Ultimate History of Pro Wrestling - A Time Line of Every Major Event in Pro Wrestling History - 1854
The following is taken from Author and Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Historian Karl Stern’s book DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus.
1854:
01-17-1854: Brooklyn, NY: Three Mile House: Attendance: 2,000: Square Side-Hold: Caesar Coit defeated John Mingo 3 falls to 1.
02-08-1854: Henry Stevens, 39 years old, the stage manager of the Bowery Theater in New York died after wrestling with William H. Hamilton. The match was an informal one which began with a discussion of strength between the two and resulted in a challenge to a three-fall wrestling match. It was said they both fell three times together, the final time resulting in a spinal injury to Henry Stevens who died the next day. An inquest was held and the result of the death was ruled accidental. William Hamilton was later reported by the newspapers to have gone “insane” from the death of his friend.
02-15-1854: In Chambersburg, PA, the Chambersburg Whig Newspaper reports that two people have died in the last week from wrestling. One, Henry Stevens, from a broken spine and the other, unnamed, from ruptured intestines. A separate newspaper reports of Edward O’Donnell breaking his ankle and may be “lame for life”, while wrestling and the newspaper warns against the dangers of the sport.
07-28-1854: In Franklin, MI, Smith Akerman, a prize fighter by trade, died following a wrestling match with John Quinlan due to being slammed on his head. A coroner’s inquest ruled the death an accident. The two had engaged in a wrestling match after discussing a recent boxer verses wrestler match where “Morrissey'', the boxer, had lost to a wrestler named “Poole''. Seven days later, at the funeral for Akerman, another fight broke out among the attendees resulting in multiple arrests. Poole was said to have his face painted to hide the bruises from the earlier prize-fight.
1854 (Unspecified): Viro Small, a slave turned wrestler and boxer, is born into slavery in Buford, SC. Following the Civil War he gained his freedom and moved north. He was one of the first African-American wrestlers of renown, wrestling under the name Black Sam. He won championships including the Vermont Collar & Elbow title. He spent about fifteen years (1870-1855) as a boxer and wrestler and was once shot in the neck but survived.
DragonKingKarl Notes: Collar and Elbow bouts initially were governed by unwritten and improvised rules. Jacket’s were usually required and shoes were forbidden. A wrestler had to throw his opponent flat on their back, they had to wear a knit shirt and short coat or jacket, not extending below the hips, with a strong collar and elbow for grasp of the opponent, and thin rubber sandals on the feet. The grip was to be on the collar of his opponent with his right hand, while with his left he must take hold of the elbow (the same “lock up” is still common in pro wrestling today).
