The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1907-09-03
Denman Thompson
At the Age of "A Years.
on the
"Old Homestead

so man years of stage life. Mr.. Cur
It's says:
Millions of people have seen
Swanzey and are personally acquaint-
ed with some of its most interesting
Inhabitants, for that village is the
secene of "The Old Homestead, y
which has been played almost as
many times as Uncle Toms Cabin,
and Joshua Whitcomb' and the other
characters are taken bodily from its
streets and farms.
while Mr.. Thompson was not
born in Swanzcy, his parents were,
and he spent his childhood and early
manhood here; and when he got
money enough. he bought the genuine
old homestead and has since spent
his summers here. He has farm Of
about 100 acres and large, com
Portable frame house, painted green
with white trimmings. In the midst
.of handsome grounds that are orna-
mented with iron deer and dogs and
dancing girls, and an iron colored
boy stands at the gate post TO hold
the horses of visitors.
Pink Awnings for the Cows.
The barn matches the house and
is quite as pretentiOus and comfort
able. Mr.. Thompson is so careful of
Them steers and his Jersey COWS
and calves and colts that he has wire
screens In the windows of his stables
and protects them from the sun with
pink awnings. He has a hOt-house
and conservatory in which he propa-
gates garden plants and early vege-
tables and raises rare flowers He is
"a practical farmer and the neighbors
say that he looks and acts just the
same In the meadow and barry ard as
he does on the stage. lie needs no
makeup. He is Uncle Josh an the
time. But Il Is not "A continuous per-
Torrance. At present he does most
of his labor In a rocking chair on the
porch or driving around through the
country on lazy. old gray, gossip
ing with the farmers and interrupt
ing them in their work. II IS I'M
Necessary 10 say that they are always
glad to be Interrupted. He knows
every man. woman and child in the
township and they call him Uncle
Josh Charles Thompson, his son
aud business manager, lives with him
and sees that the wheels go round.
Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Mrs. Mcfarland
his daughters. who appear in the
caste of theh play, have handsome
places in the neighborhood.
Uncle Josh - Years Old.
Gle Is a genial old gentleman, is
Uncle Josh Whitcomb, on the stage
as well as behind the footlights, and
now that he has celebrated his
seventy-fourth birthday he is begin
ming to take life easy. Few men
have earned a rest more honestly
than he. There Is scarcely a person
In the United states who ever at
tends the thcater that has not seen
THE Old Homestead at least once,
and no play has ever exercised a more
healthful and wholesome influence
upon the public than that homcly but
beautiful paraphrase of life at Swan
zey."
81 guess must have played Uncle
Josh nearly 10000 times" said Mr.
Thompson, "ten times week, forty
weeks a year, for thirty-two years.
I can play z in my sleep. You re-
member the story of the actor who
was looking for a job and told the
manager that he knew Hamlet back
wards? we don't play It that way
replied the manager and | don't
play Uncle Josh in my sleep, either.
This is a good climate out OF life
with less trouble at Swanzey than at
any other place know, and to me,
of course, it's the dearest and the
most beautiful town in the world.
IL am going to quit the stage
pretty soon and have good time
with my old friends here. | have a
contract to play six weeks during
the coming winter-one week In
Newark. one in Philadelphia and
four weeks IN the Academy OF Music
at New York. Then | am going to
quit. and William Lawrence, who has
been my understudy, will take my
part. and | hope he will go on play
ing The Old Homestead as long as
/ played 1T. It's a play that doesn't
seem to grow old"
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