James Davis Gronninger (January 15, 1880 – January 30, 1944) was an American attorney, baseball player, manager, and league president.

Early years

Gronninger was born at

Lucasville, Ohio Lucasville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Scioto County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,757 at the 2010 census. Lucasville is the location of the Scioto County Fairgrounds. The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Ohio's one of ...

, in January 1880.Draft registration card dated April 27, 1942, for James Davis Gronninger, resident of Charleston, West Virginia, born January 15, 1880 at Lucasville, Ohio.Draft registration card dated September 30, 1918, for James Davis Gronninger, resident of Morgantown, West Virginia, born January 15, 1880, employed as Assistant Secretary of State of West Virginia. Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 atabase on-line Registration Location: Monongalia County, West Virginia; Roll: 1992863; Draft Board: 0. His parents John and Rachel Gronninger were both Ohio natives.Census entry for John Gronninger and family. James D. Gronninger is identified as a son, born January 1880 in Ohio, employed as a "Laborer Rolling Mill." Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Portsmouth Ward 2, Scioto, Ohio; Roll: T623_1319; Page: 21A; Enumeration District: 123. At the time of the 1900 United States Census, Gronninger was working as a laborer in a rolling mill in Ohio.

West Virginia University

Gronninger played college baseball at West Virginia University starting no later than 1903. He was the captain of West Virginia's 1906 team. He was a multi-sport athlete at West Virginia and also served as captain of the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Moun ...

basketball team.

Baseball coach and executive

Gronninger received his law degree (Bachelor of Laws) from West Virginia in June 1906. He remained in

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as th ...

, as the coach of the school's baseball team. He also served as the manager of the

Uniontown Coal Barons The Uniontown Coal Barons were a Pennsylvania–Ohio–Maryland League (1906–1907), Pennsylvania–West Virginia League (1908–1909 and 1914) and Middle Atlantic League (1926, 1947–1949) baseball team based in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. ...

in 1906, leading them to a

Pennsylvania–Ohio–Maryland League The Class D level Pennsylvania–Ohio–Maryland League (POM League) began in 1906. By 1908, however, this baseball minor league was extinct. Cumberland, Maryland dropped out after 1906, leaving Maryland unrepresented in 1907. West Virginia was in ...

championship. He served as the president of the Class-D

Pennsylvania–West Virginia League The Pennsylvania–West Virginia League was a professional minor league baseball league that consisted of teams based in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It played from 1908 to 1909 as a Class D level league and again in 1914 as an Independent le ...

in 1908 and 1909.

Legal and civil service career

After retiring from baseball, Gronninger became a lawyer. In 1917, he was the chief clerk in the office of West Virginia Secretary of State. By September 1918, he was the Assistant Secretary of State of West Virginia. In 1921, he had the second highest salary ($2,750) in the Secretary of State's Office behind the Secretary of State. In 1923, he was in charge of enforcing West Virginia's securities laws and prosecuting stock fraud. Gronninger in his later years was a lawyer with a general practice at

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. He died at

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

, in January 1944 at age 63.Death record for James D. Gronninger, lawyer, age 63 years, 15 days. Ancestry.com. West Virginia, Deaths Index, 1853-1973 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gronninger, James Minor league baseball managers West Virginia Mountaineers baseball players 1880 births 1944 deaths 20th-century American lawyers People from Lucasville, Ohio West Virginia lawyers Sportspeople from Huntington, West Virginia Baseball players from Ohio Baseball players from West Virginia West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players American men's basketball players