|
Abner Graves, a mining engineer from Colorado, is most notably known as the man who claimed Abner Doubleday invented baseball.
While passing through Akron, Ohio in 1905, Graves noticed an advertisement in the newspaper requesting information regarding the person who invented baseball. Graves responded to the ad in a letter stating he saw Abner Doubleday invent the game in 1839 at Cooperstown, New York. He stated how he witnessed Doubleday approach a group of school boys, draw a diagram of a baseball diamond, and then instruct the boys how to play baseball.
Through the testimony of Abner Graves, Abner Doubleday was credited for inventing the game of baseball in 1907. Not until 1947 was the truth uncovered by a New York Librarian that Alexander Cartwright invented the game of baseball.
Historians are not sure if Mr. Graves was trying to gain recognition or if he was just mistaken about his facts. Town ball was popular during the late 1830's and it is quiet possible that Graves did see a game. It is most likely that Graves’ memory of Doubleday presence in Cooperstown was shadowed by his age at the time of his recollection.
|