I " - . - HISTORICAL SURVEY THE THEATRE; ITS EARLY DAYS IN CHICAGO. A I'AI'ER READ BEFORE THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, FEBRUARY ig, 1884. Bv J. H. McVICKER. CHICAGO: KNIGHT & LEONARD, PRINTERS. 1884. THE THEATRE; ITS EARLY DAYS IN CHICAGO. " What a piece of work is man ! How noble in reason ! How infinite in faculties ! In form, and moving, how express and ad- mirable ! In action, how like an angel ! In apprehension, how like a god ! The beauty of the world ! The paragon of animals ! " \ CCEPTING the world as he found it, * * Shakespeare made this masterpiece his study. His theme was humanity. His intent to so place the " paragon of animals " that he might see his " shadow as he passed, " holding before him the lesson, that as he was endowed with attributes of God and Devil, to reach the first he must forego the promptings of the latter, and banish selfishness. This " beauty of the world " is intuitively o o- THE THEATRE; religious and dramatic ; those who dissent from the teachings of the book of Genesis, falling back on modern theories, may deny the religious element, but must admit the panto- mimic nature of their ancestors. Both the dramatic and religious elements are birthrights. The former being first to make itself known even in the cradle- while the latter, waking at a later period and being more closely allied to selfishness, has been over-zealous to crush out that which should have been its pride to nourish, hence for centuries a lack of harmony prevailed with these twin-born elements which when reached will make the world more bright. Gervinus tells us that " all the dramatic art we find in England previous to Shake- speare, is only like a mute waymark to an unknown end, through a path full of luxuriant underwood and romantic vvildness, affording ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 5 presentiment of the beauty of nature but never its enjoyment" The birth of Shakespeare marked an era in the world's advancement as potent for good as that of Luther. His religion taught in nature's school with living pictures ; depicting the deformity of sin that it may be shunned, and the grandeur of truth and charity that they may be embraced. It is now about three hundred years since Shakespeare's company was permitted to be called " The Queen's Players," Elizabeth's kind patronage having done so much for stage plays and dramatic literature, that in and about the city of London a half dozen thea- tres were maintained, to the chagrin and hor- ror of those who could see but one side to the Reformation then going on. While the origin of the dratma was religious in form, the motive of those who guided its THE THEATRE; early steps was not " to hold the mirror up to nature"; not to create thought; and when evidence was given of a desire to break from the shackles with which it had been bound, op- position to its advance came entirely from those who had endeavored, but failed, to con- trol its march. This opposition sprang from an eagerness to strangle nature and teach that thought, with the people, should lie dormant, =- that no obstacle might be offered to "salva- tion by faith." What a change in brief three hundred years, which are as but a moment of time, in the world's history ! How different is it now, when we find in every city and village of this, the happiest nation on earth, Shakespeare and the Bible side by side, valued for the good that is in them ! The drama now finds a home erected for it, at the dictation of the people who crave it as part of their daily life, and in ITS EARLY DA YS IN CHICAGO. every new town the school house, the church and the theatre are looked upon as necessities to aid in the progress and prosperity of the place. In this country the drama was gaining strength about the time the place where we now dwell entered the ranks of civilization ! How dramatic was the birth of our present home! How dramatic is the advance of man ! History is deficient and unreliable in the brief records of that boon to human life, amuse- ment ! That which is looked for with the rising sun, and only given up to seek slumber, seems to have been unworthy the thought and reflec- tion of those who prepared our history ; and yet amusement is a great humanizer. By its own force, aided by the love of the people, the theater now occupies a proud posi- tion, when we reflect upon the terrible opposi- tion it has encountered from a most powerful enemy. THE THEATRE; What a spectacle was that which occurred but half a century ago, and terminated by giv- ing us the home we now love ! A capable artist would find work in painting, with the bright colors of the setting sun, the picture of the signing of the treaty which removed the red and installed the white face as master here. From the arrival of the commissioners to the signing of the document, scenes transpired which on the mimic stage might find a worthy place. A small cloud in the bright blue sky, bordered with a crimson horizon, served as an omen, warning the owners of the land that all argument on the subject of their departure must end, and the Chief of the Pottawatomies and the Ambassadors from the Great Father at Washington must remain silent till the sky should be clear for talk. The surrounding scene was bounded by the broad prairie and broader lake ; the former dotted with tents ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. and Indian huts, while in the vicinity of Fort Dearborn floated canoes filled with young braves. In many places could be seen that curse and shame of our country, the fire- water, which the Great Father permitted to be sent to his weak children, with the knowledge that it must fire the blood and incite the worst passions which find a resting place in human nature. The little cloud in the otherwise bright sky formed a fitting accompaniment to this dark spot which clings to civilization. The scene, to the reflective mind, was ani- mated our country was making history! The squaw, the chief, the papoose, the drunken red and the drunken white man mingled together, while the representatives of a great nation wended their way to the little Fort to wait and hope that the morrow would dawn auspiciously to them. A bright sky came toward the end of September, 1833, and IO THE THEATRE; the treaty was signed which terminated the red man's claims to the land of Chicago;* The prologue was over! During the winter following these events, when the inhabitants did not number five hundred, the pioneers, de- pending on themselves for amusement, started a debating society, and elected Colonel J. B. Beaubien, President ; there is no record of the subjects then discussed. Mr. Charles Cleaver, who reached Chicago in 1833, tells us that " the store keepers played checkers while waiting for customers, and, after closing, played cards. Those religiously inclined went to prayer meeting at least once a week, and Mark Beaubien played the fiddle at the Sauganash Hotel for those who wished to dance." Doubtless there are now living in Chicago those who were present at the first theatrical *Blanchard's " History of Chicago," chapter xxiv. ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. \ \ perlonnance given in the city, but dates are seldom in " our memory locked," and hence I have found it impossible to fix the exact time, yet for all purposes of history it will be sufficiently marked. The first public entertainment, of any kind, to which an admission fee was charged, and of which any record can be found, took place on Monday, February 24, 1834, but a few months after the Pottawatomies had consented to give up their land to the white man. On the 1 8th day of that month the Democrat con- tained this advertisement : " Ladies and gen- tlemen are most respectfully informed that Mr. Barnes, professor de tours amusants, has arrived in town and will give an exhibition at the house of Mr. D. Graves, on Monday even- ing next." This entertainment was given in two parts : the first being feats of the Fire King; the second a display of ventriloquism 12 THE THEATRE; and legerdemain, which Mr. Barnes said were original and " too numerous to mention." The performance commenced at early candle light and the admission to it was fifty cents. While the classic tragedian would not admit that this entertainment was in any way connected with his art, and might claim that it should not be blended with a history of the drama, it must nevertheless be accepted as a starting point, even if his professional pride receives a snub. The second recorded performance was given June 11, 1834, when another ventriloquist, Mr. Kenworthy, according to the Democrat, de- lighted the inhabitants. On the igth of June of the same year a concert was given by Mr. C. Blisse. Entertainments, shows and circuses preceded dramatic performance, of which the first mention bears date May 29, 1837, when Messrs. Dean and McKinney applied to the Council for a license to "open a theatre in ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. \ 3 some suitable building for the term of one or more months as the business may answer." The authorities were asked to make the license payable weekly, but the request was denied and the Council named $100 as the amount, which sum must have dismayed the applicants, for they abandoned Chicago, and no dramatic performance took place under their management. The original of this first application for a theatrical license, together with others cover- ing a period of nine years from 1837, were found in the only vault belonging to the city, which withstood the flames of October 9, 1871, and are the only authentic records bearing on the subject of the early amusements of the city which I have been able to avail myself of. Among these applications is one asking for a permit to erect a " show of flying horses," and that the application should be in keeping with 14 the show, it is addressed to the M-A-R-E of Chicago. No response from his Honor is on record. In this vault was found the following appli- cation, which is undoubtedly the first in reply to which a license was issued : "Chicago, October 17, 1837. The sub- scribers respectfully petition the Honorable the Mayor and Council of the city of Chicago for a license to perform plays in said city. They respectfully represent that this estab- lishment is intended to afford instruction as well as amusement ; that they are encouraged and patronized by the leading portion of the inhabitants of the city, who are interested in their success ; that they propose to remain here during the winter and that they make no calculation to receive more money in the city than what they shall expend during their stay and therefore they trust that in offering a rate ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. \ 5 for license these facts may be taken into con- sideration. Isherwood & McKinzie, the peti- tioners, request this license for six months, if agreeable to the Board." The Council fixed the rate at $125.00 for the year, which amount, the petitioners paid, while protesting that it was unjust to ask so much. The first home of the overtaxed drama was the historic Sauganash Hotel located on the southeast corner of Lake and Market. Dur- ing September, 1837, its proprietor, John Murphy, had vacated it, to move into his new house on the west side of the river and Isher- wood & McKinzie converted the dining room of the Sauganash into a temple where Thalia, Melpomene and Terpsichore found their first Chicago home. The room was provided with rough seats for about two hundred persons. The floor was level, and a few common chairs were placed in front for ladies and their es- I 6 THE THEATRE; corts. Mr. Isherwood, one of the managers, is still living; and, until within the past five or six years, occupied the position of scenic artist of Wallack's Theatre, New York. He painted the first scenery known to Chicago. I wrote him with the hope of reaching some exact dates, but as he has only memory to rely upon, I learned nothing but what I had ob- tained from others ; though he replied in a very interesting letter, ending thus : " In concluding this rambling epistle, I could almost say with King Lear ' you do me wrong to take me from the grave.' I am eighty years of age, and, with best wishes, re- main yours truly, H. ISHERWOOD." In this letter he tells me he cannot remem- ber the date of opening, but thinks it was in November or December (it was in October), and he can remember but one play " The Stranger." It is not strange- that those who ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. were merely spectators cannot recall that which one directly interested fails to remem- ber. As many of those who formed the first Chi- cago Company rose to distinction in the profes- sion, the presumption is that the acting, judged on its own merits, would bear comparison with that of the present day. Neither the exact date of the first theatrical performance, nor the plays presented, are mat- ters of record, and I have been unable to awaken the memory of some of our early set- tlers who were no doubt present, but who do not feel sure enough of being so, to say what the play was, and the night on which it was given, but undoubtedly it was during October, 1837. During the spring of 1838, the drama as- sumed such proportions that some of the citi- zens were opposed to its continuance in the I 8 THE THEATRE; young city, doubtless thinking that municipal success could be assured without it. On the 28th of April, 1838, the managers of the previous year petitioned the Council to grant them a license for one year, dating from the 1 2th of May. They set forth their inten- tions of becoming citizens, and expected to expend all the money they received ; and prayed, therefore, that a small sum be named. They asked the license for a new home for the drama, as they were preparing the upper portion of the " Rialto " and shaping it for a theatre. The " Rialto " was a frame building on the west side of Dearborn street, Nos. 8 and 10, and that portion which was to become a theatre was a room thirty by eighty feet in size. This home of comedy and tragedy has been described by the poet, Benjamin F. Tay- lor, as "a den of a place looking more like a dismantled grist mill than the temple of any- ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHIC A GO. 1 9 body. The gloomy entrance could have fur- nished the scenery for a nightmare, and the lights within were sepulchral enough to show up the coffin scene in Lucretia Borgia." " But for all that," continues Mr. Taylor, " those dingy old walls used to ring sometimes with renderings fine enough to grace grander Thes- pian temples, though there was a farce now and then somewhat broader than it was long." When it became known that a theatre was to come into the very heart of the city, the " Rialto" ( the Sauganash was in the out- skirts ) opposition presented itself by a peti- tion to the Council, in the following words : "Your petitioners would represent to your honorable body that they have understood that a petition is pending before your hon- orable body, for the license of a theatre, to be held and maintained in the room of the 'Rialto,' which is a wooden building, and sur- 2O THE THEATRE; rounded by wooden and combustible build- ings. Your petitioners would further repre- sent that theatres are subject to take fire, and are believed to be dangerous on that account to property in their vicinity, and that insur- ance cannot be obtained on property in their vicinity, except on greatly advanced premiums. And your petitioners do solemnly protest against the granting of such license to keep a theatre in such building, and thereby endan- ger the property and lives of your petitioners." This document bears date May ist, 1838, and that we may see the opposition to the theatre was powerful, I give the names signed to the petition : J. Young Scammon, O. H. Thompson, E. G. Ryan, Curtis Haven, Henry Brown, Wm. James, Thomas R. Hubbard, Mahlon Ayers, I. R. Gavin, Wm. H. Adams, ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 2 I Erastus Brown, J. Ballard, C. Beers, W. H. Taylor, Walter Kimball, E. K. Rogers, Alonson Followsbee, Tuthill King, A. W. Fullerton, Nelson Tuthill, King, Walker & Co., G. W. Merville, B. F. Knapp, J. H. Woodworth, E. S. Kingsbury, S. Burton, Lewis N. Wood, A. Farnsworth, E. G. Brown, J. A. Smith, Wm. O'sborn, B. W. Raymond, Joseph L. Hanson, Giles Spring. Considering the number of inhabitants at that time, this list of names was a formidable opposition to any enterprise, and the Council evidently viewed the matter as of the utmost importance, as a special committee was ap- pointed and empowered to decide on the pro- priety of giving a license. This committee was composed of Messrs. H. L. Rucker, E. B. 22 THE THEATRE; Williams and Grant Goodrich. The fate of the theatre was confided to them and such was the importance of the subject, they submitted to the Council a minority and majority report. Mr. Grant Goodrich, being in the minority, made a report strongly expressing his opposi- tion to the theatre ; going further even than the petition of citizens. He urged, first that the place was unsuitably located in " one of the most compact blocks in the city, composed chiefly of wooden buildings." From this fact he contended that " life was endangered on every occasion when an audience assembled within the fragile walls ; and the enhanced liability of fire by the production of theatrical spectacles caused added apprehension of peril." Had Mr. Goodrich rested his case here, in all prob- ability the " Rialto " would not have been licensed as a theatre, for his brother commit- teemen might have agreed with him and one ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 2$ report only have been submitted to the Coun- cil ; but he saw a danger greater than fire, and with eloquence pleaded " the menace to the moral welfare of the city by the establishment of a theatre." He believed " that the tendency of the performance at modern theatres was grossly demoralizing, destructive of principle," and that they "were the nurseries of crime." He regarded the project " as an alarming as- sault on the stronghold of youthful rectitude," and while he appreciated " the plays of Shake- speare and the classic drama, the probabilities of baser plays were so apparent as to justify the Council in denying a license." He ad- mitted the city treasury was in need of funds, but urged that no " necessity was stern enough to offer a compensating excuse for this process of raising money." Quoting from the majority report of Messrs. Rucker and Williams, I find that they deemed 24 THE THEATRE; it " inexpedient to enter into an inquiry of the morality of the drama in general, or of its moral tendency in this community. The moral world has long been divided on the first proposition, and your committee have no doubt but that such performances are ap- proved by a large majority of the citizens of Chicago. It is true that the Committee are advised that some opposition is made to the prayer of the petitioners in consequence of the proposed locality of the theatre, and should the subject be 'brought before the Council in a proper manner, your Committee would feel bound to examine the subject, and give it such decision as the same demands, but in the subject referred to them, the Com- mittee see nothing to warrant an examination into the question not involved in the matter before the Council. Your Committee, there- fore, would recommend that the prayer of the ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CPU C A GO. 25 petitioners be granted, and that they be licensed under such restrictions as the nature of the case may require, and that the license be fixed at $125.00 per annum. Signed, H. L. Rucker and Eli B. Williams, Committee. While Mr. Goodrich's report would be con- sidered the most able in diction, it is evident he had gone too far, and allowing prejudice to creep into the subject, he had created an op- position to his mode of procedure. Morality had not been brought in question by either the managers or the citizens, who put in a counter petition. 'Tis true Mr. Goodrich may have understood them to mean morals when they said fire, but he should have remembered that history does not establish the fact that Common Councils or City governments give much attention to the purity of those they represent. The Council fixed the license at $100.00, a THE THEATRE; - a < made.ot g e dates, but my facts regarding brought' only the following letter: not q uUe sure that exact form, b renting to Chicago theatncals. My ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. ,. 2? way of the lakes, in a steamer, somewhere about May, in the year 1838. He came to join Alexander McKinzie, my uncle, in the management of his new theatre. McKinzie had been manager of the old one the season before. I think the new theatre was the old one refitted. ( This is an error.) I know it was quite the pride of the city and the idol of the new managers, for it had one tier of boxes and a gallery at the back. I don't think that the seats of the dress circle were stuffed, but I am almost sure that they were planed. The Company consisted of Wm. Leicester, Wm. Warren, James Wright, Charles Burke, Joseph Jefferson, Sr., Thomas Sankey, Wm. Childs, H. Isherwood, artist, Joseph Jefferson, Jr., Mrs. McKinzie, Mrs. J. Jefferson, my mother, Mrs. Ingersol, and Jane Germon. I was the comic singer of this party, making myself useful in small parts and first villagers ; now and then THE THEATRE; . Senator, at the back, Roman peering over WaS3UStnin r^e Vor, in those days the audience used ber following my along 77*5 EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 2 9 he went shooting, on what is now Michigan avenue. Ever yours, JOSEPH JEFFERSON." I have letters from other " Rialto " actors but they are not reliable as to dates, and mix the Sauganash and " Rialto " up. William Warren writes me : "My experience, ripe as it is, does not verify the adage ' old people live in their memories of the past,' for I am not reminiscent, and have never kept diary or journal, or even pre- served letters to serve as prompters." After giving his remembrance of the early theatres, * he adds : " Who to see the great city of Chi- cago now, would believe that such things were, in the way of theatres, and acted in, within the memory of men as young as Jefferson ? I fear you will say with Meddle, not much infor- mation elicited from this witness." 3O THE THEATRE; The first season of the " Rialto " lasted until October, when a benefit was tendered to Mr. McKinzie by a large number of citizens, who addressed him in a very complimentary note, lauding his efforts as a manager, and praising the artistic excellence and private worth of himself and company. As I have given the names of prominent citizens in the early days, who were opposed to theatres, here are those who addressed Mr. McKinzie as patrons and friends, and it will be noted none of the names are found on both lists, which fact may be re- ceived as evidence that there was a feeling in o the community on the subject; perhaps from the fear of fire. Here is a list of the early .friends of the early drama in Chicago : H. L. Rucker, John Calhoun, J. W. Stroder, J. B. F. Russell, B. S. Morris, F. Peyters, ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. S. Abell, I. Curtis, R. Z. Hamilton, E. D. Taylor, Nathan Allen, Mark Skinner, Julius Wadworth, H. Loomis, T. R. Hubbard, W. A. McClure, S. T. Otis, J. M. Smith, A. Garrett, J. B. Hussely, G. A. Beaumont, C. H. Blair, G. Hungerford, Charles Walton, W. Mason, i A. V. Nickerbocker, Thomas Hoyne, I. Allen, Geo. Kerchival, A. A. Humphrey, N. B. Judd, H. G. Loomis, Thomas J. Durkin, Jos. A. Cox. Clifford S. Phillips, R. P. Woodworth, F. Faxton, W. H. Davis, E. S. Kimberly, P. Nichols, E. Maniere, Wm. Wright, Thomas Davis, S. S. Bradley, Frederick Bailey, G. Glass, 32 THE THEATRE; J. Jay Stuart, D. W. C. Allen, Hiram Pierson, C. T. Stanton, H. O. Stone. A similar number of more honored citizens cannot be selected from the inhabitants of Chicago in 1838. Their influence in all city matters was not lessened by the broad and liberal policy they pursued. Mr. McKinzie replied in a befitting manner, assuring the gentlemen their kindness had "fallen upon a heart that is like the wave to receive, and the marble to retain the impres- sion." Those in the employ of Mr. McKinzie ten- dered their services on the occasion of the benefit, expressing the hope that prosperity might " ever attend the establisher of the drama in the ' far west.' ' This was signed by Wm. Leicester, G. C. Germon and T. Sankey, for the Compa-ny. The benefit took place ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 33 October 18, 1838, and Bulwer's play of the " Lady of Lyons," then new, was given with this cast : Claude Melnotte, Mr. Wm. Leicester. Beauseant, Mr. Wm. Warren. Glavis, Mr. G. C. Gormon. Col. Dumas, -- Mr. T. Sankey. Deschappelles, -------- Mr. J. Wright. Gaspar, Mr. C. Burke. Officer, - - Mr. Watts. Pauline, -___---_ Mrs. Ingersol. Madame Deschappelles, - - - Mrs. Jefferson. Widow Melnotte, - Mrs. McKinzie. After the play Master Jefferson sang the comic song of " Lord Lovell and Lady Nancy," and Mr. Germon gave Chicago, for the first time, " The Hunters of Kentucky." The per- formance concluded with the " Two Friends," a very pretty drama. The curtain rose at seven precisely. In those days and nights 34 THE THEATRE; fashion had not seized the city, and all things were done earlier than now. Over forty-five years have passed since this performance was given, and four of those who took part in the "Lady of Lyons," are still living; six are acting in a better world. The fire of 1871 was so destructive of news- paper files and other documents relating to the early days of our city that I have been un- able to fix the exact day of the opening of the season of 1838, or of its close ; it has escaped even the memory of those who took part in it. It is safe, however, to assume that it com- menced about the middle of May, and was drawing to a close when this benefit was given to the manager. I find no dramatic performances were given here during the winter of 1838-39, and the next record is to be found in. the daily ''American," of April xyth, 1839, which stated ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 35 that Mr. McKinzie has received a license " to start his theatre again on the payment f $75 provided no fireworks are allowed in his theatrical exhibitions." The "Ameri- can," aware of the divided sentiment existing with the community on theatrical matters, made evident by the two lists of names I have given, straddled the fence on the subject, thus: " We are aware that theatres are obnoxious to a respectable and intelligent part of every community, but they are permitted, and must be permitted, on the ground of general expe- diency, if for no other reason." This was an editorial, and sounds like many written to-day. Doubtless the editor thought he was giving the theatre a favorable notice, and smoothing the manager's way to success, while in reality he was stabbing him in the back with ill-chosen words, and doing more harm than had he 3 6 THE THEATRE; openly opposed the re-opening of the theatre. His editorial was calculated to create the im- pression that the respectable and intelligent part of the community did not attend theatres, and as all weak people in small places have a terrible fear of " Mrs. Grundy," and a strong desire to be thought intelligent and respecta- ble, doubtless many of this class hesitated to lend their countenance to anything which the editor could only approve on the ground of expediency, they not understanding that the expediency was simply the desire to carry water on both shoulders. The editor was not slow in finding out which was the strong side, and his issue of May i3th contained the fol- lowing : " When theatres are conducted so as to ' shoot folly as it flies ' if they are not always successful in their designs to ' raise the genius and to mend the heart,' they still perform a JTS EARL Y DA YS IN CHIC A GO. 3 J valuable service in a very pleasant way, and people will, in spite of cynics and moralizers to the contrary, lend them the light of their countenance.'' During the summer of 1839 Mr. Jefferson, who was an excellent painter as well as actor and both gifts have descended to his son Joseph returned to the city to prepare the theatre for the Company, and the " American " announced the opening for August 3ist, with new scenery and decorations. The first per- formance was Coleman's musical comedy- of " The Review, or the Wags of Windsor," and the " Illustrious Stranger, or Buried Alive." No cast was given in the advertisement, and no bill is in existence, but from notices in the " American " at different times we learn that Mr. A. Sullivan and C. L. Green had joined the Company, which remained about the same as the previous season. Mr. Jefferson had 38. THE THEATRE: succeeded Mr. Isherwood as Mr. McKinzie's partner in the management. The " American" of September 3d contained the following: " The Chicago Theatre, under the polishing skill of Mr. Jefferson, appears in a new and beautiful dress, newly and neatly painted and provided with a complete change of fresh and tasteful scenery. The appropriate motto, 'for useful mirth and salutary woe,' which looks down over the drop curtain upon the audito- rium, conveys an idea of the useful tendencies of the legitimate drama." In a later issue the editor read the ladies of the city a lecture for not attending the theatre, forgetful that the doubt he had thrown over its respectability had much to do with their remaining away. After assuring them that they were perfectly safe in attending, he said : " If the ladies are waiting for fashionable precedents, we will inform them that at Spring- ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 39 field in this state the theatre was attended generally by the beauty and fashion of the fair sex and by the gentlemen of the place, of all official positions from Judge of the Su- preme Court down. This has been the case, we believe, at St. Louis and in the East," September i4th, 1839, "Oliver Twist" was performed for the first time in Chicago, and Wm. Warren was the Bill Sykes. The " American " lauded his rendition of the char- acter, and the editor's lecture to the ladies on theatre going was beginning to have effect, for on this occasion he writes : " The front seats and boxes were lighted up with the beauty and smiles .of the fair sex." " William Sykes " is not now a favorite with the ladies, yet if Mr. Warren would act the part in Boston, where his name will ever be a household word, there would be a lively time in securing seats, by both sexes. 4<3 THE THEATRE; On the i yth of September the "American" tells us that " Master Jefferson sang a comic song in which he won silver if not golden o o opinions." Joseph remembers this agreeable incident and alluded to it in his letter to me. Frequent changes were necessary in those days, as the number of patrons was not large, and dramas, comedies, and tragedies of a standard character were given in rapid suc- cession, the farce always winding up the per- formance, and Master Jefferson was a favorite with his comic songs between play and farce. Most of the plays of those days and the farces are now consigned to the shelves, like many other good things, because they are old. Driv- ing the farce from the stage was a misfortune to the actor's art. They were the primaries in which the rudiments of the profession were impressed upon young artists, who now step into important work without proper tuition. ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 41 September 23d, 1839, is set down as the time of the first fairy spectacle in Chicago ; most likely without the fairies, as they are always hard to find in small communities, and when found create a clatter among the village gos- sips. This first spectacle was " Cherry and Fairstar, or the Children of Cyprus." Con- sidering the fact that the license was granted for the season on condition that no fireworks should be introduced, the management must have violated the conditions or curtailed one of the effects of this drama, a fiery dragon. To digress, let me say " Cherry and Fair- star" was the attraction the first night I en- tered a theatre, and it was its fire effect which riveted it upon my memory, together with the circumstances under which I saw it at the Park Theatre, New York, I should think about 1833. I was started in life under Presbyterian auspices, drifting into Episcopalianism ; my 42 THE THEATRE; mother sympathized with all the prejudices that existed at that time against theatres and actors, and was lavish in her advice that I should avoid them, which doubtless made me a little more anxious to find out how bad they really were. One evening, having saved my pennies for the occasion, I slipped out of the house, and joined a companion a few -years older than myself, and we stole away to the Park Theatre. There were two plays that night, one a Roman tragedy, the name of which I never remembered, the other " Cherry and Fairstar." During the tragedy there were so many people killed that every word I had ever heard as to what terrible people actors were seemed to return to me and forced themselves into belief. To me, during that tragedy, they were indeed wicked. In" Cherry and Fairstar" I saw vice pursuing virtue; was in a fever of excitement, and only kept ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 43 quiet by my companion who was somewhat older, and was constantly telling me it was only a play. He had been there before. Of course there was much to please both eye and ear ; my sympathies being with Cherry and Fairstar, I was ready to fight for them, but when the fiery dragon came on the stage and Spurted fire from its mouth into the pit where I was sitting, I thought of my disobedi- ence to my mother, and starting up ran out of the theatre thinking the devil was after me. The devil was more dreaded by boys in those days than now. I reached home, but could not enter the house without my mother's knowledge, and so was compelled to admit how bad I was, ask forgiveness, receive it, and join in her belief as to the wickedness of actors, of whom she knew nothing, and the sin of going to the theatre, where at that time she had never been. Fiery dragons and Ro- 44 THE THEATRE; man murderers were the companions of my slumbers that night, and I remained a good boy until I migrated west. But this is per- sonal, and no way connected with the early stage of Chicago, and the production of the same play, in which the fiery dragon did not appear, and in fact he has never yet made his appearance in any after production of the play in this city. This first spectacle evidently pleased, as it was repeated several times, an unusual occur- rence in those days, and the " American " again called attention to the fact that ladies were going to the theatre, as the prejudice against their doing so was fast wearing away, not being supported by facts ; those opposed to theatres being the only ones able to present indictments, with no evidence to sustain them. During this season of 1839 Charles Kemble Mason, quite an able actor, appeared as a star, ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 45 aided by Mrs. McCluer, a fine actress. They presented a series of Shakespearean and other standard works. Mr. Mason was the Hamlet, Macbeth, Shylock and Romeo first known to Chicago. The season terminated November 2d, and the company went east, and I find no record of their return as a company, and certainly this was the end of a management which had done some good work. Chicago was fortunate falling into such hands as those who guided the early days of the drama. Both managers and artists cre- ated, with all not blinded by prejudice, an impression favorable to their profession, which has never been eradicated, and which had done much toward removing the scales from eyes which only gazed with the light of tradition, founded in darkness. The seven years following the termination 46 THE THEATRE; of the season of 1839, the city was left without any dramatic company of repute at all in keeping with those under the control of Isher- wood, McKinzie and Jefferson. The cause of this seven years' delay in that which had been so auspiciously begun can only be theo- rized upon. I would attribute it to the gen- eral state of the country at that time, brought about by the panic of 1837. My experience, and I have seen some panics, is, that while amusements do not feel any depressing effect at first, it comes by degrees, and is slow in leaving. It is a mistaken idea that people seek amusements when depressed, but it is a correct one that panics strike the first hard blow at a few interests, and in time the entire body politic is permeated with the disease. Hence amusements are the last to feel the blow, and the last to recover from it, receiving their full share of its weight. Trifling and ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 47 low amusements always thrive best in times of general depression, for the reason that they are patronized by the unthinking classes who never economize. And during panic times emotional religion also sees its best days. During these seven years the itinerants which occasionally paid a visit were few and far between, and only of little moment when here. The quality is not to be wondered at when we consider the population of the city was less than 5,000. The great wonder is that so few people were able to support the talent which the early managers offered. But the salaries of actors in those days were not twenty per cent of those of the present time. Circuses and shows occasionally made an appearance, but the first dramatic venture from 1839 to r ^4 2 was m ade by Mrs. Mary C. Porter, who attempted to give performances without a license, which brought her in con- 48 THE THEATRE; flict with the authorities, and on April 4th she petitioned the Council to forgive her past sins and grant her a license for the future. Her prayer was doubtless granted, or quietly acqui- esed in. No record of the fact exists, but on April Qth a benefit performance was an- nounced, when "The Manager in Distress" was presented, from which it may be inferred that Mrs. Porter had enough of Chicago. She was followed by a Mr. H. B. Nelson, Yankee story teller and comedian, and company, who remained but a few days, and on August 4th, 1842, a license was granted to Messrs. Lynn and Powell for a season of one month at the " Rialto." In their application they alluded to the hard times and lack of patronage, and prayed for a small amount to be named as a license, and the price was fixed at $15, and no record can be found of the number of passes the Council ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 49 received for this generosity, This company consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Powell, Mr. and Mrs. Hastings, Mrs. Ramsey, Mr. Lynn, Mrs. Graham, Mr. Sharpe and Mrs. Jackson, none of whom ever achieved a lasting fame in their profession. August 3Oth, 1842, Dan. Marble appeared, accompanied by Mrs. Silsbee, and sup- ported by the company just mentioned. " Black-eyed Susan" and the " Forest Rose," were the plays selected, and the " Democrat " stated that the patronage afforded Mr. Marble was discouragingly light, and added : " We are aware that a considerable portion of our community will not countenance a theatre, no matter how talented its members." The edi- tor could see no cause for lack of patronage but the old one, dislike of the theatre; a string always ready to be harped upon. Benjamin F. Taylor in recollection of those 50 THE THEATRE; days writes thus : " It was in that dirty old trap, tlie ' Rialto,' I think, that I saw Dan. Marble for the first time. The play was ' Black-eyed Susan/ and Marble's admirable William melted the house, as if it had been something in a crucible. It was, in its way, the perfec- tion and simplicity of nature. The audience was a little mixed. There were the fellows that in New York would have ' Killed for Keiser,' the ' wake-me-up-when-Kirby-dies stripe.' There was a small handful of half breeds, a sprinkling of lieutenants from the army, one or two worn-out paymasters. The pit was full of sailors, with occasionally a wharf rat ; but for fresh-water tars there was a wonderful effusion of salt water. Even the always conscious dress circle fluttered with any number of white cambric mops, and when the play took the right turn at last, the 'gods' applauded until the spiders hovering in their ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. webs, and the mice in the walls, were whist. Even the chaps that spent their time in the interludes in bawling ' boots' and ' supe' and eating peanuts, mopped out the corner of their eyes with their d^rty knuckles, and had the theatrical management furnished soap as well as sorrow, some of them might have put a better face on the matter. I can see the central figures of that dress circle to-day. Hands that I think of have shriveled out of the white kids they wore that night. The blue dress coats and buff vests have been laid aside for other and stranger wear. Yonder, crowned with iron-gray Jacksonian hair, is the stately form of Col. Kercheval. The man near him, with large, luminous eyes, is Hon. Giles Spring, owner of one of the finest judi- cial minds that ever graced the state. Beyond him is Doctor Maxwell, with a step as light as that of a wisp of a girl, for all of his two hun- 52 THE THEATRE; dred and odd pounds of solid flesh. Close by are E. W. Tracy, Geo. W. Meeker and Doctor Stuart, and but why keep on calling the dead men's roll ? Some of the beauty as well as the manhoo4 of the young city was there, and brightened up the dull old place like moonlight ; but what matters it? The foot lights are out, the players departed, and the air is full of dust withal. Down with the curtain." During the fall of 1842, a theatre, so called, was opened in what was known as the Chap- man building, on the southeast corner of Wells (now Fifth Avenue) and Randolph streets, under the management of Mr. Hastings, a member of the previous company, which had doubtless succumbed to fate, and Mr. Hast- ings was not long in following, as no record of his continuance is made. September 14, 1842, "Othello" was acted ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHIC A GO. 5 3 in Chapman's building, for the benefit of Mrs. Powell, who appeared as " Desdemona," and the " Democrat " suggested that she introduce the song " Strike the Light Guitar," which she sang with great effect. " Othello " was acted on this occasion by a gentleman of the city, at the time a tailor, and afterward known as Mr. Geo. Ryer, a very excellent actor, and one of good repute, now dead. During the same fall a Thespian company was formed and petitioned the Council to per- mit them to give occasional dramatic perform- ances without paying a license therefor. John S. Potter, a man who is said to have started more theatres and failed oftener than any other man who lived in his day, asked for a license to open a theatre August gth, 1843. Following him came the "Learned Pig" in 1844, and then an effort was made to estab- lish a Museum, and a free license asked for 54 THE THEATRE; of course, or to quote from the petition, " one demanding no further compensation than the necessary perquisites to the proper officer granting the same." This request seems to have been granted November 2ist, 1844, and the Museum became a fixed tact, having a legal existence. So numerous had the applica- tions become from itinerants, for free or cheap licenses, that the Council, in self defense I presume, passed an ordinance in the fall of 1844, making $5 a performance a minimum and $50 a maximum amount to be charged, and empowered the Mayor to grant licenses at these figures, according to his discretion. The Commercial building, 73 Lake street, became the home of the Museum in 1845. Its manager, Henry Fuller, boasted of an ex- tensive variety of geology, mineralogy, con- chology and ornithology, and promised that nothing should be introduced within its walls ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 55 not " in strict accordance with propriety, mo- rality and religion." Admission 25 cents, children half price. Manager Fuller on the i5th of November petitioned the Council to remove the license tax, urging that a Museum was strictly "a place of instruction." The Council was deaf to his prayer, and the Museum struggled on till February, 1846, when Mr. Fuller made another appeal, and after due deliberation the Council granted his request, conditioned that no transient entertainment or dramatic per- formance should be allowed. This did not meet the views of the manager, who replied he would be under the necessity of closing the Museum unless theatrical performances could be given free of license. Since the advent of Barnum, Museums have been looked upon by the dramatic profession as the means to an end, or a way " to beat the devil round the 56 THE THEATRE; stump," for the reason that certain good peo- ple would attend the performance given in the so-called lecture room of the Museum, who would not enter the doors of a theatre. For the same reason many theatres are called opera houses. This last petition of Fuller's was referred to a special committee of the Council, which reported : " We feel that the efforts of Messrs. Fuller and Seacomb to es- tablish a' Museum have not been properly ap- preciated by the citizens, and that they have not been afforded that encouragement and patronage which the merits of the Museum demand." The committee recommended the following, which was adopted : " Resolved, That in the opinion of the Com- mon Council, the Museum of Messrs. Fuller and Seacomb is worthy of the support and patronage of the citizens of Chicago and the ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 57 country generally, and that all persons having natural or artificial curiosities be respectfully invited to make contributions of the same to the Museum." This was a most liberal resolution, and doubtless the only one of its kind to be found in the records of the city. Mr. Fuller had evidently captured the city fathers, for in ad- dition to this laudatory resolution an order was passed fixing the amount of license for six months at the nominal figure of $5, and the Museum, with dramatic attachments, was vouched for by the government of the city, and made an effort for a permanent existence, but failed to succeed. This is the history of the amusements of the city from 1834 to 1846, briefly recorded. The " Rialto," which had become known as the "Theatre" building, was destroyed by fire in February, 1847. In the spring of that year 58 THE THEATRE; John B. Rice, who had been connected with managerial enterprises in the State of New York, between Albany and Buffalo, visited Chicago with a view of establishing himself in the new city ot the lakes, and the hope of making it his home. Being favorably im- pressed with the outlook for the future of the place, which then contained a population of less than 17,000, Mr. Rice lost no time in se- lecting a site for a theatre, on the south side of Randolph street, near Dearborn, and proceed- ed to erect what became the first suitable building for the permanent home of the drama in Chicago. The opening night was the 28th of June, 1847. The entertainment presented was : First, an address written by G. W. Phill- imore, a member of the company, and spoken by Mr. E. Harris, the leading man. I quote a stanza, directed to the audience, evidencing the spirit in which Mr. Rice began ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 59 his career in Chicago, and in which he contin- ued till the end : "And now to you, to whom each rolling sun Brings the results of enterprise begun; Who see the fruits that bounteous Heaven decrees Traverse the bosom of your inland seas; View growing ports adorn the flashing strand Where takes the tar the toil-brown farmer's hand; Commerce and Agriculture side by side United stand, our country's glorious pride. Nature's true noblemen such union brings, Their patent coming from the King of kings. Appreciate these gifts dispensed to you, And render thanks where all our praise is due." The first play was the comedietta of the " Four Sisters," in which Mrs. Hunt (now Mrs. John Drew) appeared as the "Four Sis- ters," and Dan. Marble, engaged as a special star, appeared in the afterpiece. The company consisted of G. W. Phillimore, Geo. Mossop, Edwin Harris, Wm. Meeker, Jerry Merrifield, 60 THE THEATRE; Mr. Beckwith and Mr. Rice, Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Merrifield, Miss Homer, a danseuse, and Mrs. Price. The 28th of June, 1847, marked the dawn of a new era in the dramatic life of the young city, then struggling for position, and by many called at that time and for years after, a bub- ble. To follow the changes which took place from that day to the destruction of the heart of our city by fire in 1871, is a task to be per- formed by the book maker, and ere long the shelves of our society will contain a work giv- ing a very accurate account of the city's prog- ress, and of the amusements of all kinds which have called for the patronage of the cit- izens from the foundation of the city to the present day. My task this evening is to deal with early Chicago, and the spirit which animated its cit- izens toward my profession in those days. ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 6 1 Time prevents my dealing with any but the early days; to do more would be verging into autobiography. While Messrs. Isherwood, McKinzie and Jefferson may be considered the pioneers of the drama in Chicago, to John B. Rice must be awarded the honor of being the first to es- tablish for it a worthy home, of giving it a position in social life which has increased in power and importance, and which, with fair- thinking people, must share the credit due for the building of a great and prosperous city. Mr. Rice's early days in Chicago were not all those of sunshine, though by many thought to be so. He was one of those men who could struggle against adverse circumstances and encourage all connected with him to look for a bright day to-morrow. Chicago has been blessed with many such men, with whom failure meant try again. I became a member 62 THE THEATRE; of Mr. Rice's company in May, 1848, when he had been a resident manager but one year. I reached the city in a stage coach, in company with an old 'actor and friend, Mr. John Green, who being on his way to New York, advised me to seek my professional fortune nearer the rising sun. Mr. Green was an old friend of Mr. Rice, on whom we called to pay our respects, and were both persuaded to join his company and remain here. I have never had cause to regret the circumstances which pre- vented my march to the East, nor have I for- gotten the cares and anxieties which beset the new manager. I can recall the dressing- room gossip ; the wondering as to what would be the out-growth of the season, and the prophesies that Milwaukee in the winter must be looked to, to save Chicago in the summer. Prejudices, brought from the mother country and planted in New England, had found their ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 63 way to the young city of the West, as the rec- ords thus far given show, and to a certain ex- tent had taken root. The stigma that had been cast upon actors by an English parlia- ment, three hundred years before, still lingered, and, in a small way, does so still, in minds guided by trapmon^LLtXufnwj day \n Chicago I have known a child refused admittance to ^^OCl^^ff a school, for the re^rm : ~t-rraTthe parents were connected with a theatre. In our first walk about Chicago Mr. Green and myself ran against what I call the comic side of these prejudices, for the reason that they amused me, while they enraged my friend, who was a warm-hearted Irishman, quick to anger. On our arrival we had put up at the Tremont House, but when engaged by Mr. Rice, the salary he could afford to pay re- minded us that we must seek other quarters, and in our search for a boarding house we 64 THE THEATRE; were made to feel that a doubt existed as to whether the other boarders would leave if actors were taken in. Mr. Green was sensi- tive to indignities and ever ready to combat them. I was more conservative, and looked with pity rather than anger upon weak minds. We had made terms with a boarding house, looked at the rooms and thought we were lo- cated, when the lady asked what our business might be. Mr. Green replied proudly : " We are actors, members of Mr. Rice's company." 14 Well," said the old lady, " You look like gentlemen, but I have never had an actor in my house, and and " Have no fear, madam," replied the old gentleman, with the polite bitterness of an outraged professional, " Have no fear, we will not contaminate ourselves by coming into it, until it is thoroughly purified." ITS EARL V DA YS IN CHICAGO. 65 We left our first boarding house, and pro- ceeded in our search for another. Passing; a o neat building in the center of a large lot on Washington street, between State and Dear- born, we noticed the sign " For Rent," and concluded we might do well to commence housekeeping in a small way. The streets were in a terrible condition, and the approach to the house was by a narrow plankway. We knocked at the door and inquired the rental of the house, and were told that the owner had decided not to rent but sell the property, which consisted of about eighty front feet, and a very good frame house. " And what do you expect to sell it for, may I ask?" said Green. "$>i,2QO, one quarter cash and the balance in one, two and three years," said the lady. " And do you think a gentleman would live here three years if you should give him such a 66 THE THEATRE; mud hole?" said' my friend, still combative toward the inhabitants of a city who looked with doubt upon members of his profession. He could have bought the place, which I pre- sume is worth now about double per foot for what he was offered the eighty. He died poor. We succeeded in finding a board- ing house, and I have never forgotten it. At every breakfast the landlord would first give thanks for what was before us, and then proceed to a side table, take up a large wooden bowl and spoon, and pass around the table crying out to each boarder " apple sass ?" and before the boarder could say yes or no his plate was filled with stewed dried apples, which, if he made way with, would sustain him until dinner time. It was a boarding house where actors were not objected to, but where they remained but a short time. Returning to the Tremont to prepare to move, the ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 67 crowning indignity of the day was offered my old friend. The clerk handed us from the box containing the keys to our rooms, each a notice, which read something like this : " You are hereby notified to appear on the 2Oth day of May, 1848, at seven o'clock in the morning, at the corner of Wells and South Water streets, with shovel and pickaxe, to work on the streets under the direction of," etc., etc. For the moment, having no knowledge of the local laws, Mr. Green thought this outrage, as he termed it, was an intended insult to his profession, meaning that actors were only fit for street cleaners. I endeavored to appease the old gentleman, and did so by suggesting that we obey the summons and turn it into ridicule, by presenting ourselves at the time and place named, as the first and second grave diggers in Hamlet, with a "pickaxe and a 68 THE THEATRE; spade." The old man laughed, and before the time arrived we had forgotten the summons, and the officers of the law, as is frequently the case, being forgetful of their duties, the streets were in no better condition from our labors. Mr. Rice's company was not large in num- bers, but all were capable of playing many parts. Skillful doubling of characters was part of the art a young actor was proud of, and hence the length of cast was no bar to the production of a play, so all the standard works and new ones from eastern theatres were given in rapid succession ; the work of an actor in those days being a mountain, com- pared to which the labor of the present-day actor is but a mole hill. During Mr. Rice's first season, T. D. Rice (Jim Crow Rice), J. E. Murdock, E. S. Conner and Julia Dean made their first appearance in Chicago as special or star attractions. They repeated ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 69 their visits in 1848, and their numbers were increased by the first appearance of Edwin Forrest, the elder Booth and Barney Williams. Charlotte Cushman and Eliza Logan, bright gems in the dramatic galaxy of American women, came later, and added to the number of noted artists who acted in Chicago by lamp and candle light, as did all who appeared at Mr. Rice's Randolph street theatre, as gas was not used in Chicago until September 4, 1850. Monday, July 29, 1850, the first operatic performance was given in Rice's Theatre. Somnambula was the opera, with Miss Eliza Brienti as Amina, Mr. Manvers as Elvino, and Mr. Guibeti as Count Rodolpho. These operatic artists were assisted by the dramatic company, Miss Helen Mathers, a very good vocalist, filling the part of Liza, and myself, whose vocal abilities have never been rated 7O THE THEATKE. below their value, acting at the comic lover of Amina, and making all the noise I possibly could in the phantom chorus, thinking I was singing. Somnambula was to be repeated Tuesday, July 3Oth, but the opera had not proceeded far when the alarm of fire was giveri, and in less than an hour the theatre was a heap of ruins. The fire did not occur in the theatre, but in a stable hear by, and nearly the entire block, composed of frame buildings, was quickly destroyed. This fire put an end to opera and to our season, but not to Mr. Rice's energy. The company took to the road and appeared in St. Charles, Naperville, Aurora, and filled up their time as best they could, until Mr. Rice could commence his season in Milwau- kee. He lost no time in erecting a new and better theatre by far than the one destroyed by fire, it being of brick. This time the loca- ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 7 1 tion was on Dearborn street, midway between 1 Randolph and Washington. After the burn- ing of Mr. Rice's Theatre, the large dancing hall in the Tremont House was temporarily fitted up for a theatre, and it was here that the Batemen Children first made their appearance in this city, and Patti gave her first concert April 21, 1852. Mr. Rice's second theatre was opened to the public February ^d, 1851. The performance commenced with the com- pany singing "The Star Spangled Banner," then an address spoken by Mrs. Rice, and fol- lowed by" Love in Humble Life," '' Captain of the Watch," and "The Dumb Belle," and shortly after the opening " Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper," was given for the first time in Chicago, and during this season Mr. Rice set a week aside for my appearance in a round of Yankee characters, which had for- merly been acted by Dan. Marble, who died in 72 THE THEATRE; 1849, an d of whose widow I bought his plays, for the purpose of trying what I could do as a Yankee star. During the year 1850, the late Samuel Myers became a member of Mr. Rice's company, and for twenty-four years served an honorable professional career in his adopted city. To mention the many notable incidents, productions of plays and appearances of actors who have passed away or become prominent during Mr. Rice's management, would occupy too much time. Mr. Rice must pass into his- tory as the founder of the theatre in Chicago, and, speaking from a professional standpoint, it was fortunate for the young city, and for the profession, that he took the helm when he did, and guided the amusements of those days, for he gave dignity to every position he filled dur- ing life. The magnetism of his own honesty and sense of right made itself felt by all who ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 73 came in contact with him. Many who had joined in the prejudices against his calling became its friends on knowing him. Mr. Rice retired from theatrical life in 1856, and shortly after converted his theatre into business prop- erty, and remained a private citizen until April 1 8th, 1865, when he was elected mayor of the city, and reflected to the same office in 1867, and his fellow citizens who placed him in that position never had cause to regret the act. He graced that office as he had his pro- fessional position, as he did the National Con- gress, to which he was elected in the fall of 1872, and of which he was a member when the call was made for him to assume the char- acter of immortality, which call he heard on the 1 7th of December, 1874, he being in his sixty-fifth year. As a tribute to his memory, which will be ever cherished by those who knew him, I ask 74 THE THEATRE; the Society to accept this portrait of him, and give it a fitting place upon its walls.* To have known Mr. Rice intimately, to have come in contact with him, was to have opportunities of receiving lessons in true manhood. Like my old friend and manager, " If more would act the play of life, And never spoil it in rehearsal, If prejudice would sheath its knife And truth become more universal, If custom, gray with ages grown Had fewer blind men to adore it ; If right made might In every fight, The world would be the better for it." The play and player have their mission. " Men are but children of a larger growth," and, like the infant *in the cradle, the full-grown man must be amused or he will become rest- less and unruly. *A portrait painted by Mr. John Phillips. ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 75 To study the wants, the necessities, the re- quirements of mankind should be the labor of those who claim they aim to elevate the race. Every phase of our social life is attended with evils which should be lopped off, and without doubt our amusements and our literature re- quire and should receive a blow from the legal knife. Unfortunately, under our form of government (the weak points of which we are slow to strengthen), being early taught that " every man is a sovereign," and with the say- ing sounding in our ear "the King can do no wrong," together with state rights, county rights, city rights and town rights, it is plain to see what obstacles beset the rights of pro- priety. Our amusements should be worthy of thought, for they take part in the march from barbarism to civilization. Whatever pleasure carries with it a desire for an acknowl- edged vice should be marked from the list of 76 THE THEATRE; rational amusements, and those which lead to nothing worse than is contained within them- selves should be the standard pleasures of mankind; and their proper guidance should oc- cupy the thoughts of those we select to gov- ern, as the thought of the parent watches and directs the pastime of the child. If an amuse- ment creates a desire to gamble, the pleasure it gives is overbalanced by the sin it promotes. When the pleasure of those advanced in years is reached at the expense of bad example to the young, it should be our duty to discourage the pleasure, for the effect of good or bad ex- ample is stronger than that of good or bad advice. A 'short game of home gambling in a happy household may sow seed, yielding a harvest of sorrow. From that to the speed of the horse, with a view of improving the useful- ness of the animal to man, our so-called " national game," and the sports of our col- ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. leges, called athletic, may not many exclaim " Good Lord deliver us," for by indulging in them desires are created which may mark the destiny even of the looker on. Let the good men, even the deacons, who rarely, if ever, go to a theatre, finding their amusement in the social game of poker, which I hear is to be called " Commerce," as a refining title, suitable for the fashionable home, reflect upon the example they are placing before those whose steps they guide. That the drama can be, and to a large ex- tent is, so shaped as to yield harmless pleasure cannot be disproved. It is man's natural amusement, and when joined with its adjunct, music, is capable of assuming so many forms as to be everlasting in the pleasure it provides. That it may be distorted and made foul, as it doubtless sometimes is, having no laws to check it, and no governments to enforce laws 78 THE THEATRE; if they existed, is no argument against the good that is in it, more than the misuse of the Christian religion (and it has had such use) should lead to a disbelief in a future life. The amusements of the people and their religion are of equal importance. Language is but the clothing of thought, and as a beautiful form may be wrapped in rags to its disparagement, so thought, worthy and noble, may be disfig- ured by the words with which it is conveyed. When we learn to look beyond the surface with eyes capable to discriminate, then will the beautiful form and noble thought be taken at their just value, regardless of the raiment which disfigures them. A heart prayer needs no words to bear it to the infinite. Addison, the author of an essay on the evi- dence of Christianity, and also of the tragedy of" Cato," in speaking of Betterton, the actor, said he had received from his performances, ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 79 " more strong impressions of what is great and noble in human nature than from the argu- ments of the most solid philosophers, or the descriptions of the most charming poets he had ever read." Jeremy Collier, who lived and preached in the seventeenth century, and whom later ministers imitate in wholesale denunciation and sug- gested suppression of the theatre, admitted it to be " the purpose of the play to recommend virtue and the discontinuance of vice, to show the uncertainty of human greatness, and the unhappy conclusions of violence and injustice ; to expose the singularities of pride ; to repress affectation ; to make falsehood contemptible, and in short, to bring infamy and neglect upon every bad thing that deserves their visitation." That is not a bad purpose admitted by an ancient enemy of the theatre ; an enemy for the reason that he looked only on the surface. 8O THE THEATRE; One phase of the history of the theatre in Chicago debars the institution of the respect of many good people, who, while thinking they see plainly, only do so in the strong light of prejudice; hence to them faults seem glar- ing, .which to others, equally pure as them- selves, appear dim and trifling. It needs no ghost to come from the grave to tell us our habits are fast changing from those which prevailed a hundred years ago, or even fifty, in puritan New England. And, as in the days when the Reformation began, many pure peo- ple saw the destruction, by it, of all good, so with our changing habits many see nothing but evil, while the world is growing better every day, and man advancing in his mission. In most of our American cities Sunday theatri- cals are unknown, and were so here until within the now ending decade. That they have so strong a hold here is by a certain ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICA GO. 8 I portion of worthy citizens attributed to the de- generacy of the theatre, and to this class of good people, who should be ever ready to cor- rect an error of judgment, I direct my atten- tion, believing they are to be found among the members of this society, and therefore regard- ed as having a pride in all that pertains to the city, and its progress in all matters tending to make it the metropolis of their dreams in youth, reaching reality as they approach the allotted time of man. It is not my desire to shield the theatre from one iota of its sins ; but rather expose them with the hope of bettering ; but in pre- paring history let us look facts squarely in the face, and adduce from them truth which will stand without support. As citizens of a cos- mopolitan city we cannot escape a certain re- sponsibility for the social errors of the same. As we become neglectful of our citizenship, 6 82 THE THEATRE; errors take root, and to the extent that we love political party more than city, the evil grows. Had the Chinese first attempted Sun- day theatricals in Chicago one Sabbath would have ended them, for Chinese are not voters ! But says my worthy citizen, the Chinese do give them in Sart Francisco. True, but San Francisco imbibes its customs and ideas of the proprieties of social life, not from New Eng- land, as much as from Mexico and Spain, where Sunday ends when mass is over, and vespers is the connecting link of saint and man. Had the evil, so called, been inaugu- rated by Americans, its life would have been equally brief, for while Americans vote, they are seldom, if ever, looked upon by political parties as a balance of power, and hence their wishes are seldom considered by wire pullers. The Sunday theatre was first started here in a foreign language, whether Dutch, Swedish, ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 83 German or Scandinavian, I am not prepared to say, nor does it matter which, as we are in the habit of classing all these from a political standpoint, as Germans, and while we have no better citizens, their ideas as to the Sabbath do not conform with the New England idea, and as the German is more liberal his views are gaining strength throughout this country. In New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, Sun- day-night concerts are given, and theatrical performances will follow. I hear in Old Eng- land, always slow, they have got as far as Sunday rehearsals. In my day Boston did not permit Saturday-night theatricals, considering them too near Sunday, but as the world ad- vances the old-fashioned Sunday of our boy- hood would seem to have dropped behind, and it is for the thinkers to say what they intend to do about it. Opposition to Sunday amuse- ments has more sentiment in it than phil- 84 THE THEATRE; osophy. To the average American the day appeals to the religious element of his nature, which from infancy has taught him to rever- ence the day and keep it holy, or at least to hide his sins on that day from his fellow men. Now the same religious element is in- herited by our foreign-born citizens, but his early education has taught him to apply it in a different way. Both Americans and Ger- mans are selfish, and both view the subject with all the force which selfishness begets, and herein lies the stumbling block of the human o race. Selfishness is a birthright implanted in our nature to insure the progress of our race, which, when perfection is reached, will cast it off, and Earth will become Heaven. It is the abuse of this inheritance which all good citizens should combat with thought, discretion and discrimination. It guides those who seek and those who oppose Sunday ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 85 amusement. I am opposed to them, not from the harm they do to those who seek to be amused, for my experience tells me to that class they are harmless, and give pleasure. But my opposition springs from the fact that labor and anxiety are added to those who fur- nish the amusement, and who require and de- serve an equal amount of rest with their fellow man. Every merchant will admit that evils exist in his business which he is powerless to remedy, and so he drifts along with the tide of his trade. If we view the subject with judgment we must arrive at the conclusion that the public amusement unfit for Sunday should not be tolerated any day. If one day is better than another, let us aim to elevate man up to that day and have the others fol- low. If we arrive at the conclusion that in large cities like ours, the masses must be pro- vided with amusement, even on Sunday, let 86 THE THEATRE; us bend our energies to have such as are least harmful, while they satisfy the demand. The drama and music have no sin as a companion; their teachings lead to purity, morality and the religion of nature. The many forms they assume are like the church creeds, serving to please " many men of many minds," and can be so shaped as to be everlasting in their use- fulness. No sin, vice, wickedness of any na- ture traced . to their door but can be found lurking throughout our social system, spring- ing from frailty, born with humanity. " Little or much of what we see, we do; We are all both actors and spectators too." Let us recognize that " all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Let us seek to understand that the life of these players is eternal; having its entrances and its exits; is restless; disap- pears in darkness; cannot be seen but it is ITS EARL Y DA YS IN CHICAGO. 87 still life ! Could we so regulate this world as to suit all classes, with their many whims and caprices, there would be no need of Heaven, for Earth would be perfect, and the end of life's prologue called " death," would not be necessary to lead us to a home where selfish- ness is unknown. Man's chief labor should be to work for man ! To work for him in a worldly and practical way. To please and satisfy the Father, aid his children. Our churches and all living in large cities blessed with more than an average share of this world's good, should unite in a work that for the masses would fur- nish free amusement at least once a week, and for this no better day than Sunday. This would be a missionary work worthy the worker, producing good results in our very midst. Many reasons can be urged for this work, for, glancing at the history of the world, 88 THE THEATRE: since the dawn of the Christian era, with a mind free from prejudice, have we not cause to hope, as we view the advance of man, that before that era has doubled its age the spirit- ual body will have gained such power over the natural body, that man in his purified state will stand erect, beneath a halo of truth, and with the honest pride of one who has fought the earth battle, and subdued selfishness, ex- claim: " Thy will is clone on Earth, as it is in Heaven ! " CHICAGO, February, 1884. I a . ; .