Alexander Cartwright

by Monica Nucciarone

Alexander Cartwright is most known for "inventing" baseball. However, this is more myth than fact. He actually had an amazing life during the nineteenth century in spite of not inventing baseball. He lived in New York City when it was but a village, yet also at a time when it was rapidly expanding. He crossed the continent during the 1849 California Gold Rush. Yet, he didn't stay long in California. He sailed to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he lived the rest of his days until 1892. Cartwright died five months before the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown.