ENGLISH SPORTING MEN'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA

Early in the morning of October 24, 1884, three educated, well-to-do young gentlemen in their 20's departed from The Grove, Sawston Village, Cambridgeshire, England and travelled to the port city of Liverpool. On October 25, 1884 they sailed aboard the Cunard Line's S. S. Oregon for Queensland, Ireland and landed in New York City, New York on November 4th, 1884. The three friends were listed in the S. S. Oregon's saloon passenger list as "Mr. Evelyn Booth, and two friends." During the Winter and Spring 1884-1885, the three men: Evelyn Booth, J.P. Frizell and Reginald Heygate travelled in America from New York City to Niagara Falls, before going on to Chicago, St. Louis, Arkansas, and Texas. They then visited New Orleans, Florida, and Alabama before returning to New Orlelans and finally England sometime in late March or early April 1884. Along the way they documented their travels and the people they met. The three men attended boxing matches, visited bars and gambling establishments, and hunted. While Heygate appears to have left the trio in Texas, both Booth and Frizell competed in shooting competitions with Buffalo Bill Cody in New Orleans.

Evelyn Thomas Barton Booth, a.k.a. Thomas Evelyn Barton Booth was born on April 26, 1860 in Laragh House, Stratford, County Wicklow, Ireland to George Booth (1829-1892) and Georgiana Susanna Arabel Barton (d.1868). George Booth held the office of High Sheriff (1865) and Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for County Wicklow. The couple had two other children: Christina I. B. Booth (b.1861) and James Erskine Wise Booth (1862-1931). Evelyn Booth lived in England from a young age and attended Harrow in Middlesex before matriculating to Trinity College at Cambridge University on June 1, 1878. In addition to his trip to the United States during 1884-1885, Booth later returned to New York City on the S. S. Oregon on December 21, 1885. On January 8, 1886 he signed articles of incorporation and copartnership with William F. Cody and Nate Salsbury whereby Booth invested $30,000 in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and received 25% of the profits. He declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States on May 2, 1888 in the 1st District Court, Laramie County, Wyoming stating he had emigrated to America in November 1884. During the intervening years, Booth, a wealthy gentleman, promoted boxing matches and by the late 1890s was part of the Klondike Gold Rush to Dawson, B.C. He may also have been the inspiration for a short story carried across the country in many newspapers in October 1897: Pollinet's Duel by J. C. Higginbotham. In 1900, Booth and his wife, Lola Booth (of German extraction born in the United States on February 22, 1872) were living in Victoria, B.C. and by 1901 in Milton, Oregon. Evelyn Booth died on August 23, 1901 at the age of 41 at St. Mary's Hospital in Walla Walla, Washington. His death was due to shock from fatal burns caused by a brush fire. Booth is buried in the Milton-Freewater IOOF Cemetery near Milton, Oregon.

The second and youngest member of the company was Dr. John Percival Frizell. He was born on February 2, 1862 in Belfast, Antrim County, Ireland the son of Dr. Charles R. Frizell (b.1792) and Mary Ball. Frizell may have been a childhood friend of Booth's. He is listed on the disembarkation records for the S. S. Oregon, along with Evelyn Booth and Reginald Heygate, as "J.P. Campbell," male, 24 years of age, a gentleman born in Ireland." Frizell could have also attended Cambridge University, but eventually graduated from the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland (Dublin) and became a practicing physician. On the trip, Frizell, an avid hunter, also enjoyed boxing, and was interested in chemistry, anatomy and medicine. He was listed as Dr. J. P. Frizell or Fritzell in newspaper accounts of a shooting contest held between himself, Evelyn Booth and Raymond R. Belmont near New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday, March 27, 1885 as part of the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Like Booth, Frizell subsequently immigrated to the United States in 1889 and declared his intention to become a citizen on October 24, 1893 in the District Court at Seattle, Washington. He married a widow, Sadie W. Guinn (b.1866) on December 26, 1894 in Los Angeles, California, but divorced her in 1900 before marrying Mrs. R. Ferguson (1866-1945) of Bakersfield, California in Washoe, Nevada on September 23, 1900. Frizell later married Lena Frances Parker (1880-1910). On November 17, 1919 in Yreka, Siskiyou, California, the couple had twin daughters: Lena Parker Frizell (1910-1997) and Frances Percival Frizell (1910-1994), but Lena Frizell died a week or so later. Frizell eventually married a fourth time to Agnes M. Mack (1881-1918). Dr. J. P. Frizell lived and worked primarily as a doctor and surgeon in various towns and cities in southern and northern California until at least 1918. He also speculated in mining in Northern California and joined various expeditions to the Klondike (1898), and Alaska (1900, 1903) that were reported in the newspapers of the time. The date and location of his death is unknown.

Reginald Beaumont Heygate also accompanied Booth and Frizell on their trip to New York City in November 1884. He was born on October 10, 1857 in Eaton Square, Belgravia, City of Westminster, London, England, the second son of William Unwin Heygate (1825-1902) and Constance Mary Beaumont (d. October 7, 1929). The couple had three other children: William Howley Beaumont Heygate (1854-1928), Mary Florence Heygate-Philpott (1861-1929), and Harry Beaumont Heygate (1872-1897). William Unwin Heygate of Roecliffe Hall, Loughborough, Leicestershire, held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Leicester (1860-1865), for Stamford (1868), for South Leicestershire (1870-1880), and was Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Leicestershire. His son, Reginald Heygate attended Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire, England before matriculating in 1876 to King's College, Cambridge University where he received his B.A. (1880) and M.A. (1883). He was the Assistant Private Secretary to Home Secretaries Sir William Harcourt (1880-1884), and Viscount Cross (1886). At the age of 45, Reginald Heygate died on January 5, 1903 in Middlesex, London, England and was buried at Southend. He left an estate valued at just 687 pounds and 12 shillings.