USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Reading > History of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont. Vol. II > Part 21
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'Tis better to make people laugh, Than to cause them needless pain,
For there's never too much sunshine To scatter the mists and the rain.
Frank H. Clark.
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CHAPTER XXXV.
Reading's Fame as a Musical and Dramatic Center. By Frank H. Clark.
From the days when all the business and social life of the township was drawn to the "Center-of-the-Town". down to the present time, Reading has been famous for her musicians and dramatic artists.
Her earlier fame was not so widespread as it has been later, for in those days the music was confined to the church choirs and singing schools, and there was no attempt to practice the dramatic art.
'Squire Wm. L. Hawkins was a noted pedagogue' in his day and taught singing schools as well as the common schools. He was the leader of the choir in the old "Meeting House at the Center" and was one of the first to introduce the violoncello as an accompaniment for the choir in this country. This was before organs were introduced into church, and all of these instru- ments were looked upon by many of the congregation as implements of the evil one and not fit to be used in the worship of God.
The advent of Mr. Eleazer Dexter to Reading in 1843 was of great importance to the musical and his- trionic circles of this town for he was the forerunner of all the celebrated musicians and actors who have spread the fame of this rural community far and wide.
The following tribute to Mr. Dexter was written by Henry W. Stocker, a singer of note who was born and lived for many years in the neighboring town of Windsor. Vt., now residing in Hartford, Conn .:-
"The small but beautiful town of Reading, Vt. nestling among the foot hills of the Green Mountains and almost o'ershadowed by stately Ascutney Moun
GEORGE M. CLARK.
GEO. M. CLARK'S RESIDENCE.
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CHAPTER XXXIV.
George M. Clark.
The name of Geo. M. Clark and "Hank" White are so closely connected that to their many friends wher- ever one is mentioned, the other comes unbidden to the mind. Geo. and Hank, as they were familiarly known, were associated from their youth, first as stars in local dramatic clubs, and small traveling companies of play- ers, then as comrades in the army and lastly as mem- bers of the famous Whitmore and Clark's Minstrels, well known throughout New England, Northern New York, and the Provinces. The memory of many old- timers will take them back twenty-five or thirty years to these entertainments, which for good music, whole- some fun, and genuine old-fashioned minstrelsy have never been excelled. Old friends went "to see Hank White perform and to hear Geo. Clark sing" as they expressed it, and although the other parts of the performance were well rendered, the two veterans were the leading attractions which sustained the reputation of the company.
George Merritt Clark was b in Clarendon, Vt., Sept. IO, 1833, and d at Felchville, Vt., June 5, 1885. His musical genius developed at an early age, and in his boyhood days he was the fiddler at all the country husk- ings and kitchen dances in that neighborhood. He con- tinued to fiddle after he moved to this side of the Green Mountains, then taught singing school, sang in the choir and otherwise cultivated the voice which after- wards made him famous.
In 1866, with O. A. Whitmore and E. P. Hardy, he organized the Whitmore & Clark's Minstrels, and was with that organization until his death, traveling with a
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tain, has long been celebrated for the number and ex- cellence of the musicians and showmen that have called it "home."
Among them were Eleazer Dexter, Geo. M. Clark, Azro ('Hank') White, Osceola A. Whitmore, Theodore J. Allen, Jonas Allen, O. S. Holden, Lyman Read, Lucian Read, Carlos Hawkins, Don C. Hawkins, Darwin E. Washburn, H. L. Rockwood, Charles T. Conant and Budd D. Hawkins; and among others that have temporarily resided there were, Sam Brock and Al. Taylor of the old time "Brock's Broadway Min- strels."
The spirit of music and minstrelsy may be said to have hovered over this place from the arrival of Eleazer Dexter, the veteran of them all. He was a younger brother of "Blind" Dexter who, forty or fifty years ago was known from Canada to the Gulf as the proprietor of "The Car of Beauty", a vehicle simi- lar to the more modern travelling photograph car. It was handsomely painted and gilded, with stained glass windows, and a hand organ furnished music with the aid of the local small boy at the crank, and the attrac- tions consisted of several groups of wax figures, among which was the murder of Jennie McCrae by the Indi- ans ; stereoptican views, Indian relics, a collection of ancient and modern weapons, and mineral and fossil curiosities, etc.
Young Eleazer travelled with his brother until the latter's death, and used to relate many stirring and interesting incidents to the writer on their "Starring Tours" as they travelled through New England with a team with "Dexter's Pictorial Concert Co."
Either just before or just after his connection with his brother, he was a member of "Old Dan Rice's Circus Co." and rode a horse in the ring dressed as a young lady, and also did a "black face" act called "Jump Jim Crow."
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Once while in New Orleans with his brother, they stopped at a hotel and in the room next to theirs was a party of gamblers, trouble arose and a man was stabbed and killed, his body taken away, and a few days after- wards it was found in the river. Owing to his youth, his brother's blindness, and the desperate character of the gamblers, the Dexters said nothing of the affair and left the city the next morning. The murderers were never punished.
One day as we were driving along the bank of the Connecticut river in the town of Westmoreland, N. H., he pointed to a rock on the river bank and said to me : "I sat on that rock once with my old cornet on my knee and my little bundle by my side and debated in my mind whether or not to jump into the river and end my lonely existence." He was then on the aimless wander- ing that finally brought him to Reading. There was a dance at the hotel on this evening of his arrival and Allen's band, which furnished the music was minus a cornet player. Mr. Dexter volunteered to play, and that night he went home with Mr. Allen and became a devoted and cherished member of the family until the day of his death. Soon after his arrival in Reading he organized a brass band and with his stirring stories of show life, planted the seed that afterwards took root, blossomed and bore rich fruit. He, with Mr. and Mrs. Allen, made frequent tours, giving vocal and instru- mental concerts with considerable success. Later en- terprises were "Dexter's Panorama" and "Dexter's Pic- torial Concert Co." Among those that traveled with him at different times were William P. Chamberlain, the author of "Hurrah for Old New England" and who is now a successful business man of Keene, N. H .; Eddie Lincoln, for many years a member of Whitmore and Clark's minstrels; A. J. Maxham, the campaign singer, and Henry W. Stocker, now of Hartford, Conn.
A brief description of one of the entertainments in
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which the writer took part may be of interest. Im- agine some little village far from the railroad, nestling among the New England hills. A cozy country "tavern" where we "put up;"' a country store and post- office ; a church ; a school house, and a little community of neatly painted houses and an occasional old, weather beaten two-story square structure, in which generations had lived and died. Our arrival was generally hailed by many old friends of Mr. Dexter, of whom he had made hosts in his years of travel. Just before the open- ing of the door we would give a cornet concert, and the old hills rang to the notes of quicksteps, marches and familiar tunes. The little crowd gathered quickly, and the young folks kicked up their heels and pranced like young colts, while their elders kept time with heads, hands and feet. Our program began with "Hurrah for Old New England", or some other rattling chorus, then came a ballad by the writer, followed by a funny story by Mr. Dexter while number two made a quick change to appear as "Chestnut Green" or "Reuben Glue"; then a duet. Next number two in an Irish or Dutch charac- ter, etc., etc. This was part first.
Part second was a series of interesting, instructive and amusing dissolving views, accompanied by a lecture and descriptive songs. These views consisted of battles, sea views, places of historical interest, comic pictures and chromatropes, and the entertainment was concluded by Mr. Dexter in "Adam and Eve", a song which he sang "by request" for years. It was amusing to hear some country swain turn to his "best girl"' after some interesting number and, after drawing a long breath, re- mark,-"By gol! that's pretty good duins". These trips were greatly enjoyed by us both, and seven trips together cemented a friendship never broken by a harsh word and enduring to the end.
His kind heart and ever open hand prevented his accumulating money. He was loved and honored and
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was chosen by his fellow townsmen to represent them in the legislature where he was a conspicuous figure in his blue coat and brass buttons. He died in 1897 and sleeps in the shadow of the hills he loved so well, in the town where his best and happiest days were spent."
Jonas G. Allen was another old time favorite musi- cian, being a violinist or fiddler as they were then called and an excellent performer on the violin. He wrote many jigs, reels and hornpipes which were all the rage at that time, also a popular set of waltz music, called the "Lynden Waltzes". Dexter and Allen were insep- arable names in the musical annals of Reading, and both were known as firstclass musicans ; Allen and Dex- ter's Quadrille Band furnishing music for innumerable country balls for many years. They also belonged to the Reading Brass Band which had for members about the year 1850, -- E. Dexter, cornet and leader ; Carlos Hawkins, E-flat clarinet ; Gustavus Cady, B-flat clarinet ; O. A. Whitmore, B-flat clarinet ; Oliver Sherwin, E-flat bugle ; Leander Rockwood, E-flat saxhorn ; Hodgeman, trombone ; J. G. Allen, ophicleide and Amiel Rockwood, bass drum.
Carlos Hawkins was another fiddler who played with Allen and Dexter and called the changes for qua- drille dances as prompter, in all the towns around for many miles. There were so many contras and quadrilles on the programs that the services of a prompter were in greater demand than at present, and Mr. Hawkins was one of the best that ever called the changes at a country ball. He began to play the violin when he was to years old and played for husking bees, apple parings and kitchen dances before he was of age. While he was attending the Green Mountain Liberal Institute in South Wood- stock, in 1847, he took his first lessons on the violin. paying Leverett Lull of Woodstock $10.00 for ten les- sons, a big price for those days.
About thirty years ago Mr. Hawkins organized
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"Hawkins' Band" and that has been the favorite music for dancing parties and balls throughout that section ever since. The present members are C. Hawkins, 2d. violin and prompter; Don C. Hawkins, a son, Ist violin; Harland Hawkins, a grandson, double bass and Arthur Allen, cornet, a remarkable instance of three genera- tions of musicians in one organization. 'Squire Hawk- ins who was mentioned in the beginning of this article was grandfather of Carlos Hawkins.
William P. Chamberlain a native of Swansey, N. H. was one of the sweet singers of Reading, travelling with the "Broadway Minstrels" and other musical organizations during the civil war period. He soon forsook the lyric stage however for the dry goods counter, and found the notes of the latter more satisfying to him- self if not to the public, than those of the former. Per- haps 'twas more blessed to receive the notes of banks than to give the notes of song. Mr. Chamberlain sang in the different choirs of Felchville for many years, until he removed to Keene, N. H., where he is now a successful merchant.
We are indebted to Mrs. Minnie Amsden Coy of Windsor, Vt., a native of Reading and a member of various choirs in Felchville for a list of the noted singers who have sung in the different churches in Felchville and helped to spread the fame of this com- munity as a music loving people. The list does not pretend to be complete but only such as Mrs. Coy could gather in the time at her disposal.
"God sent his singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth,
That they might touch the hearts of men And bring them back to Heaven again."
From the year 1840 to 1860 the famous singers of Felchville included the following names : Mrs. Daniel Stearns, Harriet J. Felch, Eliza Kendall, Augusta Rob- inson, Belinda Bailey, Mrs. J. M. Stearns, Emily Felch,
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Mary Felch, Mrs. Fisher. Mrs. Cordelia Kimball, and Messrs. Wm. Felch, Joseph Davis, Wm. Wait, Chas. A. Forbush and Chas. L. Thayer.
They sang in the old brick church, with no music but a bass viol which was played by Benj. M. Kendall, and Chas. L. Thayer used to pitch all the tunes with a tuning fork. A friend writes, "In my dreams of the musical past of Reading the bass viol of Ben. Kendall plays (as it used to in church) a very soul-shaking part. How the sounds he evoked would emphasize and enforce the lessons of a blood-curdling sermon and make the small boy determine he would never be bad any more."
Between the years 1860 and 1875 we find other singers coming to the front, a Union church built and an Estey melodian installed with Calista White, Lettie Elgar and Ella Jones White as players and Wm. Wait with his bass viol. The singers during these years were Mrs. Harriet Gates, Mrs. Henry J. Hewlett, Sarah Ben- jamin, Elizabeth M. Coburn, Eliza Townsend, Addie Robinson, Mrs. J. P. Osborne, Julia Brown, Mary Brown, Nellie Goodell, Mrs. Morgan (of Middle-of-the Town), Jane Megrath, Jennie Jones, Kate Felch, Lydia Putnam, Melvina Hoadley Jennie Hoadley, Carrie Watkins, Elizabeth Walcott and Messrs. George M. Clark, O. S. Holden, W. P. Chamberlain. Dr. J. P. Osborne, Henry J. Hewlett, P. B. Walcott, Marcus Townsend, Henry T. Fletcher, John McCullough, Geo. W. Shedd, Dexter P. Gates, Dr. S. H. Morgan, Hosea Benjamin, Gilbert A. Davis and Caleb Chase.
From the year 1875 to the present time some of the older singers and many new ones have sustained the musical part of the divine service in the two churches in Felchville ; Mrs. Anna Hook, Mrs. D. E. Washburn, Susie Persons, Mary Gates, Etta Gates, Sarah Gates, Mrs. D. E. Burnham; Mrs. F. C. Morgan, Mrs. Geo. D. Burnham, H. Gertrude Roscoe, Mrs. F. E. Fogg, David
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E. Burnham and Ed K. Hewlett.
The following were members of the Baptist choir for some years : Minnie Amsden, Dora Stearns, Nellie Kendall, Alice Kendall, Hattie Kendall, Corydon M. Fay, Geo. W. Kendall and Charles Kendall, Carrie Kendall acting as organist.
The most famous musical organization which origi- nated in Reading was undoubtedly Whitmore & Clark's Minstrels, a company that for more than a quarter of a century annually visited every part of New England, and parts of New York and the Provinces, and the mem- ories of which will be remembered with pleasure by many an "old-timer". The company was organized at the close of the Civil war and was the successor of several similar organizations that had been more or less suc- cessful, S. A. Brock's Broadway Minstrels, Whitmore & Thompson's Minstrels and others.
The first two seasons the troupe showed under canvas, but after that gave hall shows until disbanded. How well one remembers the row of black faces looking out in a semi-circle, as the curtain rose, with the immortal Hank White on one end, Geo. M. Clark on the other, and the other members of the company between. The rollicking opening chorus, followed by comic and senti- mental songs, interspersed with the jokes of the end men and the funny wind up, would close part first. Part second consisted of a clean cut musical and variety entertainment the feature of which to many, was the singing of Geo. M. Clark, the whole comcluding with a side-splitting after piece in which the inimitable Hank was the shining star.
These entertainments were always well patronized by the best people of the towns and cities visited and there never was a complaint by the thousands who attended the show year after year, such as is heard of the cheap vaudeville companies that travel at the pres- ent time.
WHITMORE & CLARK'S MINSTRELS.
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The members of the company would meet at Felch- ville and have a few rehearsals several days before start- ing on the road for the season, and the season usually closed in the same village, the proceeds of the show often being given to the Reading Library Association, and many volumes were added to the library in this way.
Of the proprietors of the company only one, Osceola A. Whitmore, was a native of Reading. He was born on the old Whitmore place Sept. 2, 1838, a son of Capt. Nelson Whitmore, at one time captain of the militia company and Mrs. Lucy (Holden) Whitmore. Young Whitmore must have heen inspired by the old time music of the fife and drums, which he says was the most important part, to him, of the annual June train- ing. The players were Otis Foster, snare drum, Henry Megrath, fife and Capt. Nathan Sherwin, bass drum.
Mr. Whitmore began to play the clarinet at an early age, his first engagement in public being at the hotel in Hammondsville in 1855 for a dance, playing with Carlos Hawkins and for which he received for his valuable ser- vices the sum of twenty five cents. He received his first instructions on the clarinet from Alonzo Bond of Boston, who taught the Woodstock Band about this time, and was a member of the band in 1860 and '61, and went into camp at Rutland in May 1861 with the Wood- stock Light Infanfry. In the beginning of the war, when the first call for three months' men from President Abraham Lincoln was made the government did not employ bands, so the band returned to Woodstock when the company left for the seat of war. Afterwards he travelled with Barnum's Circus and was with the Whit- more and Clark troupe for twelve years after it was or- ganized. The name was retained after Mr. Whitmore retired from the organization except for one or two seasons.
Mr. Whitmore has lived at 1014 Salem street, Mal
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den, Mass., for many years and for the last twenty five years he has been connected (at different times) with all the leading theatres in Boston as solo clarinet ; has played in all the firstclass opera companies, German, Italian, French and English; was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, seven years, and of the Germania Band, eight years; also with Hall's and Carter's Bands, and has a record of which any music- ian might well be proud.
George M. Clark was the son of N. Goodnow and Ann Eliza (Rounds) Clark and was b in Clarendon Springs, Vt. He inherited his musical genius from his mother, his father not being able to distinguish one tune from another. He was a natural musician, play- ing the violin and other instruments with skill, and he had a wonderful rich baritone voice which he cuitivated until it was under perfect control. He was at his best in sentimental and pathetic ballads, and there was a sympathetic quality in his voice which moved the feel- ings of his hearers. His enunciation was clear and distinct and he could be heard in all parts of the largest hall or tent.
In his younger days, when he used to teach singing schools, many would go to hear him sing rather than to learn how to sing themselves, and it frequently has been said by his admirers that they had rather hear him sing than any one else they ever heard. After he began singing in large circus tents his voice became a little harsh, perhaps, but it never lost its sympathetic ex- pression and timbre.
He was stage manager and musical director of the minstrel company from the start and always kept up the high musical excellence which it soon attained. Many a firstclass musician owes his advance in this beautiful art to the training he received from Geo. M. Clark, while a member of Whitmore and Clark's Min- strels.
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Mr. Clark composed many of the songs which were sang by the company, many of which became very popular. He also wrote much church music which was rendered by the various church choirs at Felchville.
Mr. Clark was original and quick at repartee and many anecdotes have come down to us from his asso- ciates. Perhaps the one that has been most widely quoted is the reply he gave a rather pompous lawyer in a court room in New Hampshire. He was an important witness and the opposing lawyer tried to decry his testimony by calling attention to the low calling he was engaged in, blacking his face, playing the clown in a circus, etc. Mr. Clark said it was rather a low calling, but so much better than what his father's was that he was proud of it. Upon the lawyer's inquiring what the father's calling was he replied, "He was a lawyer, sir," which brought down the Court and spectators, and so disconcerted the lawyer that he asked no more ques- tions of the witness.
E. P. Hardy of Keene, N. H., 'Press' Hardy as he was called, was one of the proprietors and the general mana- ger of the show. He was a man of striking personality and in face and figure bore a marked resemblance to the caricatures of Uncle Sam. He usually wore a blue coat of antique cut, ornamented with bright brass buttons, and those with his imposing figure would greet each one as he came into the doorway of the hall as door-keeper, and his stentorian voice would strike terror to the hearts of the bad boys in the gallery, He had travelled with a circus in early life and like his friend Hank White he worked on his farm at Keene between seasons, varied by horse trading and real estate dickers. He also dabbled in politics, holding various town offices and serving one or two terms in the New Hampshire legislature.
Although Hank White was not a great musician either by nature or education he was a natural comedian and his comic songs never failed to bring down the house.
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He was a consumate actor and story teller and his quaint way of telling his experiences as an "end-man" and his trials and tribulations in the "farce" during the show always kept the audience in a roar.
A correspondent of the New York Sun, writing of these minstrels and of Hank White, said; "As a boy in a northern New England town he was happy to see the posters announcing Whitmore and Clark's Minstrels. Who would be the lucky boy to carry the handbills from house to house, announcing the names of the ar- tists to appear, and thereby insure tickets to the show ? "Hank was the magnet that drew the crowd and he was to be found with his "tambo" at the end of the line, while opposite was George Clark, of hardly less popu- larity. Hank's mouth, when set in a background of burnt cork, had ths appearance of having terminals immediately below each ear."
Another writer said: "Hank White was a natural mirth maker, and while he was content through prac- tically his entire career to limit his appearance to thé one-night stands of rural New England, there have been scores of burnt-cork entertainers with almost world-wide fame who possessed not a tithe of his talents. It was in a measure by his own election that he never sought and obtained recognition on the metropolitan stage. Du- ring the greater part of his professional career he di- vided his time about equally between the stage and his farm in Reading, Vt. As he once assured me he used to raise horses on the farm, and then go on the road to raise money to buy oats for the horses. George M. Clark, whose name must always be associated with that of Hank White, also called Reading his home, although he was seldom there. During the summer, while White was tilling his farm, Clark was on the road with a circus, and few better clowns ever donned the motley, For several seasons he was principal talking and sing- ing clown with the Barnum and Bailey show. That was
"HANK" WHITE as KING of MINSTRELSY.
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before the days of the three-ring show, when the clown was a much more prominent factor in the circus per- formance than he is today.
Hank White perhaps resembled the late Billy Rice more than he did any other of the more widely known burnt-cork artists. Like Rice he was of Falstaffian proportions, and possessed a mouth of such generous size, that it easily lent itself to the most grotesque grim- aces. Like Rice, too, Hank White always sat on the tambourine end of the circle in the minstrel first part.
I don't think I ever saw another end man who put the same amount of energy and vigor into thumping the tambourine that White did. I always expected to see him put his fist through the sheepskin, and on at least one occasion I was not disappointed.
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