The 1919 Season: Gilkerson's "Chicago" Union Giants

The Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide 1920

In 1919, Gilkerson went back to barnstorming.  Once again he promoted his team as the Chicago Union Giants, just as he had done at times in 1917, making no distinction between his club and the historic team that he once managed.  This lead to a brief confrontation in the Omaha newspapers that summer and has been a great source of confusion ever since.

In fact, nowadays when most baseball historians refer to the Chicago Union Giants of 1919, they are really talking about Gilkerson's club and not the actual Chicago team owned by William S. Peters.  

As mentioned in an earlier post, Gilkerson had no real claim to the name.  He did not purchase the team from Peters as is often professed in books and articles about the Negro Leagues.  Peters' team was still active in 1919 with the majority of their season taking place in Chicago.  They would continue to play in and around the Windy City for another 20 plus years.

Gilkerson's team, on the other hand, played almost all of their games in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska in 1919.  On a few occasions in early June they were referred to as the Ruthven Union Giants but most often they were called the Chicago Union Giants.

A few players from the 1917 team came back to Gilkerson, including Jess Turner (1b), "Bingo" Bingham (of) and Edgar Burch (p).  The team also included B.R. Jones (2b) which is likely the same player as Will "Rabbit" Jones from the 1917 and 1918 teams, though it is not entirely clear.  In late July, Jones broke his right leg in Boone, Iowa on a hard slide into second base.  Hurley McNair (cf) would join the team shortly afterwards.   

New additions to Gilkerson’s squad included:  Reuben Curry (p), George Harney (2b, p), Jack Marshall (of,p), Bob Anderson (ss), Gene Redd (3b), and ? Tiller (rf).

The most significant addition to the team in 1919 however was catcher Clarence "Pops" Coleman.  Already a veteran of the game, Coleman would stay on with Gilkerson for more than a decade as a player-manager.  He would eventually serve as Gilkerson's right-hand man as well as a mentor to many of the young players.  No one, other than Gilkerson himself, was more important to the success of the Union Giants than "Pops" Coleman.

To start the season Gilkerson headed straight back to northwest Iowa where he based his team two years earlier.  As the Ruthven Union Giants they played games at Electric Park at Lost Island Lake and at a new ballpark built in Ruthven.  Like 1917, when they traveled around the rest of the state and into Nebraska, they were billed as being from Chicago.

One of the team's biggest rivals in 1919 was the Omaha Armours, a white semipro team formerly known as the Brandeis Stores team.  The two clubs first met in June at Rourke Park in Omaha, with the Union Giants winning the first game.  The next day, the Armours won both ends of a doubleheader.

During the afternoon game, one of the Armours spiked Union Giants' first baseman Jess Turner which led to a brawl between the two teams.  A punch was thrown and the incident quickly escalated into a "free-for-all riot" with fans of both teams rushing onto the field.  After 45 minutes, Union Giants' right fielder Jack Marshall, who reportedly punched the offending runner in the face, was taken away in handcuffs and the game resumed (More on this incident in a later post).

The two teams would meet again in late July for another three game series.  Just as before, the Union Giants won the first game with the Armours winning both games of a doubleheader the next day.   

If there had been any animosity between the two teams after the first series, it did not come out in this series.   Perhaps one reason was that Marshall's playing time was kept to a minimum.  He did not play in the first game at all and was a relief pitcher in both games of the doubleheader with only one at bat in the whole series.

For Gilkerson however, the series would be the cause of some controversy.  The trouble started when some of the scores of the series were published in the Chicago Tribune.  This apparently peaked the interest of William S. Peters back in Chicago.

On August 1, 1919 the Omaha Evening Bee published the contents of a letter received from W.S. Peters in Chicago protesting any claim that the Chicago Union Giants were playing in Omaha.  The paper refers to Peters as the manager of the "one and only club of that name."

“According to Peters’ letter, the Chicago Union Giants are playing in the Chicago City league this year are not traveling.  He says the team that played here is not the Chicago Union Giants and they are not from Chicago.”

Gilkerson stayed quiet on the matter, making no public statement to having bought the team or the name.  In fact, he did not refute Peters' claims in any way.  

Instead, the manager of the local Armours team responded in the paper the next day saying, “the team that played the Armours in the recent series here were represented as the Chicago Union Giants and are made up almost wholly of players who have been with this club for years.   Manager Gilkerson himself having been connected with the club for nine years.  These players are well known to members of the old Brandeis team as being from Chicago.”

The newspaper, unwilling to choose a side, stated, "Whether they 'are' or 'not,' the Giants who gave the Armours six great games of ball, have shown some real base ball ability."

The Union Giants soon headed back to Iowa and the matter was dropped by the local newspapers.  That is until Gilkerson's team returned to Omaha in August for a final series with the Armours.  In the several weeks that had passed, it seems that neither the newspaper nor the Armours' manager was willing or able to determine with any certainty whether or not Gilkerson's team were the true Chicago Union Giants.   

On August 21st, the Omaha World Herald ran a story saying, “there are two negroe teams calling themselves the Chicago Union Giants this year.  One is playing in Chicago, and the other is on the road.”   Adding, “manager Deleware of the Armours cannot learn which is which so he gives the traveling club the benefit of the doubt and is using the name given him by that club.”  

Again, Gilkerson made no public statement or defense of his use of the name.  Perhaps he believed the issue would simply go away.  Unfortunately for him, this would not be the last time Peters would publicly challenge his use of the team name.    

The outcome of the final series with the Omaha team was a carbon copy of the first two.  The Union Giants won the first game with the Armours winning the next two in a doubleheader.

Despite losing all three series with the Omaha team, Gilkerson's "Chicago" Union Giants dominated most Iowa teams that summer.   The most notable win was a perfect game thrown by Rube Curry in Wellsburg, Iowa in September.

The Union Giants closed the season in Cooper, Iowa on October 12th, having played a total of 109 games that year.  The Des Moines Register provided their final record as 78 wins, 28 losses and 3 ties.

That same record was printed in the Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide 1920 along with a picture of the team (top).  Interestingly, Gilkerson did not refer to his team as the Chicago Union Giants for this publication.  In fact, there was no mention of Chicago whatsoever.  Instead, the team name he provided was:

Gilkerson's Union Giants Traveling Club, Spring Valley, Ill.

This was likely one of the first uses of the name in print.  By the end of the 1920 season, Gilkerson would exclusively used his surname to promote his team.  This lasted until 1935.  Even so, newspapers around the country would continue to refer to them as being from Chicago for most of the team's existence.

The Throwing Arm of Happy Evans

One of the stars of Gilkerson's team in the first half of the 1920's was outfielder William "Happy" Evans.  

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Evans joined the Union Giants in 1920 as a 21-year-old and quickly established himself as one of the best all-around players on the team.  He was especially known for his speed and incredible throwing arm.

In July 1921, the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald wrote, "Gilkerson's team boasts of some star ball players, who, but for their color, would in all probability grace the payrolls of big league clubs.  Evans, center fielder, is without doubt as classy a fielder and hitter as has been seen in Dubuque."

The newspaper continues, "Evans starred at bat in the June series, garnering three hits in the Saturday game and two healthy wallops in the Sunday tilt.  He was the outstanding star in the Giants - New Hampton braces of games, a spectacular shoe string catch, with New Hampton men occupying second and third, saving the Sunday game for the colored team."

At the beginning of the 1922 season, the Freeport Journal-Standard reported Evans as having "the best arm in baseball."  They added, "Giant management states that they have never met a man who could throw a baseball as far and with as much accuracy as Evans.  Last year Evans took on all comers in throwing contests and was never beaten. "

It was announced that Evans would give a "throwing exhibition" before both games with the Freeport team that May.  The newspaper added, "Evans has been dubbed the 'Ty Cobb' of the colored ball players because of his unusual speed."

Roundy Coughlin, popular sports columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal, went even further saying,  "Evans, the centerfielder for the Union Giants, is the greatest player I ever saw." 

He also confirmed the throwing contests, saying, "The Giants have a standing offer of $100 that he can throw a baseball farther than any man in the world.  The offer has been accepted a few times.  Joe Woods of the Cleveland Americans took the bet once and Evans beat him by over 31 feet."

The next year, when the Union Giants came back through Wisconsin, Roundy once again heaped praise on Evans, saying, "The Giant centerfielder, to me looks like the fastest man I ever saw in a baseball suit.  I might be wrong, but this my opinion of him.  He has the greatest throwing arm in the game and is said can circle the sacks in less than 14 seconds.  He sure is worth the price to see him in action."

In the summer of 1923, "Red" Mich of the Wisconsin State Journal wrote, "Evans, the great center fielder who would be in the majors but for his race, has walloped only four homers, but his all around ability makes him the most valuable member of the club in the eyes of most of the critics who have seen the Giants in action."

In early 1924, the Chicago Defender reported that Evans was trying out for Rube Foster's American Giants and hoping to join that team for a series of early games in Dallas, Texas.  The paper adds, "Evans comes highly recommended."

According to Seamheads, Evans played in at least 8 games for the Chicago American Giants early that summer (now part of the official MLB record).  In a game against the Cuban Stars in late May 1924, the Chicago Defender reported, "Evans made one of the greatest catches ever seen on the 39th St. grounds, turning double somersaults and still holding onto the ball. "

By early June however, Evans was back with Gilkerson.  In an article written by John Holway for Black Sports in 1975, Evans explained why:

Rube gave me $150 a month.  But I found that Chicago was not the place for me.  When they paid off the first time, I wasn't used to drinking, and I got drunk.  Next time I got paid I did the same thing.  So they didn't know it, but I caught the train that night and went back to Gilkerson and played.

 

In the subsquent years, Evans would go on to play with a number of different Negro League teams around the country, including the Indianapolis ABC's, Dayton Marcos and Cleveland Hornets.

As a member of the Brooklyn Royal Giants, Evans played against Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in a series of exhibition games.

He is perhaps best remembered however for having played on the Homestead Grays for several years, including the 1931 club, considered by some to be the greatest baseball team of all time.

The team featured six players that were eventually inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, Bill Foster and Joe Williams.  Another key player on that team, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, had also played for Gilkerson in the 1920's.

In 1937, Cum Posey, the owner of the Homestead Grays, provided the Pittsburgh Courier with his picks for an "All-Time Grays Team."  He included Evans on that list under the heading of "best throwing outfielder."

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Bill Evans though not for anything he did on the field.  Evans, it turns out, is the great-great uncle of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.  The British newspaper, the Daily Mail, published an online article detailing Evans' long baseball career and connection with the royal family.

While Evans' early career has remained mostly undocumented, the legend of Happy Evans' throwing abilities, particularly while with Gilkerson, has endured.  

Starting in the 1970's and as recently as 2022, Wisconsin author and journalist Dave Wood has recounted stories his father would tell about seeing Gilkerson's Union Giants play in Whitehall, WI in the 1920's.  One player in particular, "Cap" Evans, left a lasting impression:

Cap Evans would go out between innings to deep center field in Melby Park.  And he'd be carrying a chair.  He'd sit in that damned chair and pitch strike balls across homeplate.  I'm here to tell you the ball came like a bullet and was never more than three and a half feet off the ground.

Wood's father, it is explained, refers to Evans as "Cap" because of how he "always wore his cap brim turned up."  This little tidbit about Evans' headwear was corroborated by a La Crosse,  Wisconsin sports reporter in 1930 who just happened to recognize Evans on a baseball field while travelling in Florida that winter.  He also provides us with the possible origin of Evans' nickname:

    The shortstop looked familiar.  I noticed his back-hand catch, and the way he had the peak of his cap turned up.  I knew I had seen this man play before.  I went over to the dugout and said, "Hello, Happy Evans.  Did you play ball with a colored team in Wisconsin?"

    "Yes," he answered, "and I know what city your are from - La Crosse."

    The reason he gave that he knew I was from La Crosse was because Bill Krause (La Crosse ball player and promoter) was the first man to call him Happy Evans.

In the 1975 interview, Evans was still thinking about La Crosse and his time with the Union Giants, telling Holway:

You ask around Wisconsin - La Crosse - ask them about "Happy" Evans.  I was supposed to have the best throwing arm of all of them.

_________

La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, June 10, 1923

36,000 Rabid Baseball Fans (July 4th - A Century Ago)

By late June of 1925, Gilkerson's Union Giants were already barnstorming in Minnesota and northern Iowa, having played more than 30 games by that point in the season.  

They started their annual tour in Illinois, as always, and had already been through parts of Wisconsin as they proceeded north and west for the summer.

The Union Giants however were in high demand, particularly for Fourth of July celebrations, which meant Gilkerson could take his team wherever the payout was the greatest.  In 1925, that would mean backtracking to south central Wisconsin for a series of big games over a three day holiday weekend.  That year, in fact, they would play in front of one of their largest crowds ever.

The Union Giants were certainly no strangers to baseball fans in Wisconsin.  For much of the previous five years, Gilkerson's team had played a good portion of their season in and around the Badger state.  It helped that the team was given a lot of newspaper coverage in the state during those years, particularly from Roundy Coughlin, the popular sports columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal.

On July 3, 1925, the Union Giants were one of the main attractions for Derby Days in Darlington, WI.   Their matchup with the Madison Blues, a local semipro club, would be the first of three games with the capital city team.  The series would take place over the long holiday weekend in three different towns.

Advertisements for the Darlington celebration often mentioned, "the Union Giants carry with them a fine vocalist which will entertain you during the game."   It is not clear who this could have been and was never mentioned at any other time in advertisements promoting the Union Giants that season.

The two day celebration had a combined attendance of more than 12,000 paid admissions.  Crowds poured in as early as 8 am on Friday to see the baseball game.  City and fair officials said they had never seen such a crowd for a morning game.  

The Union Giants defeated the Blues in Darlington by a score of 6-4 in ten innings.  No box score was published for the contest however it was mentioned that (?) Walker and Tom Young made up the battery for the Union Giants.

The big game however was the next day in Waterloo, WI where a reported "36,000 rabid baseball fans" watched the Union Giants and the Madison Blues play at Firemen's Park on the 4th of July.  The Union Giants lost the game, 7-2.  

Roundy Coughlin, in his column for the Wisconsin State Journal, remarked, "Of all sights ever saw at ball games in these parts were knocked for a row yesterday at the Fireman's park at Waterloo they say that over 36,000 paid one-half-buck each to get into the park.  Out of that many about 25,000 saw the ball game."

He continued, "The Firemen at Waterloo also had a very fine system in handling the crowds, you must remember that is some crowd in a town that is only about around 800 in population - and they did fine work to keep things moving the way they did."

He added, "You never saw so many autos in your life, I thought every auto in the world blew in for the day."

As for the game itself, Roundy provided this analysis:  "There were plenty double plays and some fine catches in outfield and in blazing sun the game was a good ball game.  The Blues got hot in one inning and scored five runs."

"Some stupid base running in ninth lost the Giants a run at least.  With five runs behind they wouldn't play them bags safe and this hurt their chances, a safe game would have been very sound baseball here, that's a cinch."

"Porter went into box in sixth for Giants and the left hander stopped the Blues cold while in the box.  If he started the ball game they might be playing yet, he had all kinds of stuff and was burning them in there."

In the Wisconsin State Journal's recap of the game, they commented, "the Giants were almost faultless in the field, for that matter, committing but one error, but their inability to hit proved their downfall."

The third game of the series was held the next day at Sun Prairie, WI as part of their two-day Fourth of July celebration.  The Blues won again, 6-4, in front of a crowd of about 3,200 fans.

Roundy's recap of the game was far more critical of the Union Giants this time around, saying "Some punk fielding on ground balls by Steel Arm Davis for the Giants hurt - you think he was picking up hot potatoes out there."

He was even more harsh in his critique of their base running, adding "The Giants got caught on same play at first in this game that they did at Waterloo off first.  In eighth inning got man on first and he takes at least eight foot lead and is finally picked off first.  They yell their heads off on him not being out as they generally do on this one play all the time - Lewis called him out everybody in ball park saw that he was out.  Stand off there eight and ten feet and on a sharp peg can't help but be caught but this their chief beef play all the time they love to chew the rag on this one and - it is to laff out loud this play with that lead they take."  

In the Capital Times, columnist Hank Casserly was more generous in his assessment of the team especially when it came to Union Giants' catcher Tom Young:  

"This Young who catches for Gilkerson is about the sweetest piece of baseball machinery that has been seen around these parts in many a moon.  He has a million dollar arm and the way he throws the ball around the diamond would make any catcher in the big show envious.  He is only twenty years old and has a bright future.  His color, of course, bars him from the organizedball, but he can play with any team in the colored league, which contains a number of crack ball players."

Tom Young, who played for Gilkerson in '24 and '25, would indeed have a long career in the Negro Leagues, playing the longest for the Kansas City Monarchs.   His brother, Maurice Young, would eventually play for Gilkerson as well.

The Basketball Team

For two seasons starting in January 1931, Robert Gilkerson sponsored a barnstorming basketball team under the same moniker as his baseball team, Gilkerson's Union Giants.

Like the Harlem Globe Trotters, who had  formed a few years prior, Gilkerson claimed that his new team would be comprised of players from the Savoy Big Five, a legendary African American team from Chicago. 

Gilkerson already had several connections to members of the Savoy team including Joe Lillard, who had played baseball for Gilkerson in 1929.  Lillard, a multi-sport athlete, would go on to play football in the NFL for the Chicago Cardinals.  

The Big Five's assistant coach Robert "Bobby" Anderson had played baseball for Gilkerson as well and would become the head coach and occasional forward for Gilkerson's new team. 

Before the start of the season it was advertised that Tommy Brookins, another member of the Savoy team, would be playing forward for the Union Giants.  Brookins played in a few of the early games but doesn't appear to have stayed with the team long.  

Instead, the star of the Union Giants basketball squad was Sol Butler, world's champion long jumper and member of the 1920 Olympic team.  Butler had been a member of the Savoy Big Five in 1930 and was previously on the Forty Club and Chicago Defender basketball teams.

Other members of the Union Giants that first year included Tom Hall, Neil Robinson, Clifford Phillips and Julian "Al Jolson" Ramsey.  At some point in the season Phillips was replaced by Prince Zepho.

The Union Giants started the season off with a game near Spring Valley, Illinois at St. Bede College before heading to St. Louis.  The St. Louis Argus reported that "the team has just been outfitted with some of Leacock's flashiest uniforms and is reported to be one of the finest looking aggregations in basketball."  

For the next several months the Union Giants barnstormed in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota playing against mostly local teams.

On April 18, 1931 the Chicago Defender reported that the Union Giants finished the season with an overall record of 66 wins and 12 losses.   The paper claimed the team had  "38 consecutive wins, playing 30 games in 28 days during February, winning all of them."

Nine months later, the Union Giants started the 1931-32 season in Springfield, Illinois.  Sol Butler did not return and was instead replaced with Phillips.  The rest of the team stayed mostly the same except center Tom Hall was replaced by ? Wharton.

Like the year prior, the team barnstormed in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.  As before, they played primarily local teams but occasionally faced off against other travelling squads such as Olsen's Terrible Swedes and the House of David.

The team that had eluded them for most the season however was the Harlem Globe Trotters, who traveled in much of the same territory as the Union Giants.  

On March 10, 1932, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reported, "The Giants last night challenged the Harlem Globe Trotters to a game any place at any time, winner take all.  According to Mr. Gilkerson, manager, he has been trying to get a game with Abe Saperstein's outfit for two years."

On March 30th, the Union Giants finally clashed with the Globe Trotters in Des Moines, Iowa, defeating them 39 to 14.   In a second game that same night, members of the Globe Trotters and the Union Giants combined to take on the Terrible Swedes.  Playing two games back to back proved to be too much.  They lost 33 to 19.

Two nights later, the Union Giants and the Globe Trotters met again in Marshalltown, Iowa.  This time the Globe Trotters won, 41-31.  Bobby Anderson committed nine personal fouls in the game.   

The Union Giants finished the season with two games in Iowa against Olsen's Terrible Swedes; winning one and losing the other.  These would be the last games that Gilkerson's basketball team would ever play.

The 1918 Season: The Spring Valley Giants

After a successful debut season spent mostly in Iowa, Gilkerson would have likely returned to the Hawkeye state in 1918 if not for World War I.  With most eligible players now required to work or fight, Gilkerson was forced to stay closer to home, making it the first summer in years he was not on the road either playing on or managing a traveling team.

On May 31, 1918 the Bureau County Tribune ran an announcement stating, "the management of Hicks' park in Spring Valley has made arrangements for a colored baseball team to represent that park this season."

"The aggregation will be composed almost entirely of colored ball players who represented the Chicago Union Giants last season.  Robt. Gilkerson, a well known colored baseball manager, will manage the Hick's park team.  The team will be known as the Spring Valley Giants."

Despite the claim, almost none of the players from the previous year came to Spring Valley to play for Gilkerson.   Bingham, Jones and Meredith were in the lineup for the very first game but only Will "Rabbit" Jones appears to have stayed with the team.  Instead, the Spring Valley Giants were most likely an interracial team composed of primarily local ball players.

The season opened at Hicks Park on June 2 against the neighboring Peru Stars.   The following Sunday they played the “Hartford Colored Giants of Chicago" who were reportedly being booked by Rube Foster.

Incredibly, Gilkerson was listed as playing shortstop in the game which suggests he had difficulty fielding a team.  Gilkerson had not worn a uniform in more than five years and proved to be a little rusty.  He had one hit and four errors, but his team still managed to win.

Over the course of the summer, the Spring Valley Giants played mostly local teams as well as a few clubs from Peoria, Illinois.  In August, it was reported that the Giants had won eleven games and had not yet lost a contest.

By September, they were playing almost exclusively against the Spring Valley Moose.  During that series, several of Gilkerson's players would occasionally switch sides and were found in the lineup for the Moose.  Further evidence of a player shortage.

In total, only about 15 games could be identified over the entire summer with most of them at Hicks Park on Sunday afternoons.  A far cry from the 100 plus games Gilkerson was used to managing in a season.   

In 1919, Gilkerson would return to barnstorming, leaving the Spring Valley Giants with only this one season.  No photos of the team are known to exist.

According to all the available box scores (5), the lineup for the Spring Valley Giants was constantly changing and included a rotating cast of area players.  Here are all of the names (including alternative spellings) associated with the short-lived team:  

• Anderson - ss  (from the Hartford Giants)
• Berry / Barry - cf
• Bingham - rf
• Boker, F / Booker - 3b, ss
• Boker, W - 1b
• Buffer - cf
• Ducks - lf, cf
• Edwards - 2b
• Gilkerson - ss
• Halpin, Tom - p
• Jenkins - cf
• Jones - 2b, 3b
• Kidd, James - lf
• Levandowski - lf
• Meredith - ss
• Monaghan / Mahoney - c
• Quinn - lf, rf
• Sampson - 1b
• Shamrock, rf
• Smith - c  (from the Three-I league at Rock Island)
• Summers - p
• Ternetti - lf
• Van Schaick - p

Eddie Dwight & Hurley McNair

Source: Phil S. Dixon (negroleagueman)

This photo of Eddie Dwight and Hurley McNair was likely taken sometime in 1929 or possibly 1930.  Both played on the Union Giants during those two years.  

Dwight started the '29 season with the Kansas City Monarchs but by August he was leading off the lineup and playing center field for Gilkerson.   In the photo he appears to still be wearing his Monarchs jacket and hat.  Previously, Dwight had played for the Union Giants in 1926 and '27.

Hurley McNair had a much longer history with Robert Gilkerson.  The two had been teammates on the Chicago Union Giants back in 1913.  McNair stayed on with the team in 1914 and again in 1916 with Gilkerson as his manager.

In 1917, McNair joined Gilkerson in Iowa as part of the Lost Island Lake Giants team.  He then rejoined Gilkerson and the Union Giants in 1919 mid-season.

When the Negro National League formed in 1920, McNair left to play with the Kansas City Monarchs where he stayed for eight years.  He spent one year with the Detroit Stars before returning to Gilkerson's team in 1929.  He played outfield for the Union Giants from 1929 to 1931.

In 1929, Gilkerson's Union Giants had a season record of 122-26-4.  In addition to Dwight and McNair, the team featured such players as Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Cristóbal Torriente.

What is perhaps most interesting about this photo, besides the players, are the uniforms they are wearing.  Gilkerson's teams wore a variety of different designs over the years, however, this is the only picture that I'm aware of that shows this particular style.  

The lettering on the front is very similar to uniforms worn by the Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American Giants and other Negro League teams, yet it is very different than most of the other uniforms worn by Gilkerson's teams.  They likely only wore these for one season.

The 1917 Season: The Lost Island Lake Giants

Left to right:  Manager Robert Gilkerson, "Home Run" McNair, left field; "Rabbit" Jones, second base; Meredith, first base; "Happy" Bingham, center field; "Cyclone" Tyree, pitcher; "Cannonball" Blackburn, pitcher; "Speed" White, catcher; Si Burch, pitcher; "Flying Bee" Turner, shortstop

The story of Gilkerson's Union Giants really begins in 1917.  After seven full seasons with the Chicago Union Giants, first as a player, team captain and then manager, Robert Gilkerson parted ways with the historic club after the 1916 season.  During his tenure, the Chicago Union Giants had been primarily a touring team and were well-known throughout the Midwest.  

The owner of the Chicago Union Giants, William S. Peters, often promoted his club as the “oldest colored team in the Middle West.”  At times that claim was extended to include the entire United States.  While clearly a bit of promotional exaggeration, the team could trace its origins to the earliest days of Black baseball in Chicago thanks to Peters himself who played for and managed the Chicago Unions (a predecessor to the Union Giants) as early as 1887.

When Gilkerson left the team, he did NOT purchase the Union Giants from Peters or take control of it in any way as is often reported (more on this persistent myth in a later post). 

Instead, Gilkerson started his own team along with Union Giants player William “Bingo” Bingham.  An announcement published in the Chicago Defender on May 12, 1917 states, “W.L. Bingham blew into town a few days ago with R.P. Gilkerson of Spring Valley, Ill. who has been the traveling manager of the Union Giants, but now owns a team of his own at Arnold Park, Iowa.  They are open to all comers.”

This new team would spend most of that summer near popular lake resorts in northwest Iowa, providing entertainment to vacationers.  The area would have been known to both Gilkerson and Bingham since the Chicago Union Giants had played a few games there the year before. 

The promise of less travel, a familiar location and steady pay likely helped Gilkerson and Bingham convince several of their former teammates to leave Peters’ club and join them in Iowa.  This included Jess Turner, Edgar Burch, Clifford White and Hurley McNair.

To many of the Iowans living in the area, Gilkerson’s new team would have looked very similar to the Chicago Union Giants of the year before.  So much so that they were often referred to and even billed as the “former Chicago Union Giants.”  To add to the confusion, before arriving in Iowa, Gilkerson’s team played a series of games in downstate Illinois and were advertised simply as the Chicago Union Giants.

No mention was made of this being a new team and not the historic team from Chicago.  Perhaps this is why so many baseball historians have assumed that Peters must have sold his team to Gilkerson.  This however was not the case.

Peters’ Chicago Union Giants fielded a team in 1917 (and for decades after), playing most of their games that year in Chicago, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.  The star of that team was Peters’ son, Frank Peters, who played shortstop and occasionally second base.  Frank would eventually go on to manage the Chicago Union Giants for many years afterward.

In fact, when W.S Peters was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident in April 1933, his obituary mentions that his team was entering its 48th season and that his son would carry on with the club.  Even after Frank died, the Chicago Union Giants continued on into the 1940’s under the control of Frank Peters, Jr., making it one of the longest lasting semi-pro Black teams in baseball history.  A fact that has gone unheralded.

Despite having no real claim to the name of his former team, Gilkerson did not seem to have a problem using it to promote his new team.  At times in 1917 and for most of 1919 Gilkerson used “Chicago Union Giants” as his own.  Given that he had been so closely associated with the team for so many years, it is unlikely that any opposing teams and managers questioned it.  Also, since there was very little overlap in the territories in which the two teams played there were few consequences.

When Gilkerson’s team arrived in Iowa in late May 1917, they adopted the nickname the Lost Island Lake Giants, taken from the area lake where they played most games.  According to WWI draft registration cards, several of the players on the team lived in nearby Ruthven, Iowa.  When they were not playing at Lost Island Lake, they often played at Arnolds Park which sat at the center of five lakes roughly 30 miles to the north.

The Lost Island Lake Giants dominated most Iowa teams that summer.  In early August it was reported they had a 21-game winning streak.  On August 30, their record was listed at 49 wins, 8 losses and 1 tie with no losses on their home grounds.  The team, it was reported, “claim the baseball championship of the state of Iowa and are willing to back the claim against all comers.”

In September the Lost Island Lake Giants entered a tournament in Sioux City during the week of the Interstate Livestock Fair.  An article in the Sioux City Journal mentions that they had recently returned from a trip to Minnesota.  It also gives their record at 63-9-1 and mentions decisive victories over the Tennessee Rats and American Giants of Chicago.

Over the course of the fair, the Giants beat teams from South Dakota and Iowa to win the tournament on September 20.  The newspaper named them “semi-pro baseball champions of the northwest.”  It also mentioned the team was headed to Kansas City to play a series with the All-Nations team.

As soon as they left Iowa the team dropped the Lost Island Lake moniker and were once again playing as the Chicago Union Giants.  In Kansas City, the Union Giants were scheduled to play Schmelzer’s All-Nations team in a three-game series between September 22-24.  According to the only line score found, the Union Giants lost the first game 5-3.  

Afterward, both teams quickly left for Topeka, KS where they played another three games series against each other.  This is likely how Gilkerson and his team closed their first season.

For additional reading, see the following posts on Gary Ashwill's blog Agate Type, which include more details about some of the players on the 1917 team:  Lost Island Giants and Return of the Lost Island Giants

Newtown = Stephens City

Almost every online source lists Robert Gilkerson's place of birth as Newtown, Virginia, which is in King and Queen County.  This includes Seamheads, Baseball Reference and Wikipedia.  Unfortunately, this is not accurate.

I believe he was actually born in Stephens City or nearby Winchester, Virginia - both in Frederick County which is located near the northern tip of the state.   

How did so many other sources settle on Newtown, which is more than 100 miles away on the other side of the state?

The single source for this bit of misinformation, as far as I can tell, is Gilkerson's draft card from 1942 which clearly reads "Newtown" as place of birth.  

Gilkerson would have certainly filled out this form himself, therefore making it a reliable source normally.   

The issue however is that in the 19th century there were literally dozens of Newtowns in Virginia, including one in Frederick County.  Predictably, this caused a lot of confusion when it came to mail delivery and other services.  The result was all but one of the Newtowns had to change their name.  

Around the time of Gilkerson's birth, the Newtown in Frederick County went through a series of name changes but eventually settled on Stephens City.  To local residents at the time however, their town was likely still referred to as Newtown.  

This might explain why Gilkerson listed "Newtown" on that document all those years later, when in fact, he was born in what is now Stephens City.  Even today, Stephens City still celebrates their history with a Newtown Festival. 

To add to the confusion, in the Social Security Death Index, Gilkerson's birth place is listed as Winchester, VA.  In some ways this gives support to the idea that Gilkerson was born in or around Stephens City and not the Newtown across the state.  Winchester and Stephens City are only about five miles apart.  

Whether he was born there or not, it does seem that Robert Gilkerson lived in Winchester as a young man.   In 1897, the Winchester newspapers reported on two youths arrested for throwing rocks at and "otherwise annoying" an elderly woman.  One of them was named Robert Gilkeson.     

In the 1900 census record, Robert Gilkeson was shown to be residing in Winchester with his grandmother.  He is listed as being a 17-year-old errand boy with a birth date of February 1883 (three years older than what is commonly accepted as Robert Gilkerson's birthday of February 10, 1886).

Sometime within the next few years, Gilkerson made his way north to Pennsylvania to start his baseball career.  He would never again live in Virginia.

Gone But Not Forgotten

For 80 years Robert Gilkerson lay in unmarked grave in the southeast corner of Miller Cemetery in Spring Valley, Illinois.

The house at 118 Dalzell St., where Gilkerson lived and died, still stands just a few blocks away.  The remnants of Hicks Park where his players held "spring training" every April, is a short distance just to the southeast.

Even though the Union Giants were one of the most popular independent baseball teams in the Midwest at one time, there are no historical markers commemorating Gilkerson's life or accomplishments.

In fact, almost no one in Spring Valley today has ever heard the name Robert Gilkerson.  Even among fans of baseball and local history, the town's connection to Black baseball is a complete mystery.

Gilkerson was all but forgotten in his adopted hometown.  That is, until very recently, when the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project provided him with a proper grave marker. 

Thanks to this organization's generosity and commitment to preserving the memories of African American ball players, Gilkerson like many others, will not be forgotten.  Hopefully this marker sparks interest in Gilkerson's life, particularly in the place where he lived for 30 years, and helps get him the recognition that he deserves.

Hawkeye Gilkerson

The first evidence of Robert Gilkerson’s baseball career appeared in the Pittsburg Press on April 10, 1904.  

The newspaper ran a photo of a young Rob “Hawkeye” Gilkerson with the caption “shortstop of the fast East End team of Johnstown.”

By May of 1904 Gilkerson was playing second base for the Smoky City Giants, an African American team based in Pittsburgh.

The Smoky City Giants that year were led by Nathan “Nate” Harris and included other notable players such as Andrew “Jap”Payne and Emmett Bowman.  

The team’s box scores are extremely limited for 1904 but Gilkerson shows up regularly in the few printed in June and July.