More Fiends

Blog to be retired--Lawsons' future

    I'll be semi-retiring this blog in mid-February in order to concentrate on current writing research projects. Future posts will be very occaisional.

    I very much doubt that I'll have an opportunity to see a revised edition of Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines that could incorporate some of the posts made in the past 14 months. The only post-publication finding that I really regret not having found in time is the strong evidence that Alfred W. Lawson was sent to the State Reform School as a teen.

    What information might come forward that would dramatically effect the Lawson Brothers narrative? Here's my list:

• An interview or memoir written by one of A. W. Lawson's two children. I'm not sure they could throw more light on his character, but they could offer a fascinating inside look at the community of Lawson's followers.
• Any soldier's diaries or military records that would shed light on G.H. Lawson's activities during WWI. I can not believe that the old rogue led a quiet military life. There must be some hilarious material there.
• Some very specific mention of the original cause(s) of conflict between Al and George
• A list of books that A.W. Lawson read or kept
• Additional evidence of sexual misconduct by their father, R. H. Lawson
• Additional information on where the money came from for A.W. Lawson to start the Humanity Publishing Company and DCS movement.
• Additional information on the amounts donated by DCS members and Lawson's later followers to fund the DCS, the University of Lawsonomy, and Lawson's publishing efforts.

The Most Elusive Lawson Relics

Before describing any more Lawson artifacts that are known to exist, allow me to present a short list of what I would consider to be the most sought-after objects related to the Lawson family:

1. Audio recordings of Alfred W. Lawson speaking. AWL did make at least one recording: a short 4-minute pre-vinyl record of the editorial "Finance-Capital-Labor" that first appeared in Direct Credits for Humanity (Lawson's first news sheet). Copies of the recording were advertised for sale at $2.00 each.
2. George H. Lawson's flyer entitled "Whitewashing Crooked Organized Baseball," which he advertised in March, 1921 editions of the Chicago Defender. Not only would this be the sole surviving ephemera of GHL's Continental League venture, it would also be significant to the story of the Black Sox scandal. Moreover, it would apparently be the only piece of material that GHL wrote for publication.
3. Robert H. Lawson's system of stenography. It must have been written down; AWL must have made copies of it when he was teaching it in Buffalo.
4. Knowledgian Degrees. It is not known how many exist, but earning one required 30 years study of Lawsonomy. I would have to assume that none were given out in AWL's lifetime. I know of one person that purchased one that was being sold.
5. A baseball uniform from one of Lawson's teams.
6. Any components of Alfred Lawson's airliners.

Were the Lawson Brothers Related to Thomas W. Lawson?

While researching Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines, I came across a clipping in which George H. Lawson claims he was a cousin of Thomas W. Lawson. Though few recognize his name today, Thomas W. Lawson was the Ted Turner/Richard Branson of his age (during the period 1890-1920). Thomas W. Lawson was a Boston millionaire, a financier who made a fortune in copper markets and stock manipulation. He spent his fortune freely on racing yachts, a lavish country estate replete with a folly tower, dog breeding for shows, racehorses, and writing books.

Coincidentally, one of T. W. Lawson's first books was a glossary of baseball slang, The Krank, His Language and What It Means. However, I have not come across any mentions of T. W. Lawson being active in organized baseball. Lawson's later books repudiated the shady Wall Street deals that had made him rich. His wealth dissipated, and he died in 1925 in debt.

I dismissed George Lawson's claim to being a blood relative of Thomas W. Lawson as spurious--an obvious ploy to associate himself with a rich and famous namesake. But I have recently come across an article in which George's brother, Colin T. Lawson, makes the same claim, i.e. that he was a cousin of Thomas W. Lawson. Colin specifically states that his father, Robert Henry Lawson (1829-1896) was a brother of Thomas W. Lawson's father.

This prompted me to do a little genealogical digging. Thomas W. Lawson's father was also named Thomas Lawson. He was born in 1828 in Sackford, Nova Scotia and died in Charleston MA in 1865. Robert Henry Lawson was born a year later, in 1829, in Bethnal Green, London. Census records from England indicate he had three younger siblings (none named Thomas), but no older brother. Moreover, RHL's own father was a lifelong Bethnal Green resident. It seems almost impossible that he could have sired the Thomas Lawson born in 1828 in Nova Scotia.

So I think it's safe to debunk this claim by the Lawson brothers; they were not first cousins to Thomas W. Lawson.

"Constitutional Liberty" platform and George Lawson's Health tip

As mentioned in the previous post, George Lawson and his wife fielded a slate of candidates in the 1925 New Jersey election season. Their Constitutional Liberty ticket espoused the following tenets:

• Opposition to the Ku Klux Klan
• Repeal of Sunday Blue laws prohibiting recreational activities such as baseball games, football games, golf tournaments, or movie theater screenings.
• Repealing Prohibition to allow sale of light wines and beer.

Lawson was quoted: "I favor light wines and beer because every working man deserves a stimulant after laboring by the sweat of his brow. The bloated plutocrats of the country enjoy their champagne and scotch highballs in Cuba and on packet boats, so I think the honest toilers should be allowed to have 4 per cent beer and wine, which I think are essential to health and longevity."

George's idea of healthy diet was quite different than the tee-totaling vegetarianism regimen proscribed by his brother, Alfred Lawson.

However, they both shared an obsession with overcrowded public transportation. Alfred's answer was a seat compartment patent. George took a more practical approach: one of his election slogans was 'No Seat, No Fare.' George explained: "The practice of common carriers of packing men and women like sardines in conveyances is detrimental to common decency and should be made contrary to law."

George's platform also mentioned:

• Suspending taxes on abandoned farms and unprofitable tracts in order to encourage young farmers
• Abolition of capital punishment
• Equal hours and pay for women and men doing the same job and producing the same
• More laws favoring labor unions
• Harsher penalties for hit-and-run drivers

Personally, I think I'd take up the banner of George's Constitutional Liberty party before I'd join Alfred's Direct Credits Society!

George Lawson and the 1925 New Jersey Elections

In Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines I describe George Lawson's anti-Klan crusade and how it escalated to his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. Freshly digitized editions of the Trenton Times reveal that this more than just a solo ego-trip.

George developed a whole slate of candidates under a third-party ticket called  "Constitutional Liberty."  Several offices were targeted:

New Jersey State Assembly representing Monmouth County: Ella Bedle Wieber Lawson (GHL's wife)

New Jersey State Assembly representing Monmouth County: James E. Ward

New Jersey State Assembly representing Middlesex County: John Lester

New Jersey State Assembly representing Middlesex County: Nathan Simmons

United States Congress New Jersey 3rd District: George H. Zundt

I haven't yet found any information on the background of any of these people, which is oddly similar to the way GHL dropped names of the supporters of his baseball leagues. However, I'll assume that they were real. The campaign manager of the Constitutional Liberty party was George Maynard Riley, who certainly was real: he was GHL's partner in the formation of the Continental League in 1921.

Source: Trenton Times, Mar. 24, 1925

First Public Airing of the Lawson Brother Feud

    In Baseball Fiends... I imply that the bad blood between Alfred and George Lawson likely started in the aftermath of the 1895 Boston Amateurs tour of England. Additional circumstantial evidence from 1897 was also offered to suggest that George tried to undermine Alfred's efforts to organize his North Adams team into a league; and that George was probably the con-man who impersonated Al in North Adams. The feud erupted in full force in New Hampshire in the spring of 1898, and at that time the fact that the brothers were fighting each other made it into the papers there.

    However, newly digitized editions of Sporting Life from February and March of 1898 make it clear that the Lawsons were warring with one another before they got to New Hampshire. In late February, as George was getting on a steamer to go to England on theatrical business, he decided to regale a reporter with a story calculated to drive Al apoplectic, It appeared on the front page of Sporting Life on Feb. 21, 1898:

George went on to give a sketch of the state of baseball in England, sounding like a seasoned authority. Moreover, he took credit for being the manager of the 1895 Boston Amateurs tour of England.

George must have chuckled to imagine Al's reaction when he read the story. Al's rebuttal appeared in the Mar. 12 edition of Sporting Life:

A couple of weeks later, Al Lawson's refutation of George's story was affirmed by Joseph Wright, owner of the Middlesborough team. (I had quoted Wright on another occasion on page 63 of Baseball Fiends..):

And so it seems that the first public scuffle between the Lawson's gave the last word to Al. However, only weeks later, Al was being branded as the scoundrel and George as the upright businessman in the Battle of New Hampshire (Chapter 8 of Baseball Fiends...)

Last Gasp of the Continental League

Shown below is the latest mention of Continental League activity, from the most unexpected source, the Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel of May 31, 1921. What were the New York and Cleveland teams doing in Northern Massachusetts? Why four games?

On page 137 of Baseball Fiends..., I say: "Fitchburg appears to be one of the loci of the chaotic Lawson universe", but I had no idea of this 1921 incident!

The Fleecing of Kokomo

On page 88 of Baseball Fiends... there is a description of George Lawson's short, ignoble stay in Kokomo, IN. To understand the animus that Lawson generated so quickly, consider this additional information reprinted from the Cleveland Plain Dealer of June 19th, 1899:

    "In the week that he was here he had two fist fights, was arrested three times, and left owing everybody he could, including visiting teams, his own men, hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, livery stables, clothing stores, printing offices, and brass bands. He bought with a lavish hand, stood everybody off for the price, and paid for nothing. Visiting teams were swindled out of their guarantee. The supreme gall of the man seemed to have a hypnotizing effect, and up to the last minute he had no trouble in victimizing the public...Lawson did not even pay the fines and costs assessed against him for assault and battery and playing on Sunday, but left the local fans who went on his bond to settle with the court. A woman whom Lawson claimed as his wife remained here until last night, when she also left town to join him at some unknown point. He left town to escape the wrath of his players, who got tired at eating at soup houses, while he lived at the best hotel in town."

New image of George Lawson

Photos of George H. Lawson are so rare that even a new grainy newspaper image is a find. From the front page of the Jan. 11, 1926 Trenton Evening Times:

On this occasion, George was facing drunk and disorderly charges, as well as assault and battery of a police chief. This incident ended his career as an evangelist and anti-KKK crusader.

Continental League Opens 1921 Season

More evidence that George Lawson's 1921 Continental League actually took to the field and opened its season. From the New York Telegram, May 20th, 1921:

 

Now to track down the Providence and Boston papers for this date...