James Arthur Baird (November 2, 1877 – July 26, 1964) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player,

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

athlete, coach of football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

, college athletics administrator, lawyer, and

Hancock County, Illinois Hancock County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 17,620. Its county seat is Carthage, and its largest city is Hamilton. The county is made up of rural towns with many farmers. Hanco ...

, judge.

Biography

Baird was born on November 2, 1877, in

Ferris, Illinois Ferris is a village in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 156 at the 2010 census. Geography Ferris is located in north-central Hancock County at (40.468753, -91.169448). It is north of Carthage, the county seat. Accord ...

, to Alexander Baird (1851–1916) and Allie May Moore (1853–1942). He graduated from

Carthage College Carthage College is a private college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It enrolls 2,600 full-time and 200 part-time students. Carthage awards bachelor's degrees with majors in more th ...

in 1900 and was the first athlete to

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

in three sports in one season. He next enrolled at

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law scho ...

and played college football there from 1900 to 1902. He played at the guard and center positions and also handled kicking for Northwestern. He was also a member of the Northwestern track team, competing in the pole vault and high jump, and was selected in June 1903 as captain of the track team. He served as the head football coach at

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

from 1903 to 1905. He served as the head football coach at

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacifi ...

from 1906 to 1907. From 1908 to 1915, Baird served as the head football coach at

. He was also the head basketball coach at Carthage from 1906 to 1914 and the head baseball coach there from 1910 to 1914. On June 23, 1913, Baird married Georgia Hubbs in New York. She died in 1917. Baird was elected as a

, judge in 1910 and served to 1914. When asked about the continuation of town meetings, he described them as: "not as effective as in olden times, but still stands ready to render us a service." He served a single term, and then returned to his private law practice. He was elected for a second four-year term in 1934 and he was re-elected in 1938, 1942, and in 1946. Baird retired from the bench when his final term expired in 1950. Baird died on July 26, 1964, in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

. He was buried next to his wife.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, J. Arthur 1877 births 1964 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football guards Carleton Knights football coaches Carthage Firebirds athletic directors Carthage Firebirds baseball coaches Carthage Firebirds men's basketball coaches Carthage Firebirds football coaches Carthage Firebirds football players Northwestern Wildcats baseball players Northwestern Wildcats football players Whitman Fighting Missionaries football coaches Northwestern Wildcats men's track and field athletes Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Illinois lawyers People from Hancock County, Illinois