Johnny Poe and the U.S.S. Princeton , 1907

1907, and Johnny Poe* was again becoming restless. The soldier of fortune heard of a war brewing between Honduras and Nicaragua and made his way from Nevada, where he was mining, to board a steamer out of San Francisco for Nicaragua, to join up with their Army. The steamer docked in Honduras first and Johnny decided to join up with their army instead. He was quoted later as saying, “No matter where or on what side, they are both usually wrong, so it doesn’t make much difference which one chooses”.

During the war Johnny was captured by Nicaragua and was held on a charge of spying, and according to one source he was threatened with a firing squad. After two days of “rough” questioning, the Nicaraguans released him stipulating that he had 48 hours to leave the county.

“In one of those impossible twists of fate that seemed to follow him”, he was rescued by the American gunboat, the U.S.S. Princeton.

As the story goes, the commander of the U.S.S. Princeton told Poe, after giving him permission to board, to bring along his luggage. Johnny told him he had fifty four pieces, to which the commander exclaimed that he was not running a freighter. Poe told him not to get too excited as “my fifty four pieces consist of one pair of socks and a pack of playing cards”.

Upon his return to the U.S., Johnny had now become a veteran of five wars. A news article written in 1907 about Poe’s exploits was appropriately titled, “Looking For Trouble”, and subtitled, “Strenuous Life of One of The Famous Poes”.

His next war, WWl would be his sixth and last, as he was killed in action on September 25, 1915 at the Battle of Loos, as a member of the Black Watch, British Expeditionary Force.

We have a passion for sports related silk ribbons from the 19^th century. Although this scarce and attractive ribbon (in Princeton's colors) falls outside of that classification, its association to Johnny Poe and this great story made it of interest to us. 

*Johnny Poe, one of six brothers who played football for Princeton (see related posts on Johnny Poe and his brothers in this blog, including Jan 22, 2023, Dec 25, 2020, Dec 31, 2020, Mar 23, 2014, Feb 13,2014) ).

Princeton Loving Cup C.1877 / James A. Campbell

 

Princeton loving cup, of porcelain, c. 1877, having belonged to James A. Campbell, '77, whose initials are finely decorated in gold on one side (JAC), the Princeton shield on another, and Princeton, the Princeton shield and Tiger and ’77 on the other. This very rare example is a diminutive 2 ¾” in height, is highly detailed and has a far more impressive presence than its dimensions would suggest.

Campbell was the class president of '77 all of his four years at Princeton, and remained so for a half century beyond.  Campbell Hall on the Princeton campus was built and named for him while he was still living. Nearly all of the funds for the dormitory were raised in one hour at the class of '77s thirtieth reunion. Two years later, Campbell Hall was completed and occupied. Campbell was the President of the Princeton Athletic Association, 1876 – 1877, Treasurer of the Princeton Athletic Club, 1875 – 1876, played first base on the Princeton University Baseball Club, 1874 – 1875, rowed freshman crew at the number three position, 1874 and 1875, rowed for the University crew at the number 2 position, 1876, and substituted on the University Twenty Football Team 1876 – 1877.

1894 Boston Athletic Association Football Team Photo

 

                                            Note the unicorn emblem on the vest

A larger (11” x 17”) and very rare albumin cabinet photo of the 1894 Boston Athletic Association (BAA) (year and team identified on the ball). In addition, note the unicorn patches worn by players in the photo, the unicorn being the symbol of the BAA (also recognized as the symbol of the Boston Marathon, run under the auspices of the BAA, first run in 1897, 3 years after this photo was taken).

On the reverse, the Boston photographer Chickering is identified as well as a notation that this photo belonged to “McLoon” (right end for the BAA).

We had never come across or seen a BAA photo previously, so this was a very nice find for us (one of the few pickups from Brimfield yesterday).

The Boston Athletic Association had a good number of games scheduled in 1894, including those against major powers such as Harvard, Yale, and Brown, as well as games with the New York Athletic Club, the Columbia Athletic Club, Amherst, Bowdoin, Phillips Andover, the Chicago Athletic Association, and the Crescent Athletic Club.

Most of the BAA team was comprised of Harvard men, and when the BAA played against Yale, the game was “fierce” with notable injuries (The Evening Bulletin, October 25, 1894). This game, a harbinger to the violent “Bloodbath at Hampden Park", the Harvard – Yale game a month away.

The playing roster for the 1894 BAA team:

McLoon  RE

Erickson, Ward  LT, RT

Waters  LT

Carpenter  C

J. Fay  LG

Gallagher  LT

Whittren  LE

Clarkson  QB

Anthony  RHB

Burns, Garcelon  RHB, LHB

Dearborn  HB

Hoag  FB

                                                                Joseph Story Fay 3rd

Of great interest to Jacob and I, in addition to the photo’s rarity and subject matter is that one of the sitters in the photo is Joseph Story Fay 3^rd, Harvard class of ’94 (back row, second from the left). It was Fay’s father, Joseph Story Fay Jr. who rowed varsity for Harvard in 1869, beating Yale on Lake Quinsigamond at Worcester. Following this win, Fay immediately sailed for England to join teammates and row against Oxford in the “Great International Boat Race”, one of the most significant and earliest international sporting events up to that time (estimated attendance exceeding half a million people).

Fay’s trophy oar from the 1869 Harvard – Yale contest is one of the most prized items in our collection and possibly the subject of a future post. To now have this BAA photo along with the oar, so that father son are represented hanging on the same wall adds to the story of both and makes collecting all the more interesting.