A Negro League player for multiple teams, Dennis Raymond Gilchrist was handed the managerial reins prior to his 27th birthday, taking over the Columbus Stars in 1936. The young manager lasted but three months on the job as he came down with tuberculosis and died barely a month after turning 27.

The second child of eight born to Cappie Alexander and Arabella Bernadine (Porter) Gilchrist arrived June 16, 1909 in High Point, North Carolina and moved to Ohio with his family by the age of 10. Cappie was a laborer and his wife was busy with a growing family. Dennis began his nomadic professional career in 1931 with the semi-professional Columbus Buckeyes, playing catcher and various infield positions as required. His ability to hit and play multiple positions made him valuable to teams as a utility player throughout his career.

When he wasn’t playing ball, he worked as a dishwasher and laborer in Columbus. Gilchrist married Agnes Talley in 1933. Talley wasn’t listed in the brief obituaries found in Columbus papers in 1936 – Gilchrist was living with his mother when he fell ill and died on July 25, 1936. Arabella buried a husband and son within six months of each other.

James A. Riley, in his Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (page 316), noted Gilchrist played with less than successful clubs. “During the five Depression years in which he played, he was usually with franchises struggling to remain solvent and maintain quality baseball. In addition to Columbus (who folded after the 1933 season), these ballclubs included the Indianapolis ABCs (who folded after the 1932 season), the Cleveland Red Sox (who folded after the 1934 season) and the Brooklyn Eagles (who folded after the 1935 season).” He also spent time with the New York Black Yankees and Homestead Grays.

Gilchrist is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Lockbourne, Ohio near family.

Sources:

1910, 1920, 1930 US Census
Ohio Marriage Records

“Columbus Buckeyes to Play in the East,” Chicago Defender, April 11, 1931: 9.
“Columbus Has Its Nine Set,” Chicago Defender, April 11, 1936: 17.
“Deaths,” Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 27, 1936: 2.

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