The 1857 Convention of Base Ball Players met for the first time on January 22 at Smith’s Hotel, the headquarters of the Knickerbocker Club, with the following clubs represented: Knickerbocker, Gotham, Eagle, Empire, Putnam, Baltic, Excelsior, Atlantic, Harmony, Harlem, Eckford, Bedford, Narrau, and Continental. The clubs elected Daniel Adams of the Knickerbockers as president of the convention and then appointed a rules committee, made up of one member of each represented club. 

The convention was reported in the January 31, 1857 issue of Porter’s Spirit of the Times. 

Porter’s Spirit of the Times (Jan 31, 1857)

The “Laws of Base Ball”

• Baseball Chronology