THE ORIGIN OF XEGRO MINSTRELSY. 



VAUGHAN KESTER. 



Othello was the first negro on the Eng- 

 lish speaking stage — if Shakespeare's coffee 

 colored savage can be justly called a negro. 

 Then in 1696 there came Oroonoko, in the 

 tragedy of that name. Oroonoko was a 

 somber figure, much addicted to Grecian 

 poses, Roman togas, and stilted blank verse. 



This sable gentleman was endured for 

 some time. Indeed such was his vogue that 

 the negro seemed destined for a lasting 

 place in the serious drama. When in 1768, 

 the shackles of tradition were cast aside, 

 and Mungo, in the comic opera of " The 

 Padlock," stepped upon the stage, comedy 

 succeeded tragedy, for Mungo was denied 

 the superior privileges of blank verse, and 

 had to content himself with doggerel of dis- 

 tinctly undignified tone. 



These 3 characters w-ere creations of the 

 English stage. It remained for America 

 to give the negro permanency, to evolve a 

 special form of entertainment wherein he 

 should reign supreme without the touch of 

 contrast and dependent solely on his own 

 abundant humor and sentiment for perpe- 

 tuity. 



As early as 1815 representations of negro 

 life in the South were popular with the 

 American public. The first sketches of this 

 kind are said to have been given by clowns 

 in the circus ring, but it was not until 1842, 

 that negro minstrelsy, as we now under- 

 stand the term, was inaugurated, and before 

 this time " Jim Crow Rice " had seen his 

 best day, as had also his numerous imita- 

 tors. In short the negro seemed about ex- 

 hausted as a factor in current amusements, 

 when the chance but lucky hit of 4 stranded 

 musicians, in negro songs and sayings, 

 proved that there was still both fame and 

 money to be made from our dusky brother. 



Of the first band of minstrels, Dan. D. 

 Emmett is the only surviving member, and 

 he is now best known, where known at all, 

 as the author of " Dixie," " Old Dan 

 Tucker," etc. 



However, in his day Emmett was a 

 " burnt cork artist " of considerable note. 

 He made old men his specialty and was 

 great in this line of work. He has solemnly 

 assured me that when he had blacked his 

 face, and donned his wig of kinky white hair 

 he was "the best old nigger that ever lived." 



Emmett was born at Mount Vernon, 

 Ohio, in 1815. He came of a family whose 

 members all possessed a more than ordinary 

 talent for music, and in his own case this 

 talent amounted to a sort of genius. 



As a boy Emmett learned the printers' 

 trade, and when he had mastered it, drifted 

 about the country in search of work. He 

 finally abandoned his trade to become a 



member of Oscar Brown's circus company. 

 This was at Cincinnati in 1835. 



For the succeeding 8 years his sum- 

 mers were spent in the South and West and 

 his winters in Cincinnati, where a perma- 

 nent circus held forth during that portion 

 of the year when travel was impossible. 



It was during these years that Emmett 

 did his first " sketches," assisted by a fel- 

 low member cf the troupe by the name of 

 Frank Browes. They were nominally 

 members of the band only, but it devolved 

 upon them, as a part of their duties, to go 

 in the ring at each performance, where they 

 would give a short entertainment consist- 

 ing of songs and dances. 



The songs were mostly of Emmett's own 

 composition. " Old Dan Tucker" was writ- 

 ten about this time and first sung by Em- 

 mett in the ring. In its original form it was 

 what would now be called a " topical song " 

 as new verses, with local hits, were added 

 whenever it was sung. 



The spring of 1842, found Emmett in 

 New York City out of an engagement and 

 with but scant chance of securing one. 

 Browes was with him, and no better off. 

 As nothing offered they took to playing 

 and singing in saloons, concert halls — any 

 place, in fact, where crowds could congre- 

 gate and a hat be passed. 



One day as they were at work enlarging 

 their repertory, at Emmett's boarding place 

 in Catharine Street, Billy Whetlock and 

 Dick Phelom — two friends whose condition 

 was scarcely an improvement on their own 

 — dropped in upon them quite by chance. 

 It was suggested by Emmett that they give 

 Nate Howe, who w-as managing a show at 

 the old Amphitheatre, on the Bowery, a. 

 " shiveree." 



The proposition meeting with the ap- 

 proval of all, the 4 armed themselves with 

 various instruments and strolled down to 

 the Amphitheatre. They surprised Howe in 

 the hallway, and surrounding him before he 

 could make good his escape, they gave the 

 " Lucy Long walk 'round " in the most 

 approved negro style. 



Oddly enough Howe was charmed — 

 " Boys," he said. " you have struck a great 

 thing, keep it up." 



Delighted at finding him so enthusiastic 

 they continued " to keep it up " until a 

 crowd had gathered about them. In the 

 crowd was Bartlett. the landlord of the 

 " Branch Hotel," a famous theatrical resort 

 of the day. He invited them over to his 

 place, an invitation they at once accepted, 

 and when they had disposed of certain re- 

 freshments that he ordered for them, they 

 give a performance, in his billiard-room, 



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