- These
short two sentences provide significant information concerning
"Coach Jeff Morris". This name appears on copies
of the above photo, and in his book, Fred Eichinger makes the
statement: "The high school football program was started
by a man by the name of Jeff Morris, who was fresh from his glory
days of playing football at Bethany College". The above
newspaper clipping re. Geffra Morris will prove to be "Coach
Jeff Morris".
-
- Geffra/
Jeffra/ Jeff Cline Morris was the oldest son of William H. and
Neotia Elizabeth Cline Morris. William was born in Beaver County,
Pennsylvania and his wife Neotia was born in Rome, Ohio. William
and Neotia were the parents of five children, the second in age
was Ada Jane who was also mentioned in the above article. We
have not discovered football records at Bethany College to indicate
what position Jeffra Morris played while at college, but he obviously
had football experience to impart to the Shelby high school boys
in the fall of 1894. Newspaper accounts verify that he was a
player / coach and played many positions and kicked goals as
well.
-
- Who
were some of the other players on this earliest of Shelby football
teams? Most of those named in the photo were identified by Frank
Schiffer who coached the Shelby professional teams in 1902 and
1903 and remained closely associated with Shelby football.
-
- Starting
in row one left, sitting, is Arthur Collins who graduated
from Shelby High School in 1895 and would have been a senior
when the photo was taken. Note his jersey displays the letters:
"S H O" (Shelby High Orions?). Art was born in June
of 1875 in Kansas, a grandson of Moses Rambo an early Sharon
Twp., Richland County, Ohio pioneer. His father was Elkington
"King" Collins and his mother was Sarah Rebecca Rambo.
Arthur Collins played both the 1894 and 1895 seasons at the fullback
(FB) position. He must have left Shelby shortly after his graduation
from high school. Twin brother Edward is living with his mother
Sarah (widowed) and grandfather Moses Rambo on Auburn Avenue
in Shelby in the 1900 census, but Arthur apparently is not living
here. Sarah's information indicates that she is the mother of
three children and they are living. The 1910 census finds Sarah,
Edward and older brother Elkington living at 79 South Gamble
Street in Shelby and Sarah indicates that her three children
are still living. Ohio marriage records reveal that Francis Arthur
Collins married Emma Schwarzer, May 1916, in Cuyahoga County,
Ohio. The 1920 census locates a Francis A. Collins living in
Cleveland, Ohio with wife Emma. Arthur is working as a superintendent
of construction. Arthur Collins died in 1929 in Cuyahoga County,
Ohio.
-
- Sitting
in the middle of the front row, Bert Sutter was also a
1895 graduate of Shelby High School. His parents were Valentine
and Catherine Anna Miller Sutter. Burton was a grandson of Samuel
(founder of the Sutter Furniture Company in Shelby) and Elizabeth
Will Sutter. Bert was on the Shelby High School team in the 1894,
1895 and 1896 seasons, playing both quarterback (QB) and end
(E) in 1894 and left half back (LHB) in 1895 and right guard
(RG) in 1897. After graduation Burton continued working in the
Sutter Furniture factory in Shelby.
-
- The
final member of the first row is Vivian Abernathy who
was probably A. V. Abernathy who graduated from Shelby High School
in 1897. Vivian Alexander Abernathy was born in 1879 in Galion,
Ohio. He was the only child of John and Mary Elizabeth Downing
Abernathy. Alexander, as he preferred to be called later, played
with the high school team four seasons: 1894, 1895, 1896 and
1897. In 1894 he played half back (HB), in 1895 he was QB and
in 1896 and 1897 he played the FB position. In 1906 he married
Susan Hedges Houston in Mansfield, Ohio. Several years later
their only child, Frances, was born. Alexander and family moved
to Lakewood, Ohio where he and his wife resided until their passing.
-
- Only
four members of the second row are known at this time. First
on the left is Blain Tracey who evidently only played
the 1894 season as his name does not appear on any lineups in
the following seasons. He was born Calvin Blain Tracey in Galion,
Ohio in 1876, the youngest son of Calvin Dorvin and Elizabeth
Rachel Bloom Tracey. Elizabeth Rachel Bloom was raised in Jackson
Township, Richland County and her parents were Samuel and Mary
/ May Campbell Bloom. Blain married Elsie Lundry in Shelby in
March of 1898. This may be a reason for his short career in Shelby
football. Their first three children were born in Ohio, however
by 1910 they were living in Comanche County, Oklahoma where Blain
was farming. Their last child, Charles, was born in Oregon in
1912 where Elsie probably passed away, since she was not in the
1920 census. Calvin Blain Tracey died in 1950 in Washington County,
Oregon.
-
- The
second person in the middle row is unidentified at this time.
Please contact us if you have any information on this player.
(Note he has a Shelby Orion logo on what appears to be a vest
- under the last "n" in "unknown"). Third
from the left is George Peter Koch, actually George Koch
IV (at least), who graduated in the Shelby High School class
of 1897. It is believed that George played on the Shelby High
School team four seasons: 1894 - 1897 in the tackle (T) and guard
(G) positions. He was born in Shelby in 1879, the second child
of George and Mary Catherine Weaver Koch. His older sibling,
Catherine Elizabeth, born 1877 would later marry Newell Price.
After his four seasons playing football, George went into the
ice business. In the 1900 census, he was living with his family
at 90 West Main Street and listed his occupation as ice merchant.
He married in August of 1900 to Grace Mack, a daughter of George
and Bertha Frank Mack. They were to have a family of two boys
and two girls and George would continue to grow the ice business,
which was located on Mansfield Avenue, next to the Shelby Light
Plant. George and Grace are buried at the Oakland Cemetery. He
died in 1958 and Grace in 1953.
-
- Cloyd
Chester Miller,
born 1876, played positions on the line and probably only played
the 1894 season. (Note the logo on his jersey.) Cloyd was the
oldest of three sons of Samuel and Sarah Wentz Miller. Sarah
was a daughter of Heinrich and Elizabeth Scheibly Wentz and a
younger sister of Henry Wentz who went on to establish the Shelby
Mutual Insurance Company. Cloyd never married and worked for
the railroad and as a steel worker in Shelby, before becoming
a plumber and moving to Mansfield where he died in 1946. Younger
brother Harry Blaine Miller born 1880 started with the team in
1896 and 1897 playing at the half back (HB) position. During
the 1896 season, Harry also played for the Shelby Tube Works
football team and later after high school he continued with the
Shelby Tube Works team in 1898 and 1899 until the Tube team became
the basis for the Shelby Athletic Association teams. Harry never
married; he continued on in life as a steel worker at the Shelby
Steel Tube and he and younger brother Harlan Wentz Miller, born
1887, lived at the family home at 64 North Broadway in Shelby
until several years before Harry died in 1948. No record has
been found that Harlan Miller played football in high school.
He married Maud Pittenger Frakes in 1926 and they had one child,
Robert Miller born c. 1927. Harlan died in 1956 and Maud in 1968.
Maud and all the Miller brothers are buried at the Oakland Cemetery.
-
- The
person on the right end of the middle row is Benjamin Franklin
Frank Brown, born in 1878 in Crestline, Ohio. Frank was the
oldest son of Chauncey and Mary Webb Brown. He must have been
named in honor of his grandfather Benjamin Franklin Brown born
1828, who served in the Civil War in Co. I., 10th Regt. OVC*,
who died in Shelby in 1896 and is buried in Oakland Cemetery.
Frank had quite an extended football career playing the HB position
first with the 1894 high school team. In 1895 he played left
tackle (LT) and in 1896, 1897 and 1899 (no high school team in
1898) played at HB . He also played with the start up Shelby
Tube Works team in 1896, and then again in the 1898, 1899 seasons
and probably also played in the 1900 Shelby Athletic Association
team, mostly at the HB position. Note that Frank is wearing (hanging
from it's strap or band) an early style leather nose guard. During
most of this time, he was employed as a day laborer at the Tuby.
In 1909 he married Pearl Blanche Sayles. In the 1910 census he
was employed in a dray line business and in the same year a daughter
Eldred Almeda Brown was born. A son, Forest Leslie Brown, followed
in February of 1916. Within months Frank died in Cleveland, Ohio.
He, his father, and his namesake grandfather and grandmother
are buried in the Shelby Oakland Cemetery .
-
- The
only player who has a Shelby Orions logo on a dark jersey in
the picture above was identified as Ike Roberts by Frank
Schiffer who coached in 1902 and 1903 and remained closely associated
with Shelby football. The logo could apply to Shelby, Ohio as
well as Shelby Orions and may have been another reason for choosing
Orions for the first team name. As we will see, Ike Roberts was
probably Coach Morris's future brother-in-law. Elijah Lamar Roberts
was born in June of 1878 and would have been 16 years old when
the above picture was taken. He was the only son of the seven
children of Isaac Calvin and Zurviah Sophia Case Roberts. Elijah's
next older sister was Sara Z. Roberts who would become Mrs. Jeffra
Morris in 1900. Ike and Sara Roberts were born in Mansfield,
Ohio but their family moved and they were living in Shelby on
Second Street in the 1900 census. Sometime c 1906 Ike married
Nora E. ???? and by 1908 their first child, Ruth, was born. James
followed three years later. By 1920, their family of four was
living in Urbana, Illinois and Ike was working as a machinist
in a tool and die company. The 1930 and 1940 censuses finds Ike
and Nora back in Shelby living at 110 East Main Street. He was
employed at the Shelby Metal Products Company as a tool and die
maker. Elijah Lamar Roberts died in 1963 and Nora in ????.
-
- Next
to Ike Roberts is a player known at this time by his surname
of Simpson. He does not appear in any known newspaper
accounts and is absent from any other football team photos. No
candidates appear in the 1900-1901 Shelby directory or the 1900
Federal census. Until more evidence emerges Mr. Simpson will
remain a mystery.
-
- The
final known person in the back row is the coach, Jeff Morris,
who was introduced at the start of this section. We now know
he later became a brother-in-law to Ike Roberts. Jeffra Morris
remained coach of the team for only two years, but remained a
staunch follower of Shelby football. His father, William H.,
came to Shelby in 1884 and immediately started
an elevator and coal business which was located on Main Street
next to the B & O Railroad. He remained in that business
at that location until months before his death in 1912, when
he passed the business to J. C. Morris, a name familiar to long
time Shelby residents, but not necessarily
recognizable as Jeffra Cline Morris and definitely not Coach
Morris.
-
- A
biography of Jeffra C. Morris that appears in the History of
North Central Ohio, Volume II by William A. Duff states: "Jeffra
C. Morris, who is the owner of the Morris Elevator, at Shelby,
is a representative and highly esteemed citizen of Richland County.
He was born near Shenandoah, Richiand County, Sept. 25, 1875,
the son of William H. and Netoia (Cline) Morris. Jeffra C. Morris
attended the district schools of Richland County, and Shelby
High School. He received the degree of Bachelor of Science
at Bethany College in 1895, and at that time became associated
in business with his father. When the Morris Elevator was sold
to R. C. Winbigler in 1912, Mr. Morris made a trip to California.
He returned, however, in November of that year and purchased
the interest of Mr. Winbigler in the elevator. The company also
handles coal, grains, seeds and builder's supplies. Mr. Morris
is a director of the Citizens Bank of Shelby." No mention
of an achievement that would affect Shelby sports for over 100
years.
-
- Jeffra
married Sara Z. Roberts, a daughter of Isaac and Zurviah Roberts,
in June of 1900. This may have been a part of his decision to
give up the coaching (and playing) position. Jeffra and Sara
were parents of two daughters, Harriet and Lucety Louise, and
their youngest, a son, William Roberts Morris, who would one
day become mayor of Shelby.
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