Sammy Samuels: Quincy’s Jewish community and baseball

Located on the edge of the American frontier, Quincy in the 1840s, offered unfettered opportunity. Among the German newcomers were several Prussian-Jews. Whether they were Protestant, Catholic or Jewish, the new arrivals took an active role in all aspects of the community. The Samuels family was no different.

Records at the Adams County Courthouse show that Isaac T. Samuels became a naturalized citizen on Oct. 30, 1860. On Nov. 3, 1861, Isaac married Jenette Aronson. Both had emigrated from Prussia. Isaac came with his brother, Julius, and Julius’s wife Rebecca. Jenette Aronson arrived with her brother, Albert, and his wife Julia.

Isaac Samuels partnered with a brother, Julius, in a dry good business. An early directory listed the enterprise as “Samuels J. & Bro., (Isaac), clothing and hats, 32 N. Fourth.” Albert Aronson bought and sold hides and wool for a living.

Isaac and Jenette Samuels had four daughters, and on Feb. 20, 1874, a son Samuel Earle was born.

In the early 1870s, Quincy’s Jewish population peaked at about 500 or 2% of the population. In 1869, the construction of the B’nai Sholom temple at 427 N. Ninth St. began. The temple was dedicated on Sept. 8, 1870. Jewish children attended public schools in Quincy, and in 1879 one-third of the high school graduates were Jewish. Quincy’s Jewish community was thriving.

The Samuels brothers had found the opportunity they were seeking. They operated a profitable clothing store. Their families had assimilated, and they were active in the local Jewish community. The Dec. 16, 1877 Quincy Daily Herald listed Isaac Samuels as an officer in the local Independent Order B’nai B’rith, Zuleika Lodge No. 99.

In 1874, Isaac Samuels was arrested and fined for a bait-and-switch scheme according to the July 23, 1874 Quincy Daily Herald. Isaac had run afoul of the authorities in January 1883, when he was arrested, plead guilty and fined $50 and costs for using cancelled postage stamps on letters. These incidents may have led the family to leave Quincy and move to Chicago. Coincidentally, during this same time frame, organized professional baseball came to Quincy.

Spending his formative years in Quincy, Issac’s son Samuel joined other boys in playing and watching baseball games. Baseball for a young boy was as much a part of life as chores and going to school. Harry Hofer, a year younger than Samuels, was passionate about baseball. Later, Hofer’s name would become synonymous with this period of Quincy baseball.

Baseball had been played since the Civil War and versions of the game were played earlier in Europe and in America. The first organized Quincy Baseball game was played in 1866.

While living in Chicago, Sammy Samuels in his late teens showed promise as a baseball player. In 1894 he enrolled in the Rush Medical College dental school. Before giving professional baseball a try in 1895, Sammy briefly suited up for the Rush college team.

In 1896, one of the teams looking at Samuels was the Quincy Blue Birds of the Western Association. The Daily Journal reported on May 18 that Quincy “signed Samuels . . . who played third base . . . with the St. Louis Browns last season. He made a fairly good showing in the National League and may prove a fast man in the Western Association. We hope so.”

The Daily Journal on May 19 printed this note: “Sam Samuels . . . is a Quincy boy. He lived on Fourth Street, near Hampshire. His father used to have a clothing store. Glad to see he got a place with the Quincy team and wish the club success.”

On Friday, May 22, 1896, the St. Joseph Saints were in town to play the Blue Birds. The two teams were battling to stay out of last place. In an attempt to shore up the Blue Birds, team president Ged Jones signed former hometown boy and recent major league player, Samuels, in hopes of bringing life to the slumping local nine. When the Quincyans took the field, Samuels was at third base and batting seventh.

The Blue Birds lost. It seemed ironic that nowhere in the game’s reporting was a word written that Sammy Samuels was a Quincy native. Probably the May 23, 1896 Quincy Daily Herald words explained it best. “Samuels proved to be a great flunk.”

The 1898 season was Sammy Samuels’ last year in professional baseball. He had had four tumultuous years in organized baseball. Whether it was a fluke or not, he played in 24 big league games. In doing so, he became the fifth Jewish major league player, and the first since 1887. Sammy Samuels lived every young boy’s dream. But just as important, he was “a Jewish pioneer in 19th century baseball.”

Sources

Breslauer, Bernhard [trans. by Irene Newhouse, 1995]. “The Emigration of Jews from the Province of Posen,” Berlin, Germany: Printed by Berthold Levy, 1909.

“Couldn’t Stop A Street Car.” Quincy Daily Journal, May 23, 1896, 5.

“Election of Officers.” Quincy Daily Herald, December 16, 1877, 3.

Frolick, David A. “From Immigration to Integration: Jewish Life in Quincy in the Nineteenth

Century,” Illinois Periodicals Online [A digital imaging project at the Northern Illinois University Libraries.]

Gensheimer, Cynthia. “Quincy’s Jewish Families Shape the City.” Quincy Herald-Whig, May 19, 2019.

Jewish Baseball Museum [Online]. Htps://jewishbaseballmuseum.com>spotlight-story>Image of 19th Century Jewish Baseball Player Discovered by Bob Wechsler Sammy Samuels short biography.

Langdon, Addison L. and Arntzen, Edward. The Quincy City Directory for 1871-72. Quincy, Illinois: Evening Call Steam Press, 1871.

“No Games At Des Moines.” Quincy Daily Journal, May 18, 1896, 5.

“Police News.” Quincy Daily Herald, July 23, 1874, 4.

“Quincy Club and Franchise.” Quincy Daily Journal, May 19, 1896, 5.