William Henry Poole (February 19, 1876 – June 12, 1921) was a college football player while a divinity student, and later a minister.[1][2]

William Henry Poole
Sewanee Tigers
PositionCenter
Class1899
Personal information
Born:February 16, 1876
Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Died:June 12, 1921(1921-06-12) (aged 45)
Graham, Virginia, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career history
CollegeSewanee (1899–1900)
Career highlights and awards

Early years

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He was born on February 19, 1876, in Tallahassee, Florida, to Augusta Jane Anderson and William Gaither Poole.[3] His family later moved to Glyndon, Maryland.

Sewanee

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Poole was a prominent center for the Sewanee Tigers of Sewanee:The University of the South, a small Episcopal school in the mountains of Tennessee. At Sewanee he studied theology.[2]

In 1899 he was a member of the "Iron Men" of 1899 who went undefeated, winning five road games in six days all by shutout. One source reported Poole "drank heavily" on the one day off.[4]

In 1900 Poole was selected All-Southern.[5]

Minister

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He became assistant at Christ Church, Cincinnati, in 1906,[6] and while there he married Shirley Nelson Morgan.[7] They had a son, Morgan.

He became the rector of St. Paul's Church in 1910 in Jackson, Michigan.[8] One source called him "one of the leading orators of southern Michigan."[9] In Jackson, he was a member of the Rotary Club.

During World War I he served as YMCA chaplain in France.

Nervous breakdown and death

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He had a nervous breakdown and was taken to a sanitarium in Graham, Virginia, in 1920.[7] He killed himself with a gun, in a bout of depression on June 12, 1921.[1] His death certificate lists the cause of death as "suicide, shot through base of skull" caused by "partial insanity, melancholia". He was buried in Mount Evergreen Cemetery in Jackson, Michigan.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Jackson Pastor Ends Life. Ill Health Cause. The Rev. W. H. Poole Prominent Episcopal Rector Commits Suicide in South". Battle Creek Enquirer. Associated Press. June 13, 1921.
  2. ^ a b "William Henry Poole". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 1993.
  3. ^ "Stowe's Clerical Directory of the American Church". A.D. Stowe. October 31, 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Wendell Givens (2003). Ninety-Nine Iron: The Season Sewanee Won Five Games in Six Days. University of Alabama Press. pp. 32, 121. ISBN 9780817350628.
  5. ^ "All-Southern Eleven for 1900". Outing. 37. Outing Publishing Company: 616. 1901.
  6. ^ Venable, William Henry (October 31, 2017). "A Centennial History of Christ Church, Cincinnati, 1817-1917". Stewart & Kidd – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b "The Living Church". October 31, 2017 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ (http://www.lwis.net/free-css-drop-down-menu/), Tom@Lwis. "History - St. Paul's Episcopal Church - The Episcopal Church Welcomes You". www.stpauljxmi.org. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  9. ^ [1]
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