Albert Bishop

Albert Webb Bishop

• School Yale University

• Born January 8, 1832 in Alden, NY USA
• Died November 29, 1901 in Buffalo, NY USA

Biographical Information

Albert Bishop played center field for the Niagaras of Buffalo of the National Association of Base Ball Players in the late 1850s and was the starting center fielder for the 1859 team that became the champions of the city of Buffalo.

He was born in Alden, NY to Calvin and Emily Bishop and graduated from Yale University in 1853 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. His wife Maria L. Woodard died in 1860 and he was unable to take care of his daughter named Maria, so she was sent to be raised by relatives in Cortland, NY. A few years after his baseball career ended, he joined the Union Army in the Civil War and served as captain of the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment.

In 1862 and 1863 he wrote a book called Loyalty on the Frontier. He later moved to Arkansas and became the adjutant-general of the state from 1864 to 1865. In 1867 he became the federal register in bankruptcy for Arkansas' second district and served until 1873. He was a trustee and treasurer for the University of Arkansas (then known as Arkansas Industrial University) when it was first founded in 1871 and got remarried that year to an Arkansas woman named Kate Compton. He then became the president of the university in 1873.

Following the Civil War, Bishop put a lot of effort into attempting to restore order in Arkansas and attempted to run for state governor as a member of the Republican Party. This didn't go so well though, as members of the southern Democratic Party were more heavily favored and the large number of "redeemers" who sought to enforce white supremacy gave him a difficult time. He began to suffer financially and Kate divorced him. He then moved back to New York and died in Buffalo in 1901.