William "Babe" Borton (1888-1954): Baseball player mired in scandals

 

Babe Borton and the Main Mausoleum at Mountain View Cemetery

 MAIN MAUSOLEUM

William Baker "Babe" Borton was born on August 14, 1888 in Marion, Illinois to Reuben Borton and Martha Simmons. He is best remembered for his involvement in some well-publicized bribery scandals that rocked baseball in the early 20th century. 

Borton played for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Terriers, and St. Louis Browns from 1912 to 1916. During his playing years, he was listed at 6' tall and 178 pounds. He batted and threw left-handed.

Borton was born in Marion, Illinois in 1888. He started his professional baseball career in 1910, at the age of 21. In 1912, he was hitting .369 in the Western League when he was acquired by the White Sox late in the season. He played one season for them before being traded to the Yankees for Hal Chase. He hit just .130 in New York and was released. In 1914, he played in the Pacific Coast League. 

1915 was Borton's only full major league campaign, and he made it count. With the St. Louis Terriers, he led the Federal League in walks (92) and runs scored (97) and was fourth in on-base percentage (.395). After the season, the Federal League folded, and Borton was purchased by the American League's Browns. He hit just .224 in 1916 and never played in the majors again. From 1917 to 1920, he played in the Pacific Coast League. He batted .303 in 1919, as his team – the Vernon Tigers – won the pennant. In 1920, he was batting .326 late in the season when he was suspended. 

Babe Borton and St. Louis Browns team photo (he is second from the left in the second row from the top)

In July 1920, Borton had tried to bribe an opposing pitcher into throwing a game. According to "The Fix Is In: A History of Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals" by Daniel Ginsburg, "In late July of 1920, Borton met with pitcher Ralph Stroud of Salt Lake in the Lankershim Hotel in Los Angeles and offered him $300 to throw a game to Borton's Vernon club. Stroud refused the offer and left the hotel. Just after this incident, Borton met with Maggert and paid him $300, which looked suspicious...Despite the fact that he refused Borton's offer, Stroud pitched poorly and was knocked out in the first inning. After the game, Borton approached Stroud in the hotel lobby and him $300, saying, "You earned it." Stroud refused the money, insisting that he tried to win but just had an off day." Newspaper accounts verify the claim that Stroud did accept $300 from Borton and outfielder Harl Maggert in a hotel lobby, but Stroud claimed it was payment for an unrelated gambling debt.

In October 1919, the famous Black Sox Scandal erupted (when two Chicago White Sox players admitted taking money to throw the 1919 World Series) and, according to Ginsburg, Borton's name emerged again when players were called to testify. Salt Lake player Tub Spencer claimed Borton offered him $1,700 at the end of the season and pitcher Wheezer Dell said Borton offered him $300 to throw a game. Despite denying the charges, Borton claimed that he only offered Spencer $500.

As details in the scandal emerged, it was discovered that he and some Vernon teammates had also bribed opponents in 1919 to throw the pennant to the Tigers. Borton was eventually cleared of any criminal charges in December, but along with Harl Maggert, Gene Dale, and Bill Rumler, Borton was expelled from the Pacific Coast League.

Borton never played in organized baseball after 1920. He worked for the Standard Oil Refinery in Richmond, California from 1926 until his retirement in 1953. He died on July 29, 1954 at his home in Berkeley.

Sources: Society for American Baseball Research, "The Fix Is In: A History of Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals" by Daniel Ginsburg, Ogden Standard-Examiner, Oakland Tribune, Wikipedia, Ancestry. com

Reverand John Edgren (1839-1908): Founder of Bethel University

Reverand John Edgren

John Alexis Edgren was a Swedish-American Baptist Minister. Edgren began what eventually evolved into Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Born in Varmland, Sweden, in 1839, Edgren received a fine education in Karlstad. At an early age, he became a seaman and by the time he was 20 years old, he had achieved the rank of captain. During a terrible storm on a voyage to America, Edgren turned his life over to Christ. He was baptized in 1858 at the Mariner’s Baptist Church in New York City.

He offered his services to the Union Navy in the American Civil War and was honored by the Union for his service and bravery.

Edgren took theological training at Princeton Seminary and the Baptist Theological Seminary in Hamilton, N.Y., before returning to Sweden as a missionary. He taught at Bethel Seminary in Stockholm, and served as a pastor in churches in Uppsala and Göteborg. His wife’s poor health prompted a move back to the United States.

Called to serve as the pastor of the First Swedish Baptist Church in Chicago in 1871, he immediately advertised the beginning of a Swedish Baptist Seminary, which soon became the Swedish department of the Baptist Union Theological Seminary. He completed academic work at the Baptist Union Seminary for his B.D. degree and was granted a D.D. by that school in 1883. At first, Edgren was the sole instructor and administrator of the new seminary. The school struggled with inadequate budgets and few students. However, in five years, all the Swedish state conferences had voted subsidies for the school and the American Baptists were assisting in finding financial supporters. By 1879, the Swedish Baptist Conference had established a school board. At the end of the first 10 years, the student body numbered 28 students, with more than 50 graduates serving churches in the rapidly growing Swedish Baptist Conference. The school is now known as Bethel University.

Bethel University in St. Paul, MN

The relationship between Edgren and the Baptist Union Theological Seminary was not an easy one and he took issue with Christians becoming part of secret societies such as the Free Masons. In 1884, the Swedish Conference voted to establish a seminary in Minnesota, and Edgren moved his students to St. Paul. The seminary became known as the Swedish-American Bible Seminary and was housed in First Baptist Church in St. Paul (now Trinity Baptist).

He painted wonderful oil pictures as an avocation. He mastered 32 languages and was consulted by European scholars on the translations of ancient manuscripts. He also founded a Swedish language paper called Zions Waktare, (The Watchman of Zion), which marked the beginning of a Baptist denominational press.

He moved to California to pursue literary pursuits and became the author of books on many theological and Biblical subjects. He died at his home in Oakland from heart disease. 

Sources: New York Tribune, Bethel University, Wikipedia

Colonel Volney Ashford (1844-1900): Exiled for role in Hawaiian Revolution

Colonel Volney Ashford (drawing on right from Oakland Tribune)

Plot 12, Sec. 2-11,  
Grand Army of the Republic plot

Volney Vallencourt “V.V.” Ashford was an American Civil War veteran who was involved in the 19th century rebellion in Hawaii.

Ashford joined the Union Army in 1863 after leaving his home in Port Hope, Ontario. He was a British citizen since Canada was a territory of the United Kingdom. He became a Quartermaster Sergeant in the Grizwold Light Cavalry (aka Twenty-First New York Regiment of Cavalry) during the American Civil War. He was honorably discharged as a Sargeant.

After the Civil War, Ashford, became a surveyor for the Beaverton Railway and joined the Prince of Wales' Royal Canadian Dragoons where he was made a Captain.

In 1884, he went to Honolulu, where his brother, Clarence W. Ashford, had been practicing law for several years. His talents were recognized by King Kalakaua, who presented him with letters of denization and shortly afterward made him the royal legal adviser.

Ashford became an important factor in the first revolution in Hawaii. In 1886. when Robert Wilcox was striving to overthrow the reign and government of King Kalakaua in the Wilcox Rebellion, Ashford organized the Honolulu Rifles. The Honolulu Rifles was composed of Americans and Englishmen and Ashford became the commanding Colonel of the Hawaiian Army. Ashford became responsible for the Rifles’ growth from 100 men in 1886 to a battalion of three companies in 1887 and recognition as a paramilitary force. In 1889, the Rifles did battle with Wilcox's forces and defeated them by firing upon them from three building, most notably from the Opera House and the Kawaiahaʻo Church clock tower. Upon Wilcox’s surrender, he offered Ashford his sabre. Ashford accepted the surrender but turned down Wilcox's sabre. Wilcox was tried for treason, but was acquitted by an all-Hawaiian jury.

In 1890, when Queen Liliuokalani was in power, there was another uprising and Ashford claimed that he planned on carrying out Sanford B. Dole's plans to abolish the monarchy, which he believed to be corrupt. However, he claimed Dole betrayed him and revealed his plans. Queen Liliuokalani threatened to have Ashford beheaded, but key allies intervened and saved his life. He was ferried off the islands about a boat. Dole served as President of Hawaii until his government secured Hawaii's annexation by the United States.

Queen Liliuokalani and Sanford Dole

After the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, Ashford returned to Hawaii and retired from his position as commander of the Rifles. He was a strong supporter of annexation, but with the establishment of the Republic of Hawaii he gave little support for the new government and disapproved of the mistreatment of Hawaiians by the government. Ashford was approached by counter-revolutionaries as a consultant to restore the monarchy.

The counter-revolution ended in failure in 1895 and Ashford was charged with misprision of treason and received one year in prison and a $1000 fine. Due to his ill health he was given the option of the one-year sentence or to become exiled (which was the option he chose).

After accepting exile he moved to California, his brother moved in with him under similar circumstances of exile. Ashford died on March 21, 1900 in Oakland, California. He was widowed twice in addition to the death of his daughter. 

Sources: San Francisco Call, Wikipedia, Biography.com, Oakland Tribune, National Archives

Horace Page (1833-1890): Congressman who sponsored Asian immigration restrictions

Horace Page and an anti-Chinese immigrant poster

PLOT 27, LOT 63

Horace Francis Page was a four-term member of Congress who was first elected as a Republican in 1878. He represented what was then the 2nd Congressional District from 1873-1883. During the 47th United States Congress, he was the chairman of the Committee on Commerce. He lost his bid for a fifth term in 1882.  

He is perhaps best known for the Page Act of 1875, which was the first restrictive federal immigration law and prohibited the entry of immigrants considered "undesirable." The law classified as "undesirable" any individual from Asia who was coming to America to be a forced laborer, any Asian woman who would engage in prostitution, and all people considered to be convicts in their own country. Page said he introduced the bill to "end the danger of cheap Chinese labor and immoral Chinese women" It imposed  a fine of up to $2,000 and maximum jail sentence of one year upon anyone who tried to bring a person from China, Japan, or any Asian country to the United States. The Page Act created the policing of immigrants around sexuality which “gradually became extended to every immigrant who sought to enter America,” and today remains a central feature of immigration restriction.

Horace Page gravesite

Page was born near Medina, Orleans County, New York and attended the Millville Academy, before going on to study law.  In 1854, he moved to California and worked in the sawmill business near Colfax. He moved to Placerville and worked in the livery-stable business and then the mining industry as a mail contractor and stage proprietor. He went on to establish a stage coach line that connected El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento counties.

He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for state senate in 1869 and served as a major in the California Militia.  In 1884,  Page was a delegate to the Republican National Convention. After he left Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C. for about eight years.

He died suddenly at the Strathmore House on Larkin Street in San Francisco on August 23, 1890. He was survived by his widow Jane Walters Page and four children.

Sources: San Francisco Call, Wikipedia

Oscar Westerberg (1882-1909); Baseball player who died of TB

Oscar Westerberg and his burial site in Plot 39

PLOT 39, Lot 1446
(Gravestone and marker missing)

Oscar William Westerberg was born on July 8, 1882 in Alameda, California was a switch-hitting professional baseball player who played shortstop.

He broke into baseball in 1904 with Stockton in the California State League. In 1906, he played for the Alameda Grays in the California League and the Tacoma Tigers in the Northwestern League. He played 12 games for Tacoma, hitting .273 with three doubles. The following season, he played one game with the Portland Beavers in the Pacific Coast League before making his major league debut for the Boston Doves at South End Grounds III.  He only played two games for the Doves, but he collected two hits and six at-bats for a .333 batting average with on RBI.

The Boston Doves were originally known as the Beaneaters and were redubbed in 1907 when the team was purchased by the Dovey Brothers. The team went on to become the Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves and eventually the current day Atlanta Braves. (Hall of Fame baseball player Ernie Lombardi, who played for the Boston Braves is also buried at Mountain View Cemetery. Read about him HERE.)

Westerberg's final season was in 1908, when he appeared in 15 games for the New Haven Blues in the Connecticut State League and 16 games for the Trenton Tigers in the Tri-State League.

Prior to playing professional baseball, he attended Saint Mary's College of California. 

The Oakland Tribune reported that he died on April 17, 1909 at his home in Alameda of "consumption," which is now known as tuberculosis. The disease was called “consumption” because the illness seemed to consume the individual, with their weight drastically dropping as the disease progressed.

Sources: Oakland Tribune, Mountain View Cemetery archives, Baseball Almanac, Wikipedia

Henry Judson Booth (1830-1909): Company built first locomotive in California

Booth Family Plot

PLOT 9

Henry Judson Booth was born in England in 1830. In 1832, his family moved to Ohio where he lived until 1851, when he moved to San Francisco. He was married to Elizabeth Booth with whom he had four children, Edgar, Jessie, Genevieve and Lizzie. They lived on Harrison Street in San Francisco.

Along with his partners George Prescott and Irving Scott, he founded the Union Iron Works in San Francisco which established itself on the West Coast and nationally as a key player in the early days of steel shipbuilding industry. Union Iron Works constructed engines and boilers for iron ships, locomotive equipment and the majority of mining equipment used in the Comstock silver mines. The firm built the first locomotive in California, which debuted on August 30, 1865 with Governor Frederick Low in attendance. The train traveled from the Mission District in San Francisco to San José, California.

Union Iron Works in San Francisco

An ad for Union Iron Works in San Francisco

Union Iron Works also cast the shaft for the steamer John S. McKim, which was the first iron casting in the state  of California. In June 1875, Henry J. Booth retired and the firm name was changed to Prescott, Scott and Company. He also owned a coal mine near Corral Hollow Creek in Alameda County.

The Union Iron Works Historic District still exists in San Francisco east of Illinois Street between 18th and 22nd Streets. It originally stood on what was once a small promontory surrounded by deep waters called Point San Quentin. In the 1850s it was renamed Potrero Point. The firm was located on a 22-acre shipyard situated along the shoreline and consisted of six main buildings and a wharf.

He died in New York City on November 26, 1909, where he lived with his youngest daughter Genevieve..

Sources: Port of San Francisco, New York Times, Ancestry.com, National Park Service, Oakland Tribune

Attorney and Conservationist Allen Chickering (1877-1958) and Julia Morgan designed home

Chickering Gravestone (photo Michael Colbruno) and wedding announcemnt of Alma Sherman & Allen Chickering (The SF Call, 5/20/1903)

PLOT 18

Allen Lawrence Chickering was a noted attorney, whose parents, William and Caroline Pickering,  were early Oakland pioneers. He maintained a keen interest in history with his involvement in the California Historical Society, where he served as President for eight years. He was also a longtime member of the Save-the-Redwoods League and the Sierra Club.

Chickering was born in Oakland on September 20, 1877 and was a descendent of John Chickering who came to America from Suffolk, England in 1659. His father William Chickering came to the Bay Area in 1873 where he founded the Chickering & Thomas Law Firm. Allen Chickering joined the firm in 1903 and became the managing partner when his father died in 1917.

Chickering also had a deep love of botany, especially wild flowers. He was nicknamed "Calochortus Albus" by his friends. The flower is more commonly known as the Fairy Lantern. Chickering wrote a treatise on the flower, which was published. The plant Cleveland Sage is also known as "Salvia x clevelandii Allen Chickering."

Chickering Home (Photo on left from "The Architect and Engineer: Some Examples of the work of Julia Morgan")

Juia Morgan designed twenty homes in Piedmont between 1907 and 1930. In 1911, she designed the Chickering home at 11 Sierra Avenue in the Late Italian Renaissance style. The facade of the house was inspired by the country villas of Italian architect Andrea Pallado. Gail Lombardi's Piedmont historic survey notes, "This home has an elegant entry, large windows and shows Morgan’s delicate use of ironwork in the balconies. Miss Morgan continued to work for the Chickerings, later designing the garage, tennis courts, gardens, and other alterations in the 1920s."

Chickering died on January 6, 1958 after suffering a stroke on Christmas Day. His wife Alma died six months earlier. The couple were married for 54 years. After his death, the State Park Commission headed by Oaklander James Knowland, named a redwood grove in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in his honor.

Gravestone of William Chickering II (photo by Michael Colbruno)

His son William Chickering II was killed in 1945, while working as a war correspondent for Time magazine. He died during an enemy attack on warships in Luzon, The Philippines.

Sources: Gail Lombardi's Piedmont Historic Survey, San Francisco Call, Oakland Tribune, The Architect and Engineer: Some Examples of the work of Julia Morgan, Bancroft Library, City of Oakland (Betty Marvin)

Dr. Noble Martin (1820-1896): Minister, Doctor & Legislator

Dr. Noble Martin (sketch, SF Call; Photo Michael Colbruno)

Dr. Noble Martin was a minister, doctor and a long-time member of the California Legislature.

He was born in Vermont in 1820 as the third of nine boys. As a young man he worked on a farm and as a wagon maker. He came to California in 1852 to mine for gold. After finding only moderate success in the mines at Little York and Red Dog, he studied medicine and was a practicing physician for 25 years in Dutch Flat. The town, which is about 30 miles northeast of Auburn, was once one of the richest mining towns in California. The town is now designated as a "semi-ghost town" and has only 333 residents.

He served in the California State Legislature for 25 years, serving Placer and El Dorado counties. He served on the Assembly Education Committee, where he was an outspoken advocate for creating kindergartens.* He served in the Senate from 1892 until his death.

In 1892, he strongly supported his Republican friend George Perkins* for the United States Senate, despite being a lifelong Democrat. Perkins had served in the State Senate and as Governor of California from 1880-1883. He remained in the U.S. Senate for 22 years.

Dr. Martin died at the home of his daughter in Berkeley after being in failing health.

* Both Emma Marwedel, founder of the kindergarten movement, and Senator George Perkins are buried at Mountain View Cemetery

San Francisco Call, Berkeley Gazette, Oakland Tribune, Journal of the Senate of the State of California

Dean Briggs Lyman (1838-1903): MIning pioneer; Nevada State Senator

Dean Lyman grave

PLOT 35 

Dean Briggs Lyman was born in South Royalton, Vermont in 1838 and came to California in 1856, where he worked in the placer mines. He was married twice, first to the former Nellie Smith and later to Anna Dunlap, with whom he he had two children, Edward and George.

He moved to Nevada and work in the quartz mills in Washoe City. He went on to run the Morgan Mill in Ormsby and the Mexican Mill in Empire City (which was named for the Mexican miner Gabriel Maldonado, who purchased the mine).

Gould and Curry Mine, Virginia City (1874)

In 1880, he became the Superintendent of the famed John Mackay and James Fair silver mining interests. Mackay, Fair and James Flood were known as the Bonanza Kings (aka Silver Kings) who all became multi-millionaires. Lyman became a lifelong friend of Mackay and went on to run a number of mines under his control, including the Ophir, Sierra Nevada, Union Consolidated, Consolidated Virginia, Gould & Curry and other mines. Silver mining in Nevada began in 1858 with the discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major silver-mining district in the United States. The Comstock Lode has been mostly inactive since the 1920s. The state is now known as the "Silver State."

Lyman also dabbled in politics, being elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 1873 representing Armsby County. From 1885-89, he represented Storey County in the Nevada State Senate.

Myron Winslow Wood (1823-1913): Wrote History of Alameda County

Myron Wood gravestone (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Myron Winslow Wood was born in Vermont, but settled in Wisconsin after marrying Mary Denford in 1846. She died in 1864 and he remarried Pamelia Ada Whitney a year later. He served with the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry during the United States Civil War for the Union Side from October 31, 1861-October 19, 1865, rising from the rank of Private to Major. After his military service, he moved to California

He is remembered today for writing the "History of Alameda County, California" a two volume set of paid biographies published in 1883. The biographies were invariably flattering and generally omitted some important but inconvenient genealogical or biographical data.

Wood's History of Alameda County

The biographies were mostly those of residents of Murray Township, which at that time included the towns of Altamont, Dublin, Livermore, Midway, Pleasanton and Suñol, and their surrounding countryside. A few of the subjects lived elsewhere, but owned land or had business interests in Murray Township.

Wood's book was typical of county histories published in the late 19th century. The books were commercial ventures and not scholarly works. They included biographies of only male citizens. In derisive reference to the portraits included with the biographies, the publications became known as "mug books." Wood's two-volume, 1001page set has become a valuable reference source for the early history of Alameda County, as well as an important resource for genealogists.