The dream would be that this is some relation to William Vail of Knickerbocker legend as he would be in the relative area. However, unless it is distant he had no close relatives of that name, I could find listed.
The middle initial does help limit the list as I found very few applicable Henry T Vails, and no Henry J. Vails in the applicable age range (I used J as early fancy cursive can be tough at times to be definite)
I have a feeling this is him on page 342.
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/ABT...pal+government
This is the petition to have Brooklyn join New York City, which he has signed under the following -
"We, the undersigned, merchants and business men of the city
of Brooklyn, respectfully petition the Honorable Legislature,
through its joint subcommittee on consolidation, to take no final
action of any kind on consolidation until the matter shall have
been submitted to the people of Brooklyn for a further expression of their opinion."
Based on the date of Feb 25th 1896 and he is recognized as a business owner, the age would be reasonable (50ish?). Unfortunately, the business address of 46 Third Ave in Brooklyn was rebuilt in 1900, so no photos I could find of that period. However, I had assumed he was a grocer and the newer building was his that was built.
It's currently vacant and in rough shape -
https://www.loopnet.com/property/46-...047-001850025/
In the 1903 city record here on page 4556, he was granted a license to sell and deliver milk for the Third street address-
https://www.google.com/books/edition...sec=frontcover
I then was able to locate his middle name of Terbush, using a little deduction. As luck would have it, the Vail family has a published full genealogy, found here from 1902 -
https://www.seekingmyroots.com/membe...es/G006866.pdf
This shows Henry born Sept 18, 1845. Page 303 (297 page count), indeed shows him as a grocer in Brooklyn at the time of 1902. (also about 17 in the photo if this is the player)
Good news, bad news on William Vail. That name is listed in the Genealogy and the birth date is 1819 (Knickerbocker Vail is thought to have been born in 1817 or 1818). Bad news is he was listed as a farmer in Pennsylvania and then Wisconsin.
Granted, this is the best I could do in about an hour of research. However, I think it could be some decent leads on your mystery ballplayer.
