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Ulysses Freeman Doubleday
Ulysses Freeman Doubleday
was born on
December 15, 1792 in New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York. He was the son of Abner (born:
February 3, 1757, died: December
28, 1812) and Mercy Freeman
Doubleday (born: November 10, 1762,
died: December 20, 1817).
His father Abner fought in the American
Revolutionary War at Bunker Hill and
Stoney
Point. Abner also fought under General
George Washington at Valley Forge.
Ulysses had limited education but later
learned the trade of printing. He was an
apprentice printer at Thurlow Weed in Cooperstown, NY
in 1809. He later became a journeyman
printer while in
Utica and Albany, NY.
He served in the War of 1812 at Sackets Harbor.
Sackets Harbor
was the United
States’
largest naval port at that time.
Ulysses married Hester Donnelly on October
10, 1814 in Newburgh,
NY.
Hester was born on August 30, 1788 in Tarry town, NY. They had eight children, of whom four
survived into adulthood.
Ulysses published a number of journals and
newspapers as a printer. He established
and edited the Saratoga Courier from
1816-1818 in Ballston Spa,
NY.
He also published and edited the Cayuga
Patriot from 1818-1819 and the Gospel
Advocate from 1828 to 1831 in Auburn, NY.
He became a Jacksonian Democrat and was
elected to the 22nd Congress as a U.S. Representative for New York from
March 4,
1831 to March 3, 1833. He was then
elected to the 24th Congress from March 4, 1835 to March 3,
1837. In between those times, he was an
inspector at Auburn Prison in 1834.
After his time as a U.S. Representative,
Ulysses lost his fortunes in the Stock Market Crash of 1837. He and his family moved to Scipio, Cayuga County, NY
where he became a farmer. The
Doubleday’s then moved to New
York City, where Ulysses and his brother Elisha
opened a
stationery store on John
Street.
On retirement, Ulysses and Hester moved to
Bloomington, Illinois with his daughter Amanda
Doubleday
Eddy and her family. Amanda was the wife
of Reverend Herman James Eddy, who became the pastor of 1st Baptist Church
in Bloomington
in 1856.
After living in Bloomington
for just three years, Hester died
on November 4, 1859. Ulysses followed
her in death on March 19, 1866. Both are
buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery
in Bloomington, IL.
The following is a brief description of
Ulysses and Hester’s children.
Colonel Thomas Donnelly
Doubleday-
born February 18, 1816 in Albany,
NY.
He served in the American Civil War as the
colonel of the 4th New York Artillery. He
died on May 10, 1864 in New
York City after having been run over by
an omnibus.
Ruth Maria Doubleday- born January 28, 1817
Major General Abner
Doubleday- born June 26, 1819 in Ballston Spa, NY. He
is the most famous of Ulysses and Hester’s
children. He was a West
Point graduate in 1842 and served in the Mexican and
Seminole
Wars. He
was appointed Major
General of volunteers in 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg during the
Civil
War. He is also credited with having
invented the modern game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York
in 1839, which is a
highly contested fact. A 1905 commission
was convened to determine whether or not this fact was true. In 1907, the commission came to the
conclusion that Abner had indeed created baseball based on the
testimony of a
childhood friend, Abner Graves, and the finding of the “Doubleday
Baseball,”
which was believed to have been the first baseball used at the first
baseball
game. Abner died on January 26, 1893 and
is buried in Arlington National Cemetery
in Arlington, Virginia.
William James Doubleday- born September 1821 and
died on
October 12, 1822 in Auburn,
NY.
Amanda Doubleday Eddy- born on January 19,
1823 and died
on January 29, 1892 in Auburn,
NY.
Lieutenant Ulysses
Doubleday-
born on August 31, 1824 in Auburn,
NY.
He served in Company H of the 121st
New York Infantry during the Civil War.
He died on February 11, 1893 in Tryon, North Carolina.
Hester Elizabeth Doubleday- born May 1827 and died
on December
12, 1830 in Auburn,
NY.
Jane Ann Doubleday- born March 5, 1830 and
died on
June 12, 1843 in Auburn,
NY.
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