Identifying 19th-Century Player Dick Higham … Perhaps!

Because it seemed both helpful and important to attempt to round out Richard “Dick” Higham’s story (see TNP 2000 and TNP 2001) with photographs, I researched libraries, archives, newspapers, and magazines, etc. Identifying 19th-century baseball players in 19th-century photographs can be trying. Finding such pictures and attempting to determine whether you have actually succeeded in identifying the players depicted in them can be both exasperating and elating. However, the exercise below may, hope­fully, offer some encouragement to those who would undertake a similar task.

Since I do not have a family photograph of Dick Higham for a direct comparison, it became necessary to weigh the credibility of what was found. In addi­tion, just viewing and comparing one picture to another is not sufficient. For each photo, I had to con­sider the source, condition when found, available his­torical background, and possible comparisons of the team and/or other individual players depicted, of each. When making simple comparison of Higham as depicted in one photo with another, I also used techniques suggested to law enforcement agencies.1

While these are for the most part forensic consider­ations, it was also most helpful to engage in discus­sions with fellow researchers. I located photographs of four teams on which he was a member, taken during his playing career, 1870 through 1880, at the time he was a member of each. Two of them name him, one of them does not identify anyone depicted, and the last one, I believe, misidentifies him as another player. The photographs are of the 1872 Lord Baltimores,2 the 1877 Syracuse Stars,3 the 1876 Hartford Dark Blues,4 and the 1870 New York Mutuals.5 It appears each was taken inside a photographer’s studio. The results can be described as being anywhere from “murky” to “rather clear” to “I know it’s him, for sure.”

1872 LORD BALTIMORES

This is the earliest photograph which identifies a pic­tured player as Dick Higham. He would have been 21 years of age when it was taken. SABR member James Bready, who has published it more than once, has told me that he acquired the photograph from the Baltimore Public Library, but when he did, someone had already placed the names of the players on its face.

In this photograph it appears the light source used was stationed on the extreme right. Drawing an imag­inary vertical line down the middle of the photograph, note the dark shadows, in particular, on the right cor­ner of the backdrop and on the faces of the five play­ers on the right. Those on the left have softer shadows and some have less defined features. The figures of Higham and Hall have the least clarity, with flatter faces and seemingly bulging eyes.
For the purpose of making comparisons with the following photographs, assuming the figure identified is Dick Higham, our benchmark is a “narrow” face, with “medium lips” and “close ears.” As an example of others’ attributes, Tom York and Bobby Matthews can be said to have “narrow” faces with “medium” lips but “out” ears. William Craver can be described as having a “narrow” face, “medium” lips and “medium” ears.

Close-ups of the Higham face and of the figure alone have been used by SABR to accompany two pre­viously published articles6 concerning Dick Higham. However, as I recollect the men on my father’s side of the family all having black or dark hair, I would have to question whether it is him. Of course, the photo­graph may have been taken by an inept photographer with poor equipment and/or due to harsh handling of the photograph itself, over time, his hair may have become lightened. Finally, someone may have simply made a mistake when affixing the players’ names.

1876 HARTFORD DARK BLUES

No player in this photograph was identified anywhere on it. It was necessary to compare this photograph with a photograph of the 1875 Hartford Dark Blues,7 on which the players’ names appeared. Fortunately, the rosters of the two teams were the same in almost all respects for both years (note also Captain Bob Ferguson’s location) except for the addition of Dick Higham in 1876. The 1875 photograph pictured ten players, and the 1876 photograph pictured the same ten plus one. Mark Rucker, who had previously pub­lished the 1875 photograph, with the players’ names, and to whom I sent a copy of the 1876 photograph, generally agreed with the above identifications.

The photograph is actually taken from a “Base Ball Carte,” a copy of which had to be enlarged and digital­ly restored. Viewing the actual “Carte” from right to left shows increasing marring, scraping and dirt which consequently the restorers had to deal with as best they could. Note the seated players on the right side are the clearest and the two standing in the back remain somewhat blurry. Interestingly, in this photo­graph Tom Carey’s features are better defined, and both Tom York and Dick Higham, at least in 1876, now parted their hair in the middle. The Dick Higham figure once again has a “narrow” shaped face, “medium” lips, and “close” ears. He would have been 25 years old here.

1877 SYRACUSE STARS

This is the second photograph in which he is named. It is the clearest of all the photographs I have been able to locate. He would have been 26 years of age at the time. SARR member Ron Gersbacher, who told me about this photograph, believes he is accurately identified as the third player from the left sitting down. Ron relies not only on the names as found on the back of the photograph, but also a common prac­tice of the day to sit the captain of the team, which Dick Higham was in 1877, in the middle row close to the center of a team photograph.

As opposed to the previous photograph, here he is sitting in a chair instead of on the floor, his arms are folded and he is wearing a team cap. I would not venture to say that the bit of hair showing by his left ear, from under the cap, clearly shows he had dark hair. However, the face, lips, and ears appear the same as above. I would believe this is a picture of Dick Higham.

1870 NEW YORK MUTUALS