Ernest Sprague
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Ernest Marshall Sprague (October 20, 1865 – May 10, 1938) was an
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
player, public official, and engineer. He was born in 1865 on a farm at
Farmington, Michigan Farmington is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, Farmington is located roughly from downtown Detroit, and is surrounded on most sides by the larger city of Farmington Hills. As of the 202 ...
. He was the son of Lorenzo Sprague and Laura G. (Meade) Sprague. He enrolled at 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 ...
where he played
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 ...
as a rusher for the 1886 Michigan Wolverines football team and as a left guard for the 1887 team. After graduating from Michigan in 1888, Sprague was an engineer with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. He remained in that position until 1895. He next worked for the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad as a general inspector from approximately 1895 to 1897. His next position was with the Detroit Bridge & Iron Works. He moved to
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, as a representative of the Gillett Herzog Manufacturing Company in 1898. In 1900, he became employed with the American Bridge Company in Denver from 1900 to 1903. In 1903, he moved to
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
where he continued to work for the American Bridge Company as a contracting engineer. As of 1915, he was the construction manager of the American Bridge Co. in Cleveland, Ohio.The Michigan Technic
vol. 28, p. 227.
He moved to
East Cleveland, Ohio East Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,792 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a suburb lying east and south of Cleveland and west of Cleveland Heights. History Historically Eas ...
in 1905 and was a member of that city's city council and a city commissioner for several years. He served on East Cleveland's City Commission from 1918 to 1934. He married Maude L. Sill in Colorado in 1902. They had two children, Robert and Jean.Biography of Ernest M. Sprague
, A History of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, by William R. Coates, 1924.
At the time of the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Censuses, he lived in East Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife Maude. Sprague later worked for 18 years as a construction manager for Bethlehem Steel. He died in Cleveland at age 73 in 1938.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprague, Ernest 1865 births 1938 deaths 19th-century players of American football Michigan Wolverines football players Ohio city council members Players of American football from Denver People from Farmington, Michigan Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan People from East Cleveland, Ohio Players of American football from Cuyahoga County, Ohio