Thread: August pickups
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Old 08-13-2019, 11:49 AM
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Paul Herbener
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Location: Pa.
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Just got this in last week to add to my Matty collection. This is the first photo I've seen of the three Mathewson Brothers Christy, Henry and Nicholas...I'm guessing c.1907. Sadly all three passed away far too early. Most of you know that Matty passed away in 1925 after a long bout following his exposure to mustard gas in WW1. His brother Henry died of Tuberculosis at 31 in 1917. Nicholas committed suicide at the age of 18 in 1909. Here's a little piece I found about him

"Nicholas was the youngest Mathewson sibling, and at one time had been considered a more promising pitcher than both older brothers. Nicholas was a favorite of John McGraw, who would send used uniforms and equipment to Nick. Being able to distribute these items around Factoryville made Nick a popular fellow with Factoryville’s youngsters. Nicholas was also a right-handed pitcher and the star of the team at Keystone Academy, but after that his path diverged from that of his brothers. The Detroit Tigers, under McGraw’s friend Hughie Jennings, were interested in obtaining the youngest Mathewson pitcher with an offer of $3,000, but Gilbert Mathewson turned down the offer, thinking that his son was too young. Instead of attending college at Bucknell, Nick went off to Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. During his first fall at Lafayette, Nicholas became ill and returned home before the semester ended. While recuperating at home, he became anxious that he was falling behind in his work at school. His family did not realize how much he was suffering mentally. One afternoon shortly after the turn of the New Year, Nick headed out of the family home. He climbed into the loft of the barn, wrote a cryptic note, and raised a pistol to his head. As the day became late, his concerned family began to search for him. Gilbert discovered his son’s body in the loft. Nicholas was rushed to a hospital in Scranton, but too much damage had been done and his life could not be spared. News papers confused the Mathewson brothers; some papers had reported that it was Henry who had committed suicide."
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