"The Steele Box" - 1880's / 1890's Baseball

[Mforder]

Hello All,

I am new here so please excuse me if I take a misstep. I found this thread / site via searching the internet for 19th century baseball. The reason for my search is because of a box of papers I have which I refer to as the "Steele Box".

The "Steele Box" is from around 1870's up through the early 1890's. The box once belonged to a person named "Charles Steele". In the box there were primarily papers, unfortunately not all of them are baseball related but some are.

The papers in the box are sort of interconnected, meaning Charles Steele was a firefighter, banker, planned excursions, theatre buff, etc. The box has a number of subjects within it like baseball letters, receipts, a few ledgers, a few checks, schedules and so on. Most of this is from local NJ and NY teams from the 1880's & 1890's timeframe. The reason I say that they are interconnected is because the baseball team Mr Steele was on was a team of firefighters that played ball back then. Some of that papers reference multiple things. For instance you may see a letter about baseball and around the same date you may see a bill head where Mr Steel purchased baseballs or uniforms while also buying something unrelated like a loaf of bread.


The "Steele Box" what is it...

In the mid 1990's my wife worked as a manager in a bank in the town of Newton, NJ in Sussex County. I do not know the exact age of the building. The Original bank from where the "Steele Box" came from was on this square but not in the same building, At the time th bank was called "The Sussex Bank". The bank building was located on the main square in the town. It was 3 or 4 stories tall and it had a large basement full of dark rooms. This was the kind of basement people just don't wander around in. It had a active 1 1/2 foot stream flowing through it, there were rats and other things around as well. It also had a fallout shelter with boxes and boxes of war rations in it. Huge pile of news papers that dated back to the 1950's, thy were used for the old furnace which had since been changed and no longer used. In the basement there was also an old vault that was also no longer being used, it was always open. In it there were a number of things, including a box in which I still have.

In case you are wondering why I have the box it's because...
The management of the bank decided to sell the property.
In preparation they reached out to my wife who explained to them the situation in the basement is in dire need assistance.
In order to sell it the bank decided that the basement needed to be emptied and everything needed to be thrown away.
My wife then called the Newton Historical Society who came and took some things.
This is where I come in....
As the basement was been cleared out they basically looked at nothing, picked it up and threw it away into a dumpster outside. I cannot imagine all that was lost. The basement was room after room and seemed to have gone on forever
At the end of the day I would go up to see if there was anything that was worth saving from the dumpster.
Then one day my wife said the vault in the basement was next on the list to be cleared out. The workers were instructed to throw everything into the into the dumpster and they did.
This is when I found the"Steele Box". It was on it's way to the trash heap and I grabbed it, little did I know what was inside.

What is the "Steele Box"?

I can tell you it is a box similar to a old milk box / storage container, wood handles and made of metal. It's about 18 inches front to back, 22 inches side to side and about 18 to 20 inches deep.
I named it the "Steele Box" because it is basically a time capsule for the 1880's from a Mr. Charles Steele.
Mr Charles Steel was a...
Banker
Firefighter
Railroad Engineer of some sort
Local Baseball Player
Fan of the New York City and local theatre as well
In the box there were...
Copper printing plates, one of which has the signature of George Washington on. Mt Vernon is currently researching it.
The box also had CDV photo's of actresses (Lotta Crabtree) from the California Gold Rush days taken by a well know photographer from New York City named Jeremiah Gurney. He was ranked up there Matthew Brady who happened to be the person who made the cases for Jeremiah's photos early on. As you know Matthew Brady then went on to take the famous photos which he is well known for of President Abraham Lincoln.
Employee time tables from the Lackawanna Railroad, Chicago and others.
Love letters.
A letter that is from a man he knew that was in Cape Horn, South Africa. From what I gather he was trying to evade being captured by the police.
Letters to bring electricity to Newton.
Papers, ledgers, and so on all tied to arranging local Baseball games in the area including New York City in such places as Coney Island.
The baseball team from Newton was made up mostly from the Newton Steamer Co. No. 1, firefighters from that time.
Broadside of the first kidnapping in the United States for ransom, Charles ("Charley") Brewster Ross.
Opera house floor plans from New York City, one of which was torn down and is now where Madison Square Garden is today.
Bill Heads and Broadsides.
Bank Checks
Bank notes that were used as currency before the Federal Reserve been into existence.
....and more. There are over 2,000 pieces of paper (Ephemera) in this box.

As you can see it's overwhelming.

At the moment most of what was in the box is in protective sleeves and separated by category. Please know that the "Steele Box" is actually steel or tin. It did rust while it was in the basement so some of the items in the box are in bad shape while others are not.

For the first post I will include a pic of the box and also a link to some papers that have already have been posted here on this site under a different thread.

I did want to add one more thing. I would like to learn more about what I have and early ball. I am also hoping folks here could help with that. Finding information out there on the internet is not easy as you must already know.

Last I have labeled my posts numerically so that if you have any questions of feedback you can easily reference them. I will begin with "Item #6 here since Items 1 through 5 are already in this post/thread....

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=296440


Thanks,

---Mark

[Mforder]

This is one of two letters from the Gotham Baseball Club.

If anyone knows anything about this club please share that information.

I will continue to post more images as I digitize them.

Thanks,

--Mark

[bgar3]

Mark,
As you know from the other thread, many of us find this stuff very interesting.
I don’t know if it is possible, but now that you know there is interest, perhaps you could post the letters chronologically.
Congratulations on saving this stuff.

[Mforder]

Not sure but my guess is that this just may be an amateur team. I would not even have a clue if any famous player played on it?

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by bgar3

Mark,
As you know from the other thread, many of us find this stuff very interesting.
I don’t know if it is possible, but now that you know there is interest, perhaps you could post the letters chronologically.
Congratulations on saving this stuff.

Hello Bgar3,

Thank you. I will see if I can do that and I do appreciate the feedback. I was hoping to post things that looked like they would be the most interesting and some things unfortunately don't have a date. On top of that I am still discovering things in the box. As I look closer at the content of the papers themselves I am finding that there are letters from what I think were friends of Charles Steele and they talk a bit about a game, seeing a game or even playing in one. There are just so many papers. Almost too many believe it or not.

I have a 2 page letter that has the "By Laws & Regulations" of the Newton Baseball Club. Unfortunately with no date at all. I was hoping to post that next.I am thinking that these "By Laws" predate what I have already posted. I'd have to research the names on it to see if I can ties them to possibly a year.

I am glad that you and others are finding this interesting and I thank you for all of your advice. I'm happy that these were saved and it was my pleasure pulling them from the dumpster. I had no clue at the time what was even in that box. It was the box itself that grabbed my attention because of the wooden handles. Who knew...

---Mark

[bgar3]

For me, the By Laws would be very interesting, as would the letters referencing games and descriptions of games. Others may prefer the letterheads etc, but I am looking forward to some of the descriptions. Take your time.

[Mforder]

This was also in the box. It's the Bylaws and Regulations of the Newton, NJ Baseball Club. There is no date bu I am assuming it is one of the earlier papers from the team. 1870's or 1880's.

[Mforder]

I never thought of looking for the Newton Athletic Association. I just did and came across this. It'a small world, the papers were also from Charles S. Steele.

https://www.milehighcardco.com/1880s...-LOT21685.aspx

[Mforder]

This is one of that papers that took the brunt of being in the box where the moisture had set off the rust.

It's a subcribers promise to pay $1 for uniforms and equipment for the Newton Baseball Team.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Mforder

This is one of that papers that took the brunt of being in the box where the moisture had set off the rust.

It's a subcribers promise to pay from the folks in town for the Uniforms and equipment of the Newton Baseball Team.

A dollar per uniform!

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

A dollar per uniform!

And that also includes other equipment. Imagine if you had you hands on one of those $1 uniforms today.

[Mforder]

Letter mentions some players names. Does anyone know if these were professional players names or not?

[Mforder]

$100 payment for securing baseball grounds.

[Mforder]

This booklet/schedule is for the National League and American Association Professional Baseball Leagues. It is about 80 pages long and looks like it's made to fit into your pocket (2.5"x4.25"). In it there is there are the games, dates and teams listed for 1893. There are also factoids on various pages as you can see in the images that have posted. There seems to be a lot packed into the small booklet.

[ooo-ribay]

You have a treasure trove on your hands, Mark! It fascinates me and I’m not even “into” 19th century baseball.

[doug.goodman]

Some amazing stuff, that's for sure

[71buc]

Awesome stuff congratulations and thanks for sharing!

[Scott Garner]

Awesome collection, Mark!

[Mforder]

Here's a local baseball club from Washington, NJ. It's interesting that the teams played form money back then, even the local teams.

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Some amazing stuff, that's for sure

I am glad to see folks are enjoying it. Thanks!

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by 71buc

Awesome stuff congratulations and thanks for sharing!

Thank you and you're welcome!

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Awesome collection, Mark!

The feedback is great today, glad to see the folks here are interested in this. It makes it worth the effort.

[Mforder]

Fort Stanton in New Mexico appears to have been an outpost to protect settlers from the Apache Indians. One of the soldiers there appears to have been one of the 15 left in 1893 and was a friend of Charles Steele and from what I can tell from the letter they too had a baseball team.

[Mforder]

This postal card is from a player looking for a team to pick him up. He references a name which may be John "Dude" Esterbrook who he was training under until he ran out of funds to pay Esterbrook.

According to what I found John "Dude" Esterbrook was once a professional baseball player for the Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Blues, New York Metropolitans, New York Giants, Indianapolis Hoosiers, Louisville Colonels, Brooklyn Grooms, and he was one of the managers for the Louisville Colonels.

Looking at the timeframe John "Dude" Esterbrook was still alive at this time although he did end his own life late in 1901 by jumping from a train.

I have to wonder if this is the same Esterbrook?

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

You have a treasure trove on your hands, Mark! It fascinates me and I’m not even “into” 19th century baseball.

I'm glad you are enjoying it. I keep finding bits and pieces of information in the box that I didn't even realize I had. I just posted a postal card and it shows the name Esterbrook on it. I looked and if its the same John "Dude" Esterbrook then that means there is a small connection back to the NY Giants.

[Mforder]

Washington, NJ
Morristown, NJ
Boonton, NJ

[bgar3]

I think it probably does refer to Esterbrook. Still all very interesting.

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by bgar3

I think it probably does refer to Esterbrook. Still all very interesting.

Just knowing that the guy who wrote the card trained directly under Esterbrook is good with me. I would NEVER have had picked up on that unless I found this site. The details even in a postal card are pretty neat to find. Today's a good day. Thank you bgar3!

[baseball tourist]

Amazing items! Thanks for posting!

[Mforder]

Apparently the baker in town was also the grounds keeper for baseball games. If you think about it a lot of this was done by hand and no power mower. One thing to note. Some claim that the word "mowing" was not used back then for this type of application. The receipt as far as I can tell says otherwise.

[Mforder]

Receipt for Keef baseballs. At $1.25 they weren't cheap for those days.

[Mforder]

The receipt has 3 different items on it. I can make out the first two but I am not sure what the last says.

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by baseball tourist

Amazing items! Thanks for posting!

My pleasure!

[bgar3]

Mark,
Receipt #19 appears to be a bill for printing services
40 tickets to the ball grounds,
Circulars for the firemen’s game and bills (or what I think we would call posters today) for a game Newton vs a team I can’t make out but you may be able to figure out from other letters etc. I believe a game poster announcement uou put up earlier is what is meant by a bill on this invoice.
The more you post the more I believe it is a very nice archive and consideration should be given to keeping it together. Just an opinion.

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by bgar3

Mark,
Receipt #19 appears to be a bill for printing services
40 tickets to the ball grounds,
Circulars for the firemen’s game and bills (or what I think we would call posters today) for a game Newton vs a team I can’t make out but you may be able to figure out from other letters etc. I believe a game poster announcement uou put up earlier is what is meant by a bill on this invoice.
The more you post the more I believe it is a very nice archive and consideration should be given to keeping it together. Just an opinion.

Hello bGar3,

I totally agree with you. Just todays I found the receipts above in a different binder and not in my baseball binder. The connection between the items are pretty amazing. Especially since they are mostly around 130 years old.

[Mforder]

There is no year on this letter but I believe this letter predates Item #14 that is from the same person mentioned in the Fort Stanton letter.

[Mforder]

bgar3... Well this confirms the suspicion, look at the second page of the letter. It came from the same player that was looking for a team "A. A. Edmunston" and he once again mentions Esterbrook, this time as "Dude" Esterbrook. He even refers back to to the card he sent in April (Item #15.

Who knows is Esterbrook really trained him or not, but it is interesting that it is "Dude" Esterbrook that he was talking about. Another nail hit on the head!

[Mforder]

Thi letter is trying to secure a game or games with the Newton Baseball Club. The person who wrote this letter looks to be a William Vought. Who went on to play on different teams here in the states and also Canada. The team name was called Rochester Blackbirds/Montreal Royals.

https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseb...ats/p-e07adb03

https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseb...mr13125/y-1897

[Mforder]

These two ledgers are a pair in a sense. One has an agreement in it (the smaller of the two) where the primary team members had to sign and abide by. The second ledger has a list of games played throughout multiple seasons and years.

I will list the images separate so that each page will have it's own "Reply". This way you may be able to see what's on them. I have not taken photos of all of the pages. I can at some point but for now I have taken photo's of a few that I wanted to point a few things out on.

[Mforder]

Found inside of the smaller of the two ledgers.

[Mforder]

If you look to August 3rd it looks like the Newton team has played a game with a team named "The Blue Stockings" what I do not know if this is in fact the Toledo Blue Stocking which was a part of the American Association of baseball?

[Mforder]

It was late last night and I though I only took photos of pages that were of interest. As for this on I can't seem to find anything that stands out. If you see anything then please point it out if you can.

[Mforder]

About halfway down on the left side of this image there is a line that says "Black Diamond Game", does anyone one what that may be referring to? Is that a team, league or something else?

[Mforder]

In this section I see "The Red Stockings Game", I also see another game with them in a different section of the ledger. Unfortunately I cannot pinpoint the exact year. I will need to go back and look. I don't know if they whad anything to do with the Boston Team of the Cincinnati team at all. I'd have to see if I could make a connection through other papers, or maybe someone here could see something that can tell us.

What I also notice here is that there was a Ladies Base Ball Club too. I cannot say for sure if this was paid for by the Newton team or if they actually played a game against them.

[bgar3]

Mark, I think this is a very nice historical archive that deserves all the time you can spare to organize as best you can. Just my opinion, but before spending an enormous amount of time checking out individual entries or items, I think you should prioritize the organization. Then some questions will be answered as you go, like the confirmation of Esterbrook. Nice by the way. Caution, saying it has historical significance does not always translate to enormous value. This grouping as it is has real value and it only grows as you add to it, but if you can put it all together I think that will enhance it. Again, just an old timer’s opinion. Are you even close to finding all the baseball stuff? Really excellent, thanks again.
Who knows, you may actually become a collector.

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by bgar3

Mark, I think this is a very nice historical archive that deserves all the time you can spare to organize as best you can. Just my opinion, but before spending an enormous amount of time checking out individual entries or items, I think you should prioritize the organization. Then some questions will be answered as you go, like the confirmation of Esterbrook. Nice by the way. Caution, saying it has historical significance does not always translate to enormous value. This grouping as it is has real value and it only grows as you add to it, but if you can put it all together I think that will enhance it. Again, just an old timer’s opinion. Are you even close to finding all the baseball stuff? Really excellent, thanks again.
Who knows, you may actually become a collector.

Hello bgar3,

Thank you. You are not an old timer. If that were the case you wouldn't even have a PC... I agree with you it does seems as I go through things that it is difficult to sort things out. I have dates for some things and no dates for others, some things are related and help tell the story and so on. It's just difficult for me at the moment since I am dong things around my schedule with work. I want to share as much as I can and if folks pick up on things then maybe I can get to a point where it could help me get this organized. As for fining all of the papers related to BB I am not even close unfortunately. I think each time I pull out a binder that I am done with it and then I find out I am not.

There are still bags of checks and other papers that I did not organize yet. I think for me doing some research on the individual items helps me to identify things that need to be pulled. They don't always say BBC or Baseball on them. It's overwhelming to me but I am doing my best. Hopefully If I can get the images posted then I can move slowly onto getting things into some type of order. Either that or I will be pretty much done in general. Who knows.

As for being a collector I can't say for sure if I would become one but I can tell you the more and more I dig the more and more I become intrigued by what's in the box.

Thank you again for the suggestion. I may e confusing things because of the way I am posting them but for now I may continue until I reach the end of what I already have pulled. There is a schedule that I am waiting to post as well. Some of the etching images within it are pretty neat. am just holding off on the since I am trying to get some of the less interesting things out of the way.

---Mark

[bgar3]

If these are the less interesting I can’t wait. Thanks, just do it at your own pace, there is no rush.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Mforder

The receipt has 3 different items on it. I can make out the first two but I am not sure what the last says.

It may be odd, but I think this one is pretty funny.

500 bills and flyers, but only 40 tickets printed.

Optimism in the "lets advertise the heck out of these games" and yet pessimism..
"Don't make more than 40 tickets, nobody is coming to the games anyway"

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by steve B

It may be odd, but I think this one is pretty funny.

500 bills and flyers, but only 40 tickets printed.

Optimism in the "lets advertise the heck out of these games" and yet pessimism..
"Don't make more than 40 tickets, nobody is coming to the games anyway"

That is funny. Didn't think of it as I was reading the billhead but you are right. I have to wonder if the baseball field even had benches of small beaches now that you said that.

[Mforder]

Originally Posted by bgar3

If these are the less interesting I can’t wait. Thanks, just do it at your own pace, there is no rush.

I think some of these are more interesting than what's left BUT there is one schedule that stands out to me 1890. It's a pocket schedule nondescript in a way but it has some players in it that are I would guess fairly famous for their time. They are wood cut etchings I think. I guess I like it over all because it has the schedule some additional information and a number of advertisements with lithographs. Please don't think it's that great. It's just the one thing that stands out to me. Outside of that I think what you are seeing already is typical of what I found. Sorry to mislead anyone.

The green schedule in the attached pic is the one I am talking about, it's about 40 pages long.