Ten Million of Washington state was a minor league baseball player during the early 1900s. His mother, Ella Million, chose the name “Ten” because she wanted her son to stand out.
He sometimes signed his name by simply writing the number “10.”
In 1920, Ten and his wife Christine had a baby girl. Ten’s mother convinced the couple to name their daughter “Decillian” with a bribe of $50. (That’d be over $1,100 in today’s dollars.)
Decillian Million went by “Dixie” as an adult.
Later in the 1920s, Ten worked as a Ford automobile salesman. “When the 10 millionth Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line, it was taken on a tour of the United States, and a Seattle newspaper ran a photo of the car with Ten Million.”
Sources:
- “And They Named Baby Girl Decillion Million.” Boston Daily Globe 13 Mar. 1921: E4.
- Baseball’s Past
- Schneider, Russell. The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia. 3rd ed. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing, 2004.
- Shanaman Sports Museum
- Wayback Machine: Seattle’s First Ambassadors
Image: Ten Million, Victoria Team, baseball card portrait (LOC)