Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-30
- JIG.
.Rso0Heetl0ss and "reminiscences Of % Old
AeteF.


Z fOrgets his books on a holiday, Isauntere'
g forth to roam along the streets Of tn
g Crescent City, and 70 catch the cool, sol
breeze that blew gently from the river
AS day dwindled away q glorious night
= clear and starry, set In, and stu
wandered ia ali the delight Of leisure,
Z happy dQnnetT. It was the spring Of 1861
and consequently, before the war bad lef
! its sad recOllectiOns to embitter the con
! templative moments Of 50 many OF Oul
people. Toward ten O'Clock, fetiguec
with my long ramble, I walked into th'
g Phoenix saloon, on st. Charles street, &
take q little necessary refreshments, anC
to have q cha with Andy Parle, the bar
Q keeper, a genial fellow and an unsur'
q passed master OF his hOspitabie art
Scarcely had I approached the glass to my
10 lips, when in came a figure we'll known
B in years that had fled with other years ia
the ever-rseeding past-the figure OF one
+, who, like myself, was an old stager.'
: II was poor old Jim Charles, q veteran in
J the profession, and whose talent, in his
palmy DAYS, was not more admired than
bis amiabls qualities we're esteemed,
Pleasant was our mutual recognition
an invitation TO smile" with me was
heartily accepted, when, by n OF
those condolences that occasionally
|occurfn life. stin another old stagsT Joined
us-it was Charley Smith; no longer
Charley, the dashinR beau, but a later
edition Of that prince Of good fellows; II
was Charley, the clean and slppered
~pantalOOn." His = lighted up with
something Of the old fire a. he found him
self unexpectedly the third in what had
become a trio of old stagers, ana a new
order set Andy Parle again at work, and
he did his mixing with q viii, for he fully
-particfpaued in satisfaction. But fate
had not vet got to the bottom of its sur
prise-bOL, for last, but OH not least, at
thst moment George Wash. Dixon en-
tered, and the trio became a quartette!
The pleasure of so u~nlOOked-for an es-
semblage could be equaled only by the
wonder excited by its o-ccurrence-it Was
an instance of q link in the chain of events
I when the f0rtuitOus Outmasters the inten-
I tiOns Of calculation. A party Of stagers,
I all moro or less sin the scar and yellow
leaf" full Of glowing feelings toward
I each other: men who had seen life under
many ssle5ts.. and whose Memories were
trimming with g thousand incidents, sad,
racy, and merry were thus thrown to-
gether in that snug corner In the Phoenix.
FIRST WAS JIM CHARLES,
Once a gay, dashing fellow, the glass Of
fashion and the mold of form" He had
lust returned from Shreveport, where he
mad been managing a dramatic company;
the breaking out of theWar had destroyed
all his schemes, for just then 1t was only
what was warlike that could be made "to
paw" From his youth upward,
Charles had been an actor. While yet
Young he married the divorced wife
Of Thomas S. Hamilton. They had
8 son and daughter, both Of
whom were raised IN Memphis, Jim
Charles was enc OF the first managers Of
a dramatic establishment in that city;
along with Dave Ash he conducted the
theater st the old church on Washington
uH-ra- Ne hanauzn "a leading UWrnF with I
Ludlow & Smith, in New Orleans, and so
remained for many seasons. BE was very
successful, both as IN actor q a vocalist.
he was Irish by birth, but was brought
70 this country when q boy, and grew up
to manhood in New York. While residing
in that city be- was very popular among
the YOUNG men, and he raised a volunteer
company, the Lafayette Guards, Of which
he was captain. When the war deranged
his dramatic prospects, his poverty, not
his viii, sent him into the army, and his
old skill coming TO his sid he became a
drill sergeant in the Calhoun Guards. he
fell sick, after having served some time
and shared in several engagements, and
left the armT At Richmond he Joined
Miss DsBar, sisser Of Ben. DsBsr, ". II.
Crisp and others; the whole formed q
company, and met with good success &c
Richmond. at the cessation Of the war
he returned to the scenes of his youth, TO
New York, and resided there with his
brother until his death.
The second OF cur company, in the order
Of arrival, was
CHARLEY SMITH.
When young, Charley was q splendid
handsome, with magnificent hair,
and fine black eyes. He was for years
scenic artist for Ludlow q Smith and
James S. Caldwell he always drew a good
but he committed the common
error Of expecting youth 70 be endless,
in thoughtless pr0fusiou his money
melted away, and on the night OF our IN
for meeting at the PECP1IX he was
homeless, frisudlsss and psuniless. His
and child had gone before, and poor,
I'D, k~indhsarted Charley was LETT alone
q the winter Of life, TO wander, cOmp8n- Z
Onlsss, in the wide, wide world, fsebly
lObbling about with his stick for his only >
support. Charley was born in New York, {
ind nature had given him talent as well
IS good looks. he was originally a sign !
painter, but became connected with q 4
private company in New York, among
he members Of which were George ia I
nies0n. Tom MCCutCheOn and It. ID. hIce,
IF Jim Crow celebrity. Charley painted
Bgir scenery, and ended by adopting
Gene painting as his profession, and IL
vas by assisting him in this art that l
to know him in the hsyday Of his q
prosperity. He was a tine artist, and was
20 recognized through the South after he
Jscaule T. resident of New Orleans. bis
died in early life: when his wife was
AIKEN also, be was left desOlste, without
u engagement and without a dollar.
'harley's last sigh was breathed in the
isw Orleans hospital
GEORGE WASHINGTON DIXON
7ss a man Of varied fortunes, so varied
a faithful narrative Of his aoven-
- -LaHT - 90 Haaa ~ Arna-nran
lie in the middle OF the nineteenth CEN
lry, such as Our literature does not pos
ass. He was Of Richmond, Virginia,
more than usually good looking. he
-as the first man to raise negro minstrel
= TO that hight Of popular favor TO
Thicb it attained, and which 10 long main b
he and negro song sprung into
ime from his sinRingot "Ibe Goal BLACK a,
.Ose." He was admired, a~pplauded, and :,
ell paid. But George was as generous u
3 a prince and his pocket was a sieve
was too good for him, and the Y
2iuing hOur was all too brief as such ID
3y careless moments are. He was q fine
lllad singer, and in 1880, wbenth grand OF
sm0nstrstiOn ia honor of the French al
~.voluti0n Of that year took place IN New
Ork, he and Peter RItchings, hsblJed as "a
rsnch schaSSeUrS, into5ed the Marsel- ii
Use before q multitude wild with enthu- 10
8sm. Sometime after this event, George n
aut TO Boston, and by 3 strange a in
rJunB's wheel, he there turned cut a
l|litIci2n. So successfully was bis new r.
Ie performed, that the singer Of the =,
)al Black Rose came short only eight %
Of being mayor Of the city Of the
"hsn in his time plays many
rJs,' and so, sometimes, do negro wi
instrels. His next position showed ".
At, IS is usually the case, ~
association had wrought 81
1rsl deterioration, for he was in New fr1
publishing 3 scurrilOus newspaper, at
The P~olysnthus; (" this was in lS39-A0, ~
Fanny Esller was delighting the -
cd citizens Of America. DiXOn's writ ~
3 was less fortunate than his singing, "a
Z a dozen Of his countTymen, instead Of II,
awarded him a verdict Of Libel, ~
d a respectable public official followed IL
g verdict with q sentence to pay a fine. ~,
had no money for such g luxury, -
q the delightful balad-singer was sent
Blackweu's Island. Blsckwel's Island,
d almost Mayor Of Boston, were WarE- ST.
q that clearly intimated to him that
. North was not his coBgenisi sphere, e.,
he made his way TO New Orleans. But,
the faint Of the Northern politicians
is still upon him, for he started the pub
alton Of police gazette. Withered WIS
q coal black rose, its perfume that bad
thousands WIS gone, and in its
ace s-poLce gazette. Poo G8Orget
@ fates were hard upon him, and on he an
ded along the descent the poet describes 10
being 30 facile. On the night when he He
sde up the fourth in our accidental tho
artette he was obtaining q living by
epinR q coffee stand in POydras market.
enty Of the old citizens remember him,
. bow he used 20 walk about in q blue
az with epRuIetted shoulders and eagle
ttOns. The simplicity Of eye came over
"a and made him ~garrulOus, but the 2
with Georye for fbcrg Sss I go GA
salt about bis remarks that insured at 20