A Broken Home at Camden
Yards
Ruth’s new saloon stood at the
northwest corner of Conway Street and Little Paca Street about one block south
of his former saloon at 426 West Camden Street.
Below Camden Street, Paca Street a major north-south street on the
western edge of downtown Baltimore jogged to the southwest following the street
pattern of Columbia Avenue (renamed Washington Boulevard) an early turnpike
that led directly from Baltimore to Washington D.C. A second off-shoot of Paca Street, Little
Paca Street, bent to the southeast and stopped at Conway Street. West of Little Paca Street, Conway Street was
oriented to the southwest parallel to Paca Street. East of Little Paca Street, a stub of Conway
Street ran east-west dead ending at Eutaw Street and the Camden Yards Warehouse. Most of the streets that ran through what is
now Oriole Park at Camden Yards were oriented along a southwest street grid.
The 400 block of Conway Street had
many two story dwellings, but closer to Camden Warehouse, three and four story
box factories, machine shops and provision warehouses stood. The saloon was on the ground floor of a three
story building that fronted on Conway Street with a side yard along Little Paca
Street.
Four years before Babe’s father
took possession of the saloon, it was run by John and Catherine
Borcherding. John was born in Germany,
but came to Baltimore in the early 1870s.
During the night of June 21, 1901, both John and Catherine died in bed
due to asphyxiation.1 Workmen had been making alterations to the
saloon portion of the house creating a side window. A gas leak that killed the couple was
probably caused by careless workmen twisting a gas pipe located below their
bedroom. The Borcherding’s four children
aged 9 to 19 were orphaned.
The only written account of Babe
Ruth’s father, speaking about his family is from a deposition dated April 11,
1906. In answer to the question, “How
did your wife treat you?” he states, “Well, outside of her drinking, she was
alright, but she was always drunk. The
children were lousy, and she was lousy herself.
When she got drunk she would lay in a stupor. Drink was the cause of it
all.”2
As far as his conduct to his wife,
Babe’s father stated, “I was always faithful to my family, and cared for them
in every way, shape, and form. I always
treated her kindly. Sometimes she got
drunk and I would tear up a little with her, but I never beat her or anything
of that kind. I was always kind and
affectionate. Just three weeks before
this thing happened I gave her $45 to buy clothes, which put the business in a
bad way.”3
Records of the 1906 divorce case of
George H. Ruth vs. Katie Ruth, retained by the Maryland State Archives,
provides devastating details of a marriage gone bad. One can only imagine its impact on their
children. In his deposition, George H.
Ruth, Sr. explains the reason behind the constant moves of his household, “I
had sold out two other restaurants on account of the fact that I suspected my
wife of being too familiar with the men who were hanging around. On the 12th of November, 1905, I
moved to my present place of business, 406 West Conway Street, in this City,
taking my wife with me. Early in
February, 1906, I hired a bartender named George Sowers. I hired him so that I could keep my wife out
of the bar, so that she would not be continually intoxicated. I gave him strict orders not to allow my wife
to have any whisky, and also I wouldn’t let her go to the store, in order to
keep her in the house, so that she would not get any whiskey. To get whiskey, I think she became friendly
and intimate with the bartender.”4
Daniel J. Loden, a Western District
Police Magistrate continues the story providing the following account concerning
George Sowers, the bartender, “… Mrs. Ruth was constantly after him [Sowers]. Mr. Ruth had accused her from time to time of
being unfaithful to him … if he continued to accuse her, she would in reality
commit the deeds that he had accused her of, whereupon Sowers remarked, ‘When
you make up your mind, I hope that you will let me have the first crack at
you.’”5
On Monday morning, March 10, 1906,
Babe’s father came downstairs and found his wife under the influence of
liquor. He asked her if she had been out
and she said, “No.” When he saw her
talking “under suspicious circumstances” with Sowers, he went into the bar and
asked the bartender if he had given her any whiskey. At first Sowers denied it, but later said she
had taken a cup of whiskey when he had gone into the back yard.6
That night in their bedroom Ruth
confronted his wife asking her if Sowers had made any improper propositions to
her. When this alarmed her, he made up a
story that he had already spoken to Sowers and the bartender had confessed to
everything. He asked Katie directly,
“How many times did you have sexual intercourse with Sowers?” Katie was probably frightened by where this
encounter was going, after all her husband was a powerful, jealous man with a
temper. She admitted, “Once.”7
With that Babe’s father entered
Sower’s room, adjacent to the Ruths’ bedroom, pulled him out of bed, grabbed
him by the neck and brought him into the bedroom. In front of his wife, he asked Sowers, “What
have you done to that woman, my wife?”
When at first Sowers said nothing, Ruth struck him. After that Sowers cried out, “For God’s sake
don’t hit me again, and I will tell you everything. I was going to tell you before.”8
Ruth went down to the bar with
Sowers, gave him pen and ink and told him to write down that he, Sowers, had
sexual intercourse with Katie Ruth. With
a signed confession, Babe’s father went to the Western District Police Station
and requested that the police charge his wife with adultery. A warrant was issued and an arrest was
made. At a hearing in the Police Station,
Katie Ruth at first claimed that Sowers had taken advantage of her; however,
she made no attempt to cry out even though her husband and other people were
present in the house at the time.
Furthermore, she did not wish to prefer assault charges against Sowers.9
Katie Ruth was found guilty of
violating Section 5, Article 27 of Maryland Public General Laws for having
unlawful sexual intercourse with another man, not her husband. She was fined $10 and costs. Upon claiming that she was destitute and had
an infant baby, the fine was dismissed and she only had to pay $1.70 court
costs.10
Her husband kicked her out of the
house, and Katie apparently moved in with her sister, Lena Fell, who lived a
few blocks away on Portland Street.
George Sowers skipped town for good.
On March 17, 1906, George H. Ruth filed
for divorce against Katie11 and placed a newspaper ad stating he was
not responsible for any debts contracted by his wife.12 Two months
later, Judge Wickes of the Circuit Court of Baltimore City granted an absolute
divorce and gave custody of the children to George H. Ruth, Sr.13
Babe Ruth was eleven years old when
his parents divorced. At the time these
events took place, it isn’t known whether he was at home on Conway Street or at
St. Mary’s Industrial School. The
divorce of George and Katie Ruth provides some answers to questions about the
early life of Babe Ruth, yet it opens up other questions. Katie’s drinking problem may help explain why
she is often described as being sick or not well. It may also explain why so many of Katie’s
children died in infancy. Fetal alcohol
syndrome was not known at the time, but if she drank to the extent described in
the divorce proceedings, the health of her unborn children was likely
compromised. Although infant mortality
was much more prevalent at the turn of the twentieth century, only two
surviving children of eight is an extremely low survival rate. Katie’s excessive drinking until she was in
the state of an alcoholic stupor may explain why young Babe was not being
properly supervised.
While the account of the divorce
shows Katie as troubled, Babe’s father comes across as a jealous and violent
man, who was prone to making bad decisions for his family and himself. If Katie had a drinking problem, why did her
husband leave the lightning rod business in 1901 and become a saloon keeper
where alcohol was readily available to her? Why would he bring young children from a
stable working class neighborhood to less desirable crowded urban settings far
removed from the comfort of an extended family?
Even though Babe’s father must have felt betrayed by his wife’s
infidelity, did he really believe he could raise three children, including an
infant, on his own after the divorce?
Three months after the divorce, on
August 29th, William E. Ruth, Babe’s one year old brother died.14
The death notice stated William was the beloved son of George H. and Catharine
Ruth and the funeral would take place from his parents’ residence, No. 406 West
Conway Street. There was no mention of a
divorce, even though the Sun reported it on May 15, 1906.
Although the 1906 divorce record of
George and Katie Ruth is on file at the Maryland State Archives, 1910 census
field books show George, Katie, Babe, Mamie and George’s brother William all living
at 406 West Conway Street.15 Could George and Katie have reconciled
after such a devastating end to their marriage?
Stranger things have happened, but 1910 census field books also list
Babe Ruth among the pupils at Saint Mary’s Industrial School.16 Babe
Ruth is recorded twice in the 1910 census – obviously mistakes were made.
There is other evidence that Katie
and George lived apart after the divorce.
The 1907 Baltimore City Directory lists Mrs. Katie Ruth living at 811
Columbia Avenue (now Washington Boulevard) about four blocks away from the
Conway Street saloon. It is the only
time Katie Ruth is listed individually in a city directory. When Katie died in 1912, the death
certificate lists 712 Portland Street as her residence (her sister Lena’s
house).17 She is listed as a widow, which is obviously incorrect
since George H. Ruth, Sr. was still alive.
Was this a polite indication that she was not married at the time of her
death yet leaving out the stigma of divorce?
Katie was buried at the Schamberger family plot at Holy Redeemer Cemetery
on the northeast side of town, not among the Ruth family in southwest
Baltimore’s Louden Park Cemetery. Her
grave remained unmarked until 2008, when largely due to the efforts of a
Baltimore attorney and Babe Ruth researcher, Paul F. Harris, Sr., a headstone
was placed at her gravesite.18
Only recently has Babe’s family publicly
acknowledged the divorce. An audio
interview of Julia Stevens, Babe Ruth’s adopted daughter on the Babe Ruth
Central website states that Babe’s parents “split up.”19 In a 2011 article
on Babe Ruth by Jane Leavy, Babe Ruth’s granddaughter Donna [Troccoli-Analovitch]
states, "Mamie [Babe’s sister] told me they were divorced." 20
Babe’s daughter and granddaughter also believed that Mamie went on to live with
Katie and Babe with his father, although according to court records Babe’s
father was granted custody of all the children.
Mamie and Babe Ruth never publicly discussed
their parents divorce. It is possible
they wished to avoid the stigma of being children from a broken home. It is also possible that acknowledging the
divorce would lead to other questions about why their parents broke up and the
sad story of infidelity and alcohol abuse.
Dutiful children of their parents, they kept quiet. The divorce was a family matter only to be
discussed in private.
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1 Baltimore Sun, June 22,
1901, p. 12
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2 Baltimore City Circuit Court No. 2 (Equity Papers B) #8962 B,
George H. Ruth v. Katie Ruth,
5/14/1906 [MSA T-57-202,
3/18/10/17] George H. Ruth Deposition,
p. 6
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3 Ibid, George H. Ruth Deposition, p. 5
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4 Ibid, George H. Ruth Deposition, p. 6-7
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5 Ibid, Daniel J. Loden Deposition, p. 3
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6 Ibid, George H. Ruth Deposition, p. 7
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7 Ibid, George H. Ruth Deposition, p. 7
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8 Ibid, George H. Ruth Deposition, p. 8
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9 Ibid, Daniel J. Loden Deposition, p. 2
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10 Ibid, Plaintiff Exhibit #2
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11 Baltimore Sun, March 18,
1906, p. 9
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12 Baltimore Sun, March 17,
1906, p. 3
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13 Baltimore Sun, May 15,
1906, p. 9
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14 Baltimore Sun, August 31,
1906, p. 4
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15 U. S. Census Records 1910;
Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll T 624 561; Ward 22;
Enumeration
District 373; Sheet 15B
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16 U. S. Census Records 1910;
Baltimore, Maryland; Roll T 624 5552; Election District 13; Enumeration
District 51; Sheet 1A
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17 Babe Ruth - The Dark Side
by Paul F. Harris, p. 13
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18 Babe Ruth - The Dark Side
by Paul F. Harris, p. 14
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19 http://www.baberuthcentral.com/multimedia/audio-interviews/family-friends/julia-ruth-stevens/
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20
"Being
Babe Ruth's Daughter" by Jane Leavy, Grantland, December 19, 2011
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