_{Francis Handy}

ABOUT VERMILION HISTORY: While casually looking through one of the file drawers at the museum I came across the following letter to the editor. I’m not entirely certain (at this time) who wrote it. It may have been Alice Howell Fleming. But it’s certainly interesting:

“While reading the souvenir book about “charter days” I noticed that the first settler was said to be “William Haddy”.

They may be right and there may have been a Haddy, but from some of our old family records I’m inclined to think it should have been Handy.

My Great-Great grandfather came here from Connecticut in 1837, according to some old writings by his daughter-in-law. They travelled in a covered wagon and my grandfather was a little boy of three years. He was born in 1834.

His name was Francis, his father’s name was Thomas and his grandfather’s name was William.

Thomas was the captain of a sailing vessel that travelled up and down the coast and my grandfather (Francis) was born at sea.

Tiring of the sea Thomas agreed to go “west” with his father and mother. He took his wife and children with him. His wife’s name was Lydia. So was his daughter’s. The daughter married Alonzo Pelton who was also an early settler.”

_{[ALONZO SHEPARD9 PELTON (AUSTIN 8, JOSIAH S7, JOSIAH S6, JOHN B5, SAMUEL4, JOHN3, CHARLES2, PETER1) was born May 15, 1838 in Vermilion, Erie County, Ohio, and died May 02, 1907 in Brownhelm, OH.He married LYDIA HANDY May 18, 1861 in Vermilion, Erie County, OH, daughter of THOMAS HANDY and LYDIA ARNOLD.She was born September 10, 1842 in Black River, Lorain County, OH, and died May 27, 1907 in Vermilion, Erie County, OH. LYDIA HANDY:
Burial: Maple Grove Cemetery, Vermilion, OH]}

"I have heard my aunts tell the stories their grandmother told them about their trip. Lydia was a tiny baby but survived. When they arrived here there was nobody but Indians around.

“My mother was (Vera Howell) Barnes. Lillian Handy 3rd from youngest Francis’s children. She is Lillian Howell now.”

Whether it was William Hoddy / Haddy or William Handy who first came to Vermilion is not something that can be positively determined – at least not at this time. But one thing is very clear: Members of the Handy family were certainly among the first families to settle in Vermilion.

VHS CLASS REUNION: Will be held August 26 and 27, 2016, for the VHS Class of 66....they need addresses,email, etc. Folks can email Carolyn Hill or call her @ 440.967.2821.

NEXT TO THE LAST STOP: In 1939 when Edward M. Fisher first went into business in Vermilion the funeral parlor was located just a few doors east of the business currently known as Bicycle Bill’s bicycle shop on South Street. I’ve no idea as to the year he moved the funerary to its present location.

I’ve been told that his new (the current) funeral home was originally a Pelton farmhouse (I don’t know which Pelton at this time). The bottom pic shows the funerary in its infancy. Since then Vermilion’s Riddle Family has of course, substantially expanded it since (top).

Mr. Fisher was born in Lancaster Ohio, and graduated from the Worsham School of Mortuary Science in Chicago. Before coming to Vermilion he worked as an embalmer for the Wickens Mortuary in Lorain, Ohio. For a brief time he partnered with Larry Riddle retiring in 1980. He died in 1983 in Cape Coral, Florida at the tender age of 77.

Both Mr. Fisher and his wife, Mary, were very active in the community of Vermilion before their retirement to Cape Coral, Florida. Both were kindly persons with an extremely good sense of humor.

A.D. JR. AND WENDELL WILKIE : There is a good deal of truth in the saying, “Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades,” and late Vermilionite Albert David “Dave” Baumhart Jr. likely came to understand the veracity of the proverb intimately.

Dave, born in 1908, was the oldest child and son of Vermilion entrepreneur / pharmacist Albert David Sr. and Effie Washburn Baumhart. Both the Baumhart and Washburn families are deeply rooted in the development of the town and the township of Vermilion Ohio as well as that of our nation. Though the Baumhart family was “relatively” new to America, having been among the some 4 million German families that migrated to the nation during the middle and end of the 19th century, the Wheeler side of the family had preceded them to these shores by a few years. Their ancestors fought in the American Revolutionary War. As a consequence it should surprise no one that Dave, as well as his younger brother Charles (VPJ 05/22/2008), would eventually spend a good deal of their lives as public servants.

After graduating from Ohio University in 1931 Dave worked as a publishing house representative for a number of years. In 1937 he was elected to the Ohio Senate. And in 1941 he was elected to the U.S. House as the Representative for the 13th Ohio Congressional District. Dave was a Republican. And that’s where Wendell Willkie enters into this story.

Wendell Willkie, Esq. was born in Indiana (1892) and eventually went to live in Akron, Ohio where he briefly worked for the Firestone Company – leaving there to do legal work for electric utilities. This led him to be offered a job working for the New York City based Commonwealth & Southern Corporation (C&S) – a utility holding company in 1929. By 1933 he had been promoted to the office of president of that company. In March of that same year Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was inaugurated into his first term as U.S. President.

Among the programs implemented by the newly elected president was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that would be in direct competition with Willkie’s C&S corporation. For the next six years Willkie fought against the TVA in the courts and before Congress. His efforts were unsuccessful. But “unsuccessful” may not be a very accurate description of the result of his endeavors during those years. For, in fact, he sold the C&S properties for a tidy sum of money. And more to the point, he had gained both the attention and the respect of the public at-large.

It is interesting to note up until 1939 Wendell Willkie was an active member of the Democratic Party. That year he registered as a Republican. And while he did not seek to run in the Republican presidential primaries in 1940 he also did not reject the idea that he would accept the candidacy if perchance the convention became deadlocked. It did. And (miracle of miracles) he was nominated to be the Republican candidate.

The photographs accompanying this essay picture Republican Presidential candidate Wendell Willkie and his wife, Edith, on the campaign trail. The mustached gentleman with them is Republican Congressional Candidate Dave Baumhart. Willkie was defeated overwhelmingly by FDR. Dave did win his bid for a congressional seat, but later resigned to accept a commission in the Navy during WW2. He would be re-elected to the office in January of 1955 and 1961, but then retired to work as a public relations consultant in the private sector.

Willkie passed into the ages in 1944. Dave died in 2001. And looking back I can’t help but wonder what might have happened if Willkie had won that election. Would a Vermilionite have perhaps become a Cabinet member, a vice-president – or even president? It was all so close. But as the proverb goes….

_{Ref: Special Thanks to Brenda Baumhart Mezz; the Baumhart Family photo archive; Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 02/04/2016.}

Vol. XI, No. 39. - VERMILION, OHIO, THURSDAY, March 5, 1908 - PHONE 19

ANOTHER HORROR

_{Collingwood Schoolhouse Burns And Over 170 Children Die}

_{The Worst Calamity Ever Known In This Section}

Word reached here yesterday of the burning of a Collingwood schoolhouse in which they were over 300 pupils ranging between 6 and 15 years of age. The fire started from overheated furnace at 9:30 AM and within about a half hour the building was a mass of ruins.

The pupils in the lower rooms escaped in an orderly manner but when the little ones from the upper floors attempted to march out flame and the confusion caused a panic and the great loss of life ensued. It is claimed that the doors swing in and at the door was locked causing the children to crowd against them crushing each other and there they perished in the fire. The fire escape was inadequate.

The fire department was inadequate and very little could be done to save the children in the crush. Several teachers are among the dead. Of the 170, a number have been identified but some are still missing, and a total loss may not be known for several days.

Hugh McIlwraith, age 14, a nephew of Mr. and Mrs. George B Krapp, is among the dead. There may be others who have relatives and friends here but it is too early to obtain their names.

Who is responsible for this disaster? Who inspected the building? Supposing that were there were our children? What then. We cannot be too careful to see that our public buildings have sufficient fire escapes and fire protection. It seems a waste of money to prepare for something that may never be never come – but then think of the lives it may be lost.

THE CONCERT.

The concert given by Ackley's Orchestra last Thursday evening at the Opera House under the auspices of the Vermilion G.A.R. Band, was a very successful affair.

The orchestra gave both high class of popular music, which pleased the audience immensely. Mr. Ackley was certainly a leader who has his work well in hand; he has been giving instrument instructions to several bands in the vicinity of Sandusky including the Vermilion band.

The Vermilion audiences are critical, many having opportunities of hearing the famous bands and orchestras of the country which is usually denied the inhabitants of smaller towns and when an entertainment like this one received a hearty applause given Thursday night we realized that it is for the merit and an appreciation of the music. It takes time and practice for any band or orchestra to wear down its "rough places" in music and with such a leader as Mr. Ackley we bespeak a successful career for the orchestra.

The Vermilion G.A.R Band gave three selections led by Prof. Ackley and were highly applauded. They did nicely and now that we have such an organization which is such a splendid start we hope it will receive the hearty support of our citizens. There is no good reason why we shouldn't have a good band in Vermilion and also an orchestra. It takes time and patience but perseverance wins out every time.

The band has something in view for the summer, which will be announced later. The columns of the NEWS are open for any suggestions or announcements in support of the band.

COURT NOTES

Twelve cases on the criminal docket were nolled of which eight related to the bridge transport prosecution, which was begun two years ago.

The hearing of the applications to appoint a guardian for Willis S. Long of Berlin Hts. was begun in court but later the interested parties announced a settlement out of court.

John Knott Sr. has brought an action against the N.Y.C. and St. L. Ry Co. for damages on account of the water from the world backing up on his premises.

WILL OPEN EXCHANGE STREET

_{The Village Council In Compliance With Petitions Take Action To Open The Street To Foot Passengers.}

At the meeting of the Council Monday evening one of the most important measures passed upon was the ordering of a sidewalk on the east side of Exchange Street from Liberty or Water Street at the L.S.E. Power Station to the walk in front of the Catholic parsonage. The ordinance provides for a stone walk where practicable and a stairway from L.S. & M.S. tracks to the level.

It has been the idea of a number of citizens to have the entire street opened but the cost would be too great for the present financial condition of the village. So the opening of the stream to foot passengers was proposed and adopted.

Owing to the wretched condition in which the Pest House is, the Marshal was order to burn it; As it was deemed a useless waste of money to rent land for a scrapheap. Several persons would like to buy the building but was deemed best not to run the risk of another epidemic of smallpox by selling the structure.

A communication was read from the Schickler and Muhlberg, civil engineers, of Lorain, naming a price for a thorough survey and laying out a complete sewer system, cost specifications etc. These gentlemen will be asked to meet with the Council and explain the matter in full. This proposition was brought about by the proposition for the sewer on Liberty St. After passing the Appropriation Ordinance and the bills Council adjourned.

CAUGHT PILFERING

Louis Ritter was arrested this noon accused of taking money from the office of the Vermilion Milling Company. Money has been missed from time to time and; this morning, a trap was set by marking some coin. The boy it is alleged took silver thinking that it would not be missed, as would currency.

A hearing with probably be held tomorrow as Mayor Williams is out of town today.

VOCAL SOCIETY

The first rehearsal of the vocal society was held last Monday evening and those in charge were much gratified at the result. There is still room for more voices and there are more voices that ought to be there. Please don't wait for a special invitation. This is one for you. Admission is $.50, and this will pay for every one's music. We would like more alto, tenor, and bass. Rehearsal at Christian church Monday evening at 7:30 prompt.

Correspondence

AMHERST

Mrs. Alonzo Kendeigh is reported quite ill.

A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ernst last week.

The Leland Theatre under the direction of Mr. Schmauch is doing a good business every night.

The house occupied by John Quincy near the quarry was nearly burned to the ground Sunday.

Mrs. George Haffner sprained her wrist Thursday night from a fall on the icy walks.

Amherst merchants are beginning to keep their stores open evenings again.

Robert Ferenbach died Monday morning at the Elyria Hospital the result of a fall in the local livery barn.

W.F. Leimbach the new station agent will move his family here from Gypseum next week. He has rented the Alfred Nicholl property.

The many friends of L. Horn of Louisville Ky., formerly of this place will be interested in the news that his house was burglarized last week and things to the value of several hundred dollars were taken.

At the meeting of the Township trustees Monday afternoon it was decided to post notices that all dogs got running loose unmuzzled will be shot. This action was taken on account of the large number of cattle and sheep having died from rabies.

The funeral of Henry Ferenbach was held from the undertaking parlors of O.H. Baker on Wednesday afternoon in charge of the Eagles. A postmortem held Monday afternoon brought out the fact that the inner plate of the skull had been fractured and a blood caught clot had formed.

HURON

Mrs. W.D. Smith of North Bass was the guest of her mother Mrs. Cox last week.

The old icehouse on the east side was totally destroyed by fire Thursday. The building belonged to Mr. Gustavus. Origin of the fire is not known.

BIRMINGHAM

Quite a good deal of sickness is about town and vicinity.

Mrs. Darby is quite sick requiring the doctor’s care.

Mrs. William Funk is quite ill also her youngest daughter, Cleo funk.

Mr. Felshaw’s little boy who has been sick so long died this morning at 2 o'clock.

Sugar making is the work just now occupying the time of those farmers who are so fortunate as to own sugar maples.

Report of the death of Mrs. Althea Arnold, formally Miss Wood, an old resident of this place at her home in Elyria.

EAST SHORE

Miss Arlene Braun is on the sick list.

Mrs. L.C. Kishman is on the sick list.

The little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Kishman was christened in the presence of a few relatives by Rev. Wyler of Vermilion last Monday.

Mr. Del Smith has resigned his position as farmhand for George Risden to accept a position as painter on the Nickle Plate R.R. He moved his household goods to Ashmont last week. Mr. Grintz of Cleveland has taken his place as farmhand.

BROWNHELM

Mr. A. Sweet is having hauling hay from the De-Yo farm onto his own.

Mr. Austin Cooper has butchered some hogs for his own use.

Mr. Hayes Whitelsy it's been helping Mr. A. Cooper get some wood.

There was a teacher's meeting Friday afternoon so the children had a half-day holiday.

Frank Leimbach has hired Forest Deihl for the summer. He will begin about the middle of March.

Mr. H Leimbach has brought his father's farm across the river near Rugby, his father will live with him.

AXTEL

Mr. and Mrs. Miller and Irene attended the band concert at Vermilion last Thursday evening.

_{[NOTE: I’m always excited when I come across something about someone I knew – and I knew Irene when she was in her 90s. But when I knew Irene Miller; but her name was Irene Severance when I knew her. She had been married to Mr. Albert B. Todd. When he passed she married a fellow with the last name of Severance. Irene was about 6 years old when she attended this concert.]}

Miss Bertha Hart of Vermilion visited Catherine Trinter this week.

Mrs. Mary Kropf visited at the Orphans Home on Tuesday afternoon where her sister Anna is spending a few days.

Catherine, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. August Kuhlman died last Sunday at 12. She was born May 20, 1906 died March 1, 1908. The funeral was conducted by Rev. J.W.H. Brown on Tuesday, March 3 at the Advent church.

ASHMONT

_Memorial

To the memory of our beloved friend and neighbor, Mrs. Esther Hauff, formally, Miss Esther Mason.

That the enemy of Death has entered the home of this young and happy couple, and taken away this young woman, we feel like giving to her friends and relatives as sympathizing word. She was always kind and always had a good word for everyone. We feel that we have lost a true friend and neighbor.

We extend our sympathy to her husband, knowing that he has lost a kind and loving wife.

Mrs. Esther Hauff, beloved wife of William Hoff, died February 26, 1908, at the age of 34 years, of blood poisoning.

She leaves a husband and one child a little daughter, Claudia, also a father and mother, four brothers and two sisters, besides a host of other friends and relatives to mourn her loss.

LOCALS.

N.A. Foster was in Sandusky on business yesterday.

N.A. Foster has just received several new canoes for this summer.

Herman Leidheiser is at Birmingham today attending the funeral of Mr. Shellenburg [sic].

Members of the G.A.R. are attending the funeral of Mr. Shellenburg [sic] at Birmingham today.

Conrad Shellenburger [sic], died Sunday at his home southwest of town. Funeral was held at Birmingham today in charge of the G.A.R. of which he was a member.

Miss Hattie Thompson has resigned her position it in the Hurst’s store and will engage in millinery work again this season. She left yesterday for Cleveland and will spend a few weeks at the Reed Bros. Wholesale House.

Hugh McIlwraith, where the victim victims of the school firing Collinwood yesterday was a nephew of Mr. and Mrs. George B. Krapp of this place. A brother and sister escaped. Mr. Krapp went to Cleveland as soon as the news of the accident reached here.

Capt. William Blattner has purchased a home in Elyria and will move his family there about the middle of the month. They will be greatly missed by a large circle of friends.

A new line of photo postcards at the NEWS office.

Mrs. Edith Gordon entered Lake View Hospital at Lorain Tuesday and underwent an operation there Wednesday morning.

150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE “BATTLE OF THE HUNDRED SLAIN”: 3 miles from Fort Phil Kearny near Story, Wyoming will be held this year. (See Wikipedia.)

Late Vermilion resident, Matilda Louis Grummond was the sister of 2nd Lt. George Washington Grummond. Grummond and 81 of his fellow soldiers were killed by an overwhelming force of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians in one of the worst military disasters suffered by the US Army on Great Plains.

If you are a descendant of Matilda please email John Horton or call him at 1.586.549.2471.

_MWB

(PART 3)

Mary Wakefield Buxton

Civic Clubs:
I am not known for my flexibility but that is acceptable in my chosen profession of writing comedy. Actually, inflexibility is ever the sign of an interesting writer. Think of flexibility in this way; if one tends to bend with the group’s will, then whatever important or comical thing would one ever have to say?

Thus, I carried on as a rugged individualist as I was most excellently raised to do from my solid, small town, Ohio background living my life and raising my children in Tidewater, Virginia, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. There were many profound slights that I had to bear, however.

One day my son, Wakefield, came rushing home from school with a look of terror in his eyes. “Where was I born, Mother?” he shouted as soon as he came through the door.

“Why, in Richmond, dear,” I answered.

“Oh, Thank God!” he shouted happily making his fist strike the air as if he had won some great battle. “The kids tried to call me a “Yankee” at school today!’ He darted off to throw a few thousand more tennis balls against the garage door in practice to become an ace pitcher one day. “Don’t forget your very own mother was born and raised in Ohio!” I called out to the slammed door. “And I certainly am a Yankee!”

One day I decided to join the Rotary Club. At the time I was director of a business college with an enrollment of over 500 students. It had come to my attention my equivalent (a male at the local community college) was in a Rotary Club and enjoying an advantage over me because he had weekly contacts with business leaders and could promote his students for jobs, whereas I could not.

My grandfather had helped charter a Rotary Club in Vermilion, Ohio and my father and uncles had been Rotarians and had served as presidents so I was sure I would be qualified to join.

I called up Father and told him my plan to join Rotary. “Why, you can’t join the Rotary Club, Mays,” he said. “You’re a woman!” This latter said as if I were an ostrich trying to replace the turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

Oh, for goodness sakes! What was there about getting into clubs, anyway? Was I to be skunked again over joining a club and now even by my own father? I hung up the phone. To Father’s everlasting credit he had an instant change of mind. He called me right back and told me he thought it was a brilliant idea that Rotary should begin accepting women members.

Easier said than done. The president of the local Chamber of Commerce put me up as a prospective member of his club in Hampton Roads. He was immediately fired from his job and no one else in his club volunteered to be my sponsor. As it was meticulously explained to me by this brave soul who dared to sponsor a woman member, “I was never technically “put up” for membership because I was innately unqualified because of my gender and, thus, I could never technically charge Rotary with “voting a woman down.”” Whoever came up with that rationale must have been a lawyer.

The story was picked up by the press and I received front page coverage along with the usual murderers, scam artists who take the last nickel from poor old grandmothers and heinous automobile crashes that somehow also ended up on the front page.

My Buxton in- laws were horrified. They considered anyone who stepped even one hoof outside the footprints of the herd to be an acute embarrassment to the family. “We are not social change agents,” the kindly and long suffering Dr. Buxton told me.

People glared at me wherever I went. There goes that crazy woman who wants to join Rotary. Even my stock broker complained that I wanted to join Rotary. “I don’t want to be a member of your Garden Club so why should you want to join my Rotary Club?” he demanded. Another round of the Garden Club?

The one bright spot in that dark year when I was considered the greatest oddball that ever walked the earth came from Kiwanis. The district governor called me one day and invited me to join Kiwanis. ‘But doesn’t your civic club also exclude women?” I asked. Well, yes, technically Kiwanis was also a “male only club” but he was willing to bring me into one of their clubs anyway. “We’d be proud to have you as a member, Mary,” he said. I declined but was grateful at least one club in the Commonwealth wanted me as a member, or so they said.

All too soon the Supreme Court opened all male only civic clubs to women and ostriches were suddenly eligible to join turkeys. Overnight I was launched from “scurrilous blackguard” to an “enlightened woman who saw far beyond her times.” Please, that was carrying things a bit too far, but I enjoyed my new reputation. Even the Buxtons congratulated me on my “victory.”

I moved full time to the historical port town of Urbanna on the Rappahannock River that had reminded me so much of my home town in Vermilion, Ohio, and I completely forgot about Rotary. Besides I was a writer by now and I didn’t see any disadvantage for me to be excluded from civic clubs as a writer really does not need exposure to leaders. Such exposure is ruinous to writers. Writers must keep to themselves, generate their own ideas and rely solely on the creativity and sharpness of their own brains.

One day I was contacted by a hearty group of business men and women who wanted to charter a Rotary Club in Middlesex County where I now lived. They invited me to join. My category would be “writer.”

Which all goes to prove if you live long enough you can be anything you want to be in this life. So I became a charter member of Middlesex-Urbanna Rotary and I threw myself into the Rotarian life for four years and even proudly became a Paul Harris recipient.

The only drawback is I could never say the famous Rotarian “Four Way Test” with a straight face.

1. “Is it the truth?” Rotarians solemnly recite at the beginning of each and every weekly meeting. (Of course not.)
2. “Is it fair to all concerned?” (Most decidedly not.)
3. “Will it build good will and friendships?” (Only if readers have a finely developed sense of humor.)
4. “Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” (Yes, laughter is always and forever the very best medicine.)

So I had to resign. As it turned out I was really not the type to join clubs.

_{A note about the author: Mary Wakefield Buxton is the author of 12 books about love and life in Virginia including her latest novel, “The Private War of William Styron.” She has written a column for 30 years for her hometown newspaper, the Southside Sentinel in Urbanna, Virginia where she lives with her husband, “Chip” and her two beloved spaniels; “Dandy” and “Dasher.”}

DISCOGRAPHY - PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND ME, HONEY: This song, that I assume most of us know, was recorded on the Victor label by Byron G. Harlan and Arthur Collins back in 1911. The two singers were often referred to as the “Half-ton duo” because of their size.

By today’s standards this recording would be considered to be extremely offensive. Nonetheless it is certainly a part of American recording and entertainment history. If it makes anyone uncomfortable – it should. White America was not kind to black Americans and we would do well to be aware of it. While the duet recorded a number of ragtime standards during their career they also did what persons during that era called “c--n songs”. Those were pieces sung by white performers in black dialect. My assumption is that these routines came out of the old vaudeville and minstrel shows that were so very popular in American culture during the late 19th and early 20th century. (American vocalist Al Jolson used a similar theatrical convention in his performances during the 1930s, 40s and 50s.)

Tenor Byron G. Harlan was born in Kansas on August 29, 1861 and died in Orange, New Jersey on September 11, 1936.

His partner, baritone Arthur Collins, was born in Philadelphia February 7, 1864. Some music historians consider him to be the “Ragtime King” because he made more recordings with the “rag” or “ragtime” in the title and any other singer of his time. However, most music scholars shy away from crediting him with this unofficial title because many of his recordings are identified with the aforementioned negative connotation. He died in the arms of his wife in Tice, Florida on August 3, 1933.

The song [Put Your Arms…] was written by Albert Von Tilzer (composer) and Junie McCree (lyricist) for a Broadway show called “Madame Sherry” in 1910.

Tilzer, who also composed “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”, was born in Indianapolis on March 29, 1878. He had worked as a music director in vaudeville, a shoe buyer for a Brooklyn department store, as a staff writer for his brother’s publishing company, and later formed his own company. Obviously, he also collaborated in the composition of numerous songs for Broadway musicals. He died in Los Angeles, on October 1, 1956.

Junie McCree was the pen name of American Lyricist Gonzalvo Macrillo. He was born in Toledo, Ohio on February 15, 1865/6. He earned a good living writing jokes, sketches and song lyrics for other vaudevillians, and performing on variety, vaudeville, burlesque and musical comedy stages himself. He first made his name on the stages of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast and moved to New York sometime before the turn of the century. After opening an agency in New York he became one of the most sought after writers in vaudeville and burlesque, supplying sketches and patter for hundreds of acts. His material launched slang and catchphrases like “coffin nails” for cigarettes that quickly became part of common American jargon. In his later years he was very much involved with the White Rats (the name of the early vaudeville performer’s union). He became its president (“Big Chief”) in 1912. He passed away on January 13, 1918 in New York.

You can hear some of the Collins-Harlan record by clicking the highlighted text atop this page. It’s a terrible repro – but it’s history…