The record-union., 1897-06-18
THE old TIME MINSTREL
Out Of Vogue, But the Public RACOlleCtS
Him With PleaSure.>
Career of "Billy" BirchAmong the
Famous Exemplars of Negro
Minstrelsy.

In pro-slavery times the white man
could initiate the negro and it was con-
sidered proper fun. But with enamel
patton and placing the colored man on
a political plane with his white brother
negro minstrelsy began to decline
Other causes may have been factors in
the decay of the Black Troubadours
but the fact remains that burlesquing
the darby seemed to be on the decline
from the hour Lincoln struck the
shackles from the slave.
The black man has tried minstrelsy
himself, but it has never been SO sue
cessful as the white man. In England
and the British colonies, where the peo-
pie were ignorant of the idioSyncraSies
of the race, Sam Hague's and Callen-
der's Minstrels found some acceptance
But in the United States the white man
beginning with T. D. Rice, has been the
only recognized delineator of negro hui
NOR. Daddy" or Jim Crow Rice, as
he was affectionately called was more
than mere minstrel. He was a capa-
bic actor in farce and burlesque. jun
DO Jun,' THE Mummy and "Otello
or the Moor of Catharine street." We're
favorite characters. 1t was fun alive
when Desdemona's child was brought
on half-white and half-black Dad
dy' created a great sensation when he
appeared in London. All the town was
singing the refrain Of:
Wheel about and turn about and do just So
And every time you wheel about you
jump Jim Crow.
PelPS MinStrels We're among the
earliest, if not the very first, to popu-
larize negro minstrelsy in New York.
They gave performances at Palmo' S
Opera house, in Chambers street. which
afterward became famous as Burton S
Theater. In the fifties, before the war.
negro minstrelsy was regular institu-
ton. e. p. Christy came from Buffalo
with a we'll trained band, bringing
with him George Christy, whose right
name was Harrington. E. P. Christy
played the fiddle, and was interlocutor
George was a great bones" and could
tell rafting story, and was also a
tirst-class dancer. They located at 444
Broadway. E. P. Christy made a for
tune, and retired. George struggled
on and died prematurely Then came
jerry and Neil, and Nelse Seymour,
captured the town. Dan was a good
actor, and under the tuteage of Billy
Flood made a success in Irish drama
Bryant and Nelse were inimitable pur-
veyors of humor. There were many
other bright eXemplars among the min
strel bands of the country Rumsey
and NeWcomb were of these, The
former was a great banjoist, the lat
ter's dance of the Essence of Old Vir-
ginia' was something to be remem-
bered
The Buckleys were located at what
was called the Chinese Museum, on
Broadway, just above Spring street
They gave first part like all other
bands, but instead of walk around
and specialities, they wound up with
burlesques of all the popular operas
giving the music of Verdi, Rossini or
Berlini in it's integrity. Julia Gould,
superior singer, was their prima DON
ma. Frederick Buckley was not only
a good actor, but first-class violinist.
Charlie White was also a noted min
strel He had the "Comique," near
Bond street.
Eph Horn and Frank Brewer were
burnt-cork stars of the first magni-
tude. They were rather eccentric in
their orbits, and swung from White S
to Bryant's alternately. 1t was a rich
treat to see "Eph' in his great act of
Silence when he hung his hat and
coat on an imaginary nail and then
wound up with the Essence of Old
Virginia. Jig dancing was a great
feature in the early minstrel days.
Johnny Diamond and Dick Sitter were
alternately champion They danced
for purses and bets. Excellence was
not only determined by the number and
variety of steps, but by endurance, the
contestants often shutting over an
hour.
Those admirable singers, William
Castle and Sherry Campbell, graduated
from the minstrel stage, and Powered
into English opera
When minstrel bands are named,
Happy Cal Wagner" must not be for
gotten. twas with him the irrepressible
Jack" Haverly began his phenomenal
career. Haverly was audacious, and
put minstrelsy on the Barnum circus
plane. 1t fell Of its great weight and
expense.
Just before and during the war, New
York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago
and ST Louis each had its band" and
home house of MINISTRIES. The causes
stated in the opening of this article,
and later the advent of light opera, !"
'burlesque" and the continuous vaude-
vile show have about given to old
time minstrelsy its quietus.
Billy Birch first sprouted as min
strel in Western New York. He was
very young, but was a good ''bones, -
and very funny even at the outset of
his career. He was always self-con-
tanned. This is the true secret of the
genuine comedian. Billy shifted to CAL
ifornia with the gold seekers in the
early days. There, handsome Tom
Mcguire, typical New York youth,
illiterate but brainy and audacious, had
built the Jenny Lind Theater, and was
dubbed the Napoleon of managers.
He had a hall and gambling house in
Washington street, San Francisco.
There he organized the San Francisco
Minstrels.' Billy Birch, Charles Back
us, w. H. Bernard and David Wam-
bold, a New York butcher lad, with a
marvellous tenor voice, who sang the
old ballads with a refined, finished