The Knickerbockers and the Excelsiors

Baseball history photo: This photograph, taken by Brooklyn photographer Charles H. Williamson, depicts the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and the Excelsior Base Ball Club in one of the earliest known team photos and perhaps the first image on a baseball field. It was taken on September 3, 1859, at Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey. Some of the players are as follows; Knickerbockers—James Whtye Davis (second from left), Charles Schuyler De Bost (third from left) and Harry Wright (sixth from the left). The umpire is Dr. J.B Jones (middle in overcoat and hat) and the Excelsiors are—Henry D. Polhemus (Jones's left), John Holder (Sixth from right), Edwin Russell (fifth from right) and Thomas Reynolds (far right). Click photo to return to previous page.