History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 57

Author: Middleton, Evan P., editor
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1196

USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 57

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The first organization consisted of the following: Mrs. Kate Mulford, president : Mrs. Laura Burnham, vice-president; Mrs. Anna Nincehelser, recording secretary : May Wing, corresponding secretary; Mattie Mickle, treasurer. The officers of the club for the year 1916-17, are as follows: Helen Longbrake, president; Mrs. Rhoda Slater, vice-president; Mrs. Nan Long, recording secretary : Mrs. Elsie Rogers, corresponding secretary ; Dolly

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have been called to perform in all parts of the United States; our young men and women have played in all kinds of theatrical shows-some high class, some mediocre and some otherwise. In all this galaxy of footlight performers there are a few who stand out above all others for their particu- lar talents in special fields.

Undoubtedly the one Urbanian who has won more than any other in the Thespian world is Billy "Single" Clifford.

Shakespeare had the power to delineate more traits of character and sound the depths of deeper passions than any man who has ever lived. In his plays .may be found more than one thousand different characters and there is not an emotion, not a passion, that is not given expression by one of these hundreds of characters. Truly "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women, merely players."

One of these players was born and reared in Urbana and is known throughout the length and breadth of the nation as one who can truly say "let me play the fool; with mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come." If the average Urbanian were asked to name the one man of the city who has done more to spread sunshine over the country and cause two smiles to spread where only one spread before, there would be but one answer- Billy Clifford.

Let him who will explain why a man with a decently Christian name trades it off for a second-hand patronymic: it is one of the inscrutable mysteries. Be that as it may there was born in Urbana, January 24. 1869, William Clifford Shyrigh, so called by his parents, Levi and Sarah Shyrigh, but the people of the United States at large know him as Billy Clifford or Billy "Single" Clifford, the middle appellation being acquired later in life. Someone has said that as a twig is bent so grows the tree and by analogy Billy Clifford while still a twig was a show boy and as the twig grew to trechood the show boy grew to be a showman.

On the site of the present theatre bearing his name. Billy Clifford ·staged his first show while a boy still in his teens-and more than thirty years ago. He must have been a lineal descendant of oll Thespis and if the buskined sock ever fit a youth of Urbana it fit this juvenile follower of Aristophanes. It was but a step from the stage in the old barn to his first entry into real theatrical life. And he has stepped in his buskins like him who wore the seven league boots-big steps and ever advancing steps. He started out in professional life with the Miles Orton circus, but the exper- ience the sixteen-year-old boy acquired during three seasons with this com-

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pany brought him the opportunity to associate himself with George Fuller Golden, one of America's foremost and most famous monologue artists.

During the three years he was with Miles Orton he served in the triple capacity of snare drummer, ticket seller and finally, and terpsichorally, he had a song-and-dance turn. While with Orton, Clifford became interested in the acrobatic work of George Marsh, one of his fellow townsmen bearing the enigmatical title of "Moats". This Moats possessed an unusually sup- ple pair of legs and Clifford conceived the idea that he and Moats might make a good team. After a thorough course in the beating of the bass drum Moats was ready to join Clifford and the two drummers joined in a sing- ing and dancing act which was sufficiently attractive from the box-office standpoint to keep them in steady employment. It may be added that this Moats became in the course of time the principal clown of the Ringling Brothers circus. He was killed in a railway accident in the summer of 1916.

Billy Clifford and George Fuller Golden joined their talents in one act in 1891 and for years they played at the leading vaudeville houses throughout the United States. Theirs was a simple skit, but so skillfully and artistically was it staged and acted by these two gifted comedians that Irish song-and-dance though it was, it never failed to win hearty applause. To this song-and-dance they added an old-fashioned clog dance while their finale consisted of a dashing boxing exhibition of three rounds. This fistic encounter usually terminated in favor of Billy, who, being the smaller, was able to dance around his heavier and slower opponent.

Following his connection with Golden, Clifford and Maude Huth were featured together with some of the leading vaudeville companies of the country. Later he was with Al G. Fields for several years, during the course of which he played in some of the leading play houses of Europe. For the past few years he has had a company of his own on the road. During the season of 1916-17 he produced "Linger Longer Lucy," one of his own compositions.

OLD UNION HIALL.

To begin with the beginning of Urbana's interest in things Thespian is to turn back the pages of local history more than sixty years. When our grandfathers and grandmothers of today were "keeping company", as they liked to call it in those ante-bellum days, they had no "movies" to attend. The town in those days -- it was before it had come to attain the dignity of a city-had a play house known as Union Hall. This hall was the first

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real theatrical room of the town and it was not thought a hardship to climb three flights of stairs to reach it. This hall was located in the third story of the Glenn block in the southwestern corner . of Monument Square, then called the public square.

The first manager of this first opera house, if it may be called by such a name, was Charles Lauppe. Here the people of the fifties and sixties gathered to see Tom Thumb, Mrs. Tom Thumb and her sister, Minnie Warren ; Commodore Nutt, Sol Smith Russell, Peak & Berger's Bell Ring- ers, Fanny Denham Rouse, Harry Hawk, Caroline Hayes, Newcomb's Min- strels, Jeppe & Fanny Delano, and Skiff & Gaylord's Minstrels, While these are some of the larger attractions on which our grandfathers and grandmothers gazed with admiring eyes, there were scores of minor troups which included Urbana in their one-night stands. It is recalled that in those days before the war the best companies were brought to the town and furthermore that they were well patronized.

During the latter part of the sixties the theatrical center of the town was changed from the third story of the old Glenn block to the second story of the old market house. This latter building stood on the corner now occupied by the city building and was a large, rambling brick building of uncertain age and with acoustic properties not calculated to arouse the better nature of the audience. The upper story of this building was con- verted into a large hall, fitted out with a stage, wings, dressing rooms and other necessary theatrical impedimenta, and the hall itself fitted out with the best seats obtainable. Jack Dixon, who was connected with the fire department for several years, was the manager of the opera house which opened in the market house. Here appeared such plays as Edwin Forrest, Madam Janushek, Henrietta Chanfrau, John A. Owens, Furbish's Theatre, Duprez & Benedict's Minstrels, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Thumb and Jeppe and Fannie Delano.

The next theatrical house of the city was opened by Dr. P. R. Ben- nett, and was known for years as Bennett's Opera House. This third opera house was dedicated by Annie Louise Carey and the Webber Quartette. Before the footlights in this opera house the people of Urbana saw such people as Henry Ward Beecher, Denman Thompson, Thomas Keene, Anna Dickerson. Kate Klaxton, Annie Ward Tiffany. Frank Frayne, Robert McWade, Madame Janaushek, and the famous Gilmore Band. Dr. P. R. Bennett, still a resident of Urbana, when the climate is good, was the manager of the opera house which bore his name. For a part of the time this opera house was in use Doctor Bennett was assisted in its management

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by George E. Pence. The Bennett Opera House stood near the corner of North Main and Ward streets, on the site now occupied by an undertak- ing establishment and by Little's cigar store. It burned several years ago. This theatre remained the headquarters of things Thespian until the present "City of Urbana" was erected in 1891.

When this latter building was designed it was planned to make it a revenue-producer by providing a suitable hall which could be rented for theatrical performances or for public meetings of any kind. Accordingly, the second story was fitted out with all of the equipment essential to a well- ordered opera house and thus came into existence What was known as the Market Square Theatre. Robert Allison and C. O. Taylor became the first managers of the new play house when it was opened in 1891 and later H. H. Williams too kcharge of it. Still later Frank McAdams became the manager and was so employed when the Clifford Theatre was opened in 1905.

MANY WHO COURTED FAME. .

With the completion of the Clifford Theatre in 1905 Urbana has its first opera house built for theatrical purposes only. The story back of the building of this fine play house has been told in the review of its owner's life. It is sufficient to add that the building is as fine a structure of its kind as may be found in the state in cities the size of Urbana. It was erected at a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars and now contains in addition to the various rooms used for theatrical purposes only, the head- quarters of Company D, Third Regiment, Ohio National Guard. The mili- tia company occupied both the second and third floors. The Gaumer Pub- lishing Company occupied the first floor of the front of the building for several years, but moved across the street to its new quarters in the summer of 1917.

To enumerate the many sons and daughters of Urbana who have courted fame at the tip of the rabbit's foot would be to list a long number of former Urbanians. Some have won their way to the front by the dexterity of their arms, some by the suppleness of their legs, some by their unusual vocal chords, some by their hands, others by their feet, and a few by virtue of their brains. There are artists and artists. Some walk the plush carpet of the stage and others tread the sawdust of the circus arena; others deco- rate store windows with their presence and still others serve as ticket agents with some circus.

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For additional proof of Champaign county's place on the world's stage the reader is directed to the succeeding recital of a galaxy of stars-some scintillating and some not. No effort is made to evaluate these stars or to calculate their brilliancy, but only to set forth in a general way their orbit.

Billy Clifford has been mentioned. He ranks as a star of the first magnitude in Urbana. His brother, Eddie Clifford, is an actor and possessed of a fine baritone voice which insures him regular employment with high- class minstrels. He is now with Coburn's Minstrels. Years ago when Bennett's Opera House was in its prime a little youngster acted as usher and today Frank LaRue is one of the country's noted character actors and has played in such plays as "By Right of Sword." Then there was Charles Ogden, who was once with James S. Cherry and later with the J. W. Carver Company. He forsook the bright lights of the stage for the steadier glow of the lights in a mail car and became a mail clerk. He is now a postoffice inspector in Pennsylvania. Harry McDargh left Urbana the day the "Lights o' London" left the city, attracted by the promise of a job as scene shifter. And this same boy became in the course of years a fine stage carpenter-a real artist in his line. At the time McDargh left Urbana he took with him James Connell, who worked. with him on the stage until he lost his life in Cincinnati. Frank Powers was a stage carpenter from Urbana for many years and later became stage manager and advertising agent of a theatre at Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Actresses and singers of Urbanian nativity include Daisy Dills, at one time with Richard Mansfield; Eva Grove Kennedy and her two talented daughters, Helen and Iris; Dorothy Conrey, who has a beautiful soprano voice, combines singing and acting and has played with such companies as the Ben Greet Players; Mary Conrey Thurman, who is a concert singer with a mellow coloratura soprano voice. The Bailey sisters, who have displayed their histrionic talent in all parts of the United States; Ruth Counk- lin and Glenndora Wolf are members of Billy Clifford's company at the present time. Margaret Dills played the "mother" in "Ben Hur" and was associated with Richard Mansfield at one time: the Gish sisters, while not natives of Urbana, lived on East Reynolds street for a number of years and may properly be classified as Urbanians.

A FURTHER CALL OF THE ROLL.

Actors and acrobats have come from every corner of Urbana and Champaign county. Elmer Fritz, Walter Wolfe and the Reed brothers

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are known in the minstrel world, while Denton Crowl, as an impersonater of Sam Jones, and Ernest Wilson, son of Capt. Miles Wilson, as a vaude- ville artist, have brought fame to the place they call home; Wilson was good enough to make two successful trips to Europe, something which can not be said of all Urbana's artists; Leon Roth is with the Sun circus; Ed and Molly Leon were famous trapeze performers with John Robinson's circus, Mrs. Leon continuing in the work until she fell at Memphis, Tennes- see, and injured herself so that she became an invalid. Their son, Eddie, was singing with burlesque companies when a small boy; their daughter, Maud, became a clever slack-wire artist and all-around acrobat.

One of the most famous acrobats Urbana has ever produced is Charles Pence, a grandson of George Fithian, an early judge of the county, one of the first settlers and a leader in the early life of the village. Pence is now living in Urbana, having retired from circus life on account of advancing years. In his prime he was one of the finest slack-wire artists and tumblers in the United States and had the honor of being as high-salaried a performer of this kind as the United States produced. Circus life attracted George Marsh, who started out with Billy Clifford, but graduated into the circus as a white-faced clown. He had a few more tricks up his sleeve than the ordinary clown possessed and is said to have "pulled off" more unique stunts than any other clown who followed John Robinson's circus. He was with this circus for years and was chief clown at the time he was accidentally killed in Virginia.

The flare of the trumpet and the rattle of the drum have drawn several young men from Urbana. It has taken Elmer Parlette, Lon Williams, Wil- liam Vance, Francis Williams, George Brinkley, Calvin Parlette and one entire band-a colored organization-all having done duty in circus bands in days gone by. Several of these boys were with Buffalo Bill's circus. Francis Williams was for years a band leader and frequently arranged his own orchestrations.

Of composers, the city has produced at least one with a national repu- tation. Raymond Hubbell is really a high-class composer and is well deserving of the wide recognition accorded his compositions. His first worthy contribution to the musical world was his work as joint author of the opera "Runaways", closely followed by "Fantanna". This was more than twenty years ago and since that time his musical successes have followed one another with a frequency which bespeaks a fertile brain. His latest offering is "Poor Butterfly". J. Murray Allison has written a number

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of plays, as has Frank Reed, the latter for years on the dramatic staff of the New York Herald. Allison later became a manager of shows. Jean Broadwell has composed several marches and waltzes for the piano, some of which have been arranged for bands and orchestra productions.

The many Urbanians who have been mentioned thus far have been actors or performers of some kind. Connected with the management of shows have been a number of other natives of the city. J. Murray Allison has already been mentioned as a show manager. Elmer Fritz, now manager of the local Lyric Theatre, was formerly on the stage, but retired in order to take the management of the local playhouse. Al Dolson became promi- nent as a manager of shows and so pronounced was his ability along this line that he was given important shows to handle and even took them across the ocean. Will Goddard is another local boy who went to New York and became identified with the management of shows. Charles McCoy was one of the best ticket sellers that ever traveled with the Sells Brothers circus. Cassius Holliday did advance work for repertoire companies for years. Del Barnhouse, as an electrician, and John McGuire, as property man, are two more local boys who have been attracted by the glare of the foot- lights. W. M. Mayse, Jr., was treasurer of Joe Oppenheimer's attractions for several years before becoming a clerk in the United States sub-treas- ury at Chicago. Crogan Bailey and his two daughters traveled together for years in a show of their own. He is one of the few men of the city who have made some money in Things Thespian.

Practically every person mentioned thus far has been identified with Urbana, but there are other parts of the county that have made contribu- tions to the aesthetic side of our life. St. Paris gave Al Thatcher to the minstrel world: Mechanicsburg contributed Odell Williams and William Owen, both comedians of more than average ability. Williams died several years ago and is buried in Mechanicsburg. Bob Summerville, now a resi- dent of Dayton, was once on the stage and in remembered as having had a prominent part in "The Union Spy".

M'GOWN'S COLLECTION OF AUTOGRAPHS.

The theatrical life of Crabna has a unique figure in the person of Wil- liam McGown. He has been associated with Things Thespian since he was a young man, and today is better informed on theatrical topics than any . man in Champaign county. He is not only fully conversant with the con- tributions the county has made to the stage and circus and other forms of

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public entertainment and amusement, but he also has engaged in the culti- vation of two hobbies which are exceptionally interesting.

In his home in Urbana McGown has fifteen thousand autographs, each one of which has been given to him by the author thereof. This pile of autographs, laid one on top of another, makes a stack more than five feet high and he has been offered a goodly sum for the collection. He has in this collection an autograph of the famous Barnum, dated January 1. 1888. Mr. McGown has a collection of over three thousand theatrical photographs. all of which have been taken by himself. The historian has traveled in several states, and been in hundreds of homes in search of historical material, but seldom does one find as interesting a collection as has been gathered together by Mr. McGown.

Mr. McGown has been a correspondent for the New York Dramatic Mirror, New York Dramatic News, New York Clipper, and New York Herald for thirty-eight years. While most of his contributions to the papers have been in prose form, yet he falls into verse occasionally. His verse is frequently found in local papers and usually has a homely setting which gives it a peculiar piquancy which makes it interesting reading. Taken by and large Mr. McGown is an institution in Urbana. He has no competitor, no rival, in his line of business.

THE COMING OF THE "MOVIE".

And what shall be said of Urbana and dramatic art and allied interests as they appear in 1917? The moving-picture industry has revolutionized things in the dramatic world, and where the legitimate theatre is going to finally land is a question which is worrying thousands of actors, actresses, playwrights, promoters, theatre owners, and many others, but not the great American public. We of today pay out five or ten cents. enjoy a two- dollar show for this insignificant sum and let the owner of the theatre do all the worrying. There is no question that the moving picture has come to stay, althugh it is equally true that the legitimate drama will not perish.

The first moving-picture house to open in Urbana reeled off its mysteries to an admiring houseful in 1905. This first "movie" in Urbana was in the cast half of the room now occupied by William E. Brown as a clothing store. Since that day the city has not been without moving pictures and in 1917 there are two local "movie" theatres in operation besides the one installed in the Clifford Theatre. Early in 1917 there were two others, but competition has fixed the limit at three. The two now in operation, known

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as the Lyric, on South Main street, and the Ideal on North Main street, operate six nights in the week and two afternoons in the week. There are no shows of any kind on Sunday.

The legitimate theatre in the city still finds adequate expression through the various travelling companies which visit the city. During the season 1916-17 such plays as "Twin Beds", "Gypsy Love", "My Home-Town Girl". and "Linger Longer, Lucy" were presented. There are local-talent com- panies which appear for their friends only: the schools have plays well- drilled and well acted by boys and girls; while those so disposed have sporadic minstrel shows. It may be said that the love of the drama still lingers in Urbana. The boys and girls (now gray-haired) who smiled at Tom Thumb in 1850 may be seen walking into the Clifford on Saturday night and laughing at Charlie Chaplin. Truly the world doth move-it's a long way from Tom Thumb to Charlie Chaplin.

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CHAPTER XXVI.

MUSIC AND ART IN CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.

The immortal Shakespeare has said that "The man that hath no music in his soul and is not moved by the concord of sweet sounds is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils." No one has ever denied the power of music to soften the minds of men; even the humble mouse is peculiarly affected by music. While music is universally recognized as being such a potent factor in our civilization, the same is no less true of the work of the painter and sculptor. A beautiful picture or a handsome piece of statutory has an esthetic value which is difficult to estimate, and for the reason that we as a people are not as familiar with this form of art as we are with music. There are thou- sands of people who can sing a song, to one who can paint a picture or sculp a statute. Thus it follows that music has made a more universal appeal than painting or sculpture, and consequently has had a wider effect on our lives.

Champaign county has never produced any world-famous musicians, but it has produced two or three artists who have achieved a national repu- tation : one, at least, with an international reputation. Probably the most widely-known composer of music the county has ever produced is Raymond Ilubbell, whose "Poor Butterfly" has been sung by millions of people over the United States. He is still a young man and the success which has attended his efforts thus far lead his friends to believe that he may one day be ranked high among the musical composers of the country.

MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS.

While the county has not been prolific of composers, it has had a large number of performers on musical instruments. During the century and more of the county's existence there have been probably a hundred different musical organizations in the county. There have been choral societies of all kinds, vocalists of more than local reputation : while of bands and orches- tras. the number runs up into the scores. Unfortunately, it is not possible to trace the career of these numerous organizations, particularly those out-

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side of the county seat. Many of the smaller towns in the county have had their vocal and instrumental organizations in bygone years, but little is known of them. The local papers tell of a Kingston Silver Cornet Band during the sixties, and other fugitive references indicate that St. Paris, Mechanicsburg, North Lewisburg and Woodstock have had bands at one time or another during the past hundred years.

Urbana has had some kind of a band for probably seventy-five years and at times has had more than one. During the eighties it had a colored band which traveled with a circus one year. The leader of the present band for many years has been Richard S. Pearce, Jr., an accomplished performer himself. Billy Clifford began his career as a drummer and to this day he can handle a snare drum with the best in the country. His brother has been pronounced the best baritone singer the county has ever produced, and has been featured with some of the best theatrical companies.

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History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 57

Author: Middleton, Evan P., editor Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Middleton, Evan P., editor
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1196