Ultimate History of Pro Wrestling - A Time Line of Every Major Event in Pro Wrestling History - 1856
The following is taken from Author and Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Historian Karl Stern’s book DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus.
1856:
01-17-1856: The Brooklyn Eagle newspaper reports of a brutal match which took place on Warner Street in New York in front of “hundreds” of spectators. Richard Riley fought James Hacking to a draw. After the match it was said that Hacking’s body was virtually ripped to shreds with strips of skin hanging off his body and he was covered in blood. The match is said to have lasted over an hour. There was also gambling involved in the spectacle and the newspaper stated that, “this work is carried on in the outskirts of Accrinton every Sunday to a great extent.”
02-24-1856: Clarence Whistler was born in Delphi, IN.
03-04-1856: In Richford, VT at a town exhibition, wrestler Eliphalet Dufur defeats his sons in exhibition matches - Noah, John, and David, but had a difficult time throwing his thirteen year old youngest son Henry Moses “H.M.” Dufur, who later becomes one of the most successful wrestlers of the 1800s. H.M. Dufur supposedly recorded 127 consecutive wins at one point in his career.
03-12-1856: Duncan C. Ross was born.
03-26-1856: Newspapers in several towns run a similar story that a “sporting mania” has taken over Oshkosh, WI with the centerpiece being wrestling. The matches are taking place up to four times a day at Mark’s Hall and admittance is twelve and a half cents.
09-06-1856: It was reported that at Cox’s Mill, VA, Benjamin Spain died while wrestling Thomas Lee. It was reported that while straining, Spain was supposed to have burst a blood vessel and died.
