EDITOR’S NOTE: Everyone has a story — some more well-known than others. Across Western North Carolina, so much history is buried below the surface. Six feet under. With this series, we introduce you to some of the people who have left marks big and small on this special place we call home.
Negro Leagues catcher Ernest Willis Gatewood (1890-1949) played professional baseball for 14 years. He is buried in Asheville’s Violet Hill Cemetery.
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On October 15, 1890, Ernest Gatewood was born in Washington, D.C. Gatewood’s baseball began and was promptly interrupted. After serving his country in World War I, he returned to the sport he loved.
From 1914-1927, Gatewood starred as a catcher on at least five teams across all levels of the Negro Leagues. With teams like the Schenectady Mohawk Giants and the Brooklyn Royal Giants, he appeared in 228 sanctioned games. With 702 at bats and 140 hits, Gatewood scored a total of 68 points during his career.
Once his professional baseball career concluded, Gatewood retired to Asheville to raise a family. Living at 58 Chesnut Street, he and his wife, Edna, raised three children.
On August 21, 1949, Ernest Gatewood died in his home at 58 years old. Rev. Westley Grant officiated the funeral held at 2 p.m. on August 24 at McCoy-Wilkins Chapel. Gatewood was buried in Violet Hill Cemetery (also referred to as Harmony Hill Baptist Church Cemetery), where W.N.C. sports legend Henry Logan was also laid to rest decades later. Gatewood was survived by his widow and children.
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