Jacob Schaefer Sr. (February 2, 1855 – March 8, 1910), nicknamed "The Wizard", was a professional

carom billiards Carom billiards, also called French billiards and sometimes carambole billiards, is the overarching title of a family of cue sports generally played on cloth-covered, billiard tables. In its simplest form, the object of the game is to score ...

player, especially of the straight rail and

balkline Balkline is the overarching title of a group of carom billiards games generally played with two and a red on a -covered, 5 foot × 10 foot, billiard table. The object of the game is to score points, also called ''counts'', by a play ...

games, and was posthumously inducted into the

Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame This is the list of people inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's hall of fame to honor outstanding people who, through their competitive skills and dedication, have enriched the sport and industry. Two categories have been established in ...

in 1968."Hall of Fame Inductees, 1966–68"
Billiard Congress of America, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; accessed February 3, 2007 Schaefer was born in 1855 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. He was the first US-born son of German emigrants. He was the father of fellow billiards pro Jacob Schaefer Jr. (1894–1975). Schaefer first started playing billiards at the age of eleven, at a billiard hall that was owned by his step-father John Berg. At the time of the

1870 United States census The 1870 United States census was the ninth United States census. It was conducted by the Census Office from June 1, 1870, to August 23, 1871. The 1870 census was the first census to provide detailed information on the African American populati ...

, he was listed as "Jacob Berg", aged fifteen at

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. Part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Leavenworth is located on the west bank of the Missouri River, on the site o ...

, in the home of John Berg, who was a billiard hall owner. He was the best player in Leavenworth by the age of fifteen. Schaefer's debut as a professional player came in 1873. Before May 1874, he had become the champion of Kansas. He became one of the world's top

players, to such an extent that some of the more challenging versions of balkline were invented to attempt to level the playing field against him. He won matches and titles around the world, including the March 11, 1908, World 18.1 Balkline Championship versus Willie Hoppe, although extremely ill, he won the match by 500 points to 423. He died of tuberculosis in 1910 in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado.

Titles

* World Straight rail Championship (1879) * World 14.2 Balkline Championship (1890–1892) * World 18.1 Balkline Championship (1901, 1907, 1908)

References

External links

Jacob Schaefer Sr
American carom billiards players 1855 births 1910 deaths American people of German descent World champions in carom billiards {{billiards-bio-stub