YANK DAVIS

Yank Davis, far left first row: 1908 Seneca (Mo.) Indians

JESS MARTIN AND BROTHERS

The five sons of Brice Martin — Lester, Jess, Frank,  Bill, Howard

Joplin, Mo. 1920

Barry Martin and Sam Adams

Napa, California

 Credit: Sakhon Nhek Photography (IG: @sakhonnhek)

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Every weekday and during breaking news Barry Martin, Wine Country Live Morning Show Host/Producer of our sister station KVON “The Voice of the North Bay," provides you with the top news headlines of the day.

If you’re looking for the top news stories you should know in under 15 minutes, listen to Daily News Splash podcasted out every weekday by 7am. Or, dive into the conversations and commentaries on KVON’s Wine Country Live show every weekday 6a-10a with Barry Martin & Taylor Bartolucci

 

NEW DES MOINES SOUTHPAW SAID TO 

HAVE FINE CONTROL PONCA CITY, OKLA., 

Jesse “Jess” Martin     Nicknames: “Cy” “Lefty”

Positions: Pitcher

Bats:                              Throws:  Left

Height:  5’10             Weight:   160 

Jan. 1. A southpaw with remarkable control is the combination that has made Jess Martin, sold to Des Moines for next year, a reliable, winning pitcher. Martin worked all of the 1921 season and the greater portion of the 1922 season with the Ponca City independent team, which won the Oklahoma state championship the past year. During the 1922 season he pitched 13 games and won 12 of them, including one of the series whereby the locals achieved the state championship. Martin is a native of the Joplin (Mo.) district and pitched considerable independent ball as a youngster there prior to coming to Ponca City as an employe of the Marland Oil company. Immediately he started in the box for the Ponca City Oilers and was good from the start, making an unusually good record both seasons. It should be remembered that the best independent teams throughout this portion of Oklahoma and Kansas are made up, to a great extent, of former league players, and it takes a good man to "stand 'em on their heads," and this is what Martin accomplished. His work during the 1921 season here was sufficient to attract the attention of "Chick" Eraser, the old National league twirler, and he signed Martin for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Martin went to the training camp with Pittsburgh, remained clear through and back to the "Smoky City," when he was, released on an optional agreement to Flint, Mich. 

Flint, with a desire to lessen expenses, turned Martin back, and at the latter's request he was given his release and came back to Ponca City rather than be farmed out somewhere else. He has excellent habits and should be in baseball for many years. He was signed recently for Dcs Moines by Secretary E. Lee Keyser.

January 2, 1923, Pg. 6, The Wichita Daily Eagle

Postscript:

Galena's one main claim to baseball fame, George Grantham, was with Omaha in the Western League in 1922. Martin joined the league with Des Moines in 1923, missing each other as opponents by just one season. Tulsa won the league title in 1922, led during the season and in the post-season series by outfielder Yank Davis and his league-leading 35 home runs. My cousin, Barry Martin, in addition to both of us being related to Jess, was Yank's nephew from his mother's side of the family. Yank played for the 1917 Joplin Miners and served as the team's manager part of the season.

The five sons of Brice Martin — Lester, Jess, Frank,  Bill, Howard

 SON OF FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR

   Daniel C. Wood

Daniel C. Wood, the eldest son of former Illinois Governor John Wood and Ann Maria Wood. was born February 9, 1829, in Quincy, Illinois.

He died May 9, 1922. In Galena, Kansas. He was the father of Mrs. W.F. Sapp (Mary E. Wood) of Galena. Mary had a sister, Helen Margaret (Sapp) Davisson, born in Galena in 1892. Daniel was the first child born in Quincy, Ill.

WikiTree

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 KIA, CAT NAPPING

...

 SAY THEIR NAMES

THE MAY 2011 JOPLIN TORNADO

Victims:

» Marie Alvarez-Torres, 43, Joplin

» Jose O. Alvarez, 59, Joplin

» Miguel Alvarez, 28, Joplin

» Barbara A. Anderson, 76, Joplin

» Sarah Anderson, 47, 1118 26th St., Joplin, died as a result of the tornado. She was a secretary for the school district for 10 years. She took her job seriously but always had a sense of humor with her coworkers and the students, said a tribute posted on an Internet page Saturday.

» William Anderson, 1118 26th St., Joplin, husband of Sarah Anderson, was a deacon at their church. The couple had two children, Grace and Quinton, who survive.

» Cyrus "Edward" Ash Jr., 87, Joplin

» Grace Layug Aquino, 46, of Joplin died from injuries. A native of the Phillipines, she was a hostess at the China Pantry and a member of the Harmony Heights Baptist Church. According to her obituary, she covered and protected her 12-year-old son, Malachi, during the storm and he survived.

» Bruce Baillie, 56, 2001 Connecticut Ave.

» Robert W. Baker, 54, Joplin died from injuries. He was a native of Michigan and worked at the parts desk for Cycle Connection.

» Robert E. Bateson, 45, Joplin

» Dorothy T. Bell, 88, Joplin

» Regina M. Bloxham, 55, Joplin

» Barbara Boyd, na/, 2502 S. Moffit

» Lathe E. Bradfield, 84, Joplin

» Ramona M. Bridgeford, 77, Seneca

» Leo E. Brown, 86, Joplin

» Hugh O. Buttram, 85, Joplin

» Tami L. Campbell, 28, 26 & Bird, Joplin, died in her home during the tornado. She and her husband, who survived, had sent their two sons down the street to a grandparent's home where there was a basement.

» Arriyinnah S. Carmona, 8, Joplin

» Moises Carmona-Navarro, 42, Joplin

» Shante M. Caton, 10, Joplin

» Trenton Caton, 6, Pierce City

» The Rev. Raymond LeRoy Chew Sr., 66, Joplin, died from injuries. He was a Marine Corps veteran and had worked for Webb City Special Road District.

» Clyde Coleman, 72, died in the tornado. He once served on the Galena, Kans., City Council and served on the city's planning and zoning committee.

» Carolane J. Collins , 62, Eagle Rock

» Lois Ada Comfort, 66, Webb City, died as a result of the tornado, according to a Simpson Funeral Home online obituary. She worked at Eagle Pitcher for 30 years and was a member of the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Webb City.

» Vicki L. Cooper, 59, Joplin

» Teddy Copher, 71, Joplin

» Malisa Crossley, 36, Joplin

» Patricia Dawson, 74, 2134 Dooley St.

» Adam Darnaby, 27, died Sunday. He earned an Associate of Electrical Technology Degree at Pittsburg State University and worked as an electrician at Jasper Products.

» Nancy E. Douthitt, 94, Joplin

» Ellen Doyle, 76, 1235 Montana Plaza, Joplin, died at her home from injuries suffered in the tornado. she loved to spend time with her family, go out to eat and shop.

» Faith Dunn, age and address not available

» Amanda S. Eastwood, 49, Joplin

» Richard A. Elmore, 70, Joplin

» Randy England, 34, Neosho, is believed to have died inside the Home Depot store during the tornado as the truck he was riding in was parked outside the store. He and a friend Dennis Osborn had gone to look for a car part. England loved to work on automobiles, play golf, watch movies and hang out.

» Mark L. Farmer, 88, Joplin

» Ida M. Finley, 88, Joplin

» Betty Fisher, 86, 902 W. 26th St., was owner of Betty's Beauty Shop in Joplin and a member of the Blendeville Christian Church, a 4H leader, volunteer at St. John's Regional Medical Center and enjoyed square-dancing.

» Robert S. Fitzgerald, 61, Joplin

» Rick E. Fox, 56, Joplin

» Marsha A. Frost, 32, Joplin

» Sebastian C. Frost, 10, Joplin

» Charles K. Gaudsmith, 21, Carthage

» Billie J. Gideon, 77, Joplin

» Paul E. Haddock, 63, 2528 E. 13th St., was a retired welder and was well known around the Joplin YMCA, where he had many friends.

» Johnna Hale, n/a, Joplin

» Caley Hare, 16, Joplin

» Dorothy V. Hartman, 91, Joplin

» Dee A. Hayward, 47, Galena, Kan. She worked for Hallmark Card company maintaining card displays in area Wal-Mart stores.

» Glen W. Holland, 60, 2620 Oliver, is a retired Air Force veteran.

» Lorie M. Holland, 48, Joplin

» Charlotte Hopwood, 84, Joplin

» Harli Jayce Howard, 5, Webb City, daughter of Rusty Howard, died in her father's arms.

» Hayze Cole Howard, 19 months, Webb City, son of Rusty Howard, also died in the tornado Sunday.

» Russell T. "Rusty" Howard, 29, Webb City, died in the tornado. He was an electrician for PCS Phosphates and was a member of the Kansas Army National Guard.

» Wendy A Istas, 58, Joplin

» Jane E. Jaynes, 86, Joplin

» Melisa R. Johnson, 50, Carthage

» Cheryl L. Jones, 39, Altamont, Kan.

» Kathy S. Keling, 53, Joplin

» James D. Kendrick, 63, Joplin

» Dale Stanley Kirk, 62, Joplin, died of injuries suffered in the tornado. A native of Springfield, he was a member of the National Guard and was an aircraft engine technician.

» Geneva Koler, 84, 2502 S. Moffit

» Tedra J. Kuhn, 69, Joplin

» Don Lansaw, Joplin, died trying to protect his wife, who survived, according to an account on Bethany Lansaw's Facebook page. The couple had been married six years. "He is my hero," Bethany Lansaw wrote on her Facebook page. "He gave his life to protect mine. I love you so much.... My heart is broken, but everyone's words are little pieces of tape trying to put it back together again. Thank you so very much."

» Bruce A. Lievens, 48, Joplin

» Billy Little, 65, 2428 Empire

» Skyuler I. Logsdon, 1, Joplin

» Christopher Lucas, 27, Vinita, Okla., served in the Navy. He was working at Pizza Hut when the storm hit, and ushered more than a dozen employees and customers into a freezer, then left to find a rope or cord to tie the door closed. President Barack Obama highlighted him for his heroism.

» Patricia Mann, 64, Joplin

» Rachel K. Markham, 31, Joplin

» Nancy Martin, Miami, Okla., age not confirmed

» Jesse L. McKee, 44, Neosho

» James E. McKeel, 69, Joplin

» Mary L. McKeel, 64, Joplin

» Randall E. Mell, 49, Joplin

» Angela Menapace, 52, 2424 Kentucky

» Ronald D. Meyer, 64, Joplin

» Donald R. Miller, 49, Joplin

» Lorna K. Miller, 72, 2423 Dooley dr.

» Tripp Miller, 50, Joplin, died early Monday morning of severe injuries from the tornado. He worked at Joplin Workshop, Inc. He was a participant in the Special Olympics since his school days and won his last of many gold medals at the State Special Olympics in the fall of 2010 at 4th Street Bowl in Joplin by bowling the best game of his life.

» Suzanne M. Mock, 39, Forsyth

» Marie Menhusen Montgomery, 83, died at her house from injuries suffered in the tornado. The former teacher was a member of Christ's Community United Methodist Church in Joplin.

» Estrellita M. Moore, 64, died of injuries in the storm. A hairdresser for J.C. Penney's , she was born in the Philippines, where funeral services will be held.

» Sally Moulton, 57, 15th St. and New Hampshire

» Edmund V. Mullaney, 82, of Hollister was a resident at Greenbriar Nursing Home in Joplin at the time of the tornado. He was a Marine Corps veteran and a member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus.

» Sharyl Nelson, 34, Joplin

» WIll Norton, 18, 3606 Old Orchard Road, Joplin, died when he was ejected or sucked from his vehicle by the tornado's force while he and his father were on the way home from his high school graduation. His family said his body was found in a pond near where his truck was located.

» Dennis M. Osborn, 34, Seneca, died of injuries suffered in the tornado. He woeked for Jasper Foods and was an Iraq war veteran and member of the 203rd National Guard.

» Charles E. Oster, 77, Joplin

» Shirley Ann Parker, 68, Joplin

» Mary J. Perry, 76, Joplin

» James B. Peterson, 27, Joplin

» Hallie. M. (Cook) Picard, 78, Joplin, formerly of Springfield, where her first husband was a singer with the Challengers Gospel Quartet, worked at the Carthage courthouse and attended Harmony Heights Baptist Church.

» Anna Patek, 91, Joplin

» John H. Petty, 37, 11830 Whispering Pines, Neosho, died from injuries suffered in the tornado. A native of Illinois, Petty moved to the Neosho area five years ago and worked at Jasper Products in Joplin. He spent two years as an Army Ranger. He loved to hunt and play guitar in his band Iris Road.

» Natalia Puebla, 17, 5891 S. Garrison, Carthage, died during services at the Full Gospel Church when the roof caved in during the tornado. She had just finished her first year at Ozark Christian College with a 4.0 GPA and on the deans list.

» Troy Ramey, 39, Joplin

» Shelly Marie Ramsey, 42, Neosho

» Loretta Randell, 54, Joplin

» Virgil "Tom" Reid, 77, Columbus, Kans., died during the tornado. He was an Army veteran.

» Johnny Richey, 52, Joplin

» Vicki Robertson, 66, Joplin

» Keith D. Robinson, 48, Joplin

» Virginia Mae Salmon, 80, Joplin

» Thomas Sarino, 76, address not available

» Tonya L. Sawyer, 41, Fort Scott, Kan.

» Frances A. Scates, 70, Joplin

» Gladys J. Seay, 83, Welch, Oklahoma

» Daniel W. Shirley, 48, Joplin

» Gene Smith, 71, Joplin, was a 24-year employee of the Union Pacific Railroad and an Army veteran. He served 29 years with the National Guard and Naval reserves and was a member of the Webb City Church of the Nazarene and Joplin Eagles Lodge.

» Luther Smith, n/a, 2340 Iowa

» Judy Smith, 71, Joplin

» Nicholas A. Smith, 23, Joplin

» Sharell L. Smith, 68, Pittsburg, Kan.

» Judy Smith, 71, Joplin

» Virginia Solomon, 80, Joplin

» Lois Sparks, 92, 2832 E. 19th

» Steven J. Stephens, 28, Joplin, was a construction worker and a Baptist

» Gregan Sweet, 59, Joplin

» Kayleigh Teal, 16, Pittsburg, Kan.

» Heather L. Terry, 36, Joplin

» John Thomas, 40, Joplin, died in the tornado. He was an employee of Jasper Products and enjoyed golfing, gambling, fishing, hunting and playing catch, according to an online obituary. He had four children.

» Sandra K. Thomas, 55, Carthage, died during services at the Full Gospel Church when the roof caved in during the tornado. She worked at Justin boot factory and volunteered in the church nursery.

» Zachary D. Treadwell, 9 , Joplin

» Margaret Tuit, 92, Joplin

» Michael E. Tyndall, 33, Joplin

» Darian D. Vanderhoofven, 45, Joplin

» Joshua D. Vanderhoofven, 1, Joplin

» M. "Dean" Wells, 59, Webb City, died at Home Depot, one day before his 42nd wedding anniversary to his wife Margaret Sue Simons. He was an army veteran, and he sang with his church group every Tuesday at area nursing homes or with ill members of the church and community. Wells was an employee at Home Depot, and he saved many lives on Sunday but lost his in the process.

» Miguel Vazquez Castillo, 28, 2305 Joplin Ave.

» Tiera Whitley, 20, Fulton, Kansas

» Zach Williams, 12, Joplin, whose mother's search for information about him was profiled in news stories this week. His stepfather said Zach was an interesting boy who liked to play with Legos, enjoyed video games and had "a delightfully odd sense of humor."

» Charles W. Writer, 74, Joplin

Springfield News-Leader, May 29, 2011

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 TRUE ARTIST: TED WATTS

1942-2015

Without ever having had the good luck to have met the man, I do feel fortunate to have been one of Ted Watts' art subjects. It was totally unexpected. A regional literary publication ran an article I had written for them and called upon Ted Watts to draw my picture to use with the article, from a photo of me they asked for that I figured they would use. Watts graduated from high school in Miami, Okla., and his classmates included some I played baseball with from Miami. He lived in the region all his life and passed away in 2015 in Oswego. He specialized in sports figures, such as Mickey Mantle (above.) 

 Some of his high school chums I knew from baseball were Mike Cherry, Larry Ketcher, Dave Foster, and Bill Barnett. Cherry later was killed in a hunting accident. Watts' first published work was a panel cartoon in 1959 for his high school newspaper in Miami, The Broadcaster, with Cherry as the subject.

...

MOSES CARVER

Adoptive father of George Washington Carver

December 19, 1910

 Bill Cook, were you really film worthy?

                                               Glenn Shirley's book

When I told my younger sister about Joplin murderer Bill Cook's nefarious deeds. the subject of a major Hollywood film in the 1950s, she fairly bolted,

"Why!" she demanded to know. "That type of thing is nothing new."

There's truth there. 

But, according to Joplin's Larry Wood who has written a book on the subject, "Actually, the manhunt for Cook was the largest in U.S. history up to that point, involving more than 2,000 law enforcement officers across 25 states, federal authorities and the Mexican Police. It was a national story, followed by two murder trials in two states. Those facts increased curiosity as to what the man who caused such a manhunt looked like."

Got it now, Sis?

 

Dear Mom, Send Money,

From Short Creek Diggins'

Early letter written from Galena, Kansas in 1877 by Cumberland County native James R. Walker. Walker had gone out to Kansas seeking his fortune there in the lead mines, but went bust and is writing his mother back in Virginia for money to get home. He mentions the difficulties in travel as there was no railroad there yet and would have to go to Chetopah some 28 miles away to catch the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. The stationery pictures a miner and the words- "Down in a lead mine underneath the ground." also that it was "from City Book Store, Short Creek." 

Southside Virginia Historical Press

...

 Timber operation yielded jobs 

for Galena workers in 1933

By Bryce Martin 

Noah Martin. Everyone - not just family members -- called him "Poppy." 

Poppy supervised a large tree felling and wood cutting operation consisting of upwards of 70 men in 1933 three miles or so southeast of Galena nearing the park region, an area known by locals as "the old Fahlenbach," named after a pioneering immigrant identified with the land. It sounded like someone was saying "the old fallin' back." 

He kept tab of his many workers by entering their output in a weekly pay ledger he kept. If he was the one providing the instrument, he always wrote with a flat, carpenter pencil he kept crudely sharpened with his Keen Kutter pocket knife. 

Such work was highly anticipated and needed since mining operations had slowed in the vicinity and the country itself was slowly rebounding from the Great Depression during which time any job was a premium. 

In March of 1933, the workers, as noted in his ledger included: Bill Bailey, Harry Bailey, Joe Donald, A. Holland, R. Miller, Robert Hurst, C. Maur, Chas. Allen, Cecil Allen, Claude Allen, Jim Peters, W. Burris, W.E. Cook, Cal Buttrum, J. McMillan, Fred Dalton, Arthur Dalton, Jim Givens, W. Mancill, Harry Toop, *___ McMoon, Tom Foster, Vick Brown, W. Beller, Darb Tingle, Mike Tingle, R. Bray, Frank K. Messer, Tom Randall, Fred Lee, Ben Fields, Fred Peters, C.M. Storm, Harold Storm, Harry Donaldson, W. Donaldson, A. Sex, E. Linderman, Ira Davis, H. Case, H. Gates, Bob Leach, F.L. McCoy, A.S. Murdock, **Ollie Wessgerber, Ray Karch, Carl McEwing, J. Noland, W.M. Kimball, Dewey Williams, Lawrence Foster, M. Boaz, Lee Raybin, Jerry Olds, A. Ray, C. Donaldson, Dick Tingel, and Georgie Shaw. 

W.E. Cook was the father of the notorious Bill Cook, who in 1951 murdered the five members of the traveling Mosser family and threw their bodies in an abandoned shaft in Chitwood, killed a motorist and was the subject of a nationwide manhunt. I accompanied Poppy in the 1950s on trips to Chitwood where he would visit with Mr. Cook to see if his needs were being met. 

"Cal Buttrum" may be "Burtrum," part of the Hi-Dollar Joe auto sales family that Poppy knew way back from Granby, Mo. "Buttrum," however, was a common surname in the area as well. 

Not long after the timber operation, Poppy started work for Mike Grundler, August 22, 1934, in a mining venture. He made $1.75 per shift. Grundler was a longtime boss in the region. A notation from older days in The Mountain Echo newspaper out of Marion County, Ark. (August 23, 1890), mentioned that Grundler was a supervisor for a mining company based in New York and was living in Joplin, Mo. Apparently, in that mention, Grundler left the position temporarily and Henry Jones, of Galena, Kan., took his place, according to the Echo. 

Poppy was working at a young age and did not have the benefit of a public education. His wife Edna May (Wood) taught school at Cave Springs, Mo., at the family homeplace on the stateline near Short Creek, and taught Poppy to read and cipher (add, subtract, divide and multiply). What we called "grades" in school were called "readers" in his day. He always said he went as far as the "third reader." 

* No first name for McMoon 
** "Wessberger" is best guess on the spelling 

 NO FALLIN' BACK ON HIS LAURELS

Joe Fahlenbock was born in Bensberg, near Cologne, Prussia, in 1860. Being of poor parentage, he was compelled to begin work in the lead and zinc mines of his native town when he was a mere child. He continued working as a miner, until his twenty-third year, when he emigrated to America, coming direct from New York to St. Louis, where for ten months he did such work as he could find to do. Among other things, he and others got the job of washing all the windows of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, which required four full weeks of hard labor. Early in 1884, he heard, through some German friends, of Galena, Kansas, as a great lead and zinc district. Within twenty-four hours he was in Galena, with just $10 capital and unable to enough, as there is plenty of mill dirt there running from 4 to 6 per cent which would make the owners big profits if they had a mill of 100 tons capacity. Mr. Fahlenbock has been urging his partners to erect a new mill but as there are many of the partners he has not been able so far to get them together. The Chew mine on the Cripple Creek is working with hand jigs and steam hoister and have made good dividends. A mill is needed. This is what a man without a dollar to start with, unable to speak a word of Enelish and in a strange land, has accomplished in fifteen years' time this wonderful mining district. Mr. Fahlenbock is still a single man having vowed years aero to never to marry until he had made a fortune. No one knows just what Mr. Fahlenbock is worth, but it is the general opinion that he could marry and not violate his vow. 

With his limited English he at once began prospecting for himself, and through his knowledge of the business, hard work and close economy he had money enough in a short time to lease a ten-acre tract of land. While this proved an unprofitable investment, it was, nevertheless, the beginning of his success in life. Since that time he has been branching out, opening up and developing mines in all parts of the district, frequently to the disgust of older miners, as they thought he was buying and prospecting land on which mineral would never be found, but his judgment has never failed him in a single instance. He recently disposed of a very valuable mining property at a good, round figure. He still owns in fee simple 141 acres, located two and one-half miles from Galena, on which ore has been struck in three different drill holes. He has 110 acres just south of the above tract, between Cave Springs and Central City, which he thinks will be one of the greatest producers in the district. Also a lease of sixteen lots on what is known as the Free Ore Mining Lease, in Short Creek Valley, which is considered very valuable mining property. Mr. Fahlenbock also owns a small interest in the Cripple Creek, two miles southwest which is very desirably located ground and has already produced 50,000 worth of ore. Within the last year the Cripple Creek plant hasn't been running very steady on account of its capacity being not large.

Galena Evening Times, March 31, 1900, Pg. 18

(The 10-acre tract mentioned here (three miles southeast of Galena) is the region where my grandfather Noah "Poppy" Martin supervised a wood-clearing operation in the early 1930s. 

Incidentally, wages in the mines at this time in 1900 ran from $2.00 to $3.00 per day.) -- Bryce

 Electric Railway Proposed For Galena

F. N. Moore, of Joplin, to whom was granted by the city of Joplin a few evenings ago, a franchise to construct and operate an electric railway in that city, was before the council of this city last evening and asked for a similar franchise. He wants his line to come from Joplin via Chitwood Hollow and Cave Springs and enter the city of Galena at Cooper Hollow crossing the Frisco railroad, run south to Fifth street, on west to Short street and make a turn in the direction of Columbus. He offers to the city as remuneration for the franchise one per cent of the gross earnings of his proposed road. Owing to the fact that there was not a quorum present no action was taken by the council on the matter, but Mr. Moore was given to understand that at the adjourned meeting of the council to be held Friday evening some disposition would be made of the proposed franchise.

Galena Evening Times, Dec 19, 1900, Pg. 2

Bryce Martin

GALENA’S BATTLING “BULLDOG” BRAY AND BOXING IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS AT TURN OF CENTURY

by Bryce Martin

Guy Aaron Bray was born February 3, 1902, in Crestline, Kansas, in Cherokee County.

When he opened up a training gym for boxing in the dusky interior of a formerly empty building on Main Street in my hometown of Galena, Kansas, back in the 1950s, I learned, not surprisingly, that he had been a boxer himself. So, that was why he was nicknamed “Bulldog” and had a boxer’s flat nose and cauliflower ears.

Bray came from a large family and grew up with five older brothers (five sisters, too) 

His father, Earl Deward Bray, attended Rolla School of Mines in Rolla, Mo., and died around 1933 from injuries sustained from a lead mine cave-in. A brother, Marion Webster Bray, was a U.S. Marshall in Oklahoma who was killed in the line of duty in 1936 by a Pretty Boy Floyd gang member.

kicked, butted, eye-thumbed, and generally abused

Bray began his professional boxing career just over the Kansas state line in Joplin, Missouri, in the early 1920s. His pro career lasted several years. He acquired his nickname after a brawler from St. Louis kicked, butted, eye-thumbed, and generally abused him to the point that Bray retaliated by biting the mauler and holding on.

He fought in Fort Smith, Detroit, Las Vegas, Kansas City, and many other stops. Popular, a top draw as evidenced by newspaper write-ups. He recalled defeating Pepper Martin in Detroit by a KO, and how when Martin was carried from the ring, a string band struck up the tune “Listen to the Mocking Bird” and its “tweet-tweet-tweet” refrain filled the arena.

In early ring encounters in Galena he had bouts under referee Joe Becker, a legendary sports figure from Joplin.

After boxing, he worked construction, in the lead mines, and in his final years for Vickers Corp. in Joplin. He lived in Galena, near his Crestline birthplace, all those years where he raised a family with wife Thelma and operated a boxing gym to train young fighters.

The small-framed Bray fought in the big and small towns largely of the Midwest and all over the U.S., taking on names such as James “Red” Herring, Jim Lanning (from Wichita), Joe Carranza, Harry Welch, and Sailor Murphy. Details are sketchy on ring records for those days.

I was the beneficiary of Bray’s coaching for a short time. Being one of the first, things were a little slow. I got involved with pickup baseball games in my neighborhood and forgot about the boxing. I saw Bulldog around town over the years. I always liked him and his goodwill attitude. He started some pretty fair Golden Glovers on their way.

Bray was for many a small boy in the area a real-life hero, not someone you read about or admired from a distance, but a sports figure with a colorful nickname and past and who lived right down the street. His stories of his days in the boxing ring often held a message: to defend oneself in a manly sport was good preparation to defend oneself in life’s daily struggles. In both, it took heart, desire, and knowledge. He died after I had moved away, December 18, 1969.

Besides wanting  to prove himself, Bray could have been inspired to take up boxing from stories he had heard at home about “the sweet science.”

Such as when on April 1, 1898, James “Rube” Ferns, a future world welterweight boxing champion, knocked out Frank “Dutch” Neal in the sixth round in a match held in Galena.
Ferns fought twice more in Galena before the year was out. The “Kansas Rube,” who was born 25 miles from Galena in Pittsburg in 1874, again knocked out Neal, this time in seven rounds, on June 8. On November 9 he floored Paddy Purtell. Ferns won the world welterweight title in 1900, lost it and won it again in 1901.

In a manner of speaking, the first Ferns-Neal encounter in Galena was barely legal.

New York in 1896 was the first state to make professional boxing legal. Most all other states fell in line shortly thereafter, freeing the sport from the primarily free-for-all, no-holds barred spectacle it was. Even then, however, on occasion bouts were fought as close as possible to rules established by the Marquess of Queensbury in 1867.

Boxing matches, though considered low-brow on the meager entertainment scale of the times, were welcome entertainment to the working men of southeast Kansas and nearby environs. Ferns came from the coal camps of Crawford County. Galena was more noted for its lead and zinc industry.

brawls were a dime a dozen

As rough as it was in the boxing ring, life in the numerous mining camps in Cherokee and Crawford counties was often rougher. Brawls were a dime a dozen and killings were commonplace. When the name for the city street with the most amoral activity was dubbed Red Hot Street, as it was in Galena, the word was out.

It may even have been safer in the ring.

Ferns died in 1952 in his hometown of Pittsburg at the ripe old age of 78. His brother, Owen, however, was shot and killed in 1905 in Harry Wilson’s chili parlor near Galena in Scammon, Kansas over an argument. He was 24 years of age. He was shot by a coal boss who had received a black eye in a skirmish the night before. When Owen Ferns remarked that if he hand another black eye to go with it, he’d have a match, the coal man took extreme exception.

It’s likely that the first true sports star in America was John L. Sullivan, the great bare-knuckle blaster who blazed his way to a heavyweight title in 1888 and nationwide and international glory.

Old-timers in the 1950s still talked glowingly of Sullivan. My Cherokee County, Kansas, lead-mining grandfather knew the story well and related it fondly in his later years how Sullivan offered anyone―anyone at all―$500 if they could stay on their feet against him for just one round. That was in 1879, the year my grandfather was born. Sullivan was still repeating the offer years later when my grandfather was a tad, and at a time when $500 was still a good amount of money, tempting to the tough of mind and body who inhabited the various mining camps and towns.

Bulldog Bray would have taken him on. I’m sure of it. Being the battler he was, he would have been hard-bitten not to.

Illustration by Ted Watts

...

 BOXER AND MAT MAN TO MEET AT GALENA 1922

"Strong Boy" Price of Eldorado, Kan., and George Applegate of. Lawton. Kan., will meet for a ten-round "wrestle-fight" in the main event of the smoker of the Galena Athletic Club Monday night, March 20. The contest will be held at the club's headquarters, Ninth and Main streets, beginning at 8 o'clock. The rounds will be of three minutes each. Joe Becker of Joplin will be the third man in the ring. 

Price defeated Earl (Sailor) Adams at Joplin in a similar bout before the Elks March 10, but Applegate, who is a wrestler, as well as being a boxer, feels that the contest may end differently Monday night.

Guy Bray, the Galena bulldog, is scheduled for a 6-round semi-windup with Battling Wren of Joplin. Bray has been training steadily and is in better condition than at any of his previous fights. The fight is foreseen as one of Bray's best. "Fighting" Taylor, who has been training with Bray, was floored for a clean-knockout by Bray Thursday night in a three round bout. Bob Campbell of Galena and Willie Crowder of Joplin met for their second time in a 6 round preliminary Monday. Their former bout ended in a draw. "Ching" Moore and Gerald Dorrls, wlll furnish four rounds of boxing as a curtain raiser. .

JG, Sunday, March 19, 1922, Page 10

…

Galena. Kan., May 2S.—Miss Thelma May Morland of Joplin and Guy Bray, Galena boxer, were married by  Miles C. Cook, pastor of the local Christian church at 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon in the home of Mr. and Mrs. George L. Baker, 1001 East Fifth street. Only immediate members of the family witnessed the ceremony. A wedding dinner was served at 6 o'clock. 

[Gabby Street is managing the Joplin Miners at this time]

JG, Tuesday, May 29, 1923, Page 6

1955 GHS Diamond Dawgs

 From 1955 Blue and White yearbook 54-55 school year

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