Riley’s Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues has the following entries:
Branahan, J. Finis (Slim, Legs)
1922-1923 Cleveland Tate Stars
1923 Toledo Tigers
1923 Chicago American Giants
1924 Harrisburg Giants
1924 Homestead Grays
1924 Lincoln Giants
1925 Detroit Stars
1925 St. Louis Stars
1926 Cleveland Elite Giants
1927 Cleveland Hornets
1931 Indianapolis A.B.C.’s
Branham, Slim (a.k.a. Brannon)
1917 Jewell’s A.B.C.’s
1920 Dayton Marcos
1922 Cleveland Tate Stars
1923 Cleveland Tate Stars
1923 Toledo Tigers
1926 Cleveland Elite Giants
Having studied 1920-1922 pretty closely, I’ve concluded that “Branham” and “Branahan” were almost certainly a single pitcher who appeared with Dayton in 1920 and the Cleveland Tate Stars in 1921 and 1922.
From Patrick’s 1923 Negro National League Yearbook, I can see that he has concluded similarly, that Branham/Branaham of Toledo/Chicago/Cleveland was one person.
And looking through the Pittsburgh Courier in 1924 I was able to determine that Branham/Branahan of Homestead and Harrisburg were definitely the same person, and that he was also the Branham/Branahan of Cleveland and the American Giants the previous year (I haven’t found him with the Lincoln Giants yet.) Here’s the only photo I’ve found that shows his face with any (though not much) clarity (Pittsburgh Courier, March 29, 1924):
Again like Patrick, I had tended to think that this player’s real name was “Branahan,” though “Branham” tends to be predominant in 1920-1922 and in April and May of 1924 (and you sometimes see the hybrid “Branaham”). “Branahan” is more prevalent in 1924 from June and July on; and back in December 1922 the Cleveland Tate Stars listed “Finis Branahan” among their reserved players.
But I was curious about the anomalous appearance of “Slim Branham” with Jewell’s A.B.C.’s in 1917. Checking in Marion County World War I draft cards for “Branahan,” “Branham,” “Brannon,” etc., I found this guy:
George Branham was in fact a professional ballplayer, employed by “Flemmings” (Henry Fleming was the business manager of the club known as Jewell’s A.B.C.’s), at Northwestern Park (where the A.B.C.’s played).
So I figured I had identified a different person from the later Branahan, someone who had wrongly been conflated with him (particularly given the gap of three years). However, I also noticed this guy, with a rather significant name:
Not “Finis Branahan,” but “Finest Branham”—awfully close. Note that Finest Ernest Branham, though not a professional ballplayer at this point, lived at the same address in Indianapolis (1410 Mill St.) as the ballplayer George Branham (though they registered a year apart). Finest’s birthplace is not listed, but his father is Millard Branham of Castalian Spring, Tennessee—which is George’s birthplace.
I was also able to find, living at 1410 Mill St. in Indianapolis in 1917-18, Phoenix Branham, born 9 June 1881, with “nearest relative” listed as Susan Branham of Castalian Spring, Tennessee, and John Branham, born 5 January 1897 in Castalian Spring, Tennessee, father Millard Branham. (Neither was listed as a ballplayer.)
Looking forward, I could not find anyone whose name resembled Finest Branham in the 1920 census—but I did find George Branham, 27, born in Tennessee, living in Detroit, Michigan, with wife Willie and daughter Gwendolyn, age six. His occupation appears to be “machinist” or something similar, not ballplayer. George also appears in the 1930 census, still in Detroit; his children now include a son, “Finis Branham,” three years old.
Remember that “J. Finis Branahan” is supposed to have played for the Detroit Stars in 1925. Moreover, Riley also has a “George Brannigan (a.k.a. Branigan)” listed with the 1926 Cleveland Elite Giants and 1927 Cleveland Hornets—both teams that Branahan and “Slim Branham” are listed with.
Meanwhile, “Finest Branham” also turns up in the 1930 census, living in Cleveland, 28 years old, born in Tennessee (though his occupation’s not listed as ballplayer).
Turning to the Social Security Death Index, I was able to find:
George Branham, born 29 November 1893 (draft card above has 29 November 1891), died April 1977 (the Michigan Deaths database has the date April 14), Detroit, Michigan.
Finis Branham, born 7 April 1900 (same date as Finest Branham’s draft card), died January 1957 (no location), Social Security number issued in Ohio prior to 1951.
Finis Branham, born 31 December 1926, died 1 May 2005, Henderson, Nevada.
Some interesting quandaries here:
1) George Branham is the only one I can definitely identify as a baseball player, yet it seems awfully clear that Finest Branham is in fact the pitcher otherwise known as “Finis Branahan.” Yet did George in fact continue his pitching career, perhaps with Detroit in 1925, or on the 1926-27 Cleveland teams?
2) Finest Ernest Branham signed his name “Finest” on his draft card; yet it appears as “Finis” in Social Security records. His nephew, who would appear to have been named after him, appears in all the records as “Finis.” He only passed away two years ago; it’s too bad no one got the chance to ask him about it. But then, there may be other relatives around who know something about their family’s baseball connection. (At least we probably know how “Finis” was pronounced, though.)
UPDATE 4:24 p.m. Forgot to add a couple of things: 1) in the 1910 census (in Sumter County, Tennessee), the enumerator spells Finest Branham's name “Finace”; and 2) Finis Branham, his nephew, was a Korean war veteran (wounded in a missile attack in 1951), who may have briefly entertained a political career; a “Finis Branham” of Detroit is listed at The Political Graveyard among Republican candidates for delegate to the Michigan state constitutional convention in 1961 (he evidently lost in the primary).
Found Finis listed in directory's as "ballplayer"; Indianapolis in 1922,1923. He is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.
Posted by: GAIL CHAMBERS | April 23, 2020 at 02:30 PM