1884 Wesleyan Football Team / J.A. Saxe / F.D. Beattys

 

                                               1884, Wesleyan Foot Ball Eleven (names overlayed)

"Wesleyan made football history at Harvard the next Saturday (November 1, 1884) by causing the biggest upset in Harvard's football annals up to that time. They trounced the overconfident Crimson players 16 to 0"..."Judd and Saxe were the bane of Harvard's existence throughout the game, as they made one spectacular run after another. Judd added insult to injury by kicking a beautiful field goal near the end of the first half, to bring the score to 16 to 0.  Harvard played hard in the second period but the Cardinal and Black was playing inspired football and stopped everything Harvard attempted. No score was made in this half."   

Excerpt from "The History of Football at Harvard" 1948.

Wesleyan played a significant role in the development of American football and in the early 1880s was playing against the likes of Williams, Harvard, Amherst, Princeton, Penn and Yale. One interesting note - when researching the 1884 team it became obvious from a review of the team rosters in the Wesleyan yearbooks, The Olla Podrida, and published rosters from varsity games played during 1883 and 1884 (particularly with Princeton)  that there was considerable overlap and flexibility in player utilization.  Just over half of the members of the team played in both years, and members listed only on the 1884 roster were found to be playing in 1883 just as team members listed only on the 1883 roster were found to be playing in 1884 games.

Depending on the source either G.T Judd or J.A. Saxe were listed as Captain for these years. 

                                                       James Alfred (J.A.) Saxe, Half-Back

                      Saxe, considered one of the leading players of this period, continued playing football after graduating from Wesleyan, for Harvard, in 1887 and 1889. A significant cabinet photo of a star player.

                                                            

                                                                         F.D. Beattys
 

Frank Beattys (F.D.), was a significant figure not just at Wesleyan, but to the development of early college football and rule-making in particular. He managed the 1884 University Eleven and was a rusher on the ’85 class Foot-Ball team, but more significantly, Beattys was a member of the rule making body for the Intercollegiate Football Association, the Graduate Advisory Committee. He and the small number of representatives formulated, changed and voted on many of the most significant parts of the game. Names like Poe, Camp, Moffatt and MClung, the biggest names of the day were often part of the membership or proceedings. 

A review of a compilation of "Proceedings of Intercollegiate Conventions, Conferences and Sessions of Rules Committees" lists Beattys  as having attended all but one or two of the rules meeting that took place from November 1886 to November 1893. We are listing the specific dates of the meetings Beattys took part in as these dates are frequently referred to in references that cite important changes to the game. The dates are as follows:  November 28, 1886, March 26, 1887, June 5, 1887, March 3, 1888, March 2, 1889, March 30, 1889, November 4, 1889, November 14, 1889, May 10, 1890, Oct 4, 1890, October 5, 1891, March 21, 1892, March 4, 1893, October 28, 1893.  In a letter dated November 5, 1893, Wesleyan resigned its membership in the Association, and thus Beattys' tenure on the rules committee ended as well.

 

Two pages from the Spalding Foot-Ball Rules and Referee’s Book from 1893. Beattys is pictured with Walter Camp, Alexander Moffat and J.C. Bell (Graduate Advisory Committee).

 

G.T. Judd, Captain

 

A.E. Sutherland, Rusher

 

S.S. Abbott, Rusher

 

F.T. Smith, Rusher

 

F.B. Upham, Quarterback

 

A.L. Green, Substitute, Judge

 

E.S. Gordy Rusher

 

 

George (G.D.) Beattys, Half-Back, Substitute (twin brother of F.D. Beattys)

 

               Leather cover of D.W.B. Thompson's ('85) (rusher on the 1883 and 1884 University Elevens) Wesleyan yearbook, from which all of the cabinet photos pictured originated. The album was complete and only pertinent photos were included in this blog posting.