A Study of Theatrical Entertainments in Northwest Arkansas from Their Beginning Through 1889

Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1965 A Study of Theatrical Entertainments in Northwest Arkansas From Their Beginning Through 1889. Harold Calvin Tedford Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Tedford, Harold Calvin, "A Study of Theatrical Entertainments in Northwest Arkansas From Their Beginning Through 1889." (1965). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1094. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1094 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66—750 TEDFORD, Harold Calvin, 1933- A STUDY OF THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENTS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FROM THEIR BEGINNING THROUGH 1889. Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1965 Speech-Theater University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A STUDY OF THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENTS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FROM THEIR BEGINNING THROUGH 1889 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by Harold Calvin Tedford B.A., Ouachita College, 1954 M.A., University of Arkansas, 1958 August, 1965 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Professor Claude L. Shaver for his council and encouragement through out this study. The author also wishes to thank Dr. Clinton Bradford, Dr. Owen Peterson, Dr. W. J. Olive, and Mr. John Ray Young for their assistance and suggestions and Miss Beverly Whitaker for numerous kindnesses. The author further wishes to acknowledge his indebted ness to his wife, Josie, for her tireless assistance and patience in the completion of this project. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................... ii ABSTRACT .................................................... v CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ......................................... .. 1 II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, 1817-1889 ........................ 13 PART I 1817-1864 III. CIRCUSES BEFORE THE CIVIL W A R ......................... 51 IV. MINSTRELS BEFORE THE CIVIL W A R ....................... 66 V. AMATEUR DRAMATIC ACTIVITY BEFORE THE CIVIL W A R ..... 76 VI. AMUSEMENT AND ENTERTAINMENTS BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. 88 VII. PROFESSIONAL DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. 103 PART II 1865-1889 VIII. CIRCUSES: 1865-1889 ..................................... 150 IX. MINSTRELS: 1865-1889.................................. 166 X. AMATEUR DRAMATIC ACTIVITY: 1865-1889................. 182 XI. AMUSEMENTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS; 1865-1889............ 205 XII. PROFESSIONAL DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES: 1865-1889 ......... 231 XIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................................. 287 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................. 294 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. i v Page APPENDIXES .............................................. 306 A. CIRCUSES THROUGH 1889 B. MINSTRELS THROUGH 1889 C. AMUSEMENTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS THROUGH 1889 D. PROFESSIONAL DRAMATIC COMPANIES THROUGH 1889 AUTOBIOGRAPHY..................................................... 335 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The theatrical records of the population centers of the frontier have often come to be thought of as the total history of the frontier theatre. Thus, in the study of American theatre history, the tendency is to ignore those less populated regions and to concen trate on the more active and important theatre centers. This practice has left a void in the recorded history of the nineteenth century American theatre. The broad general purpose of this study is to discover and to record all phases of theatrical entertainment for the northwest quarter of Arkansas from its frontier beginnings through the year 1889. Fort Smith, Van Buren, Fayetteville, Russellville, and Dardanelle are the towns in the region for which the most complete information of theatrical activities for this period remains. Other towns are covered when information permits. The specific entertainments discussed are; professional dramatic companies; amateur dramatic performances; circuses amusements such as medicine shows, panoramas, lectures, tableaux, magi cians and musical variety shows; and Negro minstrels. Form the first settlements in the early 1800's to the Civil War, northwest Arkansas was not only a geographical, but also a theat rical frontier. The earliest theatrical amusement which appeared in the region was W. Waterman's Circus in 1838. Seven other circuses toured Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the region before the Civil War. The earliest minstrel troupe visited the region in 1845. The amateur dramatic activity began in the early 1840's but the efforts of these groups, while a vital part of the cultural beginnings, were not extensive before the war. An occa sional lecturer, one magician, a panorama, and other scattered events comprised the general amusements before 1865. From 1840 to 1862 northwest Arkansas was visited by nine professional theatrical com panies, The most active period was during the late 1850's and early 1860's when Nick Moroney's theatre was operating in Fort Smith and vicinity. The significant aspect of this pre-war period is that the theatrical entertainments were successful attempts to introduce to the frontier the institutions of civilization which the new settlers had left in the East. Such entertainments were generally welcomed by the citizens. Following the Civil War there was a gradual increase in all forms of theatrical activity. The completion of the Little Rock-Fort Smith Railraod in the 1870's made the region more accessible to traveling shows. Thirty circuses visited the region before 1890 in cluding the shows of Dan Rice, W. W. Cole, Van Amburgh, and Barnum and Bailey. Amateur groups were active in the towns of the region, especially during the 1870's. Professional minstrel shows increased as did the various forms of variety entertainment. The professional dramatic companies were rare before the completion of the railroad but this had changed by 1880. The greatest period of growth for Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. professional dramatic companies was in the 1880's when Fort Smith was visited by such popular stars as Jefferson, Keene, O'Neil, Janauschek, Warde, James and Wainwright. Northwest Arkansas was not important as a theatre center when compared to the eastern cities. Nonetheless the development of theatrical entertainments in a region such as this is significant in that it shows that the citizens found the theatre and theatrical enter tainments a necessary part of their lives. Theatrical development in the region not only reflected the desire of the citizens for contact with the culture and traditions of the eastern part of the United States, but also reflected the need which the theatre satisfied in the everyday life of the communities and the citizens. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The American frontier which moved west from the Alleghany Mountains during the nineteenth century dominated the first century of American independence.^ The attraction of land in almost unlimited amounts drew the great flood of settlers who moved west to begin new 9 lives in the wilderness. Among those courageous people who settled the vast spaces of the continent were many young men who "carried with them a love for the drama both in book form and on the stage, and doubtless many who had actually participated in amateur performances O in their native cities." Because of this interest, amateur perfor mances often became a part of the life of the early settlements, and the professional theatre began to penetrate the frontier in the second 4 decade of the nineteenth century. The growth of theatrical enterprises in all of the new ^Frederic L. Paxson, History of the American Frontier, 1763- 1893 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1924), p. 300. ^Ibid., p . 186. ^William G. B. Carson, The Theatre on the Frontier; The Early Years of the St. Louis Stage (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1932), p. 2. ^Glenn Hughes, A History of The American Theatre, 1700-1950 (New York: Samuel French, 1951), p. 123. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 territory followed much the same pattern. First, a small traveling company would move from one settlement to another where it would play in any available space, such as a warehouse, a hotel dining

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