<sod>Fothergill was in [[Massillon, Ohio]], in 1897.<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Bob Fothergill|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=March 30, 2016|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fothebo01.shtml}}</ref> Fothergill's father was a fireman in a steel rolling mill and died from tetanus when Fothergill was four years old. Fothergill had only a grade school education, leaving school to play professional [[American football|football]] as an end with the [[Massillon Tigers]] and [[Canton Bulldogs]].<ref name=SABR/> He began playing semi-pro baseball in 1918 and 1919 with Massillon Agathons.<ref>{{cite news|title=Big Time Baseball Also Played Here|newspaper=The Evening Independent (Massillon, OH)|author=Fred Becker|date=November 4, 1943|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4785769/big_time_baseball_also_played_here/}}</ref>  At the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, he was employed as a blacksmith.<ref name=SABR>{{cite web|title=Bob Fothergill|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|author=Bill Nowlin|accessdate=March 30, 2016|url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/2abc142b}}</ref><eod>
<sod>Fothergill was born in [[Massillon, Ohio]], in 1897.<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Bob Fothergill|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=March 30, 2016|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fothebo01.shtml}}</ref> Fothergill's father was a fireman in a steel rolling mill and died from tetanus when Fothergill was four years old. Fothergill had only a grade school education, leaving school to play professional [[American football|football]] as an end with the [[Massillon Tigers]] and [[Canton Bulldogs]].<ref name=SABR/> He began playing semi-pro baseball in 1918 and 1919 with Massillon Agathons.<ref>{{cite news|title=Big Time Baseball Also Played Here|newspaper=The Evening Independent (Massillon, OH)|author=Fred Becker|date=November 4, 1943|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4785769/big_time_baseball_also_played_here/}}</ref>  At the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, he was employed as a blacksmith.<ref name=SABR>{{cite web|title=Bob Fothergill|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|author=Bill Nowlin|accessdate=March 30, 2016|url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/2abc142b}}</ref><eod>