Doubleday, Abner
(1819-1893). Doubleday was International Vice-President of the Theosophical Society (TS) (1880-8), and was interim President January 17 to February 1879. He was born June 26, 1819, at Ballston Spa, New York. Doubleday graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1842; achieved the rank of Major-General in the army and served at Gettysburg. Doubleday met Henry S. OLCOTT when he was President of a United States military tribunal at which Olcott was prosecutor and as a result joined the TS on June 30, 1878. He was a dedicated worker for the TS and a supporter of the founders. Doubleday has been considered the “father” of modern baseball, although there is no evidence to support that claim. There is little doubt that he did much to popularize the game at the military establishment at Cooperstown, N.Y. where a centenary shrine was erected to commemorate the event, and it may be this memorial which gave rise to the claim.
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