House of David Game Used Autographed Baseball (1938)
The House of David baseball team was sponsored by the House of David religious order from Benton Harbor, Michigan. The House of David baseball team started barnstorming in 1915 and continued to tour until 1957. Over the years they were one of the top, if not the biggest, draw in barnstorming baseball for most of their career. They were a frequent opponent of Negro League teams. The Kansas City Monarchs and Harlem Globetrotters baseball teams toured with the House of David on a regular basis.
One of the main problems in researching the House of David baseball team was that there were always several different teams and groups using the House of David name. The one common characteristic of all the House of David baseball teams was that all the players played in full beards.
House of David Baseball Team
This Professional Model baseball was autographed by members of Louis Murphy’s House of David team. Murphy’s team was not authorized by the House of David religious community in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Louis Murphy had been a member of the original House of David baseball team, but he broke with the Benton Harbor group to form his own team.
This autographed baseball is from Louis Murphy’s House of David team from the 1938 season. It is autographed by the following ten players:
Harold Bennett Matt Ramsey
Surge Downing Milton “Rags” Rangnow (team captain)
Buster Kenny Howard “Shad” Shadowen
Louis Murphy (owner) Henry “Zip” Sloan
Buddy Popowski Vann Varanere
Center for Negro League Baseball Research
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