Calvin Demarest 1911 Mecca cigarette card

Calvin W. Demarest (June 1886 – June 12, 1925) of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, was a national amateur and professional

carom billiards Carom billiards, sometimes called carambole billiards, is the overarching title of a family of cue sports generally played on cloth-covered, billiard tables. In its simplest form, the object of the game is to score or "counts" by ' one's ...

champion from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in the early 20th century known for an open, crowd-pleasing style of play. He later gained notoriety for stabbing his wife and injuring his mother during a suicidal

psychotic episode Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

. Demarest won major amateur championships in 1907 and 1908.

Biography

Demarest was born in June 1886 in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. His mother was Ida B. Demarest (1860–1923) of

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

He studied music as a child, his father an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

in Chicago, and his mother a singer. At an early age he developed an interest in

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

and balkline billiards. On March 9, 1907, he set a new record 14.2 balkline billiards average of 27 3–11 during the national amateur championship tournament in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

beating the record set by

Justus Ferdinand Poggenburg III Justus Ferdinand Poggenburg III (January 23, 1895 – December 1966) was an American billiards champion. Biography He was born January 23, 1895, to Justus Ferdinand Poggenburg II. He died in December 1966. References American pool players ...

. On March 14, 1908, he broke the world's amateur record for the high in the opening game of the national amateur 14.2 balkline tournament with an impressive high of 168. He was competing against

Clarence Jackson Richard W. Bulliet (born 1940) is a professor of history at Columbia University who specializes in the history of Islamic society and institutions, the history of technology, and the history of the role of animals in human society. Early life ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Starting in 1909, he competed in professional as well as amateur tournaments, winning at least three professional championships. In 1910, he defeated the renowned French champion Rerolle for the international amateur championship. By the mid-1910s, Demarest's mental state began to deteriorate. Among other things, he would experience hallucinations regarding his wife, often that she was robbing him. On June 16, 1915, Demarest stabbed his wife in the throat several times with a

pocket knife A pocketknife is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives (jack-knife), folding knives, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. A typ ...

, wounding her severely, and then attempted to slit his own throat. His mother attempted to restrain him and was cut on the hand. He was deemed unfit to stand trial and was remanded to the

Elgin Asylum The Elgin Mental Health Center (formerly Elgin State Hospital & the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane) is a mental health facility operated by the State of Illinois in Elgin, Illinois. Throughout its history, Elgin's mission ha ...

for the insane. He was reported to have died there eight months later, on February 22, 1916, but the following day's ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' ran an item titled "Calvin Demarest Not Dead", in which the paper wrote "Dr. Hawley, Deputy Superintendent at the asylum, is at a loss to explain how the report of Demarest's death occurred." Demarest would die on June 12, 1925 at the

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-larg ...

.Calvin W. Demarest. Birth: June 1886 in Illinois. Death:June 12, 1925 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, from ancestry.com

References

External links

Calvin Demarest
at Flickr Commons {{DEFAULTSORT:Demarest, Calvin 1886 births 1925 deaths American pool players American carom billiards players Sportspeople from Chicago