1883-84 Adams Academy Football

 Adams Academy started in 1872 in Quincy, Massachusetts.  Former President John Adams gave the land and money to help start the school.  The Adams Academy was used to prepare students for Harvard.  They were rivals to Phillips Andover and Exeter.  I acquired this image in a group of images from Edward Allen Pease who is seen laying at the bottom of the image.  He later attended Harvard university and graduated in 1888.

1895 Brown University Football Team Cabinet

 This is undoubtedly one of the best teams Brown put together in the 19th century.  This was the first team to score on Yale and ended up tying the eventual National Champions 6-6 at home.  On this team was the first All American Brown had yielded Dave Fultz.  He led them to a national championship in baseball and went on to become a Major League Baseball player.  Also on the team was college football hofer Eddie Robinson who went on to coach at Brown and eventually for the NFL Providence Steam Rollers

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1883 Yale University Freshman Football Cabinet photo

This is a great early photo of the Yale Freshman team.  Most of those pictured played a part in the national championship squad of 1884.

Alex Coxe was a 290 pound player instrumental on the 84 and 85 championship teams.  He was also. crack hammer thrower for Yale.  In the 1884 game against Dartmouth he scored four touchdowns in their 113-0 blowout.

Thomas L. Nervy Bayne was the quarterback of the 1884 Yale championship team.  He helped them defeat Harvard that year 48-0.  He ended up getting suspended and kicked off the team after that season.  It opened the door for Harry Beecher to take over as QB.  He later founded Tulane’s first football team in 1894 bringing football to Louisiana and beating LSU 34-0.

Reggie Ronalds played on the 1894 chanpionship team and later was one of the rough riders with Teddy Roosevelt.

Robert Corwin was Captain of the 1886 Yale football championship team.

1870s Large “W” Football Team Cabinet Photo

This is one of the oldest football images I have, and dates back to the beginnings of football.  Notice the very primitive bulbous football.  These were often difficult to acquire in America and often contained a pig bladder.  They would usually have to be blown up multiple times during a single game.  I believe that it may have been a prep school such as Worcester Academy, Williston seminary, or Wesleyan Academy.  There would have been very few colleges playing the game during this time.

1892 Phillips Exeter Imperial Football Cabinet

This is a very clear imperial cabinet photo of the 1892 Phillips Exeter football team.  PE was an important feeder prep school for many of the Ivy League colleges.  Their schedule consisted of playing many college teams including Harvard.

1888 Yale Eating Club photo with Charlie Gill

Eating clubs were popular in the 19th century in Ivy League schools like Princeton and Yale.  They were a combination of eating hall and fraternity.  This photo contains Charles Otis Gill.  Gill was Captain of the Yale football team in 1889 and also on the very first all-American team that year.  He was a member of many great Yale football teams including arguably the best team of the decade the 1888 Yale football squad.  After graduation he briefly coached the University of California in 1894.  He was a minister for most of his life and ended up authoring various books.

1882 Dartmouth Sports and Activities Cabinet

This is a Pach Bros Cabinet depicting Dartmouth sports and activities in 1882. It also came with this antique frame that appears to be similar period.  It really shows the unique equipment and uniforms from the day.  

The football player holding the ball is Clarence “Cap” Howland who is considered the Walter Camp of Dartmouth.  He came to Dartmouth from Williston Seminary who had been playing a similar style football to Harvard and Yale.  In 1880 he organized the first football team.  

It wasn’t until 1881 that they played and won their first game against Amherst.  H.A. “Holy” Drew was one of  the players instrumental in their first win due to his plunging of the line.  He is the other player pictured and also filled in as the captain in 1882 when Howland suffered a broken nose which sidelined him. 

Charles Frederick Mathewson in addition to being on the baseball team was also on the first football team.

In 1882 Dartmouth wanted to test their skills against a big dog such as Harvard.  They fell flat on their face losing 53-0.  This causes the Dartmouth school newspaper to print “Rugby is dead. If there is any other game Dartmouth can play better than football, it would be better to encourage it.”  Later in 1882 Dartmouth played McGill in a very unique game.  The captains compromised on playing 13 vs 13.  This was 2 more than Dartmouth was accustomed to and 2 less than Mcgill’s usual number.  Dartmouth ended up winning this game.  Cap Howland was also captain of the 1883 and 1884 squad before continuing his football career at Columbia during law school.  One final note that may interest you guys is that Dartmouth ended up playing Yale in 1884.  They lost 113-0 and is the first time a football team had lost by 100 points.