Klem is interesting. He has a nice 1922 Exhibit.
For James, my first thought was Jim “Orator” O’Rourke.
Check out his bio here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_O'Rourke_(baseball)
Apparently he hired the first black ball player in minor league history in 1895 when managing a team in CT. He was smart (Yale law), got the first base hit in NL history, his brother and son also played in majors, and he loved his family and family name. Won’t get much earlier.
I do like the earlier suggestion of Deacon White and Will White though. That’s pretty cool!
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http://imageevent.com/derekgranger
Working on the following:
HOF "Earliest" Collection (Ideal - Indiv): 250/346 (72.3%)
1914 T330-2 Piedmont Art Stamps......: 116/119 (97.5%)
Completed:
1911 T332 Helmar Stamps (180/180)
1923 V100 Willard's Chocolate (180/180)