Ellwood Otto Wagenhorst had a two-game test with the Phillies in 1888, appearing at third base on June 25 and June 26. He got one hit in eight trips, scored a pair of runs, and played the position to a draw – one error and one double play amongst his five chances.

However, the rest of his life was filled with plenty more important things – and interesting connections.

Wagenhorst arrived June 3, 1863, he first of five children born to John Wagenhorst, an innkeeper and lumberman, and his wife Mary (O’Boyle) Wagenhorst. John Wagenhorst’s sawmill was within earshot of Lehigh Falls. Ellwood went to the Wyoming Seminary, a prep school, prior to attending Princeton. While at Wyoming Seminary, he picked up the game of baseball and was the third baseman on the school squad there for his junior and senior years.

Wagenhorst continued to play sports while at Princeton, lettering in both baseball and football, where he was a “rusher” (lineman). In fact, he captained both teams during his senior year. Upon graduation he coached the football team for a year before attending law school at Penn. While at Penn, he coached the baseball and football teams there. (He never graduated with his law degree – he passed the bar later while in Washington D.C.).

Wagenhorst played well in an exhibition against a New York squad in April 1888 and eventually earned a look from the Philadelphia Phillies, who by late June had three players suffering from cholera and needed warm bodies. On June 25, facing the Giants, he reached on an error but was caught stealing, then reached on an error and scored on two other occasions. His fielding error was in mishandling a throw at third base that came in from right field and allowed two runs to score. Philadelphia played much better, however, and won 11 – 4.

The next day, Philadelphia lost to the Giants while Wagenhorst got his lone MLB hit off of Tim Keefe and was errorless in the field. In fact, Wagenhorst faced Mickey Welch in his first game, which means the two pitchers he faced in the major leagues won a combined 649 career games). Days later, Philadelphia released Wagenhorst when their ailing players returned to the fold.

Wagenhorst wasn’t the only athlete in the family. His brother, Otto, was a star at Penn in the 1890s and eventually coached both the University of Alabama and the University of Iowa football teams. Another brother, Jim, played football and captained crew at Penn as well.

Soon after graduating law school, he became the personal secretary to US Representative John Reyburn (PA). At some point, as Reyburn changed roles (and later became mayor of Philadelphia), Wagenhorst set up his own private practice and got heavily involved in Washington D.C. real estate. Washington DC newspapers are littered with articles noting the real estate transactions involving Wagenhorst over the span of some forty years.

In 1909, Wagenhorst married Caroline McCallum but the marriage did not produce children. Caroline was the sister-in-law of Mary Sherman McCallum, who was once Wagenhorst’s client (and the adopted daughter Senator John Sherman, author of the Sherman Anti-Trust act). Wagenhorst handled Mary McCallum’s tax claims and her trust. (McCallum was also spelled McCallem or McCallam in news articles. For that matter, I’ve seen Ellwood spelled as Elwood and Wagenhorst spelled as Wagenhurst, too.)

Wagenhorst died in Washington D.C. on February 14, 1946 of influenza. His cemetery record at Glenwood Cemetery says he died of grippe.

Notes:

1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Census
Washington DC Marriage Records
Glenwood Cemetery Burial Records

“Wilkes-Barre Brevities,” Wilkes-Barre Record, April 23, 1883: 8.
“Wyoming Seminary Commencement,” (Wilkes-Barre) Daily Union Leader, Jun 19, 1883: 4.
“Here and There Continued,” Wilkes-Barre Telephone, March 1, 1884: 2.
“An Unfinished Game,” Wilkes-Barre Record, May 26, 1884: 1.
“Yale Outplays Princeton,” New York Times, November 26, 1886: 5.
“Kicking in the Mud,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 1887: 3.
“Between the Holidays,” Wilkes-Barre Record, January 6, 1888: 3.
“Caught on the Fly,” Wilkes-Barre Record, April 21, 1888: 1.
“The Giants are but Pigmies,” Philadelphia Times, June 26, 1888: 3.
“The Phillies Do No Batting,” Philadelphia Times, June 27, 1888: 2.
“League Gossip,” Chicago Tribune, July 9, 1888: 3.
“Sherman Home Mortgaged,” Washington Times, February 19, 1901: 2.
“Inheritance Tax Stands,” Washington Post, January 29, 1907: 11.
“Ellwood Wagenhorst, Lawyer, Real Estate Man, Dies Here at 82,” Washington Evening Star, February 15, 1946: 8.

Photo Source: UPenn Archives