Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-06-29
THE LIVELY TURTLES OF 1867.
A Baseball Team That Cut some Ice In the
- Early Days

Baseball Team That Cut Some Ice In the
- Early Days
= in 1867 Rock Island had a
base ~ that was the sensation
of this se> of the country. The
article put up by the professional
cl1os of the present generation was
amateurish in comparison. This
justly famous aggregation was styled
the Lively Turtles, name suggested
by we'll known woman of the city,
who. with many others old enough TO
enjoy ball games in those days. can
recall with pleasure and admiration
the victorious struggles of the Tur-
ties The uniforms consisted of
green trousers and caps with white
shirts and stockings, the caps having
q large white star in the middle of
the crown, the whole topped off
with q button of emerald hue.
The members of the team were popu-
lar with the ladies, who invariably
turned out in big crowds to see them
play, and on special occasions would
provide the players with green cam
brio cuffs and collars.
The club was organized in the
spring of 1867. with Joseph X Gregg
as president. Charles Ii. Glenn vice
president. James f. Copp treasurer.
and John K, Fleming secretary, john
r Warner being subsequently elected
to the latter uIfice. Mr.. Warner has
To this day preserved the records of
the games and executive meetings Of
the Lively Turtles. An interesting
story can be found between the COW
ers Of this book. The most remark
able part of it probably is the record
of the three championship games that
were played at the county fair that
was held on the Ninth street grounds
in the summer of 1867 The man
agement of the fair offered $50 prize
to the baseball team organized in
that year winning the most games in
a series to be played on the grounds
for the edification of the sightseers.
The Lively Turtles, with fear and
trem bling. approached the fair
grounds diamond. for they had had
hardly any practice and had little
confidence in one another as ball
players. The first team pitted against
the Turtles were the Stars, of DAven-
port.
Score ~ to al.
The Turtles lineup was: Joseph
Gregg C, Will Sage Id, j. III. Burwell
%. John Il. Warner 80, Willard Baker
IS. John T. Noftsker If, David Hakes
CT. j. Z. Fleming IF, Jim Fahey p.
The game was called in the eighth
inning with the score standing II to
Al in favor OF the Turtles. The next
contest was with the Athletes. of Coal
Valley. Capt. George Lamont was in
the box for the Turtles, and they won
&c to 33. The banner game of the
series was the third. This one gave
the money to the Turtles. Their oppo-
nents were the Black Hawks, of Cam
den. Phil Mitchell did the tossing for
the Turtles and proved a veritable puz-
zle to the brawny handed boys from the
shores OF Rock river. The game was
called in the seventh inning, when
the score stood 80 to As. In the "a
innings Of the three games the Turtles
made 221 scores to the 102 of the op-
posing teams.
The Turtles had large member
ship, nearly every prominent man in
town then being on the honorary roll.
These gentlemen were supposed to at
tend the games and root for their
team. And they did it. Mr.. Warner
says. helping the Turtles to win
many victory. Among those who
were mem bers of the Turtles were
j. Nj. Beardsley, L. M. Haverstick,
James Jackson. Elijah Carter, r. r.
Cable, John A. Warner. George w.
Copp, George w. Harris, Milton
Jones, Quincy McNeill. DIR. Patrick
Gregg. DIR. Calvin Truesdale, DIR. S.
G. Plummer. Charles Buford. Patrick
c. w. Negus, Charles An
drews. Il. j. Robinson, E. A. Tillman,
f. G. Chopper aud Ii. c. Blackburn.
The Game In General.
Chicago. June 29.-League clubs re-
corded the following base ball scores
yesterday: At New York-Cincinnati
10. New York IL; at Philadelphia
Chicago 2. Philadelphia 4 at Brooklyn
-Pittsburg >, Brooklyn 8; at Boston
St Louis 10. Boston 4.
American League: At Detroit
Milwaukee o, Detroit 4; at Washing
ton-Boston g. Washington 8; at Bal
ore-Philadelphia 3, Baltimore 6; at
Chicago-Cleveland g, Chicago Z.
Western Association: At Columbus
3. Columbus |: at Fort
/. Fort Wayne IL;
at Dayton-Louisville 3, Dayton z: at
). Toledo 4; (second
game) Marion II, Toledo 2.
Into each life some ruins must fall,
Wise people don't sit down and bawl;
Only fools suicide or take to flight,