It Started with a cabinet photo on ebay.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Sometime in 2007 I ran across a cabinet photo of a University of Nebraska baseball player on ebay. The seller of the photo is an occasional poster here (Bert Wright). When I received the photo I asked Bert if he knew who was pictured in the photo and he told me it was Clarence Steen and he thought it was about 1904.



At the same time I also won a 1900 Wahoo baseball team cabinet from Bert and he believed that Clarence was pictured on that photo as well...sure enough he was. He is seated in the middle row second from right.src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/nudan92/Nebraska%20Baseball%20Memorabila/x1wahoo.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

I have discovered that Clarence also played minor league baseball and that I already had a postcard of the Lincoln team that he played on in 1906. He is seated in the front row second from left...this is corroborated by the 1907 Spalding Guide which lists the players by name under this exact photo.



Here is a picture of the 1904 U of Nebraska team with Steen



Clarence had a short professional career - he played minor league ball in Ottumwa, Iowa in 1905, Lincoln in 1906 and 1907 and I have found articles from South Dakota newspapers that he played on a Semipro team and worked in a bank in Belle Fourche in 1906 before joining the Lincoln team. After Clarence gave baseball a shot he went on to become a dentist in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He died in the early 1960s and was buried in his hometown of Wahoo.

The internet is an amazing tool.

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Posted By: Bert Wright

Awesome research, Dan. I can only imagine the stories he may have been able to tell including watching and idolizing Sam Crawford as a boy.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Bert, you should throw up a scan of that postcard image you sent me of Clarence's office.

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Posted By: Bert Wright

I hope this is large enough.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

It's large enough on my monitor...I can see his Dentist office sign clearly. Do you suppose that's in the late twenties? I don't know my antique automobiles enough to be able to tell.

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Posted By: Bert Wright

I ended up researching the movie that was showing at the Egyptian Theatre in the photo which dates the PC to 1935.

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Posted By: ROBERT ADAMS JR

Still open as the Nile !

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Hmmm...I did a google search and it says the Egyptian burned down in 1945 and was replaced with the Midwest Theatre.



http://www.tcdne.org/New%20Recreation%20Files/FriendsofMidwestTheatre.htm

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Posted By: ROBERT ADAMS JR

What are the odds of two theaters in the Scottsbluff , Nebraska area looking like this ? Dan , you are as usual right . The one I depicted is in a city neighboring Scottsbluff , Mitchell . Still eerily similar .

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Posted By: Bert Wright

Both are great old theatres. Mitchell (Nile Theatre) is 9 miles from Scottsbluff and still very historic. People come from all over to see flicks there. The Midwest Theatre was vacant for a long time and in the last 6-7 years or so has undergone extensive renovations for occasional movies, art shows, and performances.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I went to a postcard/paper show today and picked up this postcard...there he is again! I don't know what team this is, but more than a few of these guys played for the Fremont Pathfinders in the Nebraska State League and a couple other played for other midwest minor league teams. I could not find a team with all these guys on it.

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Posted By: Bert Wright

Dan,
I called Clarence's grandson, John who lives in Torrington, WYO and is in his 60's. For some reason he was reluctant to talk much and says he is not a sports fan. He probably thought I was attempting some sort of identity theft. He did give me his cousin's phone # who he thought might know more about their grandfather. I'll keep you posted. This is a very interesting trail that you are following with great clues popping up all over. Happy hunting! Bert

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Thanks Bert, keep me updated on your end. I contacted the U of Nebraska about their Lettermen winners list of baseball players because they have Steen listed as "Stein" on their list. They have not corrected it or even contacted me back so I'm guessing they don't care.

edited to add: that it is not just a recent typo on the internet because I have a baseball media guide from the 1970s and it's misspelled in the guide too.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Still on the trail of Dr Steen...today I discovered that his hobby was "building a historical baseball and football library"...taken from a 1940 copy of Who's Who in Nebraska.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STEEN, CLARENCE GUIDO: Dentist; b Wahoo, Neb Nov 1, 1883; s of John Steen-Marie Louise Hough; ed Wahoo HS 1901; U of N 1902-04; Creighton U, DDS 1908: Sigma Alpha Epsilon; m Mabel Melinger May 6, 1908 Burlington Ia; s John F; d Jane (Mrs A C Allen), Virginia L; m Jean Weller Dec 3, 1919 Denver; s William W, Donald M; d Crete Gail; 1908-15 dentist, Scottsbluff; 1915-17 prac with Dr T E Dailey, Omaha; 1917- dentist, Scottsbluff; past mbr city coun; Scotts Bluff Co chmn ARC 1922; mayor of Scottsbluff 1913; Rotary, ch mbr, past pres; Riverview Country Club; AF&AM 265, past master Scot Rite, 32o Tangier Shrine; Western Neb Dental Soc; Neb St & ADA; active in Jr League Baseball; played baseball with U of N 1903-04, semi-professional baseball summer 1904 at Beatrice, with Black Hills League at Belle Fourche S D semi-professional 1905, at Kearney 1906 & with Lincoln Club of Western League, 1907; Congl Ch; Rep; hobby, building a historical baseball & football library; off 1705 1/2 3rd Ave, Scottsbluff.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

Very cool thread and research Dan.

Of course, could be biased as I'm a periodontist.

We dentites have to stick together.

greg

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Thanks Greg. It's been a lot of fun chasing this guys history down...I learned something else new today also with that entry, I didn't know he was mayor of Scottsbluff, NE...it's not a big town by any means, but it's bigger than Wasilla, Alaska.

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Posted By: David McDonald

You can actually see Wyoming from Scottsbluff.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Hey it's a good thing too because you never know when Dick Cheney is going to rear his head over Nebraska.

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Posted By: David McDonald

Hopefully he'll be heading his rear back to Wyoming.

[slidekellyslide]

Mr Steen and I have crossed paths yet again.... I just picked up this amazing postcard off of ebay. As you can see up above I already have this postcard (unmailed) and until this week was never sure what team it was. The best part about this postcard is that it was sent by Clarence Steen to his father. He also wrote on the front the team and year.

[rholmes]

Considering the trail you have followed on this guy, that really is an amazing find!

[MGHPro]

Dan
Thats awesome!! Great pick up! Congrats!
Matt

[slidekellyslide]

Unbelievably ol' Steen and I have once again crossed paths...a man in California has started selling off his autograph collection that he acquired in 1964. Every single autograph was obtained by Clarence Steen.

My favorite is this letter from Wahoo Sam Crawford.

[docpatlv]

Nice letters Dan! I kinda like the way Steen's own signature looks, the way the C-G-S flow together. Plus, he was a dentist, so he must've been one hell of a guy

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by docpatlv

Nice letters Dan! I kinda like the way Steen's own signature looks, the way the C-G-S flow together. Plus, he was a dentist, so he must've been one hell of a guy

He also became the mayor of Scottsbluff, Nebraska at some point.

[Scott Garner]

Hi Dan,
I had somehow missed this thread in the past, but it is incredibly cool.
The fan letters and responses than you just bought are terrific!

What neat additions to your Clarence Steen collection!
Dr. Steen would have been a great guy to talk to about early base ball.

[nebboy]

Great work - it's great to see all the small town Nebraska baseball history!

[steve B]

Looks like he was getting M116s autographed? I wonder where those are now.

Steve B

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by steve B

Looks like he was getting M116s autographed? I wonder where those are now.

Steve B

He was also ordering photos from George Burke to get them signed. I'll bet they're out there somewhere. The seller got these in 1964 when he was 15 years old from his dad who obtained them at an antique shop on the East Coast...brought home a big shoebox full of them (75 I think he told me). I saw that he had already sold some before I found his auctions...he told me the rest will probably go to his son.