Almy Descendant No. 1235-5792-2

388. GEORGE OLNEY9 ALMY (Edward8, Charles7, Otis6, Job5, Samuel4, William3, Christopher2, William1),b. Boston, MA, 16 May 1875; d. Belmont, MA, 9 Jun 1937.

He m. 5 Sep 1899, WINIFRED C. JENNISON.

Child:

iLOUISA KNOWLTON10, b. Boston, MA, 26 Dec 1913; m. Belmont, MA, 9 Jun 1937, MELVIN G. BARCLAY, b. Chicago, IL, 22 Nov 1907, son of Melvin and Florence G. (Downey) Barclay. Children: 1. Rosalind Winifred Barclay, b. Cleveland, OH, 22 Nov 1939; m. Greenfield, MA, 9 Sep 1961, Alan R. Spier. 2. Douglas Garfield Barclay, b. Bradford, PA, 3 Jul 1943; m. Turners Falls, MA, 27 Aug 1966, Jacqueline F. Jenkins. 3. Richard Almy Barclay, b. Greenfield, MA, 2 Aug 1949; m. Mt. Hermon, MA, 18 Mar 1978, Suzanne Elms.

George (Doc) Almy was born in Boston's South End, not far from the boyhood home of John L. Sullivan. The family later moved to Newton, where he attended Newton High School, class of 1895. Doc Almy started in the newspaper field in 1897, when he worked as a district man in Newton for the Herald. In 1904 he moved to The Post and, after several months there, accepted the position as sports editor of The Traveler. He returned to The Post in 1907, and before he concentrated on boxing, he worked as police reporter, copy editor, and general assignment reporter.

One of the most famous illustrations of Doc Almy's boxing background happened 26 December 1908. The Post had hired famed writer Jack London to cover the Jack Johnson-Tommy Burns fight in Sydney, Australia. Something went wrong with the cables, and the frantic editors called upon Doc Almy to remedy the situation. Drawing on his knowledge of the styles of both boxers, Doc proceeded to write an imaginary account of the 14-round fight, predicted the winner correctly and enabled The Post to gain an eight-hour "beat" on the rest of the Boston papers.

When Doc Almy retired, he was considered one of the foremost ring experts in the world and he was the possessor of one of the largest and most complete collections of boxing literature in existence. He covered all of the major boxing events in his 44 years with The Post, a colorful career which extended from the era of John L. Sullivan to Rocky Marciano. Doc's collection included a silver buckle from a championship belt John L. Sullivan had given him as well as boxing gloves, boxing trunks, and yellowed brittle-looking autographed pictures of fighters in the grim poses of the early 1900's.

Doc first became interested in boxing when as a youth he idolized the great John L. Sullivan. In later years, he and John L. became fast friends. Doc was recognized and respected by boxers, managers and promoters as one of the best informed boxing figures in the United States.


REFERENCES: FAMILY RECORDS