James Willard Raynsford (June 16, 1891 – January 18, 1956) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player. He played for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1912 to 1914 and was captain of the 1914 Michigan Wolverines football team.

Early years

Raynsford was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, in 1891.Registration State: Michigan; Registration County: Wayne; Roll: 1675662.Source Information. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 atabase on-line By 1910, he had moved with his family to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

University of Michigan

Raynsford enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1911. He played on the freshman football team in 1911. He played for the

Wolverines football team from 1912 to 1914. He played as a tackle in 1912, an end in 1913, and a center in 1914. In November 1913, Raynsford was elected as the captain of the 1914 Michigan Wolverines football team. He defeated

Tommy Hughitt Tommy Hughitt (born Ernest Fredrick Hughitt; December 27, 1892 – December 27, 1961) was a Canadian-American professional football player, coach, referee, and politician. He played college football as a quarterback for the Michigan Wolveri ...

for the honor by a 10 to 9 vote. Hughitt's loss to Raynsford triggered allegations of "rotten politics" and reportedly angered coach

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American college football player, coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

. Raynsford nevertheless assumed the captaincy of the 1914 team. Raynsford started all nine games at center for the 1914 Michigan team that compiled a 6–3 record and outscored its opponents 233 to 68. At the end of the 1914 season, sports writer E. A. Batchelor picked Raynsford as the center on his all-star football team, one of only two Michigan players to be included on the team. He was also named to ''

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia Transphobia consists ...

'' magazine's 1914 Football Roll of Honor, and was selected by Howard Pearson of the ''Detroit Journal'' as the center on his 1914 All-Western college football team. He was

Walter Eckersall Walter Herbert "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1883 – March 24, 1930) was an American college football player, official, and sportswriter for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He played for the Maroons of the University of Chicago, and was elected to the C ...

's second team pick for the 1914 All-Western team. After graduating from Michigan, Raynsford served as an assistant coach on the

1915 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1915 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan as an independent during the 1915 college football season. In its 15th season under head coach was Fielding H. Yost the team com ...

Later years

In June 1917, he was city engineer in

Highland Park, Michigan Highland Park is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Highland Park is located roughly north of Downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 United ...

. He married Anita M. Kelly on December 1, 1918. In 1920, he lived in

Oneida, New York Oneida () is a city in Madison County in the U.S. state of New York. It is located west of Oneida Castle (in Oneida County) and east of Wampsville. The population was 10,329 at the 2020 census, down from 11,390 in 2010. The city, like b ...

with his wife Anita, and was working as a civil engineer. In 1930 and 1940, he was living in Oneida with his wife Anita and a son, James Willard Raynsford, Jr.; he was working as an engineer for a silverware manufacturing enterprise.Census Place: Oneida, Madison, New York; Roll: T627_2624; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 27-38. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census atabase on-line He became manager of engineering services for Oneida Ltd. Silversmiths; he was with the company from 1917 until his death. He died January 18, 1956, at Oneida, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raynsford, James 1891 births 1956 deaths American civil engineers American football centers Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Sportspeople from Highland Park, Michigan People from Oneida, New York Players of American football from Detroit Players of American football from Jersey City, New Jersey Coaches of American football from Michigan