Captain Henry Nichols (1842-1899): Died from heat in Philippine-American War

Grave of Captain Henry Nichols (photo by Michael Colbruno) and news headline

PLOT 33

Captain Henry Nichols, was the commander of the United States double turreted monitor Monadnock during the Philippine-American War. He died in the first year of the war, which lasted from 1899-1902. The war was over the First Philippine Republic's objection to the terms of the Treaty of Paris under which the United States took possession of the Philippines from Spain ending the Spanish–American War. The war was a continuation of the Philippine struggle for independence that began in 1896 with the Philippine Revolution.

Captain Nichols died from sunstroke aboard his vessel at Cavite during an intense period of hot weather. The Monandock had been lying off Parañque for two months where it had been under heavy fire from the rebels on a daily basis. Nichols had been fighting for the occupation of Parañque by American forces.

Newspaper account of Captain Nichols' death

Nichols refused an an offer to retire the ship from her duties and said he would stay until the area was cleared of rebels. However, Captain Nichols was overcome by the heat around noon on June 10, 1899. He retired to his cabin, where he received frequent reports of the operations and continued to give orders for the next three hours, when he finally lost consciousness. He died two hours later.

Several hours before his death he expressed gratification at the way events were progressing, remarking to an officer: "We have got the rebels there at last."

After his death, the flags on all the vessels in the area were half masted.

You can read about his wife Juliet in another "Lives of the Dead" post by clicking HERE. 

Ossie Vitt (1890-1963): MLB player; Managed infamous "Cleveland Crybabies"

Ossie Vitt Pacific Coast League card and burial vault

Main Mausoleum
2nd floor, Sec 155 Nitch 1 Tier 10

Oscar Joseph "Ossie" Vitt was a Major League Baseball third baseman in the American League for the Detroit Tigers (1912–1918) and Boston Red Sox (1919–1921). Vitt later became manager of the Cleveland Indians (1938–1940), where he sometimes clashed with his players.

Ossie Vitt was a product of the sandlots of San Francisco where he made considerable money as a bricklayer after the '06 earthquake. He broke into the Pacific Coast League as third baseman for the San Francisco Seals in 1911. He later advanced to the majors as a utility infielder for the Detroit Tigers. Through his major league career, Vitt played 833 games at 3rd base and 161 games at 2nd base. As the Tigers' regular third baseman from 1915 through 1917, he never batted higher than .254. But he was described as a smart, scrappy baseball man.

Oakland Tribune feature on Ossie Vitt

Vitt had a career batting average of .238, and was a talented third baseman with range and a good throwing arm. His .960 fielding average in 10 years at 3rd base was 20 points higher than the Major League average for 3rd basemen of his era. He led all American League third basemen in consecutive years (1915 and 1916) in putouts, assists and fielding percentage. He had career highs at third base of 208 putouts (team record at 3B), 385 assists, and 32 double plays in 1916. His range factor of 3.93 in 1916 was 70 points higher than the league average for third basemen.

While not a good hitter for average, Vitt was a good contact hitter and one of the best bunters of the era—a valuable talent on a Detroit squad that included Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Bobby Veach. His career total of 259 sacrifice hits (in a relatively short career) ranks 32nd best in major league history.

Vitt was also one of the toughest players to strike out in MLB history. For his career, he struck out an average of once every 26.6 at bats, 35th best in MLB history. In 1918, his at bat per strikeout ratio was 44.5, 2nd best in the AL.

1917 Ossie Vitt baseball card and newspaper feature, which ran nationwide

On August 10, 1915, Vitt was hit in the head by a Walter Johnson fastball. After being knocked unconscious for five minutes‚ Vitt left the game with a concussion. Ty Cobb‚ observing Johnson's fear of hitting a batter‚ crowded the plate on Johnson from that point forward. Cobb hit .435 against Johnson after the Vitt incident.

On July 30, 1917, Cobb‚ Veach‚ and Vitt followed each other in the lineup‚ with each going 5-for-5.

On January 17, 1919, Vitt was traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Eddie Ainsmith, Chick Shorten, and Slim Love.

After playing in the majors for 10 years, Vitt was recommended to Oakland Oaks' owner Victor Devincinzi by the Yankees' management to manage the Oaks in 1935. His style was described as both abrasive and motivational, pushing the Oaks to a third-place finish.

Vitt moved on in the Yankees' organization the next year, managing their farm team in Newark. He was then hired by the Cleveland Indians in 1938 to replace Steve O'Neil as manager and instill new life into their team.

Ossie Vitt with three different teams

Vitt's role in the 1940 Cleveland Indians team known as the "Cleveland Crybabies" has become a baseball legend. "I don't want any lazy players on my club," said Vitt when he was hired. "If the boys won't hustle, out they go." Vitt's players felt they were being accused. In Vitt's first two seasons in Cleveland, the Indians finished third. Yet, there were frequent clashes between Vitt and his players, and the discontent festered.

On June 11, 1940, matters came to a head when he went to the mound to remove Mel Harder. "When are you going to start earning your salary?" asked Vitt of Harder, who had won at least 15 games for eight consecutive seasons, including two 20-win seasons. The team revolted, and many players signed a petition to have Vitt removed. After the incident with Harder, a dozen Indians met with owner Alva Bradley to state their grievances against Vitt, whom they described as a "wild man." They made it clear they hoped he would be fired. In the closed-door meeting between Indians players and owner, Harder told Bradley: "We think we have a good chance to win the pennant, but we'll never win it with Vitt as manager. If we can get rid of him, we can win. We feel sure about that." Bradley sought to keep the controversy quiet, but the story quickly got out, and newspaper headlines all over the nation referred gleefully to the Indians as the "Cleveland Crybabies."

Despite the hullabaloo and ridicule, the Indians, with Vitt hanging on to his job, battled the Detroit Tigers for the pennant to the last day of the 1940 season. Through June, the Indians were 42–25. After June, with the "Crybabies" harangue clanging in the papers and from the stands, they went 47–40, not a collapse, but not good enough to stay ahead of the Tigers who won the pennant by a single game over the Tribe. Bob Feller, a 27-game winner that year, lost the decisive game 2–0.

Vitt was among those in the first class of inductees in 1943 in the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

SOURCES: Reprinted from Wikipedia, photos from Salt Lake Tribune, Montana Standard,  Oakland Tribune

Mary Ellen Bamford (1857-1946): American author and prohibitionist

Gravestone of Mary Ellen Bamford (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Mary Ellen Bamford was an American author and prohibitionist.

Bamford was the daughter of Doctor William Bamford and Cornelia Elizabeth Rand, her parents were pioneer settlers. Her father was one of the first physicians in Oakland (what was then called Brooklyn).She lived at the Bamford family home for most of her life.

Mary was educated in public schools in Oakland and served as a substitute librarian at the Oakland Library from 1906-1939. However, writing remained her main vocation and she authored 21 books, including Marie's story. A tale of the days of Louis XIV, Miss Millie's Trying, A Piece of Kitty Hunter's Life, Thoughts of My Dumb Neighbors and Ti: A Story of San Francisco's Chinatown.

Mary Ellen Bamford's "Up and Down the Brooks"

Bamford was an committed prohibitionist and was also secretary of the regional Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society and active at the 23rd Avenue Baptist  Church. She supplied books to a number of publishers including the American Baptist Publication Society. Bamford also wrote for Sunday schools of several denominations

In contrast to most Americans at the time, Bamford was sympathetic to Chinese and other Asians attempting to enter the United States. She was the author of Angel Island: the Ellis Island of the West, which was published by Woman's American Home Baptist Mission Society in 1917.

SOURCES: Oakland Tribune, Wikipedia, Amazon.com

Anna McCune Harper (1900-1999): Dominant female tennis player

Anna McCune Harper and gravestone (photo on right by Michael Colbruno)

PLOT 36, Lot 269

Anna McCune Harper was dominant American female tennis player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1924 she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley. She later served as the national president of Sigma Kappa from 1939-1942.

She learned the sport along with her sister, Lucy, when they were youngsters in Pacific Grove, California. She restricted most of her play to the West coast until her marriage to UC Berkeley history professor Lawrence Averell Harper. He received a fellowship to study in England in 1925 and 1926 and Anna entered Wimbledon in those years.

Harper was ranked in the U.S. top ten five consecutive years from 1928 through 1932 and was top ranked in 1930.  She won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1931 partnering George Lott. She was the runner-up in singles at the 1930 U.S. Championships, losing to Betty Nuthall (who won the match in 36 minutes!). She also was the runner-up in women's doubles at the 1928, 1930 and 1932 U.S. Championships and in mixed doubles at the 1931 edition of those championships.
 

Lawrence Averall Harper, who died exactly 10 years before his wife

In 1932, Harper was called home because of an illness in her family. She then decided to give up tournament tennis for other tasks, including the rearing of three children. But she continued to follow the game and played for many years. She even had arthroscopic knee surgery at age 81 so she could continue to play. An adverse reaction to a general anesthetic sidelined her for good and precipitated a long, slow decline in her health.
 
Harper was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981. There is an "Anna McCune Harper Scholarship Fund at UC," which goes annually to a woman student who is an outstanding athlete and scholar.

She died on June 14, 1999, which was the 10 year anniversary of her husband's death. 

SOURCES: Wikipedia, SFGate.com, Baltimore Sun, Tennis Forum, Sigma Kappa

Bernie DeViveiros (1901-1994): Baseball's "Doctor of Sliding"

Bernie DeViveiros

Plot 72, Grave 1435

Bernard "Bernie" John DeViveiros was a Major League Baseball player who played shortstop for Chicago White Sox in 1924 and the Detroit Tigers in 1927. During his playing days, he stood 5' 7" tall and weighed 160 pounds. He batted and threw right-handed. His major league career consisted of 25 games with a batting average of .227.

DeViveiros played baseball at Oakland Tech High School in 1919-20 with future pros Johnny Gillespie and Taylor Douthit. He was named the California State Player of the Year in 1920.

Bernie DeViveiros teaches Gene Lamont how to slide

He was dubbed “The Doctor of Sliding” and taught numerous players the bent-leg slide and the fadeaway slide. He was also known as a great bunting coach. He learned the craft of sliding from then-Tiger manager Ty Cobb, as Hall of Fame player known for his base running skills.  After a few stints managing minor league and independent teams,  DeViveiros went to work as a scout for the Tigers in 1946 and remained with the team until he retired in 1972. During his time as a coach, he taught bunting and sliding to George Kell, Al Kaline, Vic Wertz, Hoot Eversm Harvey Kuenn, Rocky Colavito, Dick McAuliffe,  Bill Freehan, Mickey Stanley, Jim Northrup, Willie Horton and Gates Brown.

Bernie DeViveiros' high school photo and a baseball signed "Always Sliding"

Perhaps his most famous contribution was discovering and signing Mickey Lolich, who became a legend when he led the Detroit Tigers to a World Series win in 1968. Lolich ended up winning 217 games in the majors, threw 39 shutouts and struck out 2,832 hitters.

In 1951, DeViveiros wrote an article on Base Running in The Sporting News called "How to Play Baseball."

He died while living at the Altenheim Retirement home in Oakland on July 5, 1994.

Sources: Oakland Tech High School, "Safe by a mile" by Charlie Metro, BaseballReference.com, Wikipedia, Ancestry.com, Corpus Christi Caller Times

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