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Historical Results From The Early Championships Of America


America's earliest figure skating competitions were, to put it mildly, pretty sketchy affairs. At some events, the audience acted as judges, receiving a ballot upon entry. At others, competitors alleged that rivals invited groups of friends to judge, stacking the vote in their favour. In one instance, E.T. Goodrich refused to compete in an event he was invited to participate in unless he was paid an extraordinary sum by the rink hosting it. On another occasion, Callie Curtis disguised himself as a woman to win a contest for ladies. Skaters like Curtis and William H. Bishop (who went by the stage name Frank Swift) made very good livings for themselves by "winning" what were probably staged competitions. In 1871, for instance, Curtis "won" a two hundred and fifty dollar prize for defeating Swift. The duo would "compete for a diamond medal" in whatever city with a covered rink that would have them, then skate exhibitions together. 

There are lists floating around there suggesting that Callie Curtis held the American fancy skating title for nearly a decade, but even in the early 20th Century these claims were disputed, as Curtis followed in the footsteps of Jackson Haines, heading to Europe never to return again. The 1919 “International Skaters Handbook” published by the International Skating Union of America noted, “He took [the Diamond Medal] with him when he went to Europe in 1874. He never returned to America."

The 1879 event, though still under control of the American Skating Congress, is a reasonable starting point for researching the Championships of America, as it was one of the first times there was a legitimate panel of three judges and results were published publicly. From 1887 onwards, the event was organized by the National Amateur Skating Association, later in co-operation with the New York Athletic Club. 

Advertisement for the event recognized as the 1879 Championships of America

The following results from early American 'fancy skating' contests have been gleaned from newspaper archives, Rubenstein family scrapbooks in the archive of the Jewish Public Library, the books of George Henry Browne and Irving Brokaw and the “International Skaters Handbook”, published by the International Skating Union of America in the 1910's.

Year

Location

Winner

2nd Place

3rd Place

Other Competitors

1879

Manhattan, NY

James B. Story

(not recorded)

(not recorded)

C.T. Bedford, N. Mitchell, M. Lyon

1887

Hoboken, NJ

Frank P. Good

(not recorded)

(not recorded)

James B. Story, R.J. Schaefer, Thomas H. Robinson, Louis Rubenstein, Moses Rubenstein, L.S. Diettenier, George Dawson Phillips

1888

New York City, NY

Louis Rubenstein

George Dawson Phillips

J. Franklin Bacon

Frank P. Good

1889

New York City, NY

Louis Rubenstein

George Dawson Phillips

S.J. Montgomery

(no other competitors)

1891

Albany, NY

Louis Rubenstein/George Dawson Phillips (tie)

Embury McLean

Herbert S. Evans

(no other competitors)

1892

Hoboken, NJ

George Dawson Phillips

J. Franklin Bacon

Embury McLean

(no other competitors)

1893

Salem, Massachusettsa

J. Franklin Bacon

Herbert S. Evans

Thomas M. Vinson

(no other competitors)

1895

Hoboken, NJ

George Dawson Phillips

R.J. Schaefer

Gus Warrick

(no other competitors)

1896

New York City, NY

Herbert S. Evans

George Dawson Phillips

Frank P. Good

Arthur Gaetano Keane, C.A. Trier, A.J. Blanchard, Lewis Edwards

1897

New York City, NY

George Dawson Phillips

J. Michaelson

Arthur Gaetano Keane

Frank P. Good, John J. Doughty, Louis A. Servatius, Thomas M. Vinson, Herbert D. Beissbarth, Lewis Edwards

1898

New York City, NY

Dr. Arthur Gaetano Keane

Irving Brokaw

John J. Doughty

Louis A. Servatius, Howard R. Ward, Mr. Horner

1899

New York City, NY

Dr. Arthur Gaetano Keane

Irving Brokaw

Howard R. Ward

W.W. Arnold, Albert G. Stevens

1900

New York City, NY

Dr. Arthur Gaetano Keane

William F. Duffy

Richard Loewenherz

W.W. Arnold, E.C. Dusenbury, E.T. Hill

1901

New York City, NY

Dr. Arthur Gaetano Keane

Irving Brokaw

William F. Duffy

Richard Loewenherz, W.W. Arnold

1904

New York City, NY

William F. Duffy

Irving Brokaw

Edward W. Bassett

John J. Doughty, Gunnar Stenberg, J.F. Smith

1905

New York City, NY

Dr. Arthur Gaetano Keane

Edward W. Bassett

Irving Brokaw

John J. Doughty, Arthur G. Williams

1906

New York City, NY

Irving Brokaw

Edward W. Bassett

John J. Doughty

Arthur G. Williams

1907

New York City, NY

Edward W. Bassett

George Kirner

Arthur G. Williams

Edward Dunn, John J. Doughty, V.L. Winn

1909

Cleveland, OH

Arthur G. Williams

Edward Dunn

Sylverious Maloney

Mr. Ely, Dr. Hugh Whytock

OTHER EARLY COMPETITIONS OF NOTE IN AMERICA


Year

Location

Event

Winner

2nd

3rd

Other Competitors

1870

Cleveland, Ohio

Juvenile Championship Of The World

Johnnie Cook ('The Human Top')

Charles Cleaveland

(not recorded)

(not recorded)

1873

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Fancy Skating Contest

Gus A. Bluhm

James Allison

Ben Seary

Billy Willard

1886

Burlington, Vermont

Open Competition For A Gold Medal

Moses Rubenstein

Louis Rubenstein

J. Franklin Bacon

J. Evans, S. Miller

1890

Boston, Massachusetts

New England Skating Association Championships

J. Franklin Bacon

H.G. Barnes

Herbert S. Evans

A. Judge, W.L. Littlefield, A.L. Bryant

1891

Cambridge, Massachusetts

New England Skating Association Championships (Men)

Moses Rubenstein

J. Franklin Bacon

J. Evans

W. Barnes, W. Bennett

1891

Cambridge, Massachusetts

New England Skating Association Championships (Ladies)

Rachael Rubenstein

(not recorded)

(not recorded)

(not recorded)

1896

Chicago, Illinois

Championships Of Illinois

John N. Sandblom

(not recorded)

(not recorded)

Allen I. Blanchard, E.S. Woods

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