Jeffries, James J.; Bonner, Jack; Maher, Peter; Sharkey, Tom; McCoy, Kid; Corbett, James J.
  Smith, Mysterious Billy; Gardner, Oscar; Smith, Solly; Matthews, Matty; West, Tommy;
  McKeever, Charlie; Dixon, George; Gans, Joe; McPartland, Kid; Ryan, Tommy; Armstrong, Bob;
  Kennedy, Joe; Morrissey, Mike; Goddard, Joe; Ruhlin, Gus (boxers)
  O'Rourke, Tom (promoter)
  Sullivan, Timothy D. (owner)
  White, Charlie (referee)
  Pass Out Check

  The boxing promoter Tom O'Rourke managed the Lenox Athletic Club prior to the turn of the 20th Century.  Though another club of that name flourished in the 1920s, and the New Lenox Athletic Club prospered in the '30s, these pass out checks are clearly from the earliest incarnation of the club.  Exact matches represented by each have yet to be determined as they are undated.  With weekly bouts from May 16, 1898 through October 10th of the following year, the Lennox in this 1st location presented boxing shows involving the finest  pugilists of the period.  That 1st August, in his debut on the East Coast, heavyweight James J. Jeffries in his 12th professional fight went 10 rounds with Bob Armstrong, breaking his arm in the process, and thus cancelling a 2nd10-frame fracas with Steve O’Donnell that had been slated for the same evening’s entertainment.  Almost a year would pass before Jeffries returned to the ring, engaging Bob Fitzsimmons at the Coney Island Athletic Club with the world crown on the line. 
  Other notables of the era fought at the Lenox, such as the Irish former world heavyweight champion Peter Maher, who battled Akron, Ohio, giant Gus Ruhlin for 20 harsh frames in May of ’99, before a draw was declared, then in subsequent months, quickly knocked out Mike Morrissey and Joe Kennedy in the venue.  World welterweight king Mysterious Billy Smith conducted several defenses (Matty Matthews in August of 1898 and Charlie McKeever in October), and Oscar Gardner twice contested the featherweight crown of the world and nation there.  Gardner lost the first to George Dixon in November of 1898, despite the displeasure of the press and patrons, but won the latter over Solly Smith that next February.  Tommy Ryan defended the world middleweight crown from the challenge of Welshman Tommy West at the Lennox on June 13th, 1898, and the next February West was the victim in the notorious “mustard oil incident” when Jack Bonner was disqualified for applying raw mustard oil to his gloves to try and blind his opponent.  Bonner, or his cornerman, used so much that referee Charlie White was almost overcome himself, raising the former pugilist’s ire and bare fist, bringing the police into the ring.  A ducat remnant from this fiasco can be seen at boxingticket #2994.  A great many, if not most, of these matches were refereed by White, who would handle the duties for many great championships over the next twenty years in the city’s top venues, finishing his career as the 3rd man in the ring with Willard and Moran at the Garden in 1916.  The venue also served its patrons amateur contests, with both boxers and wrestlers competing in the “smokers,” with championships of the Amateur Athletic Union held there, as seen in boxingtickets # 2632, 2655 & 2722.
  A fine long feature article by Joe Vila from the New York Sun (page 37) from January of 1929 commemorates the night Tom Sharkey knocked out Kid McCoy at the Lenox on that date 30 years earlier, describing the hall as fitting 10,000 spectators and charging up to $10.00 for a ringside seat.  Sharkey had recently defeated James J. Corbett in the venue in a most controversial match.  The club was actually controlled by local State Senator Timothy D. Sullivan.  Vila’s piece stems from stories O’Rourke shared the day before its publication at iconic promoter Tex Rickard’s funeral on January 9th, also reported on at length in that issue of the newspaper, available on-line as a pdf file from fultonhistory.com .