Interesting. The earliest reference I could find to "Sam McVea" was from 1908, which would be while he was in Paris, so maybe it's true.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a...-20--1--txt-txIN-jack+johnson+griffin-------1 This is where it says it, but I've never found reports of any of these fights
Sam McVey listed his birthplace as "Welder," Texas on various documents. There is a town named Waelder, which is located in Gonzales County, Texas. There were a number of people with the last name of "McVea," both black and white, living in Gonzales County during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. On various records, the last name of Sam's father, Andy, has several different spellings. While Sam was fighting in California and other parts of the United States, his last name was almost always spelled as "McVey." But while he was fighting in Australia, his last name spelled as "McVea." One interesting note is that Sam spelled his last name as "MacVey" on two U.S. passport applications. - Chuck Johnston
Regarding census records, it is very possilbe that whoever took down the information for the census may have misspelled his name. I know that for my family the census taker really mangled the spelling in the 1860 census He may be in the 1900 or 1920 census after all .....
The early reports of him I've seen all seen to call him Australian. I've looked on the online archives, but there can be various issues with that. I've not found any of the named Australian opponents either, so finding a any of them fighting in Australia at the time would help back it up. I guess another question would then be the name McVey, would that suggest catholic missionaries? Do we know anything about his religous beliefs?
According to one newspaper, Sam McVey sailed to Australia from the United States while working on a ship as a teenager, but I didn't see any mention of it in any other source. In regards to McVey being from Australia, that is very doubtful. - Chuck Johnston
Fascinating .. his life has always deeply intrigued me ... his diversity of knowledge , love of culture , almost a beauty / beast thing going on .. I've collected some very cool photos of him through the years dressed beautifully, playing musical instruments including the piano .. there is obviously quite a bit on this man to be discovered ..
The Trove is a website which has a huge number of old Australian newspapers in digital form. There was plenty of coverage on Sam McVey in the Australian newspapers when he was fighting "Down Under." - Chuck Johnston
He is described in several fights as using the jab effectively. This is from their third fight in the Sydney Stadium April 8th 1912. "Midway through the 2nd round it appeared that Langford might be in trouble,as his right eye began to swell from the impact of McVey's left jabs." "It wasn't all Langford during the early rounds.McVey impressed onlookers with his boxing skills,but unlike during their previous meeting,Langford was able to land more often and effectively block more of McVeys jabs" Clay Moyle "Sam Langford"pages 230 & 231.
