jesse barber

Between us, Patrick Rock and I have found about 250 Negro Leaguers with World War I draft cards.  They yield specific birth dates and places, along with other information, much of which is completely new to researchers.  The draft cards confirm older research and longtime assumptions in some cases, conflict with them in others.  A good number of players who had previously been known only by last names or nicknames are now fully identified, with first names, birth dates, and so on.  Since the registrants signed the cards, we can see how they rendered their names themselves, which goes a long way toward solving some longstanding problems.

Here’s an example: the American Giants outfielder who has normally been called “Jess Barbour” by historians actually signed his name “Jesse Barber” (which, incidentally, is also how he appears in the 1910 census in Philadelphia, and the 1920 census in Chicago).  His name normally appeared in contemporary newspapers and box scores as “Barber”; but at some point, he was confused with the Pittsburgh Keystones’ catcher Elmore Barbour, which is possibly how the “-our” spelling started to be associated with him. (He also appeared in a passenger manifest traveling from Cuba in 1916, accompanied by Frank Wickware, as “Jess Balbour.”)  I suspect (though I don’t know for sure yet) that the second baseman “Bull” Barber, who appears in Riley as a Hilldale, Harrisburg, and Kansas City Monarchs player from 1920 to 1925, is actually a third person.  Other sources give his name as Leroy Barber, and there is a draft card for a Leroy Barber of the appropriate age living in Fayette, Pennsylvania, which is not far from Harrisburg.

In the ancestry.com database, Barber’s name was digitized as “Burber,” which I think is just a misreading of his signature (he didn’t round off the “a,” making it look like a “u”).  Only 15 Burbers appear in the draft card database, and the first couple I checked were definitely mistakes for “Barber.”

In coming weeks I’ll post a few of the more interesting finds from the draft cards.  Some further Cuban statistics are also forthcoming (1907 Premio de Verano and the 1908 Cuban League).  And I’m nearing the completion of the statistical portion of my big project on the 1920-1922 Negro National League—more on that soon.

Comments

[Peter Pavicevic]

How can I search this database? I'm doing a research project in grad school and would love to run some names and places.

Thanks

[Dick Thompson]

There is a nice photo of "Jess Barber" in the Worcester (MA) Daily Telegram of 9/4/1927. Photo is of Barber in a batting pose. He looks a lot like Yogi Berra.

The accompanying article reads:

"Local fans will have an opportunity of seeing the champion Negro team of New England when the Boston Tigers from the Hub appear against the Town Talk team at the High School field on Chandler Street tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock. The club has run up a remarkable record against fast semi-pro teams in New England this season. Out of the last 24 games they have won 18.

"Jess Barber, captain and centerfielder fo the Tigers, needs no introduction to the local fans as they no doubt will remember his snappy work with the Philadelphia Colored Giants against the Town Talk team last season. Jess knows all the fine points of the game and has demonstrated his ability by the record made by the club this year.

"Jim Moore, first baseman of the team was formerly with the famous Backerach Giants of New York and one of the longest distance hitters among Negro players. Second baseman Dede Crossen is another fast player. He formerly was with the Pennsylvania Red Caps of New York city. Shortstop Thomas, formerly of the Lincoln Giants of New York, is considered one of the best in the colored ranks. Gaston Hail, the third baseman, comes from the South and is another fast ball player. Zing Rice, considered the greatest colred star ever turned out in the Boston High Schools, is a top second man and a real sticker. Pop Sisco, one of the outfielders, is the comedian of the club, and keeps fans laughing with his antics during the game."

[Patrick Rock]

When Gary says "250 between us", he means about 75 for me and 175 for him. I pointed him to a gold mine I had identified, and he's been been doing the vast bulk of the work since then.

And there have been other researchers who found this before, but I believe that Gary and I are the first to be able to exploit the resource to its full capacity.

The passenger records of Cuban and African-American players came from the same source (ancestry.com), and have gone a long way toward identifying previously mis-identified Cubans in the U.S.(such as Tatica Campos and Vicente Rodriguez), while granting such other "little' boons as helping identify Pete Hill's correct full name (John, not Joseph).

Gary writes his blog and seldom takes bows. This is one where he fully deserves kudos.