The Tome of the Unknown Player

Wikipedia tells me "a tome is a large book, especially one volume of a multi-volume scholarly work." Although this posting is not a tome, it is part of a larger effort to understand the lives of the men that played in the 1918 and 1919 Rose Bowls.

Another post, Finding a Few Good Men, describes the challenges of identifying and profiling the men who played on the service Rose Bowl teams. In short, since neither the historians with the military services nor the Rose Bowl itself has lists of all the players on the teams, it took considerable effort to identify the players and profile the men behind the names and numbers. The information came from a range of military sources, newspaper articles, online databases, and other publications. While those sources provided substantial information on most players, some were mentioned in only one or two newspaper articles and even this information could have been in error. As a result, 11 of the 178 men who were members of the service Rose Bowl teams at some point in their seasons have not been profiled.

Game action during 1918 Rose Bowl.

Since one of the reasons for telling the Fields of Friendly Strife story is to account for each player during WW I and after, the inability to connect their names with their lives is problematic. This posting provides you the opportunity to apply your detective skills to identify one of the missing players. Your reward for helping profile a player is the joy of  advancing service football knowledge and your being mentioned in a blog posting about the missing player and how he was found.

The Missing Players

There were twenty-eight members of Mare Island's 1917 team and all twenty-eight have been profiled and are listed here.

Camp Lewis Players

The complete Camp Lewis team roster is found here, while the unknown players are listed below.

Frolich, A. T.

Born: Unknown  | Died:  Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Traveled with the team to the 1918 Rose Bowl, but did not play in the game  |  WWI: Pvt., 347th Field Artillery

‘Camp Team Gets Daily Practise,’ Tacoma Times, December 13, 1917.

Hastings, (Unknown)

Born: Unknown  | Died: Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Traveled with the team to the 1918 Rose Bowl, but did not play in the game  |  WWI: Unknown rank

Camp Team Gets Daily Practise, The Tacoma Times, December 13, 1917.

‘All-Star Eleven Ready for New Year's Day Struggle in South,’ Over The Top (Camp Lewis), December 29, 1917

McLoughlin/McLaughlin, (Unknown)

Born: Unknown  | Died: Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Substituted at right tackle against the 316th Sanitary Train  |  WWI: Unknown rank

‘Army Elevens Tie,’ Sunday Oregonian, October 28, 1917.

Millard, L. C.

Born: Unknown  |  Died: Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Mentioned in article as practicing with team before the 1918 Rose Bowl, but did not travel to the game |  Pvt., 166th Depot Brigade  |  WWI: Unknown rank

‘Camp Team Gets Daily Practise,’ Tacoma Times, December 13, 1917.

Olsen, O. C.

Born:  Unknown  | Died: Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Mentioned in article as practicing with team before the 1918 Rose Bowl, but did not travel to the game  |  WWI: Unknown rank

‘Camp Team Gets Daily Practise,’ Tacoma Times, December 13, 1917.

Patterson, ‘Pat’

Born:  Unknown  | Died: Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Substituted at right halfback versus Multnomah  |  WWI: Unknown rank

Several sources indicate Patterson was from Minnesota. Another source indicates he was living in Ogden, Utah in the 1930s.

‘Marine Eleven to Battle with Soldiers’ Team,’ Oregon Daily Journal (Portland), November 9, 1917.

‘Fighting Footballers from Camp Lewis, Ready for Marines’, San Francisco Chronicle, December 30, 1917.

‘Utahns Played in Rose Bowl Game,’ Ogden Standard-Examiner, December 27, 1934.

Taylor, (Unknown)

Born:  Unknown  | Died: Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Mentioned in article as practicing with team before the 1918 Rose Bowl, but did not travel to the game  |  WWI: Pvt., 166th Depot Brigade

‘Camp Team Gets Daily Practise,’ Tacoma Times, December 13, 1917.

Warner, (Unknown)

Born:  Unknown  | Died: Unknown  |  Unknown school  |  Substituted at right end versus the 316th Sanitary Train |  WWI: Unknown rank

‘Army Elevens Tie,’ Sunday Oregonian, October 28, 1917.

O’Brien, Thomas J.

Born: Unknown  | Died:  Unknown  |  Notre Dame College  |  Substituted in backfield for 362nd Officers versus Washington State |  WWI: 2nd Lt., I Co., 362nd

O'Brien played on the 362nd Officers Team. He is the only member of the 362nd Officers team that has not been identified.

'Local Football Stars with U.S. in N.W.,' San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 1917.

'Officers Tie Dietz,' Sunday Oregonian, October 14, 1917.

Great Lakes Players

The complete roster of the Great Lakes team is found here, while the unknown players from that team are listed below.

Paulsen, C. L.

Born:  Unknown  |  Died:  Unknown  |  Kansas Normal  |  Substituted at left tackle in Iowa game, started In backfield in second team games, and appears in team picture taken late in the season  |  WWI: Landsman Electrician Radio

‘Great Lakes Takes Off with 22 Players,’ Chicago Tribune, September 28, 1918.

‘Great Lakes Seconds Find It Easy in Defeating Cornell Eleven, 33-3,’ Great Lakes Bulletin, November 4, 1918.

‘Station Machine Which Won Coast-To-Coast Gridiron Championship,’ Great Lakes Recruit, January 1919.

1918 Mare Island Player

The complete roster of the 1918 Mare Island team can be found here. John Q. 'Babe' Adams is the only unknown player from the 1918 Mare Island team.

Adams, John Q. ‘Babe’

Born: Unknown  |  Died: Unknown  |  Conway Hall (HS) or Dickinson  |  On roster for Goat Island, played halfback versus Camp Fremont, and started the 1918 Rose Bowl at left halfback. |  WWI: Pvt. Enlisted April 5, 1918, Discharged February 10, 1919

Conway Hall was a prep school tied to Dickinson College. The school's archives show two students named John Q. Adams attended Conway Hall in the early 1910s. The research indicates that one served in the Army in WWI and the other was a government employee in Montana that was exempted from military service.

‘Marines Will Have Another Strong Team,’ San Francisco Chronicle, September 15, 1918.

‘Marines May be Short-Enders in the Betting,’ San Francisco Chronicle, December 29, 1918.

'Devil Dogs Are Husky,' Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1918.

‘Marines Take 17 to 0 Defeat After Great Fight, Teams Evenly Matched,’ Oakland Tribune, January 2, 1919.

Information on These Players

If you recognize one of these players as your grandfather, second cousin twice removed, or otherwise have information to help identify a player, please use the Comment box below to share the information with all readers or use the Contact Us form to submit your information securely.

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