Oscar McKinley Charleston was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the seventh of eleven children; his younger brother Bennie Charleston played alongside him on the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords. Charleston’s father, Tom Charleston, was a construction worker and a former jockey. His mother was Mary Charleston.
In 1912, he lied about his age to enlist in the army. He served in the Philippines where he ran track and played baseball for the regimental team. After leaving the army in 1915, he played or managed in the Negro leagues from 1915 to 1954.
Negro League stats are incomplete but according to baseballreference.com, Charleston batted .365 with a .449 on-base average and a .615 slugging percentage. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976.
Charleston died in 1954 of a heart attack or stroke.
His first census was the 1900 census for Indiana.
Click on the census for a larger view.
Sources
- Wikipedia.org
- Ancestry.com
- Onthisday.com
- Picryl.com
- Youtube.com
Sources
- Wikipedia.org
- Ancestry.com
- Onthisday.com
- Picryl.com
- Youtube.com
Famous People and Their First Census 