Early years Born in
Clintonville, New York, Brush was orphaned at four years old and was raised by his grandfather until he left to enter business college at age 17. During the
Civil War, Brush enlisted in the First New York Artillery in 1863 and served as a
private in Company K. After the war's end, he went into business running clothing stores in
Albany,
Troy and
Lockport, New York. He moved to
Indianapolis in 1875, eventually opening a department store, and became involved in local baseball as a means of promoting his store. He built a
ballpark in 1882, and it became home to the
Indianapolis Hoosiers of the
American Association for their only major league season in 1884; they played in the
Western League before that circuit folded after the 1885 campaign.
Franchise ownerships When the
National League (NL) put the
St. Louis Maroons franchise up for sale after the 1886 season, Brush bought it and relocated the team to Indianapolis. The team was renamed as the
Indianapolis Hoosiers, and competed in the NL for three seasons (1887–1889). Brush renovated his ballpark, adding a special celebrity box which attracted such figures as President
Benjamin Harrison, poet
James Whitcomb Riley, and future novelist
Booth Tarkington. In 1888, he offered a tryout to
Bud Fowler, but ultimately decided not to challenge the sport's
color line. Also in 1898, a proposal from Brush (variously referred to as the "Brush act", "Brush law", or "Brush rule") was adopted by the National League to ban "obscene, indecent, or vulgar language" during any game, with punishment being a suspension of the offender, potentially for life, depending on circumstances. The effort was unsuccessful and was considered a failure. Brush also devised a salary scale system which was designed to curtail player salaries, a move which helped contribute to the breakaway
Players' League in 1890. When the Indianapolis team folded after the 1889 season, Brush was compensated with $67,000 and a share of the
New York Giants franchise, along with a promise of the next available team; he quickly acquired the
Cincinnati Reds club after its financial collapse during the three-league competition of 1890. Instead of relocating, he kept the team in
Cincinnati, and survived a challenge from a short-lived American Association competitor, the
Cincinnati Kelly's Killers. Brush frequently was at odds with sportswriter
Ban Johnson of the city's
Commercial Gazette, and in an attempt to reduce the writer's local influence he helped Johnson become president of the re-formed Western League—a move which eventually backfired when the league achieved major status as the
American League (AL) in 1901, with Johnson remaining as president. As chairman of the NL's executive committee, Brush took a lead role in combating the AL, joining with Giants majority owner
Andrew Freedman to sabotage the AL's
Baltimore club by offering the managing jobs of the New York and Cincinnati teams to
John McGraw and
Joe Kelley respectively; Baltimore was forced to relocate to New York after 1902, eventually becoming the
New York Yankees. The acrimony also contributed to controversy in the selection of a new NL president in 1902, as the Giants supported incumbent president
Nicholas Young against
Albert Spalding, who favored better relations with the AL; in the deadlock, both candidates were forced to withdraw, with
Harry Pulliam being selected as a compromise choice. In August 1902, Brush sold his interest in the Reds to a group headed by
August "Garry" Herrmann, for $180,000. At the end of September, Freedman left baseball, with Brush taking over as majority owner and team president of the Giants. When the Giants won the 1904 NL pennant, Brush refused to allow the team to meet Boston's defending champions (then known as the
Boston Americans) in a
1904 World Series, due to his animosity toward Johnson; a permanent agreement between the leagues was eventually made after meeting some of Brush's conditions, and the Giants won the
1905 World Series against the
Philadelphia Athletics.
Later years Brush's health deteriorated quickly after becoming majority owner in 1902, as he suffered from
locomotor ataxia, a nervous system affliction, as well as
rheumatism. The Giants won another pennant in 1911, losing that season's
World Series, the same year in which he oversaw the reconstruction of the
Polo Grounds. After the team repeated as NL champions the following season, Brush attended games of the
1912 World Series. The Giants were again defeated, and his failing health was apparent, particularly in the aftermath of an auto accident that September 11 in which his car was struck by a truck and overturned, causing two broken ribs. After the Series he left by train to recuperate in
California, but died in the early hours of November 26 in his private
railroad car near
Louisiana, Missouri. His railroad car was detached and rerouted to
St. Louis, and his body was returned to Indianapolis. His funeral was held at St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, with accompanying
Masonic rites. He was succeeded as Giants president by his son-in-law,
Harry Hempstead. In 1913, the Giants organization constructed a stairway from the ticket booths on
Coogan's Bluff to the Polo Grounds below, and presented it to the City of New York in honor of its late owner. The John T. Brush Stairway still stands, and was restored by the city in 2013. ==Sources==