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Notable people · Sports

Branch Rickey

Scioto County farm boy and Ohio Wesleyan graduate who built baseball's farm system with the Cardinals and, as Brooklyn Dodgers president, signed Jackie Robinson to break the major league color line.

Born December 20, 1881, family farm in Madison Township, near Stockdale (often given as Stockdale, Pike County, or Lucasville)
Died December 9, 1965, Columbia (Boone County Memorial Hospital), MO

Branch Rickey
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
December 20, 1881, family farm in Madison Township, near Stockdale (often given as Stockdale, Pike County, or Lucasville) (Scioto County) source
Died
December 9, 1965, Columbia (Boone County Memorial Hospital), MO source
Buried
Rush Township Cemetery (Rush Township Burial Park), Rushtown; Section 5E, Row 8, Lot 8 (Scioto County) source
Also known as
Branch Rickey, The Mahatma
Education
Valley High School, Lucasville, OH, to 1899
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH, B.A.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, LL.B.
Known as
Sports
Organizations
Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Ohio Wesleyan University

Life story

Branch Rickey was born December 20, 1881, to Jacob Frank Rickey and Emily Brown. Wikipedia gives Portsmouth, Ohio as his birthplace, while the Hall of Fame and local accounts point to Lucasville or Stockdale. He graduated from Valley High School in Lucasville in 1899 and then attended Ohio Wesleyan University, earning a B.A.; he later took a law degree at Michigan.

He played in the majors from 1905, managed and ran the St. Louis Browns from 1913, and in 1917 joined the St. Louis Cardinals as president and business manager. His farm-system model helped the Cardinals win their first World Series in 1926.

On August 28, 1945, as head of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he signed Jackie Robinson. In 1959 he became president of the Continental League. He collapsed during a speech in Columbia, Missouri, on November 13, 1965, and died December 9. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967.

Ohio ties

  • Madison Township (near Stockdale) (1881)
    birthplace on his father's farm Scioto County · source
  • Duck Run, Rush Township (Rushtown) (1880s-1900s)
    boyhood home with brothers Orla and Frank Scioto County · source
  • Lucasville (to 1899, 1906)
    grade school and Valley High School (graduated 1899); taught at a local grade school; married Jane Moulton here in June 1906; member of Lucasville Masonic Lodge #465 Scioto County · source
  • Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware (1901-1904, about 1906-1907)
    student, catcher, student-coach and athletic director; 1904 graduate; later lifetime trustee Delaware County · source
  • Shelby (1902)
    played professional football for the Shelby Blues of the Ohio League alongside Charles Follis Richland County · source
  • Cincinnati (1904)
    his contract was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds late in the 1904 season Hamilton County · source
  • Rushtown (1965-present)
    grave in Rush Township Cemetery, beside his wife Jane Scioto County · source

Timeline

  1. 1881 Born December 20 on his family's farm in southern Ohio, son of Jacob Franklin and Emily Brown Rickey. source
  2. 1899 Graduated from Valley High School in Lucasville. source
  3. 1902 Played professional football for the Shelby Blues while a student at Ohio Wesleyan. source
  4. 1903 Began coaching the Ohio Wesleyan baseball team as a student; on a trip to play Notre Dame a South Bend hotel refused a room to his Black catcher, Charles Thomas. source
  5. 1904 Graduated from Ohio Wesleyan; his 14-win team set a school record that stood 81 years; the Cincinnati Reds bought his contract late in the season. source
  6. 1905 Made his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns on June 16. source
  7. 1906 Married Jane Moulton in Lucasville in June. source
  8. 1911 Graduated from the University of Michigan law school after coaching its baseball team. source
  9. 1913 Became field manager of the St. Louis Browns. source
  10. 1917 Became president of the St. Louis Cardinals, where he went on to build baseball's first large farm system. source
  11. 1942 Was named general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 29. source
  12. 1945 Signed Jackie Robinson to a minor league contract on August 28. source
  13. 1947 Brought Robinson to the Dodgers, breaking the major league color barrier. source
  14. 1950 Left Brooklyn to become general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, serving through 1955. source
  15. 1960 His proposed Continental League collapsed after the American and National leagues committed to expansion. source
  16. 1965 Collapsed during a speech in Columbia, Missouri, on November 13 and died there December 9; buried at Rushtown. source
  17. 1966 Portsmouth renamed its Riverside Park, opened in 1935, as Branch Rickey Park. source
  18. 1967 Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. source
  19. 1976 Ohio Wesleyan opened the Branch Rickey Arena (physical education center) in June. source
  20. 2014 Ohio named two stretches of U.S. 23, in Delaware County and in Scioto County, the Branch Rickey Memorial Highway, effective September 15. source

What Branch is known for

  • Signed Jackie Robinson on 28 Aug 1945; Robinson debuted with the Dodgers 15 Apr 1947
  • Built the Cardinals' minor-league farm system (33 affiliated clubs by 1937)
  • Ohio Wesleyan baseball coach 1910-13
  • Cardinals farm system
  • Signing of Jackie Robinson, 1945
  • Continental League (1959)

Stories

The catcher in Rickey's hotel room

Charles Thomas, a Black student from Zanesville, played fullback and catcher at Ohio Wesleyan from 1903 to 1905, the only Black man on either team. Rickey, a student himself, coached the baseball team and had talked Thomas into joining it. On a road trip to play Notre Dame, a South Bend hotel refused Thomas a room. Rickey persuaded the manager to let Thomas stay in his own room as an unregistered guest, and later recalled finding Thomas sitting on the bed, weeping. Rickey said the scene stayed with him for more than 40 years, until he signed Jackie Robinson. Thomas became a dentist, graduating from what is now Ohio State in 1908, practiced in St. Louis and then for 40 years in Albuquerque, and kept in touch with Rickey until Rickey's death.

Source

Schoolteacher, footballer, coach

Rickey grew up in a Methodist farm family and was named for John Wesley. After grade school in Lucasville he worked as a farm laborer, read widely with help from a retired educator, and became the teacher at the local grade school to save money for college. At Ohio Wesleyan he caught for the baseball team until a professional contract made him ineligible, so he coached the team instead and served as athletic director. He also played football for pay with the Shelby Blues, where his teammate Charles Follis was the first Black professional football player, and he played against Follis on October 17, 1903, when Follis ran 70 yards for a touchdown against Ohio Wesleyan. He later returned to Delaware to coach, teach beginning law classes and serve as secretary of the YMCA.

Source

Home to Duck Run

Rickey's boyhood house still stands on Duck Run in Rush Township, Scioto County, marked by Ohio historical marker 3-73, which notes that he grew up there with his brothers Orla and Frank. On November 13, 1965, while being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Columbia, he collapsed mid-speech just as he began a story about spiritual courage, and he died 26 days later without regaining consciousness. He was buried at the eastern edge of the Rush Township cemetery at Rushtown, about a mile southeast of the house, across the Scioto River from Lucasville. His wife Jane, who died in 1971, lies beside him, near his parents and three of their children.

Source

Honors and things named for them

  • Baseball Hall of Fame, 1967
  • St. Louis Walk of Fame, 1997
  • College Baseball Hall of Fame, 2009
  • St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame, 2014
  • Branch Rickey Arena, Ohio Wesleyan University
  • Branch Rickey Memorial Highway (US 23, Ohio)

Named for Branch Rickey

Family

  • father: Jacob Frank Rickey
  • mother: Emily Brown Rickey
  • wife: Jane Moulton
  • son: Branch Rickey Jr.

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

123

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where Branch Rickey was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Branch Rickey, and what the record shows.

Often said Branch Rickey was born in Portsmouth (or Lucasville, or Stockdale in Pike County).

The record Sources disagree: Wikipedia says Portsmouth, the Hall of Fame says Lucasville, and Clio and Rickey's own published biography say Stockdale, Pike County. He was born on his father's farm, which property maps of the time place well inside Madison Township, Scioto County; Find a Grave now gives Madison Township, and SABR says Scioto County. He grew up on Duck Run and went to school in Lucasville. source

  • Birthplace: Wikipedia says Portsmouth; the Hall of Fame says Lucasville; local accounts say Stockdale. Not settled.

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • Branch Rickey
    Branch Rickey
    Public domain
  • 1910 University of Michigan baseball team (Won 17, Lost 8, Rain 2Back row: Philip Bartelme (athletic director), Alfred J
    1910 University of Michigan baseball team (Won 17, Lost 8, Rain 2Back row: Philip Bartelme (athletic director)...
    Public domain
  • 1911_University_of_Michigan_baseball_teamBack row: Charles Bowman (student manager), Lloyd Marlin (short stop), ____, Br
    1911_University_of_Michigan_baseball_teamBack row: Charles Bowman (student manager), Lloyd Marlin (short stop)...
    Public domain
  • 1912 University of Michigan baseball teamBack row: Philip Bartelme (athletic director), Perry Howard (1st base), Robert
    1912 University of Michigan baseball teamBack row: Philip Bartelme (athletic director), Perry Howard (1st base...
    Public domain
  • 1913 University of Michigan baseball teamBack row: Webber (catcher), George Sisler (pitcher), Baker (short stop), Rogers
    1913 University of Michigan baseball teamBack row: Webber (catcher), George Sisler (pitcher), Baker (short sto...
    Public domain
  • Professional baseball player, manager and executive Branch Rickey
    Professional baseball player, manager and executive Branch Rickey
    Public domain
  • 1914 E145-1 Crackerjack Branch Rickey baseball card
    1914 E145-1 Crackerjack Branch Rickey baseball card
    Public domain
  • Branch Rickey
    Branch Rickey
    Public domain
  • Branch Rickey
    Branch Rickey
    Public domain
  • Photograph of Branch Rickey cropped from 1913 Michigan baseball team portrait
    Photograph of Branch Rickey cropped from 1913 Michigan baseball team portrait
    Public domain
  • American baseball player and executive Branch Rickey
    American baseball player and executive Branch Rickey
    Public domain
  • American baseball executive Branch Rickey
    American baseball executive Branch Rickey
    Public domain

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.

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