Charley Walker

Charley Walker was born on October 8, 18781 in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia. Information about his parents, their names, and whether they had been enslaved or were descendants of an enslaved family has not yet been found. Walker’s death certificate from 1940 notes he had lived in Pennsylvania (likely, Homestead and Munhall) for 42 years, since 1898. Information about his early life in West Virginia and his move to Pennsylvania is minimal at best. However, as of 1910, by way of his links to baseball and basketball, Walker begins to receive more attention in the press.

In 1910, at the age of 32,2 Walker began an association with an early incarnation of the Homestead Grays baseball team, the Murdock Grays, formerly named the Germantown Blue Ribbons. After Cum Posey joined the Murdock Grays in 1911, the team evolved into the Homestead Grays, unaffiliated with any of the local steel mills, but formed on its own through the athletic prowess and baseball acumen of Cumberland “Cum” Posey and his being the son of “one of the richest men in the city.”3 Captain (Cap) Cumberland Willis (C.W.) Posey, Cumberland’s father, owned a “large fleet”4of shipping vessels, associated with the likes of Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie. 5

In 1912, Cum Posey took an active role in running the Murdock club, which was renamed the Homestead Grays.6 At this time, Walker, who apparently did not play baseball well enough to earn a place on the roster of a team like the Grays, assumed the role of batboy and solidified his association with the team. In 1913 according to Charles E. Pendleton of the New Pittsburgh Courier, when it came time for the players to elect officials, so well liked and appreciated by the Grays players was he that he was voted in as club president. Thus began Walker’s association with the players and team leader Cum Posey.

In 1920, Posey, having served as team captain, field manager, and secretary, purchased the club with Charley Walker.7Already known as former Grays batboy, Walker has often been identified as a local businessman. Whether or not Walker was a Pittsburgh businessman, or a laborer at the Carnegie Steel Mills,8 he somehow provided financial support for the Grays, while Cum Posey supplied the “brains” and baseball insight. “The Grays are owned by Mr. Walker and Mr. Cum Posey only. Aside from baseball, Walker had promoted boxing, basketball and football.”9 Walker, known as a “jovial, cigar-smoking presence” was also known as ‘the power behind the throne,” Posey’s ever-present shadow and ‘luckman’ of the famous duo.”10

The best way to explore the life of Charley Walker is through newspaper articles and columns as additional information about his life from 1910 until his death in 1940 is difficult to uncover. His name does appear often in newspapers from 1925 to 1940. And while Cum Posey, Grays co-owner, receives more attention in the press than Walker, at the very least there is considerable reference to Walker’s work with the Grays and with an amateur basketball team named the Loendi Big Five.

Of particular interest is reference to a piece, from 1925, which notes that he had returned to Charleston, West Virginia to visit his “folks.” The names of his “folks” are not given but it can be assumed that they had remained in West Virginia when Walker had relocated to Homestead, Pennsylvania in 1898. The piece, in the November 14, 1925, edition of the New Pittsburgh Courier, appeared in Cum Posey’s column “The Sportive Realm.” In a typical spot in which Walker is referenced, Posey wrote:

Charley Walker is spending the winter with his folks at Charleston, West Virginia. Charley was a neutral spectator at the Lincoln-Institute game and claimed Lincoln had the ball on the Institute one-yard line with time out, when the pistol was shot ending the game. Charley was neutral until he saw ‘Liss’ Young11 walk across the field, then he remained neutral inasmuch as he did not care which Lincoln player scored a touchdown.”12

From this we learn about the relationship between Cum Posey and Walker and their mutual interest in sports.

Perhaps insightful to the mystery of Charley Walker is the following from the “How Much Do You Know Your Own Race” column of the New Pittsburgh Courier of September 17, 1927. Among the questions asked is number 8, “Who is Charley Walker?” The answer is “Joint owner with ‘Cum’ Posey of the Homestead Grays.” Though not appearing as prominently as Cum Posey, Walker’s name was again referenced.

Leading up and into the 1920s, the Grays had become a premier team in baseball. In 1928, The New Pittsburgh Courier declares “From all indications the 1928 lineups of the Grays appears to be the best outfit they have placed on the diamond…this season’s edition, so far as class is concerned, by far surpasses any other team Posey and Walker have ever had.”13 And in 1929, as the Grays begin another stellar season, “Baseball Ballyhoo,” a column in the New Pittsburgh Courier noted: “Charley Walker, the grand old csar [sic] of local baseball and co-partner with Cum Posey as Gray [sic] owners, was much dee-lighted to see the boys off to such a flying start.”14

These sentiments, which pleased Walker, were often repeated almost verbatim until his death in 1940. Also in 1928, Walker was observed in Charleston, West Virginia: “Among the interested and prominent spectators at the game in Charleston Saturday was Charley Walker, well-known baseball magnate and co-owner of the Homestead Grays. Charley says that many of the boys are wintering in Cuba, but that he is wintering here and there having a very pleasant full [sic] season.”15

In 1929 the New Pittsburgh Courier reported that “Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ragland, popular residents of Charleston, W. Va., visited Mrs. Ragland’s father, Charley Walker, of Homestead and the Grays during last week. While in the city they saw the local team in action against the Baltimore Black Sox.”16 This article is significant in that it includes reference to Mrs. Ragland, Charley Walker’s daughter. Based on an article in 1933, this would mean that Walker’s daughter, Cora, was 31 years old in 1929. There is little or no reference here or elsewhere in the press to Mrs. Ragland’s mother, Margaret Walker, from whom he was divorced.17

In Walker’s 1940 obituary it is noted that he had no family, having lost his only child (not named in the article), a daughter, when she was “killed by and airplane in New Jersey five years ago.”18 Her death actually occurred seven years earlier, in 1933. Cora (a/k/a Corine, Corrinne, Carrinne), Mrs. Ragland, was indeed killed by an airplane, near Red Bank Airport, New Jersey. In a tragic and bizarre accident, on November 5, 1933, an aircraft piloted by the world-famous explorer and aerial photographer Lieutenant George R. Johnson, malfunctioned (an “act of God” in the papers) and crashed into a bungalow in which Cora Ragland and six other people were staying. Lt. Johnson and seven others were killed.19 This was an international story, but there is no reference to Cora Ragland being the daughter of Charles Walker of the Homestead Grays.

From 1913 into the early 1930s, Walker helped the Grays field exceptional players and achieve winning records. He also served the team in a variety of ways, including driving one of the Buicks purchased for the team. A story from 1930, describes the team’s two Buicks, each holding nine players, were driven near Shreveport, Louisiana. One car was driven by Oscar Charleston, the other by Charley Walker.

“Oscar was driving the lead car, and Grays co-owner Charlie Walker, driving the second, was trying to catch up –for those who got to the next stop first got the best rooms. As he tried to catch Charleston, Walker…lost control. The car flipped. Amazingly, when the vehicle came to a rest, it  was discovered that no one was hurt. Soon and his passengers had their vehicle back on the road. Yet they had not gone far when they spied another auto flipped over in front of them. To their astonishment “it was our other car,” recalled Judy Johnson. “Charleston had slid off the road and blew a tire. And the car went down in the ditch and rolled over three times. Nobody got hurt! Nine men packed in there like sardines, and when the roof caved in they all just dropped out into the ditch. That was a miracle.”20

Miracle is the correct word and sentiment. Charley Walker survived and the players who survived included: Josh Gibson,Oscar Charleston, Joe Williams, Judy Johnson, Vic Harris, George Scales, and others who contributed to the making of the “greatest baseball team of all time,”21 the 1931 Homestead Grays.

The 1930 U.S. Census indicates Walker as a “Lodger,” and widowed, with his Occupation and Industry being “Owner – Baseball Team.” Although ill for several years prior to his death in 1940, he lived to see the Grays field the “greatest baseball team of all time”22 in 1931. Plus he witnessed the start of a record setting path “that has never been equaled by any professional team in any sport by winning nine consecutive league titles from 1937 through1945. But the greatest Homestead Grays wasn’t one of the nine.”23

Much of Walker’s life remains a mystery and his significant role in the greatness of the Homestead Grays is somewhat lost, with Cum Posey, deservedly so, receiving substantial credit for fielding this amazing baseball team. However, in his “Posey’s Points” column of October 12, 1940 Posey expresses his affection for Walker and eulogizes Charley Walker and how he evinces the many fine qualities of an amazing man.

The following snippets come, in that 1940 edition, from “Posey’s Points”:

“Charley lived to see Homestead have colored world’s Champions in 1931, 1937, 1938, and 1940”.

“During the origin of the Loendi Basketball Team, he was a Colonel House” [a reference to President Woodrow Wilson’s trusted adviser and confidant].

“During the years from 1923 to 1932 the years when Homestead Grays enjoyed great financial successes, Charley Walker reaped what he had sown financially. Periodically ill from 1934 until his death…the continuous daily grind and night driving took its toll.”

“We can truthfully say, regardless of financial successes…Charley put more of himself into baseball than he ever took out of it in material benefits.”24

Walker died in Munhall, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on September 29, 1940. He had been ill for several years, and, according to his death certificate, was attended by a physician from January 25, 1940 – September 29, 1940. Interment was to be in Charleston, West Virginia. His death certificate says nothing about his connection with baseball – rather, his occupation is shown as “laborer.” Further adding to the mystery that is Charley Walker, he is identified as divorced – although the 1930 U.S. Census indicates he was widowed.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author used the resources of Ancestry.com, GenealogyBank.com, FamilySearch.org, West Virginia Culture Center, Seamheads.com, (https://wvculture.org/vital-records-interactive/), Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh (https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/), Homestead and Mifflin Historical Society (https://explorepahistory.com/), History of Homestead ( https://homesteadborough.com/), Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (https://www.nlbm.com/), and more.

Notes

1 Charles Walker – aka Charley, Charlie, Charles H. For this article, largely because this is how his name appears in print, his name will be spelled as Charley. Little is known of Charley Walker’s early life – his parents remain unknown, and the date of his birth varies from source to source, with a range of 1875 – 1880; 1878 is the DOB in Seamheads, and likely the correct year. His death year is 1940, and his age as appears in newspaper obituaries is 65. This would mean he was born in 1875. His death certificate notes year of birth as 1878, and his age at death as 61 years, 21 months, and 21 days.

2 Again, using 1878 as Date of Birth.

3 Dalena Collins, Learning Interpretative Coordinator. Edited by Alonna Carter-Donaldson, former Burke Family Research Fellow and Research Assistant, “Telling Their Stories, Recognizing Their Impact: Cumberland Posey, Sr. The Frick Pittsburgh Museums and Gardens, February 22, 2024. https://www.thefrickpittsburgh.org/Story-Telling-Their-Stories-Recognizing-Their-Impact-Cumberland-Posey-Sr.

4 Brian McKenna, “Cum Posey,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cum-posey/.

5 P.F. Wilson, Andrew Crossley, Homestead Grays (1912-1951), Fun While It Lasted.net, https://funwhileitlasted.net/2025/05/14/homestead-grays-1912-1951/.

6Charles E. Pendleton, “Snap Shots of ‘Big Shots,’” New Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), March 7, 1931: 14.

7 Brian McKenna, “Cum Posey,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cum-posey/.

8 James E. Overmyer, Cum Posey of the Homestead Grays (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Publishers, Inc., 2020), 84.

9 Charles E. Pendleton, “Snap Shots of ‘Big Shots,’” New Pittsburgh Courier, March 7, 1931: 14.

10 Overmyer, 84.

11 Probably Ulysses S. Lissy Young, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania football coach.

12 Cum Posey, “The Sportive Realm,” New Pittsburgh Courier, November 14, 1925: 13.

13 “Homestead Grays Set for Opener Sunday,” New Pittsburgh Courier, April 7, 1928: 17.

14 “Baseball Ballyhoo,” New Pittsburgh Courier, May 11, 1929: 16.

15 “Charley in Charleston,” New Pittsburgh Courier, November 24, 1928: 17.

16 “Charlestonians Visit Here,” New Pittsburgh Courier, July 7, 1929: 7.

17 Death certificate indicates he was divorced; census record from 1930 indicates that C. Walker was widowed.

18 “Homestead Grays Former Head Dies,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, October 1, 1940: 46.

19 “Believe Airplane Crash Unavoidable Lt. Johnson and Six Others Killed in Accident Near Red Bank Airport on Sunday Afternoon. Keyport Enterprise, Keyport, New Jersey, November 9, 1933: 5.

20 Jeremy Beer, Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2019, Kindle Edition), 207-208.

21 Charlie Fouche, “The 1931 Homestead Grays: The Greatest Baseball Team of All Time,” The National Pastime: Steel City Stories(Pittsburgh: SABR, 2018), https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-1931-homestead-grays-the-greatest-baseball-team-of-all-time/

22 Fouche,

23 Fouche,

24 Cum Posey, “Posey’s Points,” New Pittsburgh Courier, October 12, 1940: 17.