David W. Force (1849 - 1918)

Born 27 Jul 1849 in New York, New York

Husband of Marie Louisa (Eldred) Force — married 3 Nov 1869 in Manhatton, NY

Descendants

Died 21 Jun 1918 at age 68 in Englewood, New Jersey

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Biography

David W. Force was born July 27, 1849 in New York City to William Force and Acey Sheldon, both of New York.

In 1869, David married Marie Louisa Eldred(b.in Connecticut about 1851) in Manhattan.

The couple moved to Washington, DC, where David was working as a clerk in the Treasury Department as per the 1870 census.

David Force was shown on what is today called a cabinet card, a now antique baseball card produced in 1871 for the Washington Olympics baseball team. This was the early days of professional baseball. A couple of his teammates, who are shown on that card, are DOUGLAS L. ALLISON of Philadelphia, and ANDY LEONARD,who was born in Ireland. A picture of the card showing the WASHINGTON OLYMPICS players is found on Wikipedia.

"Davy" played for a few teams in the 1870s, including the Lord Baltimores, a.k.a. Baltimore Canaries in 1872. That year one of his teammates was LIPMAN PIKE , known familiarly as Lip Pike. Lipman was one of the stars of that era, and the first Jewish star of the game. In 1873, ASA BRAINARD joined the Baltimore club. Asa was part of the 65-0 Cincinnati Red Stockings team.

Davy next played in Philadelphia, St. Louis and from 1879 to 1885 for Buffalo. He finished his career with the Washington Nationals in 1886. Davy was mostly a shortstop, but did play a good bit at second base, and some at third base.

In 1880, the census of Buffalo, New York noted David's occupation: "Baseballist". He and wife Marie had son David Y. Force about 1872.

By 1900 David and Marie Louisa were living in Brooklyn. Son David Y Force also living in Brooklyn. David Y. Force had married Elizabeth Locke(b. 1869) and at that time they had one child, Edna, who was born in 1892.

More on his baseball career can be seen on Wikipedia, and a reference guide called "The Baseball Encyclopedia".

DAVID W. FORCE's Findagrave page also tells about his life in baseball.

Sources

• *1869 New York marriage record
• 1870 Washington DC census
• 1880 Buffalo, New York census
• 1900 census Brooklyn, New York
• 1918 death record
• Findagrave page 8148