Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 19:36:52 -0500

From: Gerald Cohen gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU

Subject: "Mudville" update



With Stockton, California (aka Mudville in the 19th century) holding an

undisputed lead as the inspiration for Ernest Thayer's "Mudville" in his

famous poem "Casey at the Bat," I telephoned the Massachusetts Historical

Society (ll54 Boylston St., Boston MA 02205; 6l7-536-l608) to see if a

Mudville might also have existed in Massachusetts.



The result of the call: thus far no evidence has emerged that a

Mudville existed in Massachusetts, although a definitive statement to this

effect would require a search of all local sources. The ball now is in the

court of whoever may believe that a Mudville did exist in Massachusetts.

Where is the source to verify this belief?



I am grateful to Jennifer Tolpa (Reference Librarian at the Mass. Hist.

Soc.) for checking various sources:

1) _Massachusetts Encyclopedia Geographical, Geological, Historical and

Topographical_, by Abraham Paluba. (evidently no date is given)

2) various gazeteers

3) _Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities and Towns in

Massachusetts_, by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1975 edition. This

book lists towns both present and past.

4) a few histories of the state (Ms. Tolpa checked the indexes), e.g. A.B.

Hart's _Commonwealth History of Massachusetts_, 5 vols. (NY: Russell &

Russell). 1966.



None of the above sources mentions a Mudville. Barring any surprises,

this message now concludes the search. On 12/19/97 Mr. Smith (Boston

Globe) e-mailed me: "Thanks for the often-fascinaing info. Stockton is

indeed looking strong...."



My only request to Mr. Smith is that he let me know if he writes up

anything on Mudville; I would of course want to share it with the ads-l

subscribers.



--Gerald Cohen



gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu