Lot # 37: 1848 to 1861 Cooperstown Origins of Baseball Check Collection (68) Including Five Related to Doubleday and Phinney

Offered are sixty-eight nineteenth-century bank checks including five that bear, respectively, the signatures of individuals related to two men who will forever be associated with the long-standing myth that baseball was invented in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839: Abner Doubleday and Elihu Phinney. The remaining sixty-threechecks are related to various early individuals, families, or companies that were early settlers of Cooperstown, NY including North & Denio Fork Company, the Bowers Family, Martha Wilson (whose was present in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 and whose father served under George Washington), James Fenimore Cooper, and several others. While the name of Abner Doubleday today is well known by even the most casual of baseball fans, only true scholars will recognize that of Phinney. According to testimony given to the Mills Commission by Abner Graves in 1907, it was on Elihu Phinney’s farm, located in Cooperstown, New York, that Abner Doubleday “invented” baseball in 1839. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, that myth still persists in some circles to this day. While most scholars agree that Doubleday did not invent the game of baseball, his name is still very much a part of baseball lore, especially in its connection to the Hall of Fame. Doubleday is also well known in military circles, as he is credited with firing the first shot at Fort Sumter during the Civil War and later saw action in Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Ironically, when Doubleday passed away in 1893, his obituary described him as a man "who did not care for outdoor sports." Elihu Phinney, who opened the first printing company in Cooperstown, passed away in 1813. After his death, both his business and farm went to his two sons, Henry and Elihu Jr., who then renamed the printing company H. & E. Phinney. All the checks in this collection are drawn on the Otsego County Bank. The collection consists of the following: 1) June 29, 1848 made payable to H & E Phinney and bears multiple endorsements on the reverse including "Phinney." 2) August 23, 1848 made payable to "Phinney" and bears multiple endorsements on the reverse including "H. L. Phinney." 3) October 19, 1848 signed by "S. Doubleday." 4) December 16, 1848 signed by "Geo. E. Clarke" and made payable to "H & E Phinney." 5) December 31, 1848 signed by "Martha Wilson." 6) November 5, 1852 signed by "George Clarke." 7) January 5, 1853 signed by "A. H. Clarke." 8) February 22, 1853 signed by "Henry Bowers." 9) April 2, 1853 signed by Margaretta Bowers." 10) September 14, 1853 made payable to "A. H. Clarke." 11) March 28, 1855 signed by "North & Denio." 12) January 17, 1857 signed by "North & Denio." 13) January 20, 1857 signed by "North & Denio." 14) July 20, 1857 signed by "Averell." 15) September 7, 1857 signed by "North & Denio." 16) January 5, 1858 signed by "Alfred Clarke." 17) April 27, 1958 signed by "R. Cooper." 18) June 4, 1858 signed by "Averell." 19) June 29, 1858 signed by "Averell." 20) December 24, 1858 signed by "Margaretta Bowers." 21) February 19, 1859 signed by "E. Phinney." 22) June 11, 1859 signed by "R. Cooper." 23) September 9, 1860 signed by "Cooper." 24) February 16, 1861 signed by "Averell." 25) June 8, 1861 signed by "Averell." 26) June 10, 1861 signed by "Averell." 27-68) The remaining forty-two checks bear signatures from various early inhabitants of Cooperstown, NY. The dates on the checks range from 1848 to 1861. The checks display a few light folds and/or creases and are in Very Good to Excellent condition overall. Total: 68 checks.