Snapshots of History

By Editor | March 20, 2025 |

1902 Mount Ayr football team.

By Mike Avitt
Thanks again to Grover Hahn for another historic photo.
This time we see his grandfather and other relatives in a rare, old football picture.
I’ll give you the names I have and then I’ll share my problem with this photo.
Second from left, back row, is identified as Basil Willey. Clyde Rusk is back row center and manager George Malone is far right, back row. Twins Willard Roy Willey and Willis Ray Willey are second and fourth from left, middle row. The unidentified young man in the bottom, center, is holding a football in which is inscribed “Mt. Ayr H. S. 1902.” So we know we have the location and the year correct.
However, John Basil Willey was born December 22, 1889 so he would have been 12 years old in November 1902. And Clyde Rusk was born in 1880 making him 22 years old in this photo.
I can find no record of the identified players ever having graduated high school in Mount Ayr. But, Frank Willey graduated from Mount Ayr High in 1902 so he is probably in this picture somewhere. Basil, Willard, and Willis were brothers.
In the near future, Clyde would become Willard’s brother-in-law.
Okay, let’s see what the Ringgold Record and Mount Ayr Journal newspapers have to say about the 1902 football season.
On October 11, 1902, Mount Ayr High School boys played the Graceland College boys from Lamoni and Mount Ayr won 27-0. The stars for Mount Ayr were Clarke, Sawyer, and Lesan.
Two week later, Mount Ayr traveled to Lamoni for a return match and the Mount Ayr squad was defeated 6-5.
The officiating was so bad, a substitute referee was used in the second half. The Lamoni touchdown was so heavily contested, it was not known if the game would continue. Clyde Clarke scored the touchdown for Mount. Ayr.
A third game was scheduled between these two teams but I could not find that it was ever played.
From the Lamoni Chronicle I find Graceland College played Davis City on November 7, 1902 and the game was stopped just a few minutes into the game because Davis City was attempting to take the contest by “fair or foul” means.
In 1902, I doubt if there were rule books, trained officials, or knowledgeable record keepers. There were no schedules nor conferences. Also, the reason Mount Ayr, Davis City, and Lamoni played each other is because we were all on the same railroad line.
A game was scheduled against Davis City for November 22, 1902 in which the Mount Ayr High School played the Davis City town team, rather than their high school team. Mount Ayr still won with Rusk, Middlesworth, and Sawyer starring for the home team.
The coach was identified as Professor Adam Pickett. I found where Pickett was the president of the Mount Ayr High School Lecture Association.
I was able to find a game played against Davis City in 1901 and a roster was listed in the newspaper. But, the paper was torn and I could only see the first few letters of the surname. It appears the Mount Ayr team consisted of Guy Evans, McAninch, Willey, Middlesworth, Sutherland, and B. Lesan. That’s all I could make out. Davis City won 5-0.
I believe the reason I didn’t find any games with Grant City is because they didn’t have a team at this time. Grant City was also on the same railroad line as Davis City, Lamoni, and Mount Ayr.
Many considered football to be too dangerous and it really wasn’t very popular in the beginning.
I have some advice for future historians: when using the word search feature, you must search “football” as one word AND “foot ball” as two words. It appears in both forms in the years close to 1900.