Wayman McCreery

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Historical figure of the sport of billiards
Wayman Crow McCreery
McCreery, circa 1900
McCreery, circa 1900
Born June 14, 1851 (St. Louis, Missouri ) United StatesUnited States
Deceased 1901 (St. Louis, Missouri ) United StatesUnited States
residence St. Louis, Missouri United StatesUnited States
nationality United StatesUnited States United States
job Real estate agent, opera composer, tax collector
Known for Invention of the three- cushion pile-up discipline
Signature (1898)
One of his favorite shots
(from: Championship Billiards. Old and New. By John A. Thatcher, 1898)

Wayman Crow McCreery (born June 14, 1851 in St. Louis , Missouri , USA ; † 1901 , ibid) was an American real estate agent, opera composer and the tax collector of St. Louis. He is credited with inventing the three- cushion pile-up discipline.

biography

His father, Phocian R. McCreery, originally from Kentucky, settled in St. Louis around 1840. His mother was Mary Jane (Hynes) McCreery, daughter of Colonel Andrew Hynes of Tennessee. McCreery's early education was at Washington University in St. Louis until the age of 18, after which he attended the University of Racine, Wisconsin, where he graduated with honors in 1871. Wayman McCreery built a real estate company, initially for 12 years in partnership and then as a sole proprietorship. He was excellent at boxing, fencing, golf, wrestling, and swimming, but he was much more than just an athlete. He set the college record for the longest baseball throw, was an amateur billiards champion, choirmaster of Christ Church Cathedral, a good singer and has composed an opera. He was considered a prominent citizen of St. Louis in the late 1800s and one of the leading billiards amateurs. McCreery is credited with inventing and developing three-cushion billiards as an independent discipline for tournaments and competitions.

The playwright Augustus Thomas "wrote about him in 1922:

“A moving spirit in the McCullough Club — in its organization, its management, and in its active expression — was Wayman McCreery, now dead. I am sure that ten thousand of his surviving contemporaries in the city of St. Louis will remember Wayman McCreery. Few men are so physically and intellectually equipped as he was. There was nothing that an athlete could do with his body that in a notable degree Wayman McCreery could not do. He was boxer, wrestler, fencer, runner, and swimmer, and all-round athlete. In addition to these he was a graceful step dancer. Intellectually he was equipped with a college training and had an interest in everything that interested the intelligent people of his day. He sang well enough to be a leading tenor in a fashionable choir. He wrote music of good quality. He was the author of the opera "L'Afrique," which was first done by amateurs in St. Louis and subsequently produced in New York, although with not very great success, by Jesse Williams. McCreery will be remembered by the sporting world as the inventor of the three cushion game of billiards, of which he was at one time the national champion. As Hugh Chalcot in Robertson's comedy "Ours" it would have taken a professional to equal him. Another part of McCreery's was Captain Hawtree in "Caste," by the same author. ”

“A moving spirit in the McCullough Club - in its organization, management and active expression - was Wayman McCreery, who has now passed away. I am sure that tens of thousands of his surviving contemporaries in the city of St. Louis will remember Wayman McCreery. Few men are as physically and mentally equipped as he is. There was nothing an athlete could do with his body that Wayman McCreery could not do in a remarkable way. He was a boxer, wrestler, fencer, runner, swimmer and all-round athlete. In addition, he was a graceful step dancer. Intellectually, he was college educated and had an interest in anything that interested the intelligent people of his day. He sang well enough to be a leading tenor in a modern choir. He wrote good quality music. He was the author of the opera "L'Afrique", which was first produced by amateurs in St. Louis and later in New York, albeit with little success, by Jesse Williams. McCreery will be remembered by the sports world as the inventor of the three-cushion game, of which he was once national champion. Like Hugh Chalcot in Robertson's comedy Ours, it would have taken a professional to match him. Another piece by McCreery was Captain Hawtree in "Caste" by the same author. "

- Augustus Thomas : C. Scribner's Sons

Player career

The world's very first three-band tournament took place from January 14th to 31st, 1878 in "CE Mussey's Room" in St. Louis, McCreery was one of the sponsors, he was also a participant, but only came second to last, won by Leon Magnus from New York . The highest series (HS) for the tournament was only 6 points and the general average (GD) was 0.75. In a challenge match to 50 points for $ 200 on February 2, 1882 in St. Louis, he beat Magnus 50:31. His GD was 0.940. In 1899 he set the series record of 139 in a championship game on 400 in Cadre 35/2. McCreery won the Missouri Amateur Championship four times in a row. He made a run of 336 in the free game ; 54 in cover and 14 in three-volume. According to the 51-time world champion in three billiard disciplines Willie Hoppe : "McCreery was one of the best performers in the free game in the country."

In February 1899 McCreery competed against Martin Mullen and Wilson P. Foss in the "Class A Amateur Championship of America" ​​in Cadre 35/2 of the "American Athletic Union", which took place in the New York Knickerbocker Club . The Brooklyn Daily Eagle described the three as "undoubtedly the best amateurs in the country". There McCreery set two amateur world records: the first for an HS of 139 points and the second for maintaining a point average of 13.33 when playing on 400 points. McCreery's three-cushion successes include: 50 points in 53 shots; a 15-point match in 2 shots; a 10 point match in 1 shot from the start; and a high streak of 14.

job

After graduating, McCreery went abroad for about a year, returning to St. Louis to work in his father's haberdashery and dry goods business (Crow, McCreery & Company) for three years. After investing his share of the profits in real estate, he opened the real estate company "McCreery & Towers" with his partner James Towers. This was at 705 Pine Street . After 12 years Towers left the joint company and McCreery continued to run it alone. He was well respected in his field and McCreery's name has been associated with some of the finest buildings in town. His company became a driving force behind the construction of numerous office and public buildings that spurred the development of the city in the late 19th century. McCreery was surveyed by major investors about the best prospects for real estate investing in the city of St. Louis. Shortly after McCreery was appointed tax collector from the Port of St. Louis in 1897, he was described as "probably the most accomplished official in the service of government." McCreery was the managing director and treasurer of the Security Building Company in St. Louis.

Compositions

McCreery composed a Te Deum Laudamus and the music for the libretto "L'Afrique", also known under the name "The Tale of the Dark Continent".

Private

McCreery married Mary Louisa Carr, daughter of Dabney Carr and granddaughter of Judge William Carr, in 1875. They had three daughters (Mary Louisa, Christine, Wayman) and one son (Andrew) together. He has received many awards in social life. He was a member and chairman of the entertainment committee of the “St. Louis Clubs ”, prominent in the Country Club, secretary of the“ Noonday Club ”, a genius of the University Club and president of the“ St. Louis Cricket Clubs ”. He was a leader in all major St. Louis social events. McCreery was related to the prominent St. Louis Laclede and Chouteau families. McCreery died playing golf at the age of 50.

Others

The American billiards patron and billionaire Robert Mercer hosted the McCreery Three Cushion Champion of Champions in his honor for the first time in 2018 . For this purpose, he had extra event rooms built in his private home. The best three-cushion players in the world rankings and three-cushion old master Raymond Ceulemans were invited . After the Crystal Kelly tournament by the Dutch millionaire and billiard patron Joop van Oosterom , it was the most highly endowed tournament in the history of carom billiards .

See also

Web links

Commons : Wayman McCreery  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wayman McCreery's US passport application, issued May 30, 1895. Retrieved from Ancestry.com on June 2, 2009.
  2. ↑ a b Editor: Killed By Too Much Golf . Dr. Bernays of St. Louis Says Overindulgence in Game Caused Wayman McCreery's Death. Ed .: The New York Times. New York City, USA July 31, 1901 (English, nytimes.com [accessed July 2, 2009]).
  3. ↑ Michael Ian Shamos: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards . Ed .: Lyons & Burford. New York City, USA 1993, ISBN 1-55821-219-1 , pp. 244 (English, archive.org [accessed July 2, 2009]).
  4. ^ A b Augustus Thomas: The Print of My Remembrance . Ed .: C. Scribner's Sons. New York, London 1922, pp. 117 (English).
  5. ↑ a b c d Editor: Champions at Billiards . Three Noted Amateurs to Compete in the Tournament at the Knickerbocker Athletic Club. In: Brooklyn Daily Eagle . New York February 12, 1899, p. 9 (English, newspapers.com [accessed July 2, 2009]).
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Wayman C. Mccreery. (No longer available online.) Mccreerychampionofchampions.com, August 2018, archived from the original on November 16, 2019 ; accessed on November 16, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b Editor: At Home and Abroad . In: Saturday Evening News . January 2, 1897, p. 1 (English).
  8. ^ Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company: Modern Billiards . Ed .: Trow Directory. New York City 1904, p. 309 (English, first edition: Princeton University).
  9. ^ Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company: Modern Billiards . Ed .: Trow Directory. New York City 1904, p. 313 (English, first edition: Princeton University).
  10. ↑ Willie Hoppe Dead . Master of Billiards. In: The New York Times (ed.): United Press International . New York City February 2, 1959, p.  1 (English, nytimes.com [PDF; accessed July 2, 2009]).
  11. ^ Willie Hoppe: Hoppe recalls game With Sutton in Plea for Three-Night Contest . Editor: Indianapolis Star. March 27, 1910, p. 2 (English).
  12. ↑ Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Ed.): Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac . New York 1900, Billiards-Records, pp. 132-133 ( Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac in Google Book Search).
  13. ↑ a b Wayman C. McCreery, 1851-1901. One of the Founding Fathers of Three-Cushion Billiards. (No longer available online.) Waymanmccreery.com, 2018, archived from the original on August 30, 2018 ; accessed on November 16, 2019 .
  14. ^ A b c d Filip Steurs: McCreery & Three cushion billiards. (No longer available online.) BC Dedeken, August 9, 2015, archived from the original on October 10, 2019 ; accessed on November 16, 2019 .
  15. ^ Walter Barlow Stevens: Centennial history of Missouri . (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921. Ed .: SJ Clarke publishing company. tape IV . St. Louis 1921, p. 878 ( Centennial history of Missouri in Google book search).
  16. ^ Francis Asbury Sampson, Floyd Calvin Shoemaker: Missouri Historical Review . Ed .: State Historical Society of Missouri. No. 17 . St. Louis 1923, p. 152, 154 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
personal data
SURNAME McCreery, Wayman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McCreery, Wayman Crow (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American real estate agent and opera composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1851
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri , USA
DATE OF DEATH 1901
Place of death St. Louis , Missouri , USA