1894 by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Page 94

Lardner wrote another piece for him, titled “First Aid for Father.” Anson appeared with two of his grown daughters, Adele and Dorothy, and would bat papier mâché baseballs made by Albert Spalding into the audience. He appeared in 1921 accompanied by his two daughters in an act written by Ring Lardner with songs by Herman Timberg.

In 1872, the 20 year old Anson met 13 year old Virginia Fiegal, the daughter of a Philadelphia bar and restaurant owner, whom he married on November 21, 1876. The marriage lasted until her death in 1915. For the first seven years of their marriage, the couple lived in Chicago during the baseball season and Philadelphia during the off season, but they eventually moved to Chicago on a year round basis. The Ansons had seven children, three of whom died in infancy.

Anson retired from vaudeville in 1921, and continued to refuse a pension from Major League Baseball, despite having no other income. In April 1922, he became the general manager of a new golf club in the South Side of Chicago.

Anson died from a glandular ailment on April 14, 1922, in Chicago, three days shy of his 70th birthday.

Anson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, one of the first 19th century players selected. Over 100 years after

1894