William "Willie" Howell: A Brief Sketch of a Nashville Base Ball State Champion
If you look closely at the obelisk, you will see that William Henry Howell, known as “Willie” to his friends, did not live a long life. Born September 9, 1850, nine days prior to the passage of the notorious Fugitive Slave Act that influenced Harriet Beecher Stowe’s bestselling novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and was but one of five legislative proposals comprising the so-called Compromise of 1850 (in actuality an armistice or sellout), Willie did not live to see his nineteenth birthday. A short life lived requires one to dig deep, to explore a variety of sources, which are limited in this case, to flesh out as much details as we can of young Willie’s life.
Born too late for the 1850 Census, this means that Willie only appeared in a single census—the 1860 Census. That Census reveals that the Howells lived in Nashville’s 4th ward, that he had two younger sisters—Mary and Harriet who went by their middle names “Ella” and “Annie” respectively—and that his mother, Martha, was the head of the household. The family was by no means counted among Nashville’s elite families, but they were well off. Martha owned property—both in land and in persons (the 1860 slave schedule reveals that Martha owned two slaves). Apparently, the Howells had owned additional slaves prior to 1860. An 1858 advertisement in the newspaper listed Martha as the owner of a 10-year-old slave boy, named Matthew, that she hoped to sell to help pay off her dead husband’s debts. It is this ad that helps identify Martha as a widow and provides us with the name of Willie’s dad—William H. Howell. Thus, Willie was, in fact, a Junior. There were also two other individuals listed as residing in the Howell home—William Patterson, a 23-year-old student surveyor and Nancy Maxey, a mulatto who is also listed as 23 years of age. Both Willie and Ella attended school, whereas their youngest sister, Annie, was only 4 years old at this time. Identifying whether Willie had a job is made much more difficult because he was only 18 at the time of his death. That said, the 1869 Nashville city directory, the only one in which Willie appeared and which butchered the spelling of his last name, listed him as a surveyor. Perhaps he had studied with William Patterson when he resided with the Howells?
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| 1860 Census |
As for tracing Willie’s baseball career, so far as I can ascertain from the extant sources available, that can only be done by looking exclusively at Tennessee newspapers for the time in which he played. Willie appears in the historical record as having played for only one base ball club and for only a single season. As a member of the Nashville Base Ball Club, one of the most prominent clubs of Tennessee's amateur era of baseball that can in fact be traced over a number of seasons with box scores listing its various ball players by name, it is reasonable to say with a high degree of certainty that Willie Howell joined the Nashville Base Ball Club in 1868 at the age of 17 and although he played for only a brief time, possibly as few as two to three months, he played a key role in helping the club win the state championship that season.
The first box score in which Willie appears for the Nashville Base Ball Club is in an early August match with the Lightfoot Club of Clarksville on the latter club’s home grounds. The box score reveals that Nashville was clearly the superior club, dominating the Lightfoot and winning by nearly 50 runs. The Nashville boys did not miss a single attempt at catching a ball on the fly, whereas the Lightfoot failed to snag 50% of the fly balls that they attempted to field. While a few home runs were not uncommon in barehanded baseball games during this era, the 7 four-sackers tallied by Nashville suggests that the Lightfoot either did not post their scouts in the field well or it is indicative of both an outfield and infield struggling to field any and all balls. If this match was indeed, Willie’s first match, then his game statistics make sense, as they are representative of the learning curve for an average baseball player on being introduced to the national game. An analysis of Willie's statistics indicates that while he managed to tally 5 runs, he was tied with another teammate for both the least number of runs scored and most outs recorded. Still, Willie's 5 runs constituted one run more than any of the Lightfoot players managed.
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| Nashville Republican Banner, Aug 11, 1868 |
Following this match, the Nashville Base Ball Club began to tune up for a match with the Phoenix Club for not only the bragging rights to be called the champions of Davidson County, but also to face the defending 1867 state champions, the Holston Club of Knoxville, for the 1868 state title. The Phoenix, which had previously challenged the defunct Holston Club to a match, lost the opportunity to become the 1868 state champions when they suffered defeat at the mighty bats of the Nashville Club. As the new Davidson County champions, the Nashville Club’s officers submitted a challenge to the Holston Club to play for the state title. The Holstons, which had only recently reorganized and were playing a number of exhibition matches against local junior clubs, quickly accepted the challenge and agreed on the parameters for a best of 3 state championship series. Match 1 was scheduled for September 12 on Nashville’s home grounds. A two-week break was agreed upon and then Matches 2 and 3 would follow with another 2-week break in between both with the games played on the grounds of the Knoxville Knoxvilles on Gay Street and on the Union Grounds in Chattanooga respectively. The Nashville Club then recruited a few of the best players from Davidson County to stack their club, poaching a couple from the Phoenix, as well as the Moses brothers and another ballplayer from the Morgan Club. When the Nashville Club’s officers drafted up their First 9 to play the First 9 of the Holston Club in Match 1, Willie's name was included on the roster, indicative of the fact that the Club considered him to be counted among their best 9 members to represent them in the state championship.
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| Nashville Republican Banner, Sep. 13, 1868 |
A nearly full-page article covering Match 1 in the Nashville Republican Banner provides perhaps the most detailed baseball game ever recorded in Tennessee’s amateur baseball era. Nearly two thousand spectators crowded around the Nashville Club’s home grounds to watch the first game for the 1868 state championship. Both clubs exuded a sense of American patriotism in the garden as their colors—red, white, and blue—represented the nation’s flag. As was the custom of the times to place the best players at the top of the roster, Willie's lack of experience likely explains his position as the 8th player in the lineup. Still, he had proven himself to the Club to be named to the First 9 and he was positioned at 1st base, which suggests that his teammates considered him to have one of the best set of hands on the teams to be able to field hard thrown balls from his infielders to get the striker out at first. The Holstons won the field on the coin toss and thus the Nashville players prepared to hit first. The Nashville Club’s bats were ready to be awakened from their slumber and do battle against the Holston Club's pitching. Nashville quickly scored three runs and Willie came to the dish with runners on second and third with two outs. Willie struck a ball deep to center, scoring one run and advancing the other to third. Willie wasted little time and stole second base. Lee Moses, the 9th hitter in the lineup then hit a fine daisy-cutter that skipped through the infield, over second base, and into center field providing Willie safe passage around third to score the 6th run of the inning. When Howell took the field in the bottom of the first inning, he beautifully fielded a ball thrown his way by the shortstop to record an out. Willie’s next three at bats did not go as well. He lined and fouled out for the two and then foul tipped the third back to the catcher who snagged it to retire him. In the bottom of the third, Howell and the Nashville second baseman E.H. Johnson connected for two outs, one of which was a nice “pickle” play as the two caught a Holston napping when he attempted to make 2nd base on a high ball that was fielded on the fly. Willie suffered his first error in the fourth inning when he muffed a ball that his pitcher had stopped and sent his way for the out at first. Willie’s bat caught fire again in the 7th inning when he sent a sharp daisy-cutter to center, scoring a run. Moreover, he exhibited his speed around the sacks by stealing second base once again, putting him in scoring position as Lee Moses batted him in on the next pitch with a home run. Howell batted a second time later in the inning, this time sending a ball deep to right field that scored another run. The rest of the match was a rather quiet affair for Willie. He ended the match scoring 2 runs and being put out a total of 5 times. While he may have tied two other teammates for the least number of runs scored, he had confirmed his position on the team with his strong defensive play at first. The match ended with the Nashville Club taking the first victory in the best of 3 state championship series, besting the Holston Club 34 to 10.
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| Nashville Daily Press and Times, Sep. 14, 1868 1st Game 1868 State Championship |
Unlike Match 1, the articles in the various newspapers covering both Matches 2 and 3 are limited in coverage; however, box scores do provide some insight into the games themselves. Match 2 saw the Holston Club eek out a one-run victory, 30 to 29, over the Nashville Club. This match ended after only 8 of the 9 innings were played as an afternoon thunderstorm rolled in and then lingered well into the early evening hours as darkness prevented a possible Nashville rally. Interestingly, Willie was placed at second instead of first base. Still, he managed to catch one fly for an out and, at the dish, he went one better than Match 1, scoring a total of 3 runs.
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| Knoxville Press and Messenger, Oct 1, 1868 2nd Game 1868 State Championship |
For the third and deciding match in the series, which was played on the Union Grounds in Chattanooga, Willie did not appear in the lineup. It is quite possible that Nashville, after having made no changes to their First 9 in the first two matches, opted to change things up in the hopes of adding more firepower to their lineup as the two players they rotated out had scored the Club’s fewest runs. This minor change to the Nashville lineup stood in stark contrast to the Holston Club's decision to make numerous changes to their First 9 in all three matches, drawing from their large pool of club members. Like the previous game, the rubber match in the series went down to the end with the Nashville Club prevailing 21 to 18 to wrest the title as Tennessee championship club for 1868 from the defending champions.
On November 10, the Nashville Base Ball Club celebrated their state championship title in style with a festive ball that they held at the county courthouse. Tickets were made available for both men and women to purchase for $1 a ticket. Following this grand affair, the historical record for the Club goes silent. Though games continued to be played in Nashville and around Davidson County, the elite amateur base ball clubs around the state had already decided to call it quits for the season. In fact, the Holston Club and Knoxville Knoxvilles, which decided to host a grand tournament in their city in November, attempted to draw the best amateur clubs from around the state; however, not one club from outside East Tennessee decided to make the trip.
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| Nashville Republican Banner, Apr. 9, 1869 |
Publicly, the Nashville Base Ball Club remained dormant until a decision was made in early April 1869 to publish an announcement in the newspapers that members would meet to reorganize and elect new officers for the 1869 season. Perhaps Willie attended the meeting—perhaps not. We simply do not know as there is no follow-up report of the meeting in the papers and thus no news of who was elected to fill the various official positions within the Club. In fact, the next time either the Nashville Base Ball Club or Willie were mentioned in the newspaper, it was a reference to the tragic news that William "Willie" Howell had passed away.
On May 26, 1869, both the Nashville Union and American and the Republican Banner published articles announcing Willie's death. Both members of his team and the Athletic Club, formerly known as the Phoenix, were called to meet later that day at 2 p.m. at the Nashville Metropolitan Police Headquarters for Willie’s funeral. The police headquarters was likely chosen because Willie’s stepfather, John M. Arnold, served there as a veteran officer. There was no follow-up to these two notices in either newspaper, nothing to suggest where Willie’s remains were to be buried.
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| Nashville Republican Banner, May 26, 1869 |
Then, on June 25, the Nashville Union and American published “A Memoriam” to Willie signed by “A Friend” and dated June 22, 1869. Willie’s “friend” provided only the barest of details of a brief life, noting his Davidson County birth and that he had had a peaceful death on May 24. Willie was described to be “sprightly and intelligent, a most-dutiful child, an affectionate brother, and genial companion and faithful friend.” This sketch revealed that Willie had suffered from an illness, that “though long and painful” it had been “borne with calm resignation.” Willie had spent his last moments with family and friends, bidding them farewell and hoping that they would meet once again in heaven. As life gradually departed his body, he slipped into a permanent sleep. Weeping, Willie’s brothers with the Nashville Base Ball Club carried him to his final resting place at Mount Olivet Cemetery. And there his earthly remains lie in the Arnold plot, in Section 2, in the northwest corner of the cemetery.
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| Nashville Union and American (June 25, 1869) |
Hardly a year passed before Willie’s mother, Martha, followed him in death after succumbing to her bout with consumption. Five years later, his baby sister Annie joined both her brother and mother in eternal sleep as well.
Willie’s stepfather, John M. Arnold, a veteran policeman, part-time carpenter, and the namesake for the family plot, died tragically in the winter of 1885 after he was shot attempting to arrest W. J. “Buck” Brown, a well-known desperado from Hickman County. Officer Arnold had been called to track down and arrest both Brown and an accomplice, John Isler, who had broken into a home, fired a shot, violently attacked a woman and stole her jewelry. Arnold caught up with both men as they were eating breakfast at a local store and asked them to accompany him to the police station. In the process, Isler attacked Arnold, knocking him down into the street. Brown, much larger than Arnold and, at 28, much stronger than the 57-year-old officer, held the officer down while Isler escaped. Brown then released his grip on Arnold and fled the scene. Arnold was informed that both men were attempting to flee Nashville on a Chattanooga bound train. It was at the depot that Arnold caught up with Brown and proceeded to make an arrest. However, Brown asked if he could first retrieve his personal belongings from inside a passenger car. Arnold reluctantly agreed, but he carefully followed him inside. As Brown reached down for his items, he grabbed his .38 caliber Indian Bulldog patterned pistol. Arnold fired three shots, missing both Brown and anyone else in the vicinity. But Brown returned three shots of his own, one piercing Officer Arnold’s right shoulder, fracturing the bone, before he fled the scene. Arnold lingered for over a month before dying as a result of an illness that he acquired shortly after he was shot. Brown was arrested, but was released from jail soon thereafter posting a thousand dollar bond. William T. Easley, a Hickman County neighbor of Brown, who just happened to witness the shooting of Arnold was the state’s star witness in Brown’s trial. However, as Brown’s trial was scheduled to begin in October 1885, Brown and Easley got into a verbal, profuse altercation that resulted in Brown shooting and killing Easley with the very same .38 caliber pistol he had shot Arnold. As a result of Easley’s death and a number of successful delaying tactics employed by Brown’s lawyer, the Hickman desperado walked free. In mid-December 1885, Brown was ambushed by an unknown assailant who was hiding in some bushes outside his home. Though Brown was shot with buckshot that shattered his leg, he managed to survive despite developing an infection that sidelined him, further postponing his legal troubles for another nine months. And yet Brown would never see the inside of another courtroom. In September 1886, Brown got into another altercation with a man named Henry Warren, who pulled a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson pistol out and shot Brown once, the ball entering his bowels and passing through his spine before exiting his body. He lingered on for another day before death came for him. It is said Brown spent his last hours preparing for death by confessing his sins to a minister and in front of his family and friends in an effort to get right with God before his ultimate demise.
