pipe fitter), Brumelkamp ran a men’s furnishings store, Ireland worked as a dry goods clerk, Ostrander was an undertaker, Tamkin ran a billiards parlor, Carroll ran a supply store, and Paine was a wig maker. Carroll served as mayor of Syracuse in 1871 and 1872, and likewise Brumelkamp was involved in local politics during his lifetime. Four of the men were born in the US, four were born in England, and one was born in Holland. Information on player A. J. Young has not been determined. The occupations of the men tell us they were a civic-minded group, motivated to serve and to represent their city. Gratton and Carroll were in business together at one time, and all of the members likely traveled in the same social circles, with baseball being one of those circles.
Above the players’ heads draped two American flags which surrounded thirteen baseballs. The balls may be a tribute to the original thirteen colonies, but more likely they were trophy balls representing the club’s thirteen victories over their opponents. These game balls were gilded and inscribed, a universal custom of the early game. The number of trophies suggest the team had been playing for several years when photo B was taken. Based on this, the 1857 date given by the Herald Journal is likely incorrect. This can be corroborated by historian Peter Morris who found a newspaper report from October 6, 1858, saying that “the Syracuse Base Ball Club has been organized but a few weeks.” Syracuse historian Ron Gersbacher agreed, writing that the first known activity of the club was an intra-squad game played on October 23, 1858, in Syracuse at Otisco and Catherine streets opposite Rose Hill Cemetery. The first competitive match against an opponent was not played until the following year, on June 24, 1859, in Syracuse. Therefore, the large number of trophy balls above the players suggest this photo was not made in 1857, 1858, or even 1859, but more likely in 1860.
Dated circa 1860. Detail view of photo B. The players wore their white jackets tucked into their pants in this photo and with the belt fastened on top. The belt was dark in color with white trim, a white clasp, and no initials. Gersbacher has found that for intrasquad games members wore reversible belts with “white on one side and black on the other” to better distinguish each team. This was likely the belt shown in this image.
Charles Tamkin is the only player that can be identified in both photos A and B. The Herald Journal identified Tamkin in photo B as sitting middle row, far right. He clearly is the same man standing second from left in photo A. According to Peter Morris, Tamkin was born in Tenterden, Kent, England, as were fellow club members George and James Barnes. All three immigrated from Kent to Syracuse, all three were early members of the Syracuse Base Ball Club in the Fall of 1858, and all three appeared in team box scores in 1859 and 1860. Oddly, the Barnes brothers were not included in photo B. It is possible another player from photo B, William Ostrander, can also be identified in photo A. Ostrander sits in the middle row second from left in the detail view of photo B. Is that also Ostrander, short in stature and with shorter hair, standing in photo A?
Matching the nine players in photo B to a specific box score has proven difficult. The club had many members and seldom put a consistent first nine on the field. Plus, not every box score was seemingly published. The following has been determined when tracking the game appearances of each player in photo B: Mayo (played in games in June, July, September 1859, and in September 1860), McClelland (September 1859, October 1860), Gratton (June, July 1859, September 1860), Brumelkamp (no games as team scorer found), Ireland (no games as player found), Ostrander (June, September 1859, September 1860), Young (September 1860), Tamkin (September 1859, July, September, October 1860), Carroll (June, July, September 1859, July, September, October 1860), and Paine (June, September 1859). The club typically did not play any games in April or May.
A Eureka moment!
Photo C
This ambrotype of an undocumented team was sold at auction in 2009 with the note that the item was “found in Pennsylvania.” For many years a scan of the image sat in my “unknown” folder on my desktop. Then, serendipitously, collector and SABR member Gary Passamonte contacted me to say he had recently purchased this very same item — at the identical time I was studying photos A and B. It was a Eureka! moment. Does anything look familiar in photo C?
A detail view of photo C. There are MANY similarities between the uniform shown in this ambrotype and the image published in the Herald Journal, photo B. I see the same white coats, the same style caps, the same reversible belts. In fact, couldn’t that be Charles Tamkin in photo C in the back row, third from left? Isn’t that David McClelland sitting in center holding a baseball? Is it possible that future mayor Frank Carroll is sitting far right? Maybe. The similarities are remarkable and the chances are good that this is another photo of the S.B.B.C.
In February 1860 hundreds of items were put on display in Syracuse at an exhibition hall. The Syracuse Central City Daily Courier on February 27 reported on the exhibit, including the items inside case no. 611, described as a “Case of Trophies by the Syracuse Base Ball Club.” The contents of the case were “six highly finished balls, gilt and lettered as trophies of victory in matches played. Also [one] daguerreotype of nine members of the Club in uniform, with samples of uniform belts surrounding, the whole presenting a tasty appearance.” The Courier added, “The boys say they have played seven matches and lost but one.” The chairman of the exhibit was Syracuse club member Frank Marsh.
So, what photograph was on display in case no. 611? Was it photo B, or possibly was it photo C ? The Courier noted the team had won seven matches before February 1860. If we again count the thirteen trophy balls in photo B, one could guess that it was photo C in the display case, and not photo B. This would suggest a photo date for photo C of 1859. What do you think?
Detail views from photos A, B & C. Is this David McClelland pictured in all three?
—Thank you for your time. If you have additional information to share regarding this team, please email me. Thanks also to Gary Passamonte, Carson Lorey, and Jonathan Popovich for contributing to this post. If you’re interested in reading more about jackets, belts, and Syracuse baseball, keep scrolling. —Craig
Jackets and belts on parade.
Examples of fireman’s parade dress from the middle of the 19th century; a look sometimes borrowed by baseball clubs (minus the helmet). One of the first known reports of a baseball team wearing a belt in this stlye was the Empire Club of New York. The Spirit Of The Times on June 23, 1855, reported that the Empires wore “a black glazed belt, with the letters E.B.B.C. painted on the front.” The style fell out of fashion, or became too expensive, by the mid-1860s, and was replaced when clubs began to wear a monogram or team name sewn onto the shirt shield. The Harvard Club of 1866 was one of the last to wear a lettered belt.
Dated September 15, 1860. This well-known Courier & Ives political cartoon shows Messrs. Bell, Douglas, Breckinridge and Lincoln wearing baseball jackets tucked into their pants, and belts with lettering. Clearly this style of baseball fashion was making its way into the public consciousness by 1860. (Image: Library of Congress)
Early baseball in Syracuse.
Though baseball-like games were played as early as the 1830s in downtown Syracuse at Clinton Square, new interest in the game was slow to arrive in central New York. The Syracuse Central City Daily Courier lamented in June 1859, “What are our young people doing? Where are our rival base ball clubs this summer? We fear the young men of Syracuse are letting their energies lag very much.” Instead of organizing baseball teams, the newspaper observed, “our young men will patronize the theaters, and remain shut up in crowded and suffocating halls to listen to a minstrel band.” It seems, at first, the S. B. B. C. were the only team in town.
The Courier continued, “We see no good reason why there could not immediately be started a good number of these clubs, and that each select its own ground, and appoint their days for practice.” Furthermore, they encouraged the locals to “offer for competition a belt, or set of colors [i.e., a pennant], at intervals, of their own manufacturer, to prompt each one to renewed exertions.”
Here are some notes on the exertions of the Syracuse Base Ball Club, 1858 to 1860.
• October 23, 1858, club’s first intrasquad game pitting married members v. single members, played in Syracuse at Otisco Street opposite Rose Hill Cemetery. The Married squad won, 31-20. Soon afterward the Singles won the second game played, 37-24, and Married won the third, 44-38.
• November 5, 1858, intrasquad game between two picked nines in Syracuse at Fayette and Geddes Streets. The picked nine of William Geer defeated the picked nine of Frank Marsh, 30-24.
• June 22, 1859, the club kicked-off the 1859 season with another married v. single intrasquad game. Married won 63-21. (Courier, June 23, 1859)
• June 24, 1859, v. Syracuse Cricket Club. Syracuse won 30 to 19. (Courier, June 27, 1859) This may have been the club’s first match against an opposing team. The Cricket Club was formed to played cricket, of course, baseball’s stodgy stepbrother. However it was common for most clubs to play both games during this period.
• July 6, 1859, v. Salt Point of Syracuse, at Salina Park, Syracuse. The game featured “some fine strokes and catches,” however Syracuse lost 41 to 36. (Courier, July 9, 1859)
• July 22, 1859, v. Olympic of Syracuse, at the grounds near Rose Hill Cemetery, Syracuse. The spectators were “deeply interested in the game and enjoyed the sport hugely.” As the crowd departed, the newspaper noted that “a side game was being made-up, between the members of both clubs who had not participated in the match game.” Syracuse won 43 to 23. (Courier, July 22 and 23, 1859)
• July 27, 1859, v. Syracuse Cricket Club. During the game “a ball from the bat of John Pierson, Jr., came in collision with a swallow in the air.” Both the bird and ball “fell dead to the ground.” No score given. (Courier, July 29, 1859) Sounds like Randy Johnson in 2001.
• August 18, 1859, v. Canastota, at Canastota, NY. Syracuse won 44 to 38, after which “the winners ‘gave three lusty cheers and a tiger’ for the Canastota Club.” (Peter Morris and Courier August 19, 1859)
• September 15, 1859, v. Canastota, at the grounds near Rose Hill Cemetery, Syracuse. This return match was postponed due to rain. (Courier, September 15 and 16, 1859)
• September 23, 1859, v. Frontier of Oswego, at Oswego, NY. During the game, “Geo. Barnes, Esq., the first base of the Syracuse Base Ball Club, met with a severe accident […] while ‘running a bye’ [i.e., running to a base].” This may have been a slight over dramatization by the newspaper as it seems the injury was merely a sprained ankle. That night when returning to Syracuse, Barnes “was conveyed to his residence on James Street Hill in a hack.” The Oswego Times noted that the Syracuse club were “very handsomely uniformed.” Syracuse won 48 to 29, and the results prompted the Courier to exclaim at the end of their game report, “Three cheers and a ‘tiger’ for Syracuse!” (Courier, September 23 and 24, 1859, and the Oswego Times reprinted in the Syracuse Standard September 24, 1859, per Peter Morris)
• September 28, 1859, v. Olympic of Syracuse. A controversial game as the Syracuse club did not have a full team present to start the contest. After waiting over a half hour, the umpire declared the match forfeited and “the ball awarded to the Olympic Club.” Moments later the missing members arrived and the game was played. Syracuse lost 29 to 21. (Courier, October 1, 1859)
• Early October 1859. A return match with Frontier was planned for October 7. No report found. (Courier, October 6, 1859)
• January 11, 1860. First club meeting of the new season. “Every member is requested to attend, as business of importance would come before the meeting. By order of George Gratton, secretary.” (Courier, January 11, 1860)
• Early July 1860. It should be noted that the famed Excelsiors of Brooklyn did not make a stop in Syracuse on their “western tour” between July 2 and 11, 1860. Excelsior played opponents in Troy, Rochester (twice) and Buffalo, and it could be that the Syracuse team had not properly organized or had sufficient practice to accept their challenge. A smart decision as you’ll see by the Cazenovia game of July 28.
• July 28, 1860, v. Cazenovia, at Chittenango, NY. Possibly the beginning of the 1860 baseball season as many regional teams were in attendance at Chittenango. However neither Syracuse nor Cazenovia “played up to its own standard” and the game “excited no interest.” Syracuse lost 32 to 20. (Courier, August 2 and 3, 1860, citing the Cazenovia Republican.)
• Early August 1860, v. Utica, at Syracuse. The Syracuse team “extended their challenge to the Utica Club” for a home and home match (Courier, July 30, 1860). It is likely the first game was played in early August but no report has been found.
• August 24, 1860 v. Cazenovia, at Cazenovia. (Peter Morris) Send me a box score if you know of one.
• September 14, 1860, v. Union Springs-Frontenac, at Auburn, NY: A weird three-team event. After the Union Springs and Frontenac teams played a 5-inning game, they created a single nine to play a new game with the Syracuse team. This second game featured four home runs and a steal of home by Syracuse, described in the Courier as a player who “got from the third to the home base while the ball is passing from the pitcher to the catcher.” Syracuse “outgeneraled” the opponent and won 31 to 24. (Courier, September 18, 1860)
• September 15, 1860, v. Cazenovia, at the grounds near Rose Hill Cemetery, Syracuse. Return match with Cazenovia. Syracuse won 27 to 21. (Courier, September 18, 1860) The Courier said this game was played “Saturday last,” which I assume was September 15, Peter Morris has it as September 8.
• October 10, 1860, v. Utica, at Utica, NY. The Utica newspapers noted that “the Syracuse players cut an impressive figure in ‘a picturesque, zouave-like uniform, consisting of blue cap, white flannel jacket, red breeches, and cricketer’s shoes.’” Syracuse tied Utica at 24 runs apiece. (From Peter Morris citing the Syracuse Journal, October 12 1860, which cited reports from the Utica Herald and Utica Telegraph)
• October 12, 1860, v. Union Springs, at Auburn, NY. The game was played “for a prize of $20, which was put up by the Auburn club and some gentlemen of that place.” Syracuse won 30 to 27 and this likely was the close of the 1860 season. (Courier, October 13, 1860) The club dissolved after the start of the Civil War. However Peter Morris writes that “the members of Syracuse’s pioneer club did not lose their interest in baseball.” An 1886 newspaper report noted that Carroll, Tamkin, and other members of the original club “may be seen at Star Park [in Syracuse] almost every game.”
—Information on Syracuse baseball history from the Syracuse Central City Daily Courier, various reports between 1858 to 1860; Peter Morris, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012); and Ron Gersbacher, syracusebaseballhistory.blogspot.com (2012).
Written documentation on this uniform:
October 10, 1860, Syracuse v. Utica, at Utica: “The Syracuse players cut an impressive figure in ‘a picturesque, zouave-like uniform, consisting of blue cap, white flannel jacket, red breeches, and cricketer’s shoes.’” From Peter Morris, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012), citing the Syracuse Journal, October 12 1860, based on accounts from the Utica Herald and Utica Telegraph.
Team genealogy: Syracuse, 1858-1860
The Syracuse team was formed in Syracuse in late September 1858 and played competitively during the 1859 and 1860 seasons. The team dissolved after the start of the Civil War. Information from Peter Morris, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012).
Rendering posted: July 15, 2026
Diggers on this uniform: Carson Lorey, Gary Passamonte, Jonathan Popovich,