Last month I began my comment on the confusing heritage of Sedalia’s Maple Leaf Club (MLC). Was it the benign men’s social club of the group’s incorporation papers or a bawdy “gentlemen’s” sporting club of the city’s Main Street “Battle Row?” Here are the major Sedalia newspaper accounts of the club in the ragtime era.
Before the club’s formal incorporation in December of 1898, a sampling of the men mentioned on the MLC card found them frequently in the news. Tony William was known for his cakewalking prowess in the many events he sponsored or in which he participated in communities around Sedalia. H.L. Dixon and Jake Powell were also often contestants and Dixon and Williams were often winners.
However, Jake Powell seems to have spent some time annually in jail serving time in the 1890s for everything from disturbing the peace to assault, fighting, and visiting a bawdy house with charges against him escalating through the decade. Allie Ellis was caught up in one night of arrests with Powell. Dan Smith and Len and John Williams seemed to be occupied as members of various singing quartets making the papers. Only Powell seems to have been habitually arrested and at times for serious offenses.
Thus, at least some of the members of the Maple Leaf Club had varied experiences with the law while others were involved in respectable activities.
Just prior to the filing o
