An Ode to the Savage Baseball Team

This lengthy poem extolling the virtues of the Savage Baseball team was written by Jack Duffy of Savage in 1920 - enjoy!

Listen, my friends, and I’ll tell you the story
Of how the Savage nine won fame and glory
How on the firing line they battled to win
Against great odds sometimes, but they never gave in.
From start to finish they played the best ball
That we ever did see back of the Savage town hall
How the fast teams from the city were swept off their feet
Whenever our heroes they happened to meet
There was never a rest from the minute the umpire called time
Until the game was won by our famous ball nine.

If it interested you, my friends, I’ll give you a personal sketch
Of each player our manager was lucky enough to catch
And sign up for the season on the old score book
That tells a wondrous tale if you care to look.
For some of our players were strangers in the first of the year
But to see them depart would now cause many a tear
To come to the eyes of all the young ladies
Who cried over each game like so many babies
So girls, you should donate a few minutes of your time
To thank each young man who played on our nine

Savage baseball team, 1915. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

First we come to Tom Duffy , so stately and tall
For that dark curly hair the ladies all fall
And although he had bad luck with a nurse or two
We’ll hand it to you Tom, we’ll slip it to you.
With one eye on the pitcher and one on the grandstand
How do you suppose he gets the ball in his hand
But leave it to Tom, the man behind the bat
On the player's’ bench a better ball player never sat.
Groove em’ old kid you would hear him cry
And oh my! How hard they would try
to knock the cover off
Only to find Tom was making a stall

Next we come to the only Ted Fuerst
Always giving his opponents the worst
Dope on the ball that we wonder they didn’t fall
To the fact that off his delivery it was useless to try
To even knock an infield fly
So great a pitcher Ted was he
It’s a wonder to us that Connie Mack couldn’t see
Where he would fit in the famous machine
And win the world’s championship for the Athletic team
To you, Ted Fuerst, we extend a glad hand
And by you our fans always stand.

Next we find George Coakley, so good looking and slim
With the face from which you could never change the grin.
He was sure of a hit and how he would run-
stealing bases for him only was fun
By far the best shortstop of them all
It’s a shame the way he would slam on the ball.
You would always find him up on his toes
All you could hear them say was “there he goes”
A fast man on bases, a shortstop without peer
the only trouble with him was that he never drank beer
An officer of the law, he sure could win
Any young lady’s heart with that cheerful grin.

Belle Plaine Tigers, around 1920. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

Next we come to Ray Coakley, another member of the clan
When up to the bat in a pinch he never would fan
First base was his position to play
And on the bag he always was sure to stay
No matter how hard the batter the ball would clout
When it came to him, the umpire hollered “out”!
Every time up to bat he was sure of a hand
And he had the bunch going in the whole grandstand
He always played ball the best he knew how
And with the umpire never had a row
Such a favorite with the girls, it seems funny to me
He was never tangled up in the sea of matrimony

Next we come to Frank Bowman who played second base
Look out, sod busting umpires. he’ll change the map of your face!
Every time up to bat the fielders would back out
For they knew he would hit an awful clout
So short standing at bat the pitcher he would work
for a base on balls and going to second he'd never shirk.
On third he would land to get the glad hand
While many a bright eyed lady watched out from the grandstand
For with the girls he sure did shine
Hew was there and over every time
To you, Frank Bowman, we wish good luck
You were always trim and full of pluck

Next we find Jimmy Lannon on third
at scooping them out of the dirt he was sure a bird
at bat it was single, single, single
His teammates were always sure of a safe bingle.
His own bat he carried, it would never fail
The opposing pitcher wished he were in jail
Every time up to bat you could hear the bunch shout
O you Jimmie, hit’er out hit’er out
The ladies would all say “Isn’t he fine”
Every time he would knock one out on a line
He worried the pitchers, had them up in the air
Every ball he hit was sure to go fair.

Baseball player in Scott County, 1909. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

Next we find Wally Raymond, a fielder beyond doubt
No matter how hard they hit them they were sure to be out
Left field he held down, and may the time
The way he speared them was sure to be a crime
Always in the game with ginger and vim
Kidding his partner Bill to keep him trim
Always a safe batter he was sure to hit
A long drive at the right time, in the best place it would fit
Welcome to our town Wally, and long may you stay
Until you have grown quite old and grey
And may you never forget the time
You signed up to play ball with the Savage Nine

Next we come to Bill Flannery with such wavy pretty hair
The nicest young man in Savage all the girls declare
Center field was the place where he played the game-
Don’t leave us now Bill or we will never be the same
As a ball play we’ll say he was sure there
They we he pulled down long drives would raise one’s hair
Stealing bases was his special delight
for every one hie stole, he got a Budweiser that night
At bat he was sure to hit them square on the nose
And then be up and going fast on his toes
The only trouble we find with Bill is the girls did their best
To keep him out all night and away from rest.

Next we find Bill Lannon, so short and small
Its a wonder we could see him in the tall grass at all
In right field he was a wonder
He would never make a blunder-
To you Billy Lannon, we take off our hat!
We were sure of a safe hit with you at the bat
Fast on the bases, it was a wonder to see
The way he would fly around like a big bumble bee
The girls were all sorry to see him go
And may he come back with the first fall of snow
Canada is all right in the winter, we’ll say
But come back in the spring Bill, we want you to play.

And now we have to hand it to Ed Hanson
He sure is there even though he’s not handsome
The trouble he went through is enough to make anyone blue
And we certainly must hand it to him, always loyal and true
Tom Duffy was one trial, and when he got worse
We thank Ed Hanson for getting nurse
Ted Fuerst was a model young man out there
But Ed never offered him any Budweiser beer
George Coakley was a bad egg, he would drink red pop
But he always came around well, always on top
Ray Coakley’s mind was always far away
Dreaming of Credit River on bright summer day.

Victor Kahle of Belle Plaine in a baseball uniform, around 1920. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

Hanson humored Bowman by offering to bet
His month’s wages on George Gano, Frank’s little pet.
Jimmie Lannon would have to call up and promise ice cream
Before he would come down and play with the team
Wally Raymond had to be put to bed when the clock struck nine.
So as to be sure he would get up and be around on time
Billy Flannery was the worst trial- Hanson would threaten, coax and cajole
But out with the night owls Bill would go for a stroll
Billy Lannon was good as long as Ed was around
but watch him go wrong when the right one he found.

So here my friends you have the Savage team
The best ball players by far that were ever seen
And we hope next spring when ball time rolls around
Ed Garvey will be out again to fix up the ground
And may we see again the same ball game
And many the ladies see to fit it, for the sake of our renown
That none of our young men leave Savage, their home town.

And you, friends and neighbors who have seen many a game
Let not the lives of our young athletes seem to tame
Be sure to attend this winter, their ball
Which will help them along again until next fall
Although they played good ball and played their best
It was not what you would call a financial success
So altogether now, let us give, one at a time
Three cheers for each member of our baseball nine.

Credit River History Part 3: The General Store and Pat White

Many stories of early Credit River center around the General Store. The true first store in the township was built by Dominick McDermott, who also constructed the first post office and saloon. Unfortunately, this building soon burned down, and a new store was built by Patrick White. This is the facility that became a focal point in Credit River history. 

In 1987, several elderly lifelong Credit River residents were interviewed about growing up in the township. Albert Fieldman remembered that the store sold “a little bit of everything, overalls, straw hats, socks, groceries, poultry feed, gasoline and hardware”. Eighty-nine year old John Wild called it “The Crossroads of America”. 

The store also had a tavern in the basement. Pat Cleary, another lifelong resident who was interviewed in 1981 recalled, “The credit river store was wonderful. Uncle Pat had a grocery counter in front, dry goods in back. And he’d usually ask his customers ‘Wanna have a little toxie?’ [beer].“ A side note, Pat Cleary is a fourth generation descendent of Cornelius Cleary. 

White’s store was the home of the first Credit River telephone, when lines were extended from Shakopee on January 11, 1910. Patrick White and his sons were also well known fiddlers in the area, and were in high demand at dances and parties. 

Scott County Memories: Tales of a Mail Carrier in the Early 1900s

These recollections were dictated by Joan Muehlbauer and Corrine Meierbachtol of Belle Plaine in 1980 and originally shared in the collection “As I Remember Scott County”

Tom O’Connor delivering mail in Belle Plaine, 1905. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

Our dad, John McDevitt started hs mail carrier job in 1903. He had three horses. In the summer he had a two wheel buggy. When the water was high in the spring, he would have to leave his horses at the last patron’s hows, that of Adam Brandl. He would also sometimes have to spend the night there. When I was a little girl, I can remember how unhappy it made me when e couldn’t come home. When we had a phone he would call up and talk to me and it would be ok. If the current in the river was not too swift, the mail could be brought over in a bot to him,

Belle Plaine mail carriers, 1913. Photo from the SCHS Coilections.

In the winter he would travel in a cutter drawn by one horse. A large stone was placed in the oven of the cookstove overnight, and in the morning the stone was wrapped in burlap. That was kept near his feet. He wore a heavy, sheeplined coat. A nice warm horse hair blanket covered him. All was fine, unless he had to go over high snow drifts, which many times tipped over the sleigh. He had to be at the post office at 8:30 in the morning to sort the mail. Then he came home and had a hot bowl of soup. The only lunch he took was a thermos of coffee. He left for the route at ten o’clock. The route was 30 miles long, In good weather he was home around three. In the winter, it was later.

He bought the first car in 1925. It was a Model T Ford. When we were old enough, we were taken with him on the route to keep him company. He was a mail carrier from 1903 until 1932.

History of Credit River Part 2: The Township Grows

Credit River’s first municipal building was the post office, built in 1856. It was initially called the New Dublin post office. 

The choice of names is not surprising. The vast majority of the township’s early European American settlers were from Ireland, coming to the United States to escape the potato famine and to take advantage of the possibility of land ownership. Land in places like Credit River went quickly. The early Irish families claimed land through the homestead act or the territorial land act. All of this land had been claimed by 1870. 

These early European American settlers lived mostly in the northern part of the township, which was almost exclusively Irish. In 1870, as the final land was claimed, records show that the township was ⅔ Irish and 95% Catholic. 

After the post office, the town built a church. The first church building was a log cabin built in 1862 on a hill overlooking Cleary lake. Unfortunately, this early building burned down. The township’s second church was completed in 1871 and named St Peters. It featured a hand carved altar, stained glass windows, a choir loft, a tower that was sixty-five feet high, and a 1200 pound bell. St Peters stood next to where Credit River Cemetery is now located, along Highway 27.

The church didn’t have a dedicated priest. Instead, a traveling priest would come through first monthly, then weekly to perform the service. In the late 1980s, several elderly lifelong residents recalled that in the winter or during difficult weather conditions Sunday services would begin when the priest arrived, not at an appointed time. This meant that they sometimes did not start until late afternoon. 

Sketch of St Peter’s Church in Credit River. From the Shakopee Valley News, August 12, 1987

According to early residents, much of the town’s social life was centered around St Peter’s Church. The church hosted weddings, banquets, anniversary celebrations and card parties. It was not uncommon for the people in the town to arrive at Sunday services very early, and stay several hours after the service ended to chat with their neighbors. 

In 1878 a reporter from the Shakopee Courier took a weekend trip to Credit River in order to write an article about what life was like in the community. He went in December and wrote of his journey “It was slightly chilly outside of a good buffalo robe especially in an occasional blinding snowstorm.” He said of his arrival “When we got to the settlement we found everybody going to church so we fell in line and did likewise.”

Outside of the church, the township was home to a blacksmith shop, general store, creamery and village hall. There were taverns attached at various points to both the store and the town hall. 

The village hall was a public place, and residents remember parties, weddings and basket socials being held there. A basket social was a tradition where a young woman would pack a basket with a meal or baked goods. Men would bid in the basket, with the hopes of sharing the meal with the lady who originally packed the food. The money was generally donated to a charitable cause. 

Scott County Memories: Wash Day

These recollections were dictated by Frances Brandl of Belle Plaine in 1980 and originally shared in the collection “As I Remember Scott County”

Monday was wash day. Anyone who didn’t wash on Monday was not considered a good housekeeper. Sunday evening the old copper wash boiler was brought in from back porch and filled with water from the cistern. We were very fortunate to have a large cistern with plenty of water and a pump in the kitchen. Then two large tubs and the wash bench were brought in, one tub for washing clothes and one tub for rinsing clothes. The rinsing water was put in the tub to which was added Mrs. Edwards Liquid Bluing. One had to be very careful not to add too much or one had blue clothes.

In the morning, the first boiler of water was poured into the washing tub and then filled again for boiling the white clothes. Clothes were scrubbed on a washboard- a board with corrugated metal on which one rubbed the clothes up and down and lathered them with good homemade lye soap. All white clothes were boiled in the boiler - again with lots of homemade soap added to the boiling water. Usually the two front lids were removed so the boiler set right on the flame for a good fast boil, especially in the summertime when one didn’t want any more heat in the house then necessary.

Ann and Clara Albrecht on a train platform, 1913. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

After a few minutes of boiling, the clothes were removed with a wooden stick and put in rinse water. Now it was time to hang them out to dry. Clothes were hung out winter or summer, especially all white clothes. The outdoors helped to bleach and keep them white. One big problem in wintertime was to make sure the wind was not from the north, because of the trains going by. In those days there were many trains and loots of coal soot. This stuff would fall down on the clothes and that was really bad. Also, one would have to remember to shut down the rain spout going into the cistern in the fall of the year and leave it turned off until after a good rain in the spring had washed all the soot from the roof. Way back then we had a pollution problem, but of course it was not thought of as such. One just had to be alert and keep and eye on the wash line when trains were going by.

All aprons, dresses, men’s shirt collars, cuffs and petticoats were starched. This starch wa made with flour and water mixed to a milky consistency, then boiling water was added until it became pudding-like. Sometimes if articles needed a heavier starch, sugar was added. This often was used on petticoats and lace doilies. Some folks even put a bit if butter in the starch- they claimed it ironed smoother.