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EDGAR MCNABB
Edgar J. McNabb, a righthanded pitcher, was signed by the Baltimore Orioles for the 1893 season. He had played on the west coast in 1892. Records list a “Pete McNabb” pitching for Portland in the Pacific Northwest League and then for Los Angeles after the PNL folded. This may be him since Edgar McNabb supposedly pitched for Los Angeles at the end of 1892.
Either way, McNabb made his major league debut on May 12, 1893. He was released on August 11 after pitching in his 21st game that day. He signed on with Grand Rapids. McNabb also worked as a telegraph operator for the Santa Fe Railroad in Kansas City.
LOUISE KELLOGG
Louise Kellogg:
Birth name: Louise (Lou or Lulu) Louis
Stage name: Louis Kellogg (stemming from famed opera singer Clara Louise Kellogg)
Marriage name: Mrs. William Elmer Rockwell
She was a pretty, blonde stage actress, at one time working with the Alvin Joslyn Theatrical Company. She was still acting at the time of her death but hadn't had a gig for a few months.
WILLIAM ELMER ROCKWELL
W.E. Rockwell, called Elmer, was born in Moumouth, Illinois in 1855 to Alfred and Martha Rockwell. In 1876 he lived in Keithsburg, Illinois, a small town on the Mississippi River. There, he pitched for the local team, Ictorias. His catcher was 16-year-old future Hall of Famer Bid McPhee. Both were signed by Davenport of the Northwest League for the 1877 season. Rockwell later described the incident which turned McPhee into a second baseman. McPhee took a foul tip to the nose, breaking it in the days before catcher’s gear. After that, he became an infielder.
Rockwell played for Omaha from 1883-89. He then settled in Seattle and found a job a manager at the Union Ice Company (1889-93).
Newspapers accounts at the time of the McNabb incident in 1894 listed Rockwell as either the president of the Pacific Northwest League or of the California League. In truth, the Pacific Northwest League folded during the 1892 season and did not operate in either 1893 or ’94. The California League as well folded after the 1893 season and would not operate again until 1898. Rockwell was not the president of either league in 1892 or ’93.
The confusion may lie in the fact that Rockwell was actually an organizer in Washington and California from the mid to late 1890s. He may very well have tried to organize a California League for 1894 but the effort wasn’t successful as we view things today.
As a side note, Washington ice entrepreneur W.B. Bushnell started the Tacoma Ice and Refrigeration Company and a similarly named company in Seattle. In 1891 he purchased the Union Ice Company which was managed by Rockwell. Bushnell was the president of the 1892 Pacific Northwest League mentioned above.
FENRUARY 28, 1894
Rockwell and Kellogg were having troubles in their marriage so they separated. McNabb, a resident of California, and Kellogg initiated an affair. Letters found at the time of the latter two’s death indicate that Kellogg was financially supporting McNabb over the winter of 1893-94.
On the afternoon or early evening of Wednesday February 28, 1894 Kellogg arrived in Pittsburgh (her parents lived in Braddock not far from the city) from New York City. She had asked McNabb to meet her on Fifth Avenue. He had secured a room earlier in the day at the Hotel Eiffel at 508 Smithfield Street, registering as Mr. and Mrs. E.J. McNabb. They had plans to meet up with Louis Gillen, a friend, to attend the theater that night.
After the couple met on Fifth Avenue, Kellogg announced her intention to break up with McNabb. She told him that she cared for someone else, probably considering reconciling with her husband. The couple then made their way to the Eiffel Hotel. Shortly, after entering the room, McNabb pulled out a gun.
The shots were not heard. A fire near the hotel had drawn all the attention of guests. Gillen got stood up so he went to the hotel looking for the couple. Arriving at the room at about 8:30 pm, he heard Kellogg groaning. He retrieved the police – City Hall was just across the street – who busted in the room.
They found a bloody mess. Kellogg was lying on the floor with three shots to her head and neck. McNabb was next to her dead from two shots to the head. She was taken to the Homeopathic Hospital.
The following day Kellogg was not doing well. She had a 105 degree temperature and was growing weaker by the hour. Doctors gave her only hours to live, perhaps 72. They could not operate considering one of the bullets was lodged against her spine. She was paralyzed but could speak, asking for her husband who was contacted and was en route from California.
At about midnight Kellogg slipped into unconsciousness. She died at 4:40 am on March 2. McNabb was shipped to Mount Vernon, Ohio that day an interred at Mound View Cemetery.
Edgar J. McNabb, a righthanded pitcher, was signed by the Baltimore Orioles for the 1893 season. He had played on the west coast in 1892. Records list a “Pete McNabb” pitching for Portland in the Pacific Northwest League and then for Los Angeles after the PNL folded. This may be him since Edgar McNabb supposedly pitched for Los Angeles at the end of 1892.
Either way, McNabb made his major league debut on May 12, 1893. He was released on August 11 after pitching in his 21st game that day. He signed on with Grand Rapids. McNabb also worked as a telegraph operator for the Santa Fe Railroad in Kansas City.
LOUISE KELLOGG
Louise Kellogg:
Birth name: Louise (Lou or Lulu) Louis
Stage name: Louis Kellogg (stemming from famed opera singer Clara Louise Kellogg)
Marriage name: Mrs. William Elmer Rockwell
She was a pretty, blonde stage actress, at one time working with the Alvin Joslyn Theatrical Company. She was still acting at the time of her death but hadn't had a gig for a few months.
WILLIAM ELMER ROCKWELL
W.E. Rockwell, called Elmer, was born in Moumouth, Illinois in 1855 to Alfred and Martha Rockwell. In 1876 he lived in Keithsburg, Illinois, a small town on the Mississippi River. There, he pitched for the local team, Ictorias. His catcher was 16-year-old future Hall of Famer Bid McPhee. Both were signed by Davenport of the Northwest League for the 1877 season. Rockwell later described the incident which turned McPhee into a second baseman. McPhee took a foul tip to the nose, breaking it in the days before catcher’s gear. After that, he became an infielder.
Rockwell played for Omaha from 1883-89. He then settled in Seattle and found a job a manager at the Union Ice Company (1889-93).
Newspapers accounts at the time of the McNabb incident in 1894 listed Rockwell as either the president of the Pacific Northwest League or of the California League. In truth, the Pacific Northwest League folded during the 1892 season and did not operate in either 1893 or ’94. The California League as well folded after the 1893 season and would not operate again until 1898. Rockwell was not the president of either league in 1892 or ’93.
The confusion may lie in the fact that Rockwell was actually an organizer in Washington and California from the mid to late 1890s. He may very well have tried to organize a California League for 1894 but the effort wasn’t successful as we view things today.
As a side note, Washington ice entrepreneur W.B. Bushnell started the Tacoma Ice and Refrigeration Company and a similarly named company in Seattle. In 1891 he purchased the Union Ice Company which was managed by Rockwell. Bushnell was the president of the 1892 Pacific Northwest League mentioned above.
FENRUARY 28, 1894
Rockwell and Kellogg were having troubles in their marriage so they separated. McNabb, a resident of California, and Kellogg initiated an affair. Letters found at the time of the latter two’s death indicate that Kellogg was financially supporting McNabb over the winter of 1893-94.
On the afternoon or early evening of Wednesday February 28, 1894 Kellogg arrived in Pittsburgh (her parents lived in Braddock not far from the city) from New York City. She had asked McNabb to meet her on Fifth Avenue. He had secured a room earlier in the day at the Hotel Eiffel at 508 Smithfield Street, registering as Mr. and Mrs. E.J. McNabb. They had plans to meet up with Louis Gillen, a friend, to attend the theater that night.
After the couple met on Fifth Avenue, Kellogg announced her intention to break up with McNabb. She told him that she cared for someone else, probably considering reconciling with her husband. The couple then made their way to the Eiffel Hotel. Shortly, after entering the room, McNabb pulled out a gun.
The shots were not heard. A fire near the hotel had drawn all the attention of guests. Gillen got stood up so he went to the hotel looking for the couple. Arriving at the room at about 8:30 pm, he heard Kellogg groaning. He retrieved the police – City Hall was just across the street – who busted in the room.
They found a bloody mess. Kellogg was lying on the floor with three shots to her head and neck. McNabb was next to her dead from two shots to the head. She was taken to the Homeopathic Hospital.
The following day Kellogg was not doing well. She had a 105 degree temperature and was growing weaker by the hour. Doctors gave her only hours to live, perhaps 72. They could not operate considering one of the bullets was lodged against her spine. She was paralyzed but could speak, asking for her husband who was contacted and was en route from California.
At about midnight Kellogg slipped into unconsciousness. She died at 4:40 am on March 2. McNabb was shipped to Mount Vernon, Ohio that day an interred at Mound View Cemetery.
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