Bebout Family Shines in Basketball Industrial League
1923 MCHS – Theodore “Ted” Bebout, top right.
In the 1920s, a family of brothers and their cousin ruled the basketball Industrial League in Muncie. This league, part of the YMCA program, was comprised of teams of workers from many of the prominent businesses in town. The Bebout family, comprised of brothers George, William “Bill”, Theodore “Ted”, Earl, and their cousin Gwin “Snap”, were the driving force behind the Ball Brothers Factory team winning numerous city championships.
The brothers and their cousin were from Freetown, Jackson County, Indiana, and eventually all ended up in Muncie. Earl, William, and George played high school basketball in Freetown while Ted played one season with the Muncie Central Bearcats. That happened to be the 1922-23 season, which was the first time Muncie made the Indiana High School championship tournament, but unfortunately lost to Vincennes, 18 to 27. In 1923, Ted also participated in track, placing in five events and emerging as the overall points winner.
During the 1920s and early 1930s, all five family members worked for Ball plus another brother, Keith, who did not play basketball. Alongside other Ball Factory employees, not to be confused with the Ball Office team, Bebout’s helped the team to win eight consecutive league championships. Excitement was high in 1924 when Ted, only a year out of high school, joined his brothers on the team; Ball had only one loss that season.
While the brothers were not the highest scorers for the team, they did consistently add to the points in each game and performed strongly in their positions: Gwin and Ted were guards, William and Earl played center, and George was a reserve player who played guard and center positions. A 1924 Star Press article (below) declared that the Ball Brothers team would have to be renamed the Bebout Brothers. With the addition of Ted, that meant that four brothers were playing for the team, greatly increasing their chances of winning the league championship.
Bebout family members were also on Industrial League baseball and bowling teams and in the early 1930s, were playing on the “Y” Sunday School League basketball team. By 1934, it appears that basketball had been replaced by bowling as the sport of the winter season.
The Star Press, January 18, 1924
“Soon they’ll have to change the name of the Ball Brothers’ team in the Industrial League to the Bebout Brothers. E. Bebout, W. Bebout and G. Bebout have been on the league-leading team since the first of the season. and now T. Bebout, former Bearcat floor guard, has been signed and will play with the jar makers, beginning next week. X. Bebout, Y. Bebout, and Z. Bebout are not in the lineup. The acquisition of Ted tightens the team’s chance for first place considerably.”
As previously mentioned, all the brothers and their cousin worked for Ball Brothers Company, but later a couple went on to other jobs. Here is a brief snapshot of the lives of each:
Gwin “Snap” Bebout, the cousin, was born in 1900. He moved to Muncie when he was eighteen, signed up for the WWI draft, and worked at Ball as a machinist for 45 years. In 1951, he served as a local gun club officer. Gwin died in 1979 in Pasco County, Florida.
Keith Bebout, born in 1898, did not play basketball but did work for Ball for 30 years as a shipping department foreman. He died in 1951.
Earl Bebout was born in 1899 and played high school basketball in Freetown. In 1917 he was one of the “Freetown Five” as the team was known. He was a WWI veteran, serving in the Navy. After the war, he worked for Ball Brothers and then for Warner Gear. Earl died in Huntington, Indiana in 1992.
William Bebout, born in 1902, also played basketball in high school and was part of the “Freetown Five”. He worked at Ball for 33 years in the security division; his wife worked there for 25 years as a quality control inspector. A member of the Masonic Lodge, William served as a Republican councilman and died in 1983 in Muncie.
Theodore Bebout was born in 1904 and was a 1923 Muncie Central graduate. In 1930, although playing for the Ball basketball team, he was working as a gas station attendant and was shot in the back during a holdup. He recovered and became a Muncie policeman, working up through the ranks from Desk Sergeant to Captain and finally Detective. After retirement from the MPD, he lived in DeSoto and raised racehorses. He died in 1965 in Muncie.
George Bebout was born in 1908 and moved to Muncie when he was 18. George was a reserve player in the Industrial League and like his brothers, signed up in the WWI draft. He worked for Ball, served as a security guard at Warner Gear, and in retirement worked at Ballard Hardware in the Southway Plaza. He died in 1979.
