The following article appeared in the November 23, 1898 issue of THE TRIBUNE-TELEGRAPH. The headline on Page 1 read: A STORY OF OTHER DAYS! Directly underneath was a 3 column wide photo of 22 men (most with beards) wearing baseball uniforms. The caption for this photo read: "Grandfather Greybeards' Base Ball Game, August 25, 1891." The "Excelled Nine" team consisted of the following:Capt. D.C.Whaley, born June 29, 1828; P.B. Stanbery, born May 5, 1832; E.D. Robinson, born April 25, 1841; B.F. Biggs, born Dec. 9, 1833; Geo. A. Miinch, Sr., born Nov. 26, 1822; T.C. Flanegin, born Jan. 23, 1829; A.W. Seebohm, born in 1826; L.H.Lee, born Dec. 11, 1827; W.L. Downie, born Nov. 15, 1839; S.A.M. Moore, born Sept. 10, 1823; R.H. Brewster, born May 31, 1830 and died May 28, 1892. The "Cracked Nine" team consisted of : Capt. W.J.Prall, born May 26, 1826, died April 2, 1898; George McQuigg, born Nov. 25, 1830, died Oct. 29, 1892; S.D. Wallace, born in 1836; J.V. Smith, born Jan.24, 1816, died Jan.13, 1894; John A. Franz, born March 20, 1842; Lewis Paine, born June 1, 1833; George Joachim, born in 1835; Alban Davies, born Dec. 1, 1832, died Jan. 21, 1892; A.D. Brown, Born Jan. 5, 1827; A.B. Donnally, born June 5, 1827. The umpire was Chas. J. Prall, born June 13, 1859.
"One Sunday evening, recently, the writer attended church at Simpson Chapel, the first time after his return from the war, and saw Mrs. Prall, widow of the late William J. Prall, there in a pew alone. For an instant, the fact that her husband had passed to the spirit world slipped from the mind of the writer and he looked around for the old gentleman. Those two were always at church together and, no doubt, a more congenial couple never lived in Pomeroy. This incident started a train of thought going which has resulted in the construction and publication of this article. The gaze of the writer wandered from venerable Mr. Prall's vacant pew to the walls and ceiling of the church. Then followed the thought of the erection of the building and the efforts put forth by the congregation in 1891 to raise funds to construct the beautiful temple of worship. This opened the flood gates of memory. Then came back the scene of the Graybeard ball players and something pleasant to remember of each; the excitement they caused in the county by their base ball uniforms; the newspaper matter they furnished; that band wagon ride through the streets; the scenes on the ball grounds, with hundreds of laughable incidents. For weeks these old fellows lived their boyhood days in preparing for that game. They entered into it with the zest of youth and practically did no business until it was over, when they dropped back into the quieter walks of life from which they had emerged for the time being. We can hardly realize that over seven years have passed since that eventful day, and that five of the 22 participants have passed to the world beyond. Hon.Alban Davies, apparently the most robust of the number, went hence in less than six months - a whole-souled, genial man with a handshake one could never forget. He was followed in four months by Judge Robert A. Brewster, that prince of men, whose heart beat in sympathy with the sufferings of humanity - a man whom none could know but to respect and admire. George McQuigg went over to the sunny climes of the Great Beyond in a little over a year from the date of the famous game to reap the reward for those who make the world better and brighter. A man with sunshine in his soul, he diffused the warmth of friendship wherever he went. In a little less that three years, Uncle Joe Smith, that man of firm convictions and an unwavering determination to better the conditions of the world as he saw the way to do so, ceased his toils and went to the rest which he so richly deserved. And last spring the eventful earthly career of William J. Prall came to an end, and he is now enjoying the associations of those of his friends who have gone on. There never was and never can be but one William J. Prall. The evening in the church that we missed him from his pew the minister preached on the Transfiguration. He drew a vivid picture of the appearance of Moses and Elias at the Savior's side on the mount, when the disciples had gone there to hold a prayer meeting. The picture somehow made us think of old men and the mind kept reverting to the scene of the graybeard ball game, when $275 was earned to help construct the new Presbyterian and Methodist churches. Prall was always bubbling over with humor and no doubt that helped him along in his life struggles and prolonged his days. One particular incident the writer remembers of the dry humor of this old friend. One warm summer afternoon we sat on a dry goods box in front of his Court street store engaged in general conversation with Mr. Prall and one of the Welches from Scipio township. All at once Mr. Prall assumed a sad expression of countenance and remarked to the writer: "Well, my old friend, John Stout, has died and I can not help thinking of him." At that, the ever-ready notebook of the gatherer of local news came out of its hiding place and Mr. Prall was asked to give some particulars of the life of his deceased friend - his age, place of residence, family, etc. When this had all been noted down, it occurred to the writer that the date of death had not been given, and he asked Mr. Prall for that. The old man dropped his head into his hand, wrinkled up his brow and appeared to be striving to recall the date. Finally he looked up in a quizzical sort of way and said: "Well - to the best of my recollection - it was - 25 years ago this summer." Then he and Mr. Welch had a hearty laugh at the expense of the writer. He was always playing unexpected tricks like that on his friends. Another thing he did no one else would have thought of doing was the keeping of the ages of his friends. For years he had a book in his store in which he had his friends write their names and the date of their births. Why he did it no one has ever been able to find out. " "We have been permitted to copy the names in that book and thereby are enabled to furnish our lady readers the ages of about 150 gentlemen, which they can preserve for reference. Some of those mentioned are in the spirit world with Mr. Prall, but you can see the larger number on the streets of Pomeroy any day. Here is the list: D. D.H. Jones, born June 5, 1828 L.H. Lee, born Dec. 11, 1827 W.W. Merrick, born July 25, 1850 S.A.M. Moore, born Sept. 10, 1823 George S. Massar, born Nov. 27, 1859 Geo. McQuigg, born Nov. 25, 1830 John U. Myers, born Sept. 8, 1835 John McQuigg, born Aug. 13, 1856 John Kaspar, born Sept. 8, 1861 W.H. Lasley, born Feb. 13, 1832 David Lark, born March 24, 1853 Wm. Lust, born March 15, 1849 F. Lyman, born Feb. 4, 1821 John Mora, born July 25, 1829 George A. Miinch, Sr., born Nov. 26, 1822 John B. McElhinny, born March 21, 1843 Oren Jones, born Dec. 23, 1823 George Joachim, born Nov. 11, 1834 D.E. Newton, born Jan. 16, 1838 Jas. M. Lyman, born Sept. 28, 1846 A.G. McDaniel, born Aug. 13, 1810 T. Mallory, born June 7, 1831 E. Mallory, born Aug. 12, 1841 A.A. Musgrave, born Dec. 10, 1826 Abram Keiser, born March 27, 1830 Frederick Gressel, Born Feb. 3, 1821 W.T.A. Lallance, Born March 5, 1826 H.A. Kent, born Dec. 20, 1829 S.T. Martin, born April 18, 1830 W.J. Prall, born May 26, 1826 W.H. Probst, born August 15, 1850 Lewis Paine, born June 1, 1833 S.S. Paine, born Oct. 22, 1801 Geo. W. Plantz, born Sept. 27, 1843 H. C. Pownall, born Dec. 27, 1853 W.H. Osborn, born Dec. 8, 1852 C.H. Priode, born July 2, 1864 Henry Priode, born May 15, 1832 B.F. Knight, born August 31, 1842 Loftus Pullins, born Oct. 26, 1818 Abram Price, born August 1, 1814 B.C. Nye, born Sept. 9, 1836 John Prall, born Oct. 20, 1828 J. J. Petrel, born Jan. 1, 1828 L.W. Pol son, born Nov. 29, 1811 D.M. Pra_, born June 15, 1863 Milton Pace, born Feb. 22, 1835 F.H. Parker, born June 27, 1856 B. Parker, born Oct. 22, 1809 J.C. Probst, born March 14, 18_6 TC. Flanegin, Born Jan. 11, 1829 August Goess_er, born Dec. 8, 1852 David Geyer, Sr., born Nov. 22, 1818 Martin Ebersbach, born Dec. 14, 1836 C. Grant, born July 9, 1817 H.C. Fish, born May 9, 1858 Walter E. Hysell, born June 14, 1849 Chas. A. Hartley, born Dec. 29,1856 David Geyer, Jr., born Aug. 28, 1845 A.J. Gilky, born April 19, 1832 Geo. B. Grow, born March 24, 1829 T.P. Eiselstein, born March 12, 1859 Martin Hecox, born Sept. 14, 1819 J.H. Holmes, born Dec. 21, 1864 J.H. Hysell, born Sept. 14, 1837 M.W.Hissey, born Dec. 27, 1859 Lester Frost, born July 4, 1844 F.F. Fletcher, born Feb. 1, 1841 Frank Gloeckner 1st, born Sept.18, 1831 J.W.Hoff, born Dec. 10, 1822 W.H.Grant, born Feb. 6, 1820 H.M. Horton, born May 27, 1837 Oren C. Hysell, born May 12, 1853 E.F. Feiger, born Nov. 23, 1832 Will H. Huntley, born Oct. 16, 1863 Philip Hepp, born Dec. 5, 1827 Volney Halsey, born March 14, 1827 Frank Gloeckner 2d, born May 26, 1853 Edward Hennessey, Born March 25, 1854 W.T. Hayman, born Oct. 11, 1826 C.M. Guthrie, born July 23, 1831 T.H. Gold, born Sept. 4, 1837 N.N. Holt, born Sept. 2, 1826 John Genheimer, born Feb. 7, 1847 C.H. Grosvenor, born Sept. 20, 1833 Geo. W. Gist, born Aug. 13, 1827 M.H. Watkins, born Dec. 20. 1857 D.C. Whaley, born June 29, 1828 G., Wildenmuth, born May 26, 18_8 Carlton Young, born Dec. 2, 1826 J.J. White, born Oct. 1, 1818 Artemis Williams, born May 18, 1855 J.A. Wilson, born April 27, 1856 John E. Williams, born April 26, 1850 H. Wells, born Sept. 15, 1811 H.R. Weldon, born Sept. 16, 1838 G.W. Womendorff, born April 2, 1824 A. Whaley, born January 19, 18_8 Henry Warren, born Feb. 12, 1824 Samuel DeWolf, born Sept. 11, 1825 T.A. Welch, born Oct. 28, 1810 W.W. Williamson, born Nov. 15, 1836 James Ralston, born Sept. 11, 1805 Darius Reed, born Oct. 26, 1818 P.B. Stanbery, Born May 5, 1832 F.S. Trussell, born March 26, 1852 F.E. Summers, born June 25, 1833 E. Turnbull, born Aug. 8, 1820 F.W. Stevens, born March 15, 1819 George Titus, born March 8, 1848 C.J. Vincent, born Oct. 2_, 1845 Joseph Vincent, born March 23, 1850 F.C. Russell, born June 22, 1833 Curtis Darius Reed, born Oct. 18, 1854 T.H. Towns, born Jan. 17, 1842 W.A. Race, born May 31, 1841 D.A. Russell, born Sept. 2, 1840 F.W. Steinbauer, born July 19, 1863 O. Turben, born August 31, 1845 B.R. Remington, born Nov. 10, 1845 Elias Story, born July 28, 1834 B.M. Skinner, born Oct. 1, 1822 J.W. Shaver, born July 23, 1848 J.M. Fowler, born Jan. 17, 1847 Thomas Swearingen, born March 7, 1839 C.G. Sargent, Born June 24, 1825 S.L. Parsons, born Oct. 11, 1852 Eli Rife, born April 1, 1845 S.E. Stout, born June 4, 1837 E.D. Robinson, born April 25, 1841 Alexander Short, born April 30, 1836 J.N. Rathburn, born April 9, 1827 Gabriel Stanaert, born Feb. 18, 1823 John M. Strider, born June 27, 1817 B.J. Redmond, born Sept. 12, 1840 Dr. C.R. Reed, Born Nov. 14, 1826 George Probst, born Feb. 10, 1844 J.H. Stewart, born April 3, 1807 John R. Scott, born April 18, 1848 W__amore Reed, born Oct. 9, 1826 D.E. VanGilder, born April 10, 1855 H.L. Sibley, born May 4, 1836 Aaron Stout, born Oct. 2, 1821 John Story, born Dec. 10, 1818 D. Myers, born Jan. 9, 1839 Cap. W.A. Roberts, born May 6, 1825 Tiffin Strider, born Feb. 13, 1829 "So much for the dead of that immortal group. What about the living? First on the left is Judge Stanbery standing out distinct and separate from the rest with all the defiance and vigor of youth. You will see that his clothes do not embarrass him. The next to the right in the front rank is ex-Sheriff Robinson, down on his right knee. He could never have been gotten into that game had it not been for the cause it represented. He fought in Custer's Red Necktie Brigade, but never viewed the Rebels with half the trepidation he did his knee pants on the day he looked at the camera which made the original of this picture. The next to the right, resting on his left knee, is our old German friend, Geo. A. Miinch, Sr., of Breezy Heights. He has since then celebrated his golden wedding and is now enjoying the golden sunset of a well spent life. Then comes Dr. Seebohm, the Front street druggist. He is doing business at the old stand and is apparently as robust as ever. The next is the venerable Leon Lee, whose courage was never questioned, but who appeared to be a little afraid of his clothes on this momentous occasion. In the second rank of Capt. Whaley's boys is Ben Biggs, on the left, who has since accumulated a little silver in his hair and whiskers and more in his business. You will see that for the time being he has lost that solemn mein common to undertakers, and has taken a thoughtful and determined expression. Then comes Prof. Flanegin, the man of logarithims and dry philosophy, with that whole-souled Capt. W.L. Downie to the right as you look at the group. That smiling expression of his indicates that he did not care if his pants were of rather light material. The two to the rear are the lamented Judge Brewster and your Uncle Samuel Moore, the latter still holding the fort at his Court street store. To the rear is Capt. Whaley, author of the famous epistles from Forceps Avenue, with an expression of do or die on his face. Capt. Whaley still looks after the comfort of the mouths opf his patrons and seems to enjoy life. Death has claimed but one of his supporters. In the front row of Capt. Prall's club we find that two have gone hence, viz: George McQuigg and J.V. Smith. Samuel D. Wallace is still with us and seems as young as ever. John A. Franz, who stands at the end of the line, looks as well today as he did seven years ago. He lives in Columbus now, enjoying the fruits of a prosperous life. The first to the left in the second line, he with his cap perched on the side of his head, is Judge Lewis Paine, a farmer and stock raiser, of Rutland township, with a city residence. He had no hayseed in his whiskers when he had this picture taken, but that is not saying he has not now. He has the number of tallies up on his barn door and he has been heard to boast to his grandsons what a great ball player he was in his day. The next man in the row is Squire Algernon B. Donnally, who still dispenses justice with an even hand. Then comes George Joachim, who lives at Charleston. In the third row is Alban Davies, the first to answer the summons of the grim reaper with Col. A.D. Brown to the right, and the last of the ball players, but not the least, is the big hearted Bill Prall. The gentleman in the middle, in citizen's clothes, is Chas. J. Prall, son of W.J. Prall, who umpired the game to the satisfaction of all concerned. Our lady readers no doubt noticed in the opening of this article that we have rendered them a favor by securing the age of this gentleman. He does not deny being an old bachelor, but we had to work a rabbit's foot on him to find out his exact age. He daily drives his father's oil wagon from Jersey Lane, where the old man indicted his touching exhortations to his club. The conception of this game came about in a rather unexpected way in the latter part of July. One day Charlie Prall was out to the Park to see a game of ball and when he returned W. J. Prall and George McQuigg were on the sidewalk of the Prall hardware store talking. Suddenly Mr. Prall remarked: "Say, George, let's us old fellows have a game of ball." The idea took root instantly and the details were soon evolved. Then came the meeting at the Court House, when the suits were adopted and each man bound so that he could not back out. It was lucky that the old fellows did not put on their base ball clothes before they agreed to go into the game. The enthusiasm in practicing, reading of base ball guides and otherwise getting ready for the game itself, which was one of the brightest spots in Pomeroy's history. (Reprints from the cut used in this articles, on card board, which look as well as photographs, with the names and ages of all the players at the bottom, can be had at this office at 5 cents each.) " [Transcribed by Elaine Balasky]