Tom,
Fraser took over as pro after Wilfred Reid left in what was a very short stint at Seaview, same as Connellan. I'm not sure why you see anything that unusual or interesting, however. Geist was President, Head of Green Committee, Czar, Potentate, and Indian Chief at Seaview. No one else had any power or financial interest or risk in the new club, despite that first article that talked about three men as "primary movers" of the new club.
In any case, I'm not sure what we're debating at this point. I've already told you what seems like two weeks back after Joe and I got back that I believe Robinson should get co-credit for the original Seaview...he just doesn't seem to have any prior design experience and possibly limited construction experience, but that's ok...even complete architectural novices got work sometimes, Tom, which is why right away he intelligently called in help from folks with prior experiece.
As I mentioned, I think Geist hired him because he knew him. probably liked him, because Robinson knew golf, and because at a time when Atlantic City was an oasis in the middle of 50 square miles of swamplands and sandy forests between Philly and that city, Robinson was
there, and could attend to matters in Geist's absence.
So, there isn't much I disagree with in your timeline except your ongoing attempts to cast doubt on the excellent golf writings of both William Evans and "Joe Bunker", who were both well-connected weekly stalwarts of Philadelphia region golf information back then. Oh, and on the face of it, I also disagree with your contention that Hugh Wilson was too busy with a course in his backyard (Merion West) to design another one for his friend Clarence Geist two hours away over the course of a six month timespan. For a guy who is fond of citing all of HH Barker's supposed architectural accomplishments during his whistle stop tour of 1910 between playing in all the big events, how you can even put forward that notion with a straight face is beyond me.
As far as the reporting around Seaview, I think you're thinking much too much in terms of today, with celebrity signature designs, or even back then, when a transient pro like Bendelow or Barker might use all avenues to promote his work because it was part of making a living. To claim somehow that "the first mention of Wilson was October 1913" as some proof that he wasn't involved prior to then in a project that started four months before, especially when that article refers to his work in the past tense, that he "has laid out", and "had been Geist's right-hand man", is really not very good judgment in my view.
Not to mention that you're being very inconsistent in your application of evidence, Tom.
I can't imagne how you'd react if Joe Bunker had written in August, 1911, four months after the Merion project started, that HH Barker had been HG Lloyd's right hand man and had laid out the Merion course?!? After we pulled you off the ceiling, you'd probably have that article bronzed! We also don't know at all at this juncture if that's the first mention of Wilson. We still haven't looked at the primary newspaper in AC at that time, and the work we did a few weekends ago was very error-prone, going through literally two years of two different newspapers by hand, turning page by page looking for Seaview needles in haystacks of reporting on mosquito infestations and hotel ads. It's fun...you should try it some time.
Besides, Geist was way too big a power broker in the area to let stand shabby or inaccurate reporting around his project, especially if someone was giving credit for HIS course to the wrong person. It's not like Wilson or Geist or any of these guys went away after the project...Robinson himself was right in the city for most of the next decade.
Yet, just like Merion, everyone was absolutely comfortable and confident in what was being reported for very good reasons.