Harry Wilhelm

Located approximately 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Uniontown is the largest city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Beginning life as “The Town of Union” in 1776, many notables have come from this quaint settlement that sits in the shadow of Chestnut Ridge.1 In the latter part of the 19th century, two friends who played baseball together as young boys went on to national fame. One became a famous military general and later US Secretary of State. The other became a professional baseball player, who had a brief stint in the majors alongside greats like Honus Wagner.2 Those boys were General George C. Marshall and Harry L. Wilhelm. While Marshall’s story is well recorded and remembered, Wilhelm’s exploits on the diamond are all but forgotten. What follows is a biographical sketch of one of Uniontown’s most promising athletes, a hurler whose pitching became the talk of sports sections across the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Harry Lester Wilhelm was born in Uniontown on April 7, 1874. He was the fourth child of William H. Wilhelm and the third of second wife Margaret M. Wilhelm (née Richards).3 William (1843-1900) was a native of Pennsylvania and worked as a blacksmith and wagon manufacturer.4 He also served a term as sheriff in Uniontown beginning in 1895.5 Margaret (1842-1919) was also a native of Pennsylvania whose occupation in the 1880 census is listed as “housekeeper.”6 The couple raised six children in Uniontown: Daniel (born 1862),William (1869), Charles (1871), Harry (1874), George (1879), and Alfred (1879).7

Very little is known about Harry Wilhelm’s childhood experiences save that he and the future general played baseball together, leading to a lifelong friendship.8 According to a Pittsburgh newspaper article published years later, Wilhelm “began playing baseball with the McCormick Amateurs of Uniontown in 1892, ’93 and ’94.”9 In January 1895 the Pittsburgh Post reported that “Harry Wilhelm, the Uniontown pitcher, is attending school at Westminster College. The college intends to have a strong baseball team this year.”10

Under threatening skies on May 20, 1895, 1,500 fans witnessed Wilhelm pitch Westminster to a 9-3 victory over Grove City.11 Just a few weeks later, on June 8, Westminster College took on the Pittsburgh Athletic Club at P.A.C. Park. This time, Wilhelm was “hit hard at opportune times,” giving the home team a 9-1 victory.12 That summer, he resumed pitching for Uniontown.13

Wilhelm started out the 1896 season pitching for Westminster.14 However, on June 22, it was announced that the Chambersburg (Pennsylvania) Maroons of the independent Cumberland Valley League had signed the collegian twirler.15 The same day, the Franklin (Pennsylvania) Repository wrote, “Harry L. Wilhelm, of Uniontown, who has made a splendid record as pitcher for Westminster College of New Wilmington, Lawrence Co., is now here and will likely prove a great acquisition to the Maroons. Although young he is of good size and besides being a good pitcher is a good outfielder.”16

On June 22, Wilhelm initiated his Maroons tenure in center field when Chambersburg took on the Hanover (Pennsylvania) Tigers.17 Though his debut was unremarkable, with only one hit, Chambersburg defeated Hanover 10-3.18 He finished his time with the club on July 26, pitching Chambersburg to a narrow 8-7 victory over Hanover. He then departed for Pittsburgh.19 No sooner than arriving back in the “Smoky City,” Wilhelm was playing for the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.20 On August 7, he patrolled right field for the club in a 9-2 loss to Atlantic City.21 A few days later, Wilhelm pitched PAC to 5-4 victory over Atlantic City, avenging the previous defeat.22 Thereafter, he pitched for Atlantic City through the remainder of August.23

Standing 5-foot-7 and weighing 155 pounds with brown hair and a clean-shaven face, Wilhem was named captain of the Westminster College baseball team in 1897.24 In January 1898, the right-handed batter and thrower signed  with the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Maroons of the high-minor Atlantic League.25 The affiliation was disputed by his college, with the Pittsburgh Post reporting that Wilhelm “is claimed by Manager Berry of the Westminster college team, in spite of the fact that the pitcher has been signed to Lancaster, of the Atlantic League.”26 Wilhelm pitched for Westminster College before linking up with the Maroons in August. He quickly established himself as one of the leading four pitchers in the Atlantic League before the season’s end.27

On April 10, 1899, Wilhelm arrived back in Lancaster to begin his season with the Maroons.28 Just three days later, he was in the box pitching against the Boston Beaneaters in a preseason game.29 A Lancaster paper reported that “Wilhelm pitched most satisfactorily.”30 Nevertheless, Boston trounced Lancaster, 11-2.

The Atlantic League’s opening day fell on April 27 with Lancaster facing the Reading (Pennsylvania) Coal Heavers. Wilhelm started the game and held Reading at bay for the first four innings with his curves.31 However, after the fifth Reading “fell upon him and never let up.”32 Another article stated that Reading caught on to Wilhelm in the sixth and “when the last man was out in the ninth inning 16 hits, for a total of 18 bases, were recorded against him.”33  The final score was Reading 8, Lancaster 6.34  Just a few days later on May 9, Lancaster took on Reading again. This time Wilhelm fared much better, holding his opponents down to only four runs in the first eight innings, cruising to an 8-3 victory.35

The 1899 season proved the highlight of Wilhelm’s professional career. Pitching 275 innings for Lancaster, he gave up 289 base hits and 53 walks with only 44 strikeouts yet chalked up an Atlantic League-leading 21 wins. In the process, he completed all 31 of his starting assignments and posted a .677 winning percentage on a team that was otherwise sub-.500. Wilhelm also filled in, on occasion, in the Lancaster outfield and batted a useful .239 (33-for-138) in 40 game appearances, overall. By early August, however, the Atlantic League was on the brink of financial collapse. But before the circuit disbanded, Lancaster club boss William Uhler Hensel sold his staff ace to the National League’s Louisville Colonels.36  

Harry Wilhelm made his major league debut on August 12, 1899, starting the second game of a doubleheader against the Brooklyn Superbas. During the first inning, Brooklyn scored three runs with a base on balls, an error by Mike Kelly, and hits by Joe Kelly and Tom Daly. Brooklyn added three more runs in the third.37 With Louisville trailing 6-2 after five innings, the game was called because of darkness. Losing pitcher Wilhelm went the distance, surrendering six runs (five earned) on eight hits, walking one and striking out one. “Pitcher Wilhelm may be all right, but he has made a poor start,” bemoaned the Louisville Courier-Journal.38  The following day, Wilhelm relieved starter Deacon Phillippe after four innings with Louisville trailing the New York Giants, 7–3. Over the final four frames, he was nicked for two runs (one earned) on five hits but struck out three and walked none.

On August 18, Wilhelm was lifted after the first inning of his second start, but a Louisville rally got him off the hook in a 7-6 loss to Boston. Five days later, he was given a final chance and turned in his personal masterpiece, a complete-game 13-3 triumph over the hapless Cleveland Spiders. Wilhelm was also the game’s batting star, slugging a triple and a home run off right-hander Harry Colliflower. Despite this success, Wilhelm was not used again, and the Louisville Courier-Journal subsequently announced his release.39

Over the ensuing winter, the National League contracted, liquidating four clubs including the Louisville Colonels. “The club was in debt to several of the club directors, including [Barney] Dreyfuss, and had no real prospects of improvement on the field or on the financial ledgers,” SABR author Bob Bailey wrote in his article, “Four Teams Out: The National League Reduction.”40 As part of the contraction process, Dreyfuss purchased a half-interest in the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise and negotiated the transfer of Louisville stalwarts Honus Wagner, Rube Waddell, and Fred Clarke to his new club. Harry Wilhelm was among the lesser Louisville lights also assigned to the Pittsburgh roster, the Courier-Journal’s previous report of his release notwithstanding.41

Wilhelm participated in camp with the Pirates in spring 1900 but was a late cut, released on April 14, 1900.42 The release brought Wilhelm’s brief time as a major leaguer to a close. In five games, he had gone 1-1, with a bloated 6.12 ERA in 25 innings pitched. Over that span, he allowed 36 base hits but walked only three while striking out six enemy batsmen. Bolstered by his robust final game’s hitting, Wilhelm posted a .250 batting average (3-for-12) with two RBIs.

Wilhelm bounced around during the 1900 season, playing briefly for the Syracuse Stars of the Eastern League, before latching on with the Troy Washerwomen of the New York State League. There, Wilhelm’s 12-15 (.444) record was about on par with his club’s final log (48-66, .421).43 He also pitched for Uniontown that summer.44

In 1901, Wilhelm played with the Columbus (Ohio) Senators of the Western Association, splitting 59 games between the mound and the outfield. Thereafter, he moved around the East Coast for the next few years, playing for a myriad of teams. They included the Hartford Senators of the Connecticut State League (1902) and the Albany Senators of the New York State League (1903) for part of the season. He then joined Penn Park (York, Pennsylvania) of the Tri-State League and Kingston (New York) of the Hudson River League (1904).45

The last two seasons of Wilhelm’s baseball career were spent in Pennsylvania, playing with an independent Punxsutawney team in 1905 and the Uniontown Coal Barons of the Class D Pennsylvania-Ohio-Maryland League in 1906.46 In the end, Wilhelm played 14 seasons of baseball at levels ranging from the amateur ranks to the majors.

Wilhelm’s life after baseball was unremarkable. Never marrying, he held a variety of jobs over the years. His World War I draft card listed his occupation as “assistant steward at the Benevolent Order of the Elks.”47 In 1930, he worked as a coal miner.48 His final occupation was an assistant stone mason.49 In September 1939, Uniontown held a homecoming for George C. Marshall. The first person to greet the General as he disembarked from his bomber was his long-time friend, Harry L. Wilhelm.50

On February 20, 1944, Harry Wilhelm passed away from a coronary occlusion at the home of his sister-in-law in Republic, Pennsylvania.51 He was 69. Following funeral services, the deceased was laid to rest in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery, Uniontown.52

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory-Costello and fact-checked by Brian Dunn.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com and the following:

Ancestry.com

Findagrave.com

Newspapers.com

Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide 1900-1901

US Census Bureau, 1880, 1930, and 1940 US Census

Notes

1 James Haden, A History of Uniontown: The County Seat of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. (Akron, Ohio: New Werner Company, 1913), 13.

2 “Former Pittsburgh Pitcher Dead,” Elmira (New York) Star-Gazette, February 21, 1944: 9.

3  William was previously married to Mary Crawford Wilhelm (1839-1865). Together, the couple had one  

 child, Daniel L. Wilhelm (1862-1933); 1880 U.S. Census; Harry Wilhelm Death Certificate, “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1973 – Ancestry.com,” accessed May 4, 2026.

4 1880 U.S. Census.

5 “Former Pittsburgh Pitcher Dead.”

6 1880 U.S. Census.

7 William H. Wilhelm (1843-1900) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed: May 4, 2026; 1880 U.S. Census.

8 “Former Pittsburgh Pitcher Dead.”

9 “Harry Wilhelm May Sign with Uniontown Club,” Pittsburgh Gazette, January 15, 1906: 9.

10 “Sporting Notes,” Pittsburgh Post, January 10, 1895: 6.  Westminster College is a liberal arts school founded in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, in 1852. Westminster is located approximately 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. It should also be noted that though Baseball Reference records that he also went to Bethany College (West Virginia), there are no sources that could be located that corroborate this claim.

11 “Westminster Boys Won,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, May 21, 1895: 6. “Grove City” is most likely short for Grove City College, which had a strong baseball team in 1895.

12 “P.A.C.’s Clever Work,” Pittsburg Press, June 9, 1895: 6.

13 “Wilhelm Pitches Fine Ball,” Pittsburgh Post, June 30, 1895: 6. The Baseball-Reference listing for our subject includes the unverifiable claim that he also went to Bethany College (West Virginia).

14 “A Close Game at Sharon,” Philadelphia Times, May 24, 1896: 10.

15 “Base Ball Notes,” Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Sentinel, June 22, 1896: 3.

16 “Off the Diamond,” Franklin (Pennsylvania) Repository, June 22, 1896: 1.

17 “Tigers Try Three Twirlers,” Franklin Repository, June 23, 1896: 1.

18 “Tigers Try Three Twirlers.” 

19 “At York on Saturday, Chambersburg beat Hanover by a score of 8 to 7,” Carlisle Sentinel, July 27, 1896: 2.

 “Base Ball Notes,” Carlisle Sentinel, July 27, 1896: 3.

20 “Bound for the Shore,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, Aug 6, 1896: 6.

21 #GoingDeep: Black Baseball in Atlantic City | Baseball Hall of Fame accessed: May 4, 2026; “First Game Goes Wrong,” Pittsburgh Post, August 8, 1896: 6.

22 “P.A.C. Wakes Up,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, August 14, 1896: 6.

23 “Base-Ball and Other Sports,” Atlantic City (New Jersey) Daily Press, Aug 31, 1896: 1; “Base Ball Notes,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) New Era, January 5, 1898: 5.

24 “Amateur Sports,” Pittsburg Press, January 30, 1896: 6; “Amateur Sports,” Pittsburg Press, March 1, 1896: 3.   

Harry L. Wilhelm World War I Draft Card U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ancestry.com accessed: May 4, 2026.

25 “Base Ball Notes,” Lancaster New Era, January 5, 1898: 5.

26 “Sporting Notes,” Pittsburgh Post, February 3, 1898: 6.

27“Pittsburgh Boys Doing Well at Westminster,” Pittsburgh Commercial-Gazette, May 11, 1898: 6.  and “Base Ball Notes,” Lancaster Morning News, August 10, 1898: 4; “Personal,” Franklin Repository, September 22, 1898: 1. 

28 “The Ball Players Arriving,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Intelligencer April 6, 1899: 1.

29 “Ball Season Opened,” Lancaster Intelligencer, April 14, 1899: 1.

30 “Ball Season Opened.,”

31 “Ball Season Opened.”

32 “Ball Season Opened.”

33 “League Season Opened,” Lancaster Examiner, April 29, 1899: 6.

34 “Ball Season Opened.”

35 “Defeat for Reading,” Lancaster New Era, May 10, 1899: 3.

36 “Ball Players Sold,” Lancaster New Era, August 7, 1899: 2.

37 “Broke Even on the Day,” Louisville Courier-Journal, August 13, 1899: 7.

38 “Gossip of the Game,” Louisville Courier-Journal, August 13, 1899: 7.

39 “Timely Sporting Topics of the Day,” Louisville Courier-Journal, September 6, 1899: 6.

40 Four Teams Out: The National League Reduction of 1900 – Society for American Baseball Research accessed: May 4, 2026.

41 “The Big Deal Is Completed,” Louisville Courier-Journal, December 9, 1899: 6.

42 “Pirates Quit Indianapolis,” Pittsburgh Post, April 15, 1900: 6.

43 “Imperials Lose by Forfeit,” Pittsburgh Post, August 2, 1900: 6. “Reach’s Official Base Ball Guide for 1901” by A.J. Reach Co. accessed: May 4, 2026. Wilhelm is not listed in Eastern League stats, suggesting that his time in Syracuse was short.

44 Imperials Lose by Forfeit,” Pittsburgh Post, August 2, 1900:6.

45 “Schlichter’s Giants Worked A Hoodoo,” York Dispatch, July 29, 1903: 3. “Out of Town Society,” Pittsburgh Press, April 17, 1904: 11. “Wash-Jeff Will Open the Season at Rochester,” Pittsburgh Gazette, April 22, 1904: 9. This season is not recorded on Baseball Reference.

46 “Even with Washington,” Punxsutawney (Pennsylvania) Spirit, August 2, 1905:1; “Uniontown Beats Steubenville,” Pittsburgh Gazette-Times, May 26, 1906: 9.

47 Harry L. Wilhelm World War I Draft Card.

48 1930 U.S. Census.

49 1940 U.S. Census.

50 “Former Pittsburgh Pitcher Dead,” above.

51 Harry L. Wilhelm death certificate. The death certificate gives Redstone as the place of passing. Redstone is short for Redstone Township. Republic is a part of Redstone Township.

52 Harry L. Wilhelm (1875-1944) – Find a Grave Memorial accessed: May 4, 2026.