Baseball Fever and Phillips Academy’s Rebellion of 1867
Baseball becomes the battleground between tradition and progress in Post-Civil War Andover
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In the spring of 1867, baseball fever swept through the Town of Andover, igniting a series of events that would become locally infamous as the “Rebellion of 1867.” At the heart of the upheaval was Phillips Academy, where the school’s newfound passion for America’s pastime clashed with the rigid disciplinary standards of its principal, Dr. Samuel Taylor but the broader enthusiasm for the game and the underlying tensions of the era extended well beyond the Academy’s gates. Among the students fueling the rebellion were Civil War veterans, men who had faced the crucible of battle and now chafed at Taylor’s attempts to enforce antebellum discipline on a postwar generation.
That spring, trouble—with a capital “T”—rhymed with “B” and it stood for “baseball.”
The Rise of Baseball in Andover
Baseball’s roots in Andover can be traced back to the 1850s, when variations of cricket or rounders, such as “the Boston Game,” were played on town greens and schoolyards. By 1864, Phillips Academy had laid out its first baseball field and interclass games using “New York style rules” began before the Civil War’s conclusion. The game’s popularity surged in 1866 with the arrival at the school of Archibald “Archie” Bush, a 22-year-old Civil War veteran and semi-professional catcher from Albany. Bush, a former captain in New York’s 95th Infantry, brought unmatched enthusiasm and skill to Andover, introducing the concepts of practice and a training table, and organizing an ambitious schedule of games against college and professional teams.
The Andover Advertiser’s July 27, 1866, coverage of Bush’s nine playing the professional Lowell “Trimountains” highlighted baseball’s growing influence in the town. Local teenage diarist Abby Locke noted that her friends Oliver and Willie Perry were frequently seen playing ball on Central Street. The sport’s appeal extended to all corners of Andover, capturing the imagination of townspeople and students alike.
Trouble Brewing
By the spring of 1867, however, baseball had become, in Dr. Taylor’s view, a dangerous distraction. On one particularly idyllic day, a group of Phillips seniors decided to cut class. Among them were Archie Bush and a friend, who traveled to Boston to watch a league game. Taylor, reportedly suffering from an especially severe bout of gout, reacted with fury, expelling the truants and setting the campus ablaze with dissent.
In solidarity with the expelled students, nearly half of the remaining Phillips senior class staged a defiant protest. They left campus without permission for an evening dinner in Lawrence, reasoning that Taylor couldn’t possibly expel them all. But he could—and he did. Many local students, including several of Abby Locke’s friends, found themselves without diplomas and their families became embroiled in the controversy. The expulsions quickly became national news, with papers across the country, as well as the Andover Advertiser, reporting on the drama.
Fallout and Legacy
The rebellion had far-reaching consequences. Yale University, to which many Phillips students of the era aspired, adhered to traditional academic protocols and refused to admit the students lacking Dr. Taylor’s endorsement. Compounding the problem, Phillips’s classical curriculum of the era failed to meet the entrance requirements of other leading colleges. Many of the expelled students, including Archie Bush, turned to private tutoring over the summer and successfully gained admission to Harvard that fall. Taylor, infuriated further, viewed Harvard’s decision as a personal affront.
The upheaval also drew the attention of Andover’s townspeople, who found themselves caught between supporting the students and respecting the authority of the academy’s leadership. Community debates in local newspapers over the role of education, discipline, and extracurricular activities reflected broader societal changes during the Reconstruction era.
Ultimately, the rebellion forced Phillips Academy to modernize. The incident revealed the shortcomings of the school’s antiquated curriculum and rigid disciplinary policies. On the matter of baseball, however, Dr. Taylor stood his ground. Interscholastic and off-campus games were strictly prohibited until his death in 1871.
In the meantime, Archie Bush went on to higher athletic success, captaining the Harvard Nine to an era of domination over college and amateur teams while more than holding their own against professionals. Bush came to be regarded as one of baseball’s early stars, as evidenced by his inclusion on the New York Evening Journal’s 1912 list of the sport’s Fifty Greatest Players. Bush was, in fact, number 7 on this list, with praise for both his playing ability and leadership.
A Changing Era in Andover
The “Rebellion of 1867” was a cultural marker for both Phillips Academy and the town of Andover. Tensions between tradition and progress mirrored the struggles of a nation undergoing profound transformation. Baseball, once a point of contention, ultimately became an enduring symbol of camaraderie and resilience for both the academy and the community. Efforts by Dr. Taylor and others to stem the tide of modernity ultimately underscored the futility of resisting change in a world reshaped by war and cultural evolution.
For further reading, see:
“Youth of Every Quarter: A Bicentennial History of Phillips Academy, Andover,” by Frederic S. Allis, Jr. (1979)
“Archie Bush: Amateur Era Superstar” by John Thorn (MLB’s Official Baseball Historian)
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Fascination column, Jane!