agate type

dobie moore update

Here’s a copy of the actual death certificate for Walter Moore, whose death record was found by Peter Morris, and who might be the Kansas City Monarchs shortstop Dobie Moore:

The informant, “Mildred Toles,” seems likely to be Walter’s sister, Mildred, who married James Tate.  In the 1940 census, the Tates, Walter Moore, and another sister, Anna King, lived at 1022 Alfred, the same address Walter gave on his WW2 draft card and that’s on his death certificate.

Most intriguing, though, is the information that Walter Moore had been “in this community” for 21 years.  That puts his arrival in Detroit in 1926—the very year in which Dobie Moore was shot and his Negro league career ended.

In addition, Mark Aubrey has pointed out that Walter’s younger brother Allen is listed as a “Baseball Player” in the 1930 census:

Dobie Moore’s younger brother, Pete Moore, was a Detroit ballplayer, as late as 1941:

(Chicago Defender, May 31, 1941, p. 22)

There was also a Pete Moore playing for a team called the Black Mohawks of Bradford, Pa., in the late 1920s.  Was this also Pete’s brother, and were Allen Moore and Pete Moore the same person?

If the Walter Moore we’re looking at was not Dobie Moore, it seems like quite a string of coincidences: 1) same name; 2) both were from Atlanta, and were the same age; 3) both were in Detroit in the 1930s and 1940s; 4) both had a younger brother who was also a ballplayer (I haven’t compiled the date, but there were not that many black men who listed their occupation as ballplayer in the 1930 census); 5) our Walter Moore arrived in Detroit in 1926, the same year in which Dobie Moore was forced to quit the Monarchs.

And if this Walter Moore isn’t Dobie, where’s Dobie?  I haven’t found a trace of anyone else who could be him.

However: this Walter Moore died in Detroit on August 20, 1947.  As I have noted, Dobie Moore was supposed to have been one of the pallbearers at George Carr’s funeral in Los Angeles in January, 1948.  Not only that, but I found another sighting of Dobie Moore later that year, in Chicago:

(Chicago Defender, June 19, 1948, p. 10)

These 1948 sightings of Dobie Moore could be mistakes.  And the circumstantial evidence linking this Walter Moore to the Monarch shortstop is pretty convincing.  But it would be great to get one solid link between this Walter and the ballplayer—something like a reference to Dobie’s younger brother Allen (rather than Pete), or anything giving the name of any of Dobie’s relatives, or a record or document that establishes Walter Moore of Detroit as a ballplayer himself.

the death of dobie moore?

Peter Morris, author of Game of Inches and discoverer of William Edward White’s status as the first African American ballplayer in the major leagues, has a new blog—and in his very first entry floats a possible death date for the elusive Dobie Moore.  Peter found a death record for Walter Moore, born February 8, 1895, in Atlanta, Georgia, which matches the February 8, 1896, birth date on the World War II draft card originally found by John Bowman.  Given his parents’ names (Waddie Moore and Julia Drummond), Peter was able to trace this Walter Moore’s family back to Atlanta in the 1900 census, and forward to Detroit in 1930 and 1940—and, of course, Detroit was where Dobie settled after his Negro league career ended.

As he notes, there are a number of oddities here, including the evident fact that “Walter” Moore seems to be called “Lewis” in earlier census records.  Dobie Moore had a brother, Pete, who played (presumably semipro) ball in Detroit in the 1930s, but there’s no Pete in the Moore family (could he be Allen, the brother who moved to Detroit?).

Probably the biggest issue is that this Walter Moore died on August 20, 1947.   In January, 1948, Dobie Moore, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel, served as a pallbearer at his old teammate George Carr’s funeral in Los Angeles:

(Los Angeles Sentinel, January 29, 1948, p. 11)

It’s quite possible that the Sentinel was simply wrong.  It’s also possible that the Walter Moore we’ve identified is the wrong person, too.  At this point there’s not enough information to say for sure.  If I had to bet, though, I would wager that Peter has finally found Dobie’s death date.

Anyway, I’ve ordered a copy of the actual death certificate, so we’ll see if that adds anything to what we know.

(By the way, here’s why all the other birth and death dates that have been given for Moore are almost certainly wrong.)

dobie moore, 1942

Here’s a bit of follow-up to some pretty old research: an actual image of Dobie Moore’s WW2 draft card, filled out in Detroit in April, 1942.

Interestingly, there is no mention of Moore's leg injury, although nearly a year and a half later he would appear in a Chicago Defender photo with a pair of crutches, pointing to the ankle where he was shot. 

(Chicago Defender, September 11, 1943)

I still don’t know when or where he died; currently the last sighting I have of Moore is an appearance as pallbearer at George Carr’s funeral in Los Angeles in January, 1948 (the other pallbearers included two Hall of Famers, Biz Mackey and Jud Wilson).

walter moore, detroit, 1942

We just might have found him.  Reader John Bowman went to the National Archives regional facility in Chicago to see if he could find Dobie Moore in the World War II draft cards for Michigan.  He writes:

Gary,

Here's what I found. First, the draft registraton cards are in a closed stack section of the archive, so I didn't actually see them. I have a copy, though.

Here's what's on it:
SN U1719
1. Walter Moore (No middle name or initial)
2. 1022 Alfred, Detroit, Wayne, Mich
3. (Mailing address) Same
4. (Telephone) Check mark (no number)
5. Age 46, DOB Feby 8 1896  (Winborn's handwriting)
6. Born Atlanta, GA
7. (Contact) James Simmons, 635 Adelaide  (Winborn's handwriting)
8. Unemployed  (Winborn's handwriting)
9. (No work address)

On the back:
Height 5'10", Weight 165
Race: Negro
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Complexion: Dark brown
Physical characteristics: 2 scars on forehead (Winborn's handwriting)

Registrar: R. E. Winborn
Local Board No 1, Detroit, Mich
April 27, 1942

So the date of birth matches the Walter Moore who served at Camp Stephen D. Little in 1920. No mention of a bad leg. Maybe the brace and the crutch in the 1943 photo were props related to the content of the newspaper article.

Dobie Moore lived just a few blocks from where Comerica Park is now. The buildings he and James Simmons lived in have been replaced by I-75.

It’s not 100 percent positive yet that this is Dobie Moore (a mention of the leg injury would have pretty much cinched it), but there’s a very, very good chance it is him.  No luck yet finding a corresponding death date, but we’ll see.  Many thanks to John for tracking this down.

UPDATE 10/26/2007 Here’s something from Larry Lester’s recent book on Baseball’s First Colored World Series:  “In September 1923, the illiterate Moore married the former Francis Davis” (p. 83), I’m assuming in Kansas City.  It seems like a good chance that his marriage license could be found, and that it might have a birth date (and place).

dobie moore

Dobie Moore’s Wikipedia entry gives the following dates for him: born January 9, 1895; died December 1, 1977, in Mableton, Georgia.  The BR Bullpen is more hesitant: “An unconfirmed research note says that [Moore] died at age 82 (1977) in Mableton, Georgia.”

There is a Walter Moore in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) who’s listed as born January 9, 1895, died December 1977, in Mableton, Georgia.  A look in the Georgia Deaths database at Ancestry.com reveals a Walter J. Moore who died on December 6, 1977, at age 82, in DeKalb County—but his last residence was in Cobb County (the site of Mableton).  His race is recorded as “W.” He’s one of only two Walter Moores listed as passing away in Georgia in 1977 (the other was aged 58).

There is also a World War I draft card for a Walter James Moore, “Caucasian,” born January 9, 1895, in Chattahoochee, Georgia.  Dobie Moore, of course, was already in the Army when the draft registration was first held in 1917, and would not have filled out a draft card.

In the addendum added for the 2001 edition of his Biographical Encyclopedia, James Riley has these dates for Moore: born February 27, 1890, Rome, Georgia; died April 1, 1963, Rome, Georgia.

The SSDI does have a Walter Moore, born February 27, 1890 (no place listed), died May 1978, Silver Creek, Georgia; Silver Creek is in Floyd County, the same county as Rome, Georgia.  The Georgia Deaths DB has Walter O. Moore, white, died May 5, 1978, age 88, in Silver Creek, Georgia.

To sum up: I think the Walter Moore who died in Mableton, Georgia, in 1977 is assuredly not Dobie Moore the ballplayer.  And the fact that a  white man named Walter Moore was born on the exact same day (February 27, 1890) and in the same Georgia county that Riley’s addendum lists for Dobie is troubling, though I don’t know what to make of the totally different death dates.

We’re left with two pieces of evidence I know of: the Walter Moore found in the 1920 census at Camp Stephen D. Little in Nogales, Arizona, born in Georgia, age 24 (on the same page as Branch Russell and William Linder); and a photo and caption in the September 11, 1943, Chicago Defender—the latest mention I have found of Dobie Moore’s life:

I have found a couple of mentions in the late 1930s of a Pete Moore, supposed to be Dobie Moore’s younger brother, playing third base on Detroit semi-pro teams.

Since Moore was in Detroit in 1943, it’s almost certain that he registered there for the World War II draft (in the so-called “old man’s registration”); unfortunately the Michigan cards have not been microfilmed by the National Archives, and thus are not slated to be digitized by Ancestry.com or anybody else anytime soon.  It might be possible, though, to locate his card in the National Archives’ Great Lakes Region headquarters in Chicago, where the Michigan draft cards are housed.  If anybody living around there is reading this, you might want to think about checking it out if you have the chance.

UPDATE 10/21/2007  See this post for more on Moore, including the box score for his first appearance in the Negro National League, and this category for more information in general on the Army ballplayers that joined the Monarchs.

UPDATE 10/24/2007 If you haven’t seen it already, this post has the result of John Bowman’s trip to the National Archives facility in Chicago.  He found a World War II draft card for an African-American man named Walter Moore living in Detroit, born in Atlanta on February 8, 1896.  (Dobie Moore was known to have said himself he was born in Atlanta.)  Also, as comments indicate, the Wikipedia and BR Bullpen entries have been updated.

UPDATE 10/24/2007 Also, I might not have been clear in the post above: the birthdate of January 9, 1895, is definitely in question, as it has been linked (via two sources) to a white man named Walter James Moore, the same man who passed away on December 6, 1977.

from the wreckers to the st. louis giants

Today we pick up where we left off yesterday, but tack in a slightly different direction.

It turns out that on June 28, 1920, just days before Bullet Rogan and Dobie Moore, veterans of the 25th Infantry “Wreckers” baseball team, debuted with the Kansas City Monarchs in St. Louis, the St. Louis Giants played a game against—the 25th Infantry team.  However, neither Moore nor Rogan are to be found in the box score, though several other Negro League names are, as well as a rather interesting pitcher.  Here it is, from the June 29, 1920, St. Louis Globe-Democrat:

Unless the Ellers were a very progressive family for the 1920s, it would seem that the 25th Infantry played behind a white pitcher that day.  (Hod Eller, incidentally, would show up as an umpire for some Negro National League games played in Cincinnati in 1921.) Now, check out the second game of the Monarchs/Giants series, played on July 4 (Globe-Democrat, July 5, 1920):

Three of the Giants’ players—Herring, Stewart, and Johnson—appear in their lineup for the first time that season.  And the same three names appeared in the 25th Infantry lineup on June 28.  Lastly (for today) here’s Dave Wyatt’s story on Rogan’s first appearance in Chicago on July 5 (Defender, July 10, 1920):

Wyatt corroborates the acquisition by St. Louis of three Army players, one of them “a catcher who is said to be the peer of them all”--all the baseball players recently let out of the Army, that is (at least that’s how I read it).  Johnson played first base on July 4 against the Monarchs, but on July 5, with the Monarchs in Chicago, the St. Louis Giants hosted the Cuban Stars, with Johnson behind the plate.  What the heck—I’ll post that one, too (Globe-Democrat, July 6, 1920):

After helping beat the Cubans, Johnson promptly disappeared from the St. Louis lineup.  Herring and Stewart remain through much of the rest of the season, but as far as I can tell, Johnson is gone.  So who was he?  Tune in tomorrow.

where’s wilber?

…Wilber “Bullet” Rogan, that is, Kansas City Monarchs Hall of Fame pitcher/outfielder.  His early career was spent mostly in the Army, playing at Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks for the 25th Infantry’s famous “Wreckers,” until the 25th was transferred to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on the Mexican border, during the First World War.  When he got out of the Army in late June or early July 1920, J. L. Wilkinson of the Monarchs brought Rogan and his Army teammate Walter “Dobie” Moore back to the Midwest (Rogan grew up in Kansas City, and had briefly pitched for Wilkinson’s All-Nations Club while on furlough in 1917).

Dave Wyatt of the Chicago Defender tells the story of Rogan’s first appearance in Chicago (Defender, July 10, 1920):

“…Manager Wilkinson signed him early last spring; the boy made a three nights’ ride and jumped out with strange support, facing one of the best teams in the country and gave an exhibition of hurling that had 10,000 fans yelping and the American Giants standing on their heads.”

The game was on July 5; Rogan beat the American Giants 4-2 on one hit, striking out 11.  Wyatt doesn’t exactly say this was Rogan’s Negro National League debut, but he does strongly imply that he was fresh off a train from the far west (though the reference to an early spring signing is a little confusing; presumably Wilkinson signed him, then had to wait until he was free of his military obligations).

However, I’ve run across a couple of interesting things that tell us a little more about Rogan’s transition from the Army to the Negro Leagues.  First, there’s this box score, from the July 4, 1920, St. Louis Globe-Democrat:

This is in fact the first Negro National League game that Dobie Moore (“A. Moore”) and Bullet Rogan (called “Rugout” here) played for the Kansas City Monarchs, two days before the July 5 game in Chicago.

So Rogan and Moore actually started their NNL careers in St. Louis, not Chicago.  A small thing, perhaps.  But consider this: while working on a long-term project involving Negro League players in the 1920 census, I found Wilber Rogan.  But he wasn’t in Arizona, where the 25th Infantry (and several other black units) were still stationed at that time.  Instead, he was at the Army’s Jefferson Barracks—in St. Louis.  There’s really no doubt this is Bullet Rogan: he’s listed as having been born in Oklahoma, and his age is given as 30, matching Bullet’s accepted age for many years (though he was really, according to Phil Dixon, 26 at this time, having added four years to his age when he joined the Army back in 1911).  His census entry gives his rank as private, and his occupation as a “machinist helper.”  He is also one of only three black men on the whole post, as far as I could tell.

The census was taken in January—Rogan was counted on January 6, to be precise.  It’s possible he was temporarily assigned to Jefferson Barracks, then returned to Arizona, only to rush back to the Midwest in early summer to join the Monarchs.  But it’s certainly an interesting coincidence that in January he was assigned to the very same city where he would make his NNL debut in July.  Dobie Moore, by the way, was in Arizona in January; “Walter Moore” (24, born in Georgia) can be found in the census at Camp Stephen D. Little, Nogales, Arizona—on the same census page as Branch Russell and William Linder, other 25th Infantry veterans and eventual Monarchs.

Only mildly interesting so far, perhaps (though Rogan’s “three nights’ ride” from the west may not have occurred quite the way Wyatt seems to imply it did).  But there’s more to the story, which I’ll pick up tomorrow.

THANKS (11.1.06, 10:13 a.m.) to Phil Dixon for supplying the full name of Camp Stephen D. Little (the census records truncate it to “Camp Stephen”).