In the summer of 1859 a meeting was held in the office of the old Missouri Glass Company, on Fifth street between Pine and Olive. M.W. Griswold, a clerk in the company's store, who had lately moved to St. Louis from Brooklyn, N.Y., an enthusiast on baseball, aided by the exertions of Ed Bredele, had gathered together the nucleus of a club...
-St. Louis Republic, April 21, 1895
One of the things that I don't know is specifically when Merritt Griswold got to St. Louis. I know that he was still living in Brooklyn in 1858. He's listed in the 1859 Brooklyn city directory, which was probably put together in the summer of 1858, and he was still playing with the Hiawathas in October of 1858. He was certainly in St. Louis by April of 1860, when he published the rules of the game in the Missouri Democrat. Also, he's listed in the 1860 St. Louis city directory that came out no later than March of that year. So sometimes between October of 1858 and March of 1860, Merritt Griswold moved to St. Louis. And given that the 1860 St. Louis directory was probably put together in the summer or early fall of 1859, I'm comfortable saying that he moved to St. Louis sometime between October of 1858 and October of 1859.
It's absolutely possible that Griswold was in St. Louis and working at the Missouri Glass Company by the summer of 1859, as the Missouri Glass Company opened for business on May 29 of that year.
It's absolutely possible that Griswold was in St. Louis and working at the Missouri Glass Company by the summer of 1859, as the Missouri Glass Company opened for business on May 29 of that year.
The Missouri Glass Company's Works are situated in the First Ward of the city of St. Louis, west of the Arsenal. The Company was incorporated by an act of the Legislature and went into operation under their charter on the 29th day of May, and elected Edward Bredell, President, and Edward Daly, Secretary...
-Missouri Republican, December 26, 1859
The assumption is that Ed Bredell, Jr., and Merritt Griswold met while working together at the Missouri Glass Company. If this is true then the Cyclones could not have been formed before May 29, 1859. That's the earliest possible date that the club could have been formed, if this assumption is true.
In the summer of 1859 a meeting was held in the office of the old Missouri Glass Company, on Fifth street between Pine and Olive. M.W. Griswold, a clerk in the company's store, who had lately moved to St. Louis from Brooklyn, N.Y., an enthusiast on baseball, aided by the exertions of Ed Bredell, had gathered together the nucleus of a club...
-St. Louis Republic, April 21, 1895
So I think I've answered the question I posed in the title of this post. It's absolutely possible that the Cyclones could have formed in the summer of 1859, prior to the formation of the Unknown Club in August of that year. Leaving aside the question of what kind of baseball the Unknown Club was playing, it's possible that the Cyclones formed before they did and, therefore, were the first baseball club in St. Louis history.
What we're really looking at here is a window between the end of May 1859 and April 1860 for the formation of the Cyclone Club. At the moment that's as far as we can narrow this thing. The reality is that they probably formed either in the early or mid summer of 1859 or in the early spring of 1860. Either date allows for you to argue that they were the first club in St. Louis although the first date is really what the best argument is based on.
What we're really looking at here is a window between the end of May 1859 and April 1860 for the formation of the Cyclone Club. At the moment that's as far as we can narrow this thing. The reality is that they probably formed either in the early or mid summer of 1859 or in the early spring of 1860. Either date allows for you to argue that they were the first club in St. Louis although the first date is really what the best argument is based on.
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