James Cunningham (minors01)

James Augustine Cunningham

• School Dartmouth College

• Born February 8, 1867 in Potsdam, NY USA
• Died October 21, 1892 in White River Junction, VT USA

BR Register page (1887) BR Register page (1890)

Biographical Information

James Cunningham was an 1888 graduate of Dartmouth College, who played several years of minor league baseball prior to his early death in 1892.

After being born near Potsdam, NY, when Cunningham was young his family moved to Hanover, NH, home to Dartmouth College, where he would enroll in 1885. His older brother, John, also had attended Dartmouth and began the 1887 season playing in the Northeastern League with St. Albans. Later that summer James got his first minor league experience, playing alongside his brother and future Hall-of-Famer Bud Fowler, with Montpelier.

Cunningham played third base for Dartmouth in the spring of 1888. In 1889, he was in Maine, where he frequently pitched as well as playing infield, and played for semi-pro teams from Gardiner, Augusta, and Portland. After playing some games in Canada with the Portland team, Cunningham was signed by a team in Saint John, NB. In 1890, he briefly played with Utica in the New York State League in the spring and with Fredericton, NB in the summer. He then stayed in New Brunswick, working at a cottom mill in Maryville for the next two years.

In October 1892, Cunningham was returning to Hanover when his mangled body was found by the train tracks outside of White River Junction, VT. Presumed at first to be an accident, perhaps related to drinking, after possible foul play was discovered it was reclassified as a murder, perhaps owing to a disagreement that took place at a nearby train station. Although one suspect was arrested and others pursued, no conviction was made in the case.

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