William McEwen
Biography
McEwen was born to Thomas B. McEwen and Annie Owen in Memphis, TN,1, but moved with his family to Pine Bluff, AR, at some point before 18802. From 1886-1888, McEwen played baseball with a local Pine Bluff team, later heading to Cincinnati to play with an amateur team known as the Indians3. In the fall of 1889, McEwen went to Atlanta, GA, and helped organize a baseball team there. The following year, he played left field for the team.
In 1905, McEwen married Elizabeth Whitelaw in Cleveland, OH1. He lived in Cleveland for most of the year of his life, working as a telegraph operator.
Excerpts
"W. E. McEwen, who cultivates the left field for the [Atlanta] team, is a Memphian by birth, but began his baseball career in Arkansas as a member of the famous Pine Bluff Arkansas Reds. That team floated the state championship pennant in ’86, ’87 and ’88. From Pine Bluff, McEwen went to Cincinnati, where he became a member of the crack amateur team –the Indians. He came to Atlanta last fall, and was one of the organizers of the New Atlantas."3
1. McEwen in the
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes at Ancestry.com
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes at Ancestry.com
2. 1880 U.S. Census
3. Atlanta Constitution, 5/18/1890, p.23