1850s.31

Town Ball Played in Southeast MO

Salience	Noteworthy
Tags
Location
City/State/Country:	Missouri, United States
Modern Address
Game	Town BallTown Ball
Immediacy of Report	Retrospective
Age of Players	AdultAdult
Holiday
Notables
Text	"The men found amusement . . . in such humble sports as marbles and pitching horseshoes. There were also certain athletic contests, and it was no uncommon thing for the men of the neighborhood to engage in wrestling and in the jumping match. This was before the day of baseball, but the men had a game, out of which baseball probably developed, which was called 'town ball.'"
Sources	Robert S. Douglass, History of Southeast Missouri (Lewis Publishing, 1912), page 441. Contributed by Jeff Kittel, January 31, 2010. Accessed 2/10/10 via Google Books search (douglass southeast).
Warning	Douglass is not explicit about the period referenced here, but that it is before the Civil War.
Comment	Jeff notes that the author is covering small towns in Southeast MO located away from the Mississippi River and isolated from one another. Edit with form to add a comment
Query	Edit with form to add a query
Source Image	[[Image:\|left\|thumb]]
External Number
Submitted by	Jeffrey Kittel, 1/31/10
Submission Note
Has Supplemental Text

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