Can anyone identify the players?

[MollyEcho]

Hi, I'm new to this board. I'm "Buttercup" Dickerson's great-great granddaughter.

My grandmother gave me this team picture, taken in 1887. "Buttercup" is in the back row with the mark above his head, and I'm guessing the big guy in the front is Lew "Jumbo" Shoeneck. Some of his other team members were Gill Hatfield, W.W. Andrus, Eddie Thayer, Joe Lufberry, and Arthur Clarkson, Quinn, and Burns.

I added it as an attachment.

[hubkittel]

Welcome to BBF. That's a great picture. Any more info on the club?

Gill Hatfield, W.W. Andrus, Eddie Thayer, Joe Lufberry, and Arthur Clarkson, Quinn, and Burns.

This is pure speculation on my part but I'd bet that Quinn is Joe Quinn who played with Dickerson on the 1884 St. Louis Maroons. Burns is possibly Dick Burns who played on the 1885 Maroons. Arthur Clarkson played with Quinn on the St. Louis Browns from 1893-1895. So there's possibly a bit of a St. Louis connection with Quinn as the nexus but, again, this is just speculation.

I'll check my files for pics of Quinn, Burns, and Clarkson and see if they match up with anybody in your picture.

[hubkittel]

Here's a picture of the 1895 St. Louis Browns with Joe Quinn middle row, second from left. This pic looks very similar to the guy sitting in the middle row, second from the left in your picture. Not conclusive evidence but I'm more confident than I was a half hour ago that that is Joe Quinn.

[hubkittel]

Here's a picture of the 1886 St. Louis Maroons. Quinn is front row, far left.

[Brian McKenna]

Portland (no nickname), Maine was in the New England League in 1887. They finished second (with a 68-36 record) to Lowell.

Managed by Harry Spence.

Wiman Andrus led the league runs and hits. Gil hatfield in stolen bases.

Arthur "Dad" Clarkson was the brother of Hall of Famer John Clarkson.

Joe Quinn was the only Australian-born major leaguer before the 1980s.

[MollyEcho]

Joe Quinn

That does look like Joe Quinn in the second row, based on the two photos posted.

Am I right about "Jumbo" Schoeneck, the big guy in the front?

I am getting a lot of information about "Buttercup" and his career from Charles Newt Weaver. He's done a lot of research on baseball on the Eastern Shore.

It's really interesting learning about his career.

Oh, and sorry the picture is so big, I didn't realize the file was so large.

[hubkittel]

I would say that the player front row, center is most likely Jumbo Schoeneck. Below is his picture from an Old Judge Card. The year the picture was taken is unknown but it was certainly after 1887.

[hubkittel]

Here's a picture of Dickerson from 1880 when he was playing with Troy.

[hubkittel]

This is Gil Hatfield's Old Judge Card. It dates from 1888 and looks very much like the player in the middle row, far left.

[MollyEcho]

I did find that picture of Gil Hatfield, but I couldn't tell which one was him. If half of them didn't have mustaches it might have been easier to tell, haha.

I have seen that early picture of "Buttercup" in his Troy uniform.

[hubkittel]

If half of them didn't have mustaches it might have been easier to tell, haha.

I have seen that early picture of "Buttercup" in his Troy uniform.

The mustaches are problematic for sure. Sometimes they have them, sometimes they don't. Hats are a problem too. The hairline is usually a dead give-away when trying to identify somebody.

I saw another picture of Dickerson and I think it was while he was playing with Troy. Can't remember if it was a cropped version of the same picture or not. I'll have to look around again.

I'm struggling to find a picture of Dad Clarkson. There's plenty of pics of John Clarkson around and I thought that would help to identify his brother. It's certainly narrowed it down to a couple of the guys in the pic but nothing conclusive.

[MollyEcho]

Is this the picture you were thinking of?

I got some information from wikipedia, but I wasn't sure how correct the information was since anyone can edit those pages.

[hubkittel]

Is this the picture you were thinking of?

I got some information from wikipedia, but I wasn't sure how correct the information was since anyone can edit those pages.

That's the one.