Charles Bemies
Encyclopedia
Charles Otis Bemies was an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 coach and Presbyterian minister. He became acquainted with James Naismith
James Naismith
The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...

 while studying at Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...

 (then known as the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School) in the late 1880s. While serving as the athletic director at Geneva College
Geneva College
Geneva College is a Christian liberal arts college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergraduates in...

, he organized the first college basketball team in 1892. He graduated from the Western Theological Seminary and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1897. From 1899 to 1901, he served as the first basketball and second football coach at Michigan Agricultural College (now known as Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

). After retiring from coaching, Bemies served for many years as a Presbyterian minister and evangelist in rural Pennsylvania. He was also active with the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

, serving with that organization in Russia in 1918 and in South Dakota in the early 1920s. Bemies lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 in his later years and died there in 1948. He was posthumously inducted into the Beaver County Hall of Fame in 1992.

Early years

Bemies was born in Vermont in 1867. His father, James Otis Bemies, was a tinsmith who was born in Maine. His mother, Ellen Medora (Brigham) Bemies, was a native of Vermont. At the time of the 1870 United States Census, Bemies was living in Randolph, Vermont
Randolph, Vermont
Randolph is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,853 at the 2000 census, making Randolph the largest town in Orange County. The town is a commercial center for many of the smaller, rural farming communities that surround it....

 with his parents and an older brother, William H. Bemies (age 5). At the time of the 1880 United States Census, Bemies was living in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

 with his parents and two brothers, William H. Bemies (age 16) and James F. Bemies (age 7).

Early YMCA work and Springfield College

Bemies became involved in the work of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 early in his life. He worked for the YMCA in Burlington, Iowa
Burlington, Iowa
Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...

 for two years. In the late 1880s, he attended the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School (now known as Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...

) in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

. While studying at Springfield, Bemies became acquainted with James Naismith
James Naismith
The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...

, the inventor of basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, who was a physical education teacher at the school. Some accounts state that Bemies was a protege of Naismith while at Springfield. One biographical account indicates that Bemies was also a teacher at the YMCA College in Springfield for one year.

Geneva College

In 1889, Bemies accepted a position as the athletic director and head of the Department of Physical Culture at Geneva College
Geneva College
Geneva College is a Christian liberal arts college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergraduates in...

, a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

 college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 in Beaver Falls
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,987 at the 2010 census. It is located 31 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, and on the Beaver River, six miles from its confluence with the Ohio River...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, north of Pittsburgh. He held that position from 1889 to 1894. In 1889, he organized the school's Athletic Association. He also organized a YMCA program at Geneva. As one book notes, "In the fall of 1890, Prof. Bemies organized a 'Young Men's Christian Association,' which continues as an educative factor in the religious life of students."

Bemies organized the football program at Geneva College in 1890 and served as the coach, captain and a player at the halfback and center positions from 1890 to 1893. The Geneva College football team played only one game in 1890, losing to the University of Pittsburgh by a score of 10 to 4. In 1891, Bemies led the team to an expanded six-game schedule in which the "Covies" (as the team was known at the time) compiled a 4-2 record and outscored opponents by a cumulative total of 126 to 78. In 1892, Bemies led the team to a 3-3 record. He led the team again in 1893 to a record of 3-2. During his four years with the program, the Geneva College football team compiled an overall record of 10-8.

Bemies is best known for his role as a pioneer of college basketball. In 1892, after witnessing an exhibition basketball game arranged by Naismith in Springfield, Bemies formed the first college basketball team at Geneva College. Under Bemies' guidance, Geneva College became the first college in the United States to field a basketball team. Interviewed in 2010, Ian Naismith, a basketball historian and the grandson of the sport's inventor, sought to settle disputing claims as to which college was the first to introduce basketball. Naismith said, "My grandfather considered Geneva to be the birthplace of college basketball, and how can anybody argue with him? If you say anything differently, you're calling my grandfather, my father, and me, liars."

Records are inconsistent as to the date of the first Geneva College basketball game. One account indicates that Bemies staged basketball games at Geneva "in the early months of 1892." Another account suggests that a report on gymnasium football in the February 1892 edition of the college newspaper, the Geneva Cabinet, may refer to the newly developed game of basketball. The newspaper account from February 1892 reported: "Football in the gym is a popular mode of exercise at present. Some severe knocks are received, but in the excitement, they are hardly noticed." In December 1892, the same newspaper reported: "Basketball is quite a go in the gym now. It suits very well to take the place of football for those who love a rough and tumble game." Several sources are in agreement that, in April 1893, Geneva's basketball team played a game against a YMCA team from nearby Brighton, Pennsylvania. According to the college's current web site, "Geneva first played in collegiate competition on April 8, 1893 using peach baskets as goals, defeating the New Brighton YMCA 3 - 0." However, a history of the college published in 1908 notes that, "Basket Ball was not introduced by a regularly organized team until the fall of 1897." In a 1972 article, J. Vale Downie wrote that "interest in the game lapsed with the departure of Professor Bemies," and it was not until 1897 the sport was revived at Geneva.

Bemies was trained as gymnast and also instructed Geneva College students in fencing, boxing and wrestling. He also played at first base for Geneva's baseball team in 1892. In an 1892 report, Geneva's Board of Trustees wrote of Bemies:
"Strong inducements to leave us have been held out to Prof. O.C. [sic] Bemies of the department of physical culture. The Board could ill afford to keep him; and still less could it afford to lose him. He is a master in the work of physical culture, and has far greater worth, to us, for the culture of the soul. Prof. Bemies is a thoroughly conscientious and consistent Christian, outspoken in his opposition to dancing, card playing, theater going, tobacco using, and all such degrading and demoralizing habits, which are so ensnaring to students. Arrangements have been made by which he will be with us next year."

Western Theological Seminary

After leaving Geneva College, Bemies enrolled at the Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Allegheny City was a Pennsylvania municipality located on the north side of the junction of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, across from downtown Pittsburgh. It was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907...

. He graduated in 1897 and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister that same year. Bemies also studied at The Graduate Divinity School at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

.

Michigan Agricultural College

Bemies served as the second head football coach (and first professional football coach) at Michigan Agricultural College, now known as Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

, from 1899 to 1900, compiling a record of 3–10–1. According to one account, "When Michigan State began playing football in 1896, the game was considered such a rowdy affair that the college fathers demanded that a minister handle the team to keep it within decent bounds. Thus the Rev. Charles O. Bemies became the school's first coach."

Bemies was also the first head basketball coach at Michigan Agricultural from 1899 to 1901, tallying a mark of 5–2, and the head coach of Michigan Agricultural's baseball team from 1900 to 1901, where his record was 4–10. According to one history of Michigan State University, Bemies was asked to resign after the poor showing of the football team in 1900: "The football team's poor performance in 1900, which ended with a 23-0 defeat by Alma, led the athletic association to ask for Bemies's resignation. Although the players saw Bemies as a 'good man,' they refused to play for him after the season ended."

Pastor and evangelist

After retiring from coaching, Bemies worked for two years as a country pastor in western Pennsylvania. He next served for 16 years as the pastor of the Presbyterian church in McClellandtown, Pennsylvania
McClellandtown, Pennsylvania
McClellandtown is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The village was founded by a family of that name, who lived there many years ago. William McClelland, the founder, died there July 12, 1815, in the eighty-second year of his age...

, a rural community located about 75 miles south of Pittsburgh. He remained at McClellandtown until the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, when he left to serve as a chaplain. He also became prominent in Prohibition politics and briefly entered the newspaper business. One of his efforts as the pastor in McClellandtown was the construction of the "Brotherhood Building," a 72' by 42' structure including a gymnasium where the local boys played basketball, a kitchen, and an auditorium. In 1913, Bemies wrote an article on his experiences as a rural pastor that was published in a magazine called "Rural Manhood." He also wrote articles promoting issues such as good roads, better schools and scientific agriculture as means to promote the advancement of rural life.

In 1909, his presbytery
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...

 sought to remove Bemies from his position at the church in McClellandtown, but he continued to serve when his congregation refused to accept any other pastor. Bemies later wrote about the circumstances leading to the attempt to remove him as pastor:
"Our greatest drawback in the church work was the presence of several exceedingly active gossips and trouble makers. After four years of patient endurance the success of the work demanded that the practice stop, so we were forced to suspend a sister who was addicted to the habit. She immediately gathered on her side the other trouble makers, including the church boss and a few relatives and hangers-on, both in and out of the church. A majority leaders of Presbytery secured enough votes to forcibly remove me by vote from the official pastorate of the church against the unanimous vote and the protest of the congregation upholding me. It made no difference with the work, for I went right on just the same as before under the employment of the church as their supply."


During the 1910s, he also worked as an evangelist in various locations in Pennsylvania.

Europe and South Dakota

In December 1917, Bemies was appointed to a YMCA commission to Russia as "an ambassador of American country life to the new republic." In a passport application dated December 21, 1917, Bemies wrote that the purpose of his trip was "YMCA Work" and that he would be traveling to "Russia entering Russia at Vladivostock
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...

 and passing through Japan."

Bemies remained in Europe from 1918 to 1919 where he was involved in war reconstruction work. He was also a field lecturer at the A.E.F. University in Beaune
Beaune
Beaune is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Cote d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Paris and Geneva.Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France and the annual wine auction of the Hospices de Beaune is the primary wine auction in France...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

After World War I, Bemies moved to South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

 where he continued his work with the YMCA and as a clergyman. While living in South Dakota, Bemies also held the position of State Survey Supervisor for the Interchurch World Movement.

Family and later years

Bemies was married to Lina Stracke (born 1863 in Iowa) in May 1891. They had two sons, Carl Louis Bemies (1892–1966) and Clifton S. Bemies (born May 1899). At the time of the 1900 United States Census, Bemies was living with his wife and sons in Meridian, Michigan
Meridian Charter Township, Michigan
Meridian Charter Township is a charter township of Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census the township had a population of 39,688. Meridian Township is the local government unit that includes the unincorporated communities and census-designated places of Okemos and...

, near East Lansing
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...

.

At the time of the 1910 United States Census, Bemies was living with his wife, Lina, and two sons in German Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Bemies' first wife, Lina, died in 1913.

In May 1918, Bemies met Madeleine Suzanne Lévy while in France. Madeleine was born in France in 1895, and they were married in France in October 1918. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, Bemies was living in Brookings, South Dakota
Brookings, South Dakota
Brookings is a city in Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. Brookings is the fourth largest city in South Dakota, with a population of 22,056 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brookings County, and home to South Dakota State University, the largest institution of higher...

 with Madeleine and his two sons from his first marriage.

At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Bemies was living with his wife, Madeleine, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

, and his occupation was recorded as Presbyterian minister.

Bemies died in August 1948 after a short illness at the Minneapolis General Hospital in Hennepin County, Minnesota
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...

.

Bemies was posthumously inducted into the Beaver County Hall of Fame in 1992.

Football

External links

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