Painesville native Marvin Hawley's one big-league appearance in 1894 only scratches surface (Part 1 of 2)

Jun. 17—Part 1 of a two-part series on Painesville native Marvin Hawley, who made one appearance in Major League Baseball as a pitcher in 1894. Part 2 coming June 18 online and in the June 19 print edition.

What Marvin Hawley accomplished in over nearly five months bridging the summer of 1894 defies all orthodoxy.

Heading into a game May 6 of that year, the Painesville native had never pitched in college.

Four months and 16 days later, though, Hawley found himself on the mound twirling in the big leagues.

It was his only major-league appearance — and less than 10 years later, his life ended before he reached 30.

Hawley, and all that surrounds it before and after, is a cup-of-coffee tale for the ages.

And while, almost 130 years later, some key details are long since lost to time, enough of how Hawley got to MLB and the years that followed is known to highlight just how unlikely — and, ultimately, sad — the whole thing was.

By extension, it's also a Hawley family story as well.

Marvin Hiram Hawley was born June 2, 1875 in Amboy, a hamlet in the Conneaut area.

He was one of 10 children for his father Gideon and mother Sophronia.

Gideon, a native of Monroe, N.Y., about 90 minutes north of New York City, was a noted railroad engineer on the Lake Shore line. Sophronia, nine years Gideon's junior, was from Belle Center in west-central Ohio.

Of Hawley's nine siblings, two died as infants, one of typhoid fever, another died at 15 and another at 22.

Although Hawley was listed as hailing from Conneaut in the 1880 U.S. Census, the second-youngest of six children at the time, the family primarily resided in Painesville from 1862 onward.

The Hawleys occupied several homes in Painesville — one on Washington Street, another on the corner of Courtland and Jackson streets and, finally, one on State Street.

The Painesville-to-Conneaut connection was simple: That was the route for the Lake Shore train Gideon ran starting in 1846.

"The days of the old wood burners were his, and he saw the railroad equipment of pioneer days improved upon from time to time until it approached the high standards of today," the Painesville Telegraph wrote in a Hawley tribute for its Feb. 20, 1912 edition. "And he kept pace with the times.

"His reminisces of early railroad days and ways and of his own experience are most interesting. Every weekday morning for years, he took his engine out of the little engine house down near Chestnut Street and hooked it before the one baggage car and two coaches, comprising the accommodation, which had been switched the night before and left Conneaut on time for Cleveland. The accommodation was one of the fastest trains on the Lake Shore in those days."

Public-school students of the day in the community would attend the old Painesville High School, Harvey's predecessor. Instead, Hawley attended Austinburg Academy, which is today known as Grand River Academy.

Again, due to the long-ago era, very little is known about Hawley's formative years in baseball until he reaches college age. The Telegraph, particularly in the 19th century, was more focused on news and not sports and didn't have a sports-centric page until the 1900s.

In Oberlin College's student newspaper in February 1894, the staff notes: "S.S. Lee, '96, was visited several days of last week by Marvin Hawley, of Austinburg Academy (Ohio), who contemplates entering Oberlin within a short time."

Lee was the incoming captain for Oberlin's baseball team.

As Oberlin began its baseball season in the spring of 1894, Hawley and Lee were now teammates as Hawley had enrolled at the school.

Oberlin went 9-3 through April and May, featuring wins over future Big Ten schools Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan and Purdue.

Hawley was originally projected to be a center fielder for Oberlin, but then came a fateful afternoon on May 5, 1894.

In a 6-2 win over Case, Hawley got the call on the mound. He tossed a complete game, striking out 12.

"Hawley, who was tried for the first time today, pitched a great game, and only in the third inning did the Case men hit him out," the Plain Dealer reported in its May 6, 1894 edition.

Perhaps telling of what was to come, though, Hawley's pitching debut was also marred by four walks and a wild pitch.

One week later, Hawley returned to the mound and led Oberlin past Adelbert, 10-2.

"For Oberlin, Hawley played a brilliant game both in the box and at the bat," the PD wrote May 13, 1894. "In the latter position, he excelled his previous batting record, making a home run and three singles."

Clearly, Hawley was making an impression at a regional level, when it was common for MLB clubs to scout nationally and try out college and semi-pro players without the minor-league ladder of today's game.

Following an 11-5 win over Illinois, the PD recounted: "Hawley was a complete puzzle to the university men, giving them only two single hits."

However ... "His wildness gave them their runs."

Hawley being able to attend a boarding school in Austinburg Academy and, later, Oberlin, was in part thanks to his remarkable father.

In a 1901 Painesville Telegraph story, Gideon was hailed as the "oldest railroad engineer in the United States." At 74, Gideon was still going strong in the 55th year of his chosen profession, 50 of which had been with Lake Shore.

"Hawley's most remarkable feat was performed last fall, just after he passed his 74th birthday," the Telegraph wrote. "Some officials thought Hawley was old enough to retire. The road is very exacting and its requirements in hearing and sight of enginemen and trainmen and the examinations are extremely rigid.

"Hawley was told to report at Buffalo for examination. To the surprise of all, his sight and hearing was as good as could be desired. Not a trace of color blindness or dim vision was found. He read every signal they tried, called every color shown and heard as well as ever."

This longevity was despite one of his older sons, Nye, dying in November 1895 at 22 after having taken up his father's line of work. Nye was killed in a railroading tragedy when he slipped on a rainy day and fell on an active track.

According to an Oberlin alumni directory published in the early 20th century, that partial year was Hawley's only one at the college.

That was in part because of the unusual baseball and life journey on which Hawley was about to embark in the months and years that followed.

That started with the strangest of introductions to the then-Boston Beaneaters of the National League.

In Part 2, Hawley makes it to the big leagues for his one and only appearance.