Stan Pennock
Encyclopedia
Stanley Bagg "Bags" Pennock (June 15, 1892 – November 27, 1916) was an American football
player. He was selected as a first-team All-American at the guard
position three consecutive years while leading Harvard University
to three undefeated seasons from 1912 to 1914. He was killed in 1916 in an explosion at a chemical plant in New Jersey. He was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1954.
, Pennock was the son of John D. Pennock, the general manager of the Solvay Process Company
. He attended the Hackley School
at Tarrytown, New York
, before enrolling at Harvard University.
's undefeated football teams of 1912, 1913, and 1914.
Pennock helped to provide Harvard with one of the most aggressive defenses in Eastern football. During Hardwick's three years as a starter for Harvard, Pennock developed a reputation as "one of the best linemen that ever played under the old or the new rules." Harvard's football team did not lose a single game while Pennock played in its line, compiling records of 9–0 in 1912, 9–0 in 1913, and 7–0–2 in 1914. Harvard was the national football champion in each of Pennock's three seasons, out-scoring the competition, 588-61. In helping Harvard win three straight national championships, Pennock was also selected as a first-team All-American in all three years by Walter Camp
. As a senior in 1914, Pennock was selected as a first-team All-American by 25 of 26 selectors, including Collier's Weekly
(selected by Walter Camp), Vanity Fair
(selected based on the votes of 175 newspapermen), Walter Eckersall
of the Chicago Tribune
, and the New York Herald
.
While attending Harvard, Pennock was also a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity, the Institute of 1779, and the Hasty Pudding Club
.
and Chauncey Loomis
, and formed the LPC Laboratories. Pennock and his partners opened a plant in a one-story building in the Queens section of New York, at which they manufactured chemicals that were selling at high prices due to interruption of imports from Germany during World War I
. The New York plant was destroyed by a fire, and the partners immediately opened a new plant in an abandoned slaughterhouse in Newark, New Jersey
.
, carried his body to the grave at Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse. His fellow lineman Walter Trumbull spoke at the funeral and reflected on Pennock's life:
Following Pennock's death, the Boston Globe published a tribute which included the following observations:
In 1917, Pennock's father presented Harvard with a gift to establish the Stanley Bagg Pennock Scholarship to be awarded to an indigent senior student specializing in chemistry and intending to pursue a career as a chemist.
Pennock was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
as part of its second induction class in 1954.
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...
player. He was selected as a first-team All-American at the guard
Guard (American football)
In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....
position three consecutive years while leading Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to three undefeated seasons from 1912 to 1914. He was killed in 1916 in an explosion at a chemical plant in New Jersey. He was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1954.
Early life
A native of Syracuse, New YorkSyracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, Pennock was the son of John D. Pennock, the general manager of the Solvay Process Company
Solvay Process Company
The Solvay Process Company was a pioneer chemical industry of the United States in the manufacture of soda ash and a major employer in Central New York...
. He attended the Hackley School
Hackley School
Hackley School is a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York and is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1899 by wealthy philanthropist Mrs. Caleb Brewster Hackley, Hackley was intended to be a Unitarian alternative to the mostly Episcopal boarding...
at Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
, before enrolling at Harvard University.
Harvard University
Pennock entered Harvard in 1911 and played on the school's freshman football and track teams. He gained fame as a member of Percy HaughtonPercy Haughton
Percy Duncan Haughton was an American football and baseball player and coach in the United States. He served as head football coach at Cornell University from 1899 to 1900, at Harvard University from 1908 to 1916, and at Columbia University from 1923 to 1924, compiling a career college football...
's undefeated football teams of 1912, 1913, and 1914.
Pennock helped to provide Harvard with one of the most aggressive defenses in Eastern football. During Hardwick's three years as a starter for Harvard, Pennock developed a reputation as "one of the best linemen that ever played under the old or the new rules." Harvard's football team did not lose a single game while Pennock played in its line, compiling records of 9–0 in 1912, 9–0 in 1913, and 7–0–2 in 1914. Harvard was the national football champion in each of Pennock's three seasons, out-scoring the competition, 588-61. In helping Harvard win three straight national championships, Pennock was also selected as a first-team All-American in all three years by Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
. As a senior in 1914, Pennock was selected as a first-team All-American by 25 of 26 selectors, including Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
(selected by Walter Camp), Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (American magazine 1913-1936)
Vanity Fair was an American society magazine published from 1913-1936. It was highly successful until the Great Depression led to it becoming unprofitable, and it was merged into Vogue magazine in 1936.-History:...
(selected based on the votes of 175 newspapermen), Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, and the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
.
While attending Harvard, Pennock was also a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity, the Institute of 1779, and the Hasty Pudding Club
Hasty Pudding Club
The Hasty Pudding Club is a social club for Harvard students. It was founded by Nymphus Hatch, a junior at Harvard College, in 1770. The club is named for the traditional American dish that the founding members ate at their first meeting...
.
Career in chemistry
After graduating from Harvard, Pennock became a chemist. In the fall of 1915, he attended post-graduate courses at Harvard's chemical laboratories. He entered into a business partnership with two other Harvard graduates, James Bryant ConantJames Bryant Conant
James Bryant Conant was a chemist, educational administrator, and government official. As thePresident of Harvard University he reformed it as a research institution.-Biography :...
and Chauncey Loomis
Chauncey Loomis
Chauncey Loomis was an American politician from New York.-Life:Loomis was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1810 and 1811....
, and formed the LPC Laboratories. Pennock and his partners opened a plant in a one-story building in the Queens section of New York, at which they manufactured chemicals that were selling at high prices due to interruption of imports from Germany during 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...
. The New York plant was destroyed by a fire, and the partners immediately opened a new plant in an abandoned slaughterhouse in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
.
Death and tributes
Two weeks after the Newark plant opened, Pennock was killed in an explosion which wrecked the facility. Two other workers were killed in the explosion, which was believed to have been caused by gasoline stored at the plant. At his funeral, six of his Harvard teammates, including his former roommate Charles BrickleyCharles Brickley
Charles Edward Brickley was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the Johns Hopkins University in 1915, at Boston College from 1916 to 1917, and at Fordham University in 1920 with Joseph DuMoe as co-coach, compiling a career college football record of 22–9...
, carried his body to the grave at Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse. His fellow lineman Walter Trumbull spoke at the funeral and reflected on Pennock's life:
"Stan was a true man. He lacked nothing in virtues and he was everything a man should be. When in college we looked to 'Stan' as one to whom we might tell our troubles. We confided everything to him and he was ever able to make us see life in a different light. And Stan was possessed of great abilities. The most striking feature of it all was, that he was unconscious of what he really was. His Christian qualities will always remain in our minds and we will think of him forever as the great friend he was."
Following Pennock's death, the Boston Globe published a tribute which included the following observations:
"'Stan' Pennock always will be remembered not only as one of Harvard's greatest guards, but as one of the highest types of young manhood that ever has been connected with Harvard football. His name will be remembered with those of the late Marshall NewellMarshall NewellMarshall "Ma" Newell was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957.-Early years:...
and Francis BurrFrancis BurrFrancis Hardon Burr was an American football player. He was a first-team All-American end in 1906 and captain of the 1908 Harvard Crimson football team. After he died of typhoid fever in 1910, the Francis H. Burr Award was established in his honor.-Biography:Burr was raised in Brookline,...
. ... Although active in athletics at Harvard and in college days, Stanley Pennock was always a high stand man of his classes."
In 1917, Pennock's father presented Harvard with a gift to establish the Stanley Bagg Pennock Scholarship to be awarded to an indigent senior student specializing in chemistry and intending to pursue a career as a chemist.
Pennock was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
as part of its second induction class in 1954.
See also
- 1912 College Football All-America Team1912 College Football All-America TeamThe 1912 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1912...
- 1913 College Football All-America Team1913 College Football All-America TeamThe 1913 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1913...
- 1914 College Football All-America Team1914 College Football All-America TeamThe 1914 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1914. The organizations that chose the teams included Collier's Weekly selected by Walter Camp...