George Capron

George Capron

Date of birth	(1886-07-27)July 27, 1886
Place of birth	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Date of death	October 26, 1972(1972-10-26) (aged 86)
Place of death	Fresno, California, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)	Halfback
US college	Minnesota
Career highlights and awards
Honors	Third-team All-American (1907)

George H. Capron (July 27, 1886 – October 26, 1972) was an American college football and baseball player and multimillionaire investor in Southern California real estate.

Athletic career

Capron played football and baseball for the University of Minnesota from 1907 to 1908. In 1907, the Minnesota football team scored only 55 points, and "Capron accounted for 44 of them with dropkicked field goals at four points each."[1] He was selected as a third-team All-American by Walter Camp at the end of the 1907 season.[2]

Late in his career at the University of Minnesota, Capron became involved in a controversy over his eligibility when reports surfaced that he had played professional baseball under a false name. Capron later admitted that he played baseball under the name Robb at Meridian, Mississippi in 1908 and at Mattoon, Illinois in 1907.[3] From 1909 to 1910, Capron played two years of professional baseball in the Northwestern League. In 1909, he played 155 games as the left fielder for the Seattle Turks, compiling 164 hits, 27 doubles, 8 triples, 15 home runs, and a .275 batting average. In 1910, he played 35 games for the Vancouver Beavers though his batting average dropped to .207.[4]

He also played professional football in the early days of the professional game in the 1910s.[5]

Family and later years

Capron's younger brother, Ralph Capron, played Major League Baseball and in the National Football League.

Capron practiced law in Minnesota for a time. He then moved to California where he invested in land. He was credited with having an "uncanny foresight in predicting population trends," acquiring properties in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, and became a multimillionaire with an estate valued at $24 million.[6][7]

In later years, Capron was in poor health and was the subject of conservatorship proceedings and allegations that his wife's family and others had stolen from him and procured a 1967 will by fraud and undue influence.[6][8][9]

Capron moved to Fresno, California, in 1967. He was in poor health in his later years. He died on October 26, 1972, at age 86, at a Fresno hospital.[6]

See also

• 1907 College Football All-America Team

References

1. "Video". CNN. December 20, 1971. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
2. "Camp Selects His All American Team". Trenton Evening Times. December 27, 1903.
3. "CONTENTdm" (PDF).
4. "George Capron Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
5. John M. Carroll, Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement, p. 45
6. "Millionaire George Capron, Legal Suit Figure, Dies". The Fresno Bee. October 26, 1972. pp. C1, C7 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "George Capron Dies at 86; Made $24 Million in Land". Anaheim Bulletin. October 27, 1972. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Capron's Brother Seeks Ouster Of Shipley". The Fresno Bee. April 22, 1970. p. 2F – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Attorney Had Stock In Capron Estate Bank". The Fresno Bee. May 28, 1970. p. 4A – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• George Capron at Find a Grave