Clara Gregory Baer described the basic elements of the game, consisting of a court divided at the midpoint, with lines marking where the players could move, and outlining the object of the game, to "make the ball touch the opposite ground, beyond the base—when it counts a point for the side sending the ball". This game would eventually become Newcomb ball, and has many similarities to the game of volleyball. The letter by Baer appeared in the January, 1895 edition of the journal, while the first game of volleyball, invented by William G. Morgan was reported to be first played in February 1895.
William Yoast Morgan the state legislature. Morgan's mother Wilhelmina (Yoast) Morgan (1843-1910) was active in civic organizations and politics, serving as mayor of Cottonwood Falls in 1885. Morgan himself was educated in Cottonwood Falls and then at the state university in Lawrence, majoring in journalism. Morgan married Colie Adair (1872-1958) in November 1890; they had one daughter, Claudia (d. 1958) After working at the "Lawrence Journal" for two years, Morgan purchased and edited the "Republican" in Strong City. He sold that paper after four years and purchased the "Emporia Daily Gazette"; he operated that until selling it to William Allen White in 1895.