Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1997 The rP ism of Laughter: Antebellum Humorists in Regional Perspective. Henry O. Robertson Jr Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Robertson, Henry O. Jr, "The rP ism of Laughter: Antebellum Humorists in Regional Perspective." (1997). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6443. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6443 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]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter free, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. IBgher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zed) Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 3I3/76W700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE PRISM OF LAUGHTER: ANTEBELLUM HUMORISTS IN REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE VOLUME I 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 History by Henry 0. Robertson, Jr. B.A., Randolph-Macon College, 1990 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1992 May 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9736038 UMI Microform 9736038 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the extraordinary number of talented individuals who provided their assistance, this dissertation would not have been possible. From the beginning, the scrutiny and advice of Boyd Professor William J. Cooper, Jr. has added greatly to its development. His historical mind and dedication has few rivals and I am fortunate to have worked for this gentleman and scholar. The other committee members, Stanley Hilton, Anne C. Loveland, T. Wayne Parent, and Charles Royster gave generous comments and offered good suggestions. The scholarly atmosphere at Louisiana State University remains a source of great satisfaction. Other faculty members in the history department at Louisiana State University offered encouragement. The late Mark T. Carleton, Charles Shindo, Paul Paskoff, and those in attendance at a fall works in progress seminar gave valuable opinions. Numerous other scholars lent prodigious amounts of their insight. At the early stages of development George B. Oliver, Ritchie Devon Watson, Jr., and M. Thomas Inge, all of Randolph-Macon College, gave written and oral assessments. Later, Larry Massie, Michael Price, Johanna Shields, and David E.E. Sloane, helped refine several chapters. To all the other giants in the field whose scholarship has ser</ed me well, i hope ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the notes and bibliography are a testament to the faith placed in their work. The research and writing could not have been completed without the aid of two important fellowships. The history department at Louisiana State University awarded the prestigious T. Harry Williams Fellowship. To receive a grant of such great stature has been a high honor. I hope my work lives up to the rigorous intellectual standards and good character of the man for whom the award is named. The Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan gave a Mark C. Stevens Researcher Travel Fellowship. Director Francis X. Blouin, Jr. has an outstanding facility and a talented staff. Everyone there made the visit well worthwhile. Numerous libraries, archives, historical societies, and historic homes responded to inquiries and opened their collections for use. The helpful librarians and staff across the country deserve many thanks, especially Faye Mark at the Indiana University Archives, Kathy Morgan at the University of Virginia special collections, and Wayne C. Mann of the archives and regional historical collections at Western Michigan University. Other outstanding institutions are the Louisiana State University Libraries, notably the inter-library loan department, the Indiana Historical Society, the Missouri iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Historical Society, the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the New York Public Library, the New York Historical Society, the New Hampshire Historical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Huntington Library in California, the Houghton Library at Harvard University, the Boston Public Library, the Libraries at the University of South Carolina, the South Carolina Historical Society, The Howard Tilton Library at Tulane University, the Library of Congress, and the Quaker Collection at Haverford College, Pennsylvania. Several presentations of my work helped improve the final draft considerably. I must thank Judy Hocking and the wonderful people of the Meridian Historical Society in Okemos, Michigan. Their hospitality at a quaint farm house and then the 1883 Randall School where the presentation took place have etched permanent lines on my memory. The Mid-America Historical Conference and Southwest Social Science Meeting provided other venues. The commentators and audience offered thoughtful critiques. The personal debts accumulated along the way remain the most substantial. My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry 0. Robertson of Greenville, South Carolina, have given me everything and I dedicate this work to them. Both my brother Rick and sister Meredith provided sustence as iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. well. The generosity of several other families and individuals deserves recognition. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hughes of Richmond, Virginia and their son John have made every visit to the Old Dominion pleasurable. Mr. James S. Patton of "Gay Mont" plantation near Port Royal, Virginia welcomed me with kindly words. The Kadir family of St. Louis, Missouri and the Eppingers of Marlborough, Connecticut provided great accommodations. Both Edward Pratt and David Moncure did the same. Many thanks to these fine people. Finally, Dr. Karen E. Fritz has been a guiding light during every moment. Her assistance in reading and discussing these chapters has made them better. I owe her greatly for the time devoted to this work. Her commitment and friendship remains a tremendous comfort. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ANTEBELLUM HUMOR I In 1839, Ralph Waldo Emerson dedicated a lecture in his winter series to comedy. That selection was a seemingly frivolous topic for such an intellectual man, and yet he defended the discussion in terms that have become standard for those who study humor. Taking a wide, inclusive view of the mind, he suggested that comedy could not be overlooked because "a nail of pain and pleasure fastens the body to the mind. We walk over on the confines of both." without knowing the one or the other, a philosopher would have a hard time understanding humanity. Those who demand a complete knowledge of thought and behavior must then examine humor and consider this element as an integral component of the human experience.1 For all his insight and support of a native intellect, Emerson neglected American humor during that lecture. Instead of giving credit to contemporaries who created many good examples, he discussed the great masters of European