Captain Adam Henry Bogardus (1834–1913) was a world champion and United States champion trap shooter, as well as the inventor of the first practical glass ball trap.
He was born in
Berne, New York
Berne is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 2,689 at the 2020 census. The town is at the western border of Albany County.
History
The town of Berne was originally spelled "Bern", until the Berne Post Office wa ...
. There, in 1854, he married Cordelia Dearstyne. They moved to
Elkhart, Illinois
Elkhart is a village in Logan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 405 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Elkhart is located in southwestern Logan County is in Elkhart and Hurlbut townships, with the geographic center of the villag ...
where he became the wing shot champion of the world. He is credited with romanticizing trap shooting.
Trap shooting
Trap shooting, or trapshooting in North America, is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting, which is shooting shotguns at clay targets. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays.
They are disting ...
with live pigeons began in the U.S. around 1825, with the first recorded match balls containing feathers, then clay targets. Bogardus invented the first practical glass ball trap in 1877. Glass spheres, filled with feathers, were used as targets, much as clay pigeons are used today. They were called Bogardus balls. One feature of them was ridges which helped ensure that pellets would shatter the sphere, rather than glancing off.
In 1883
William Frank Carver
William Frank "Doc" Carver (May 7, 1851 – August 31, 1927) was a late 19th-century sharpshooter and the creator of a popular diving horse attraction.
Early life
William Frank Carver was born in Winslow, Illinois, to William Daniel Carver, a p ...
defeated Bogardus 19 times in a series of 25 matches.
Bogardus and his sons went on to tour with
Buffalo Bill's Wild West show
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...
. Captain Bogardus remained with the show for a year.
Bogardus is in the National Trapshooting Hall of Fame. He died in 1913 in Lincoln, Logan Co., Illinois and is buried in Elkhart, Illinois.
References
External links
Capt. A. H. Bogardus Trap & Field, December 2000American Heritage Magazine, April 1962, Volume 13, Issue 3*
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1834 births
1913 deaths
Wild West shows
People from Berne, New York
People from Elkhart, Illinois