Need Photo ID Help

[ZernialFan]

Hi Everyone,

Would appreciate any help on ID of approx. year photo was taken. My grandfather #6 was born in 1887. #7 is my great uncle who is 10 years younger. If he is about 20, then my grandfather is 30 and the picture would be 1917. But it looks later to me. But I do not know age of the uniform or the catcher's mitt showing. Hope someone can give me a better idea. Also the insignia looks like NUA or NAU.......any ideas?

This is a local team that my grandfather played on in Norwood, Glenolden area in Delaware County PA. near Philadelphia. I will list the names of 9 0f the 11 players known in the long shot that a board member may recognize a family member or name. Two players not numbered are unknown.
#1 Mort Sheldrake
#2 Lenard Warner
#3 Bill McCarter
#4 Logan Edwards
#5 Henry Ickes (one of my grandfather's best friends)
#6 Charles Pierce (my grandfather)
#7 Raymond Wilson (my great uncle)
#8 Bob Kneedler
#9 Dave Ford

Thanks for any help,
Charlie

[RTK]

Try running names through ancestry.com

You might get DOB's or where they were living at what time.

[KCRfan1]

I wish my math problems in grade school and middle school were baseball related like this one. Instead I got a lot of, if a train left a station 60 miles away traveling at 50 miles per hour, and b train left a station 40 miles away traveling at 70 mile per hour, at how many miles would the trains intersect?

[ZernialFan]

Thanks Rick and Lou! My wife is on Ancestry and didn't occur to me to tackle from that end. And liked Lou's relating to a school math problem!!

[Leerob538]

I like the pic, that white house in the background reminds me of the Field of Dreams. Only this one is real.

[Jeffrompa]

Charlie , I grew up in Milmont Park . Would love to know where that picture was shot .

[Dto7]

There was a Bob Kneedler (http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kneedl001bob)that played in the minors 1911-1912. Found both team photos but he wasn't in the photos maybe because he didn't play enough games.Most likely not the same Bob Kneedler.

I checked all the names at Delaware College in Pa. and found none. Can check high school yearbooks if I knew the high schools they went to.

[ZernialFan]

Jeff Lowe..........I grew up in the area until I was 11. You do not have personal message turned on. If you want to discuss pic maybe we can figure out where it was taken. If you want to send me a PM and leave me your email, we can discuss. Thx, Charlie

[pariah1107]

Here are a few notes:

Mordecai Sheldrake (1893-1947)
Leonard Warner (1893-?)
William J. MacCarter Jr. (1890-1960), Attorney at Law, University of Penn graduate
Benjamin Logan Edwards (1894-1949)
Robert Kneedler (1892-1985)

They all seemed to live in or around Norwood, PA. Thus the "NW" on the uniform I believe (though there seem to be more letters on the jersey). William MacCarter is your best bet to find solid info, he passed February 8, 1960. In his obituary it indicated he went to Norwood High School, class of 1909. He then attended a Normal school prior to his enrollment at Penn, from where he graduated in 1915. He returned to Norwood in 1916, here's the link to the 1916 Ridley Township City Directory: http://www.ridleytownshiphistory.com/documents/Norwood.pdf All of the players with the exception of Sheldrake & Warner are listed in the directory. Possibly 1916, since 1917 many of these boys may have been drafted.

Hope this helps good luck. Great photo.

[pariah1107]

Here's an article from the Evening Ledger dated May 2, 1917. M.M. Sheldrake was "business manager". The article lists a partial schedule under "Amateur Baseball Notes".

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1917-05-02/ed-1/seq-15/#date1=1915&index=2&rows=20&words=BASEBALL+Norwood&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Pennsylvania&date2=1920&proxtext=norwood+baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

I believe the insignia reads "NWAA" for "Norwood A.A." (Athletic Association?) as they were referred to in this June 2, 1917 Evening Ledger article:

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1917-06-02/ed-1/seq-12/#date1=1917&index=0&rows=20&words=Norwood+Sheldrake&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Pennsylvania&date2=1917&proxtext=norwood+sheldrake&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

That took longer than usual, good challenge. Lots of fun.

[TimCarrollArt]

Is it just me or is the insignia on your great uncle's jersey different from the rest? I'm unsure if that is even relevant. Awesome photo regardless.


Tim

[ZernialFan]

Thanks to all for comments and the investigation.............

Ty....Appreciate the work you did and links provided. I need to learn to get better at tracking down info. My wife is tracking down some of the info on Ancestry. My grandfather #6 was married in 1912 to my grandmother the sister of #7. My great uncle #7 Raymond Wilson was living with his parents at the time. His father is Wm. R. Wilson listed under Norwood in the Ridley Township Directory of 1916. My grandfather was in the Army Reserve and was called up for duty on the Mexican Border in 1916-17. Records indicate he was home by the time of the AD to arrange games for the Norwood team in the May 2, 1917 Amateur Baseball paper AD. This pic without more info is probably just prior or after the 1916-17 period.

Tim....I noticed the "A" on my great uncle's shirt being different. Makes me wonder if they were short uniforms or if he was the "Batboy". If the pic is 1917 he would be 20. But to me he looks possibly younger and a little more slight than the others, which could make it prior to 1916.

Thanks again,
Charlie