Amsterdam area native was Baseball Pioneer

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

    Nick Young, a founder of Major League Baseball, was a native of Amsterdam. Born in 1840, Young was the son of Almarin and Mary Young. His father was in the grain and gristmill business.

When Young was eight years old, his family moved to Old Fort Johnson, which had been built west of what is nowAmsterdam by prominent Colonial figure Sir William Johnson.

Young learned to play cricket which had been brought to Amsterdam by English immigrants hired by the growing textile industry.

Young recalled that he and other young Americans became so "proficient" playing cricket that they soon were able to beat the English carpet and knitting mill workers "at their own game."

A short, nimble player (he was five foot six), Young played on New York's top cricket team.

Young moved to Albany to help his father's business in 1858, the year his mother died. His father Almarin was appointed Amsterdam postmaster by President Lincoln in 1861.

Young enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 and first with a New York regiment and later with the Signal Corps, he participated in many battles in the Civil War.

Young also took part in an early version of the new sport of baseball while in the Union army. During a lull in the fighting, Young was the pitcher on a pioneer ball team called the New Yorks.  The New Yorks played a game against non-New Yorkers who called themselves the United States as a reported fifteen thousand people watched.

When the war ended Young went to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Treasury Department but continued to be active in baseball.

He was a right fielder and official of an amateur baseball team in Washington. He officiated as an umpire in championship games. However, rowdiness and rampant gambling turned the public against baseball.

With reform in mind, in 1871 Young issued a call for the first nationwide meeting of professional baseball club owners. Delegates met in a large room over Collier's Restaurant at the 10th Street and Broadway in New York City. The National Association was formed at that meeting with Young chosen as secretary.

"From the seemingly little acorn we planted that night on St. Patrick's Day, 1871," Young wrote, "what a giant oak has grown, spreading its branches over this greatest of all lands, and furnishing clean, honest, healthful amusement for millions of people."

Young and Mary E. Cross of Washington married in 1872. They had four children. In 1876 baseball's National Association became the National League and Young continued as secretary. In 1881 he was elected National League president.

Although he was called Uncle Nick and was a popular figure, Young's years as league president were marked by continued conflicts. There were rowdy and violent incidents on the baseball playing fields. 

Many players bolted to the rival American League when it formed in 1901. The turmoil led to Young withdrawing from a further term as National League president in 1903.

He returned to the Treasury Department. He died in 1916 at 76 at the home of one of his sons in Washington.

NOSTALGIA CORNER

Reader James Flack is looking for family information on Nick Young. You may reach Flack at [email protected]

Judith V. Reynolds Hoell wants to know more about her Reynolds’ ancestors who were dentists in Amsterdam, “There are many old newspaper clippings about the family. Yet when I search historical sites in your area there is no mention of them.” Her grandfather was Clarence and his dad was Wallace T. Reynolds. There were seven dentists and one M.D. in the family. Hoell’s email is [email protected]

Bob Cudmore is a freelance writer.

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