19th Century Memorabilia

[drcy]

Originally Posted by Mforder

Hello everyone,

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.

I see in this thread some folks are asking if there are anymore vintage baseball items to be found. I don't know if papers fall into that category but I can share some of what I have if you'd like.

The papers in the box are sort of interconnected, meaning Charles Steele was a firefighter, banker, planned excursions, theatre buff. 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 local NJ and NY teams from that 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.

I did on ant to add one more things. 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 internets is not easy as you must already know.

Please let me know if you would like to see some images of what I have. Here is one example which may help you to decide....

Very interesting. You'll find a lot of interested and knowledgeable people on this topic here. You found the right spot.

[Mforder]

David,

Thank you! It's a relief to have found the right place. I hope that the papers don't disappoint. It's nothing like the items folks have already posted. I cannot believe what I am seeing, it's a museum. The items are fascinating.

Would it be more appropriate to create a separate thread specific to the box itself? This way it remains contained?

Thank you for your help,

---Mark

[GaryPassamonte]

By all means, show all you like.

[Mforder]

Will do. It will take time to create pics and all. I only have some digitized. Thank you.

[Mforder]

I guess any information on this would be appreciated. Knowing only that is more than I know now. If there is more please feel free to share.

Thank you,

---Mark

[Mforder]

The letter itself mentions arranging a game or two with the Halsey B.B.C., Newark, NJ. They refer to themselves as an amateur team. I find it interesting how they need to not the status in some of the letter like Item #1 above where that team states that they were semi-professional.

[Mforder]

There are two of these in nice shape. One of them lists the players and their positions on the Newton Steamer Companies' baseball team.

They also include the National League & American Association schedule.

[Mforder]

I really don't nor can imagine that this piece of paper means much to anyone but what I found interesting is why was it in the box, what would it mean, and why these names? I'm pretty sure some of the names are recognizable (I think?).

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Mforder

There are two of these in nice shape. One of them lists the players and their positions on the Newton Steamer Companies' baseball team.

They also include the National League & American Association schedule.

That's really cool, too bad the game wasn't scored...

[bgar3]

Yes, more images. I am also from New Jersey and have some reference books I can check out after seeing more images. Last year I picked up a group of letters that discussed local teams, but also had some college and pro stuff from the early 70’s. This is a good find and interesting to many of us. 19th century stuff great.