OLD BOSTON MUSEUM DAYS BY KATE RYAN WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1915 Kate Ryan. Frontispiece Copyright, igifr BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. All rights reserved Published, October, 1915. fotfcort VUM Set up and dectrotyped by J. S. Gushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U. S. A. I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK TO MY GRANDCHILDREN KATHERINE AND WALTON McDANIEL BUT FOR WHOSE EARNEST ENCOURAGEMENT IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN. I AM DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR THEIR INSPIRING INTEREST FOREWORD IN writing this little volume, I have lived over again the days of the Old Museum, and as I recalled the faces and forms that peopled the stage of that famous old playhouse, I must confess to moments of sorrow recompensed by hours of joy. I doubt that even the most phil osophical spirit, with never a tear or a regret for the past, could delve into its recesses as I have done, without a longing for the Old Mu seum days that are gone. Yet the memory of those days will leave, for all time, something of value to remember and cherish. I have no desire to pass dramatic criticism on the individual merits of my associates, whose labors dignified either tragedy or comedy, nor to draw comparison between the past and pres ent. I wish merely to express a few loving vii FOREWORD thoughts as I feel them. I wish to send forth as a song in the rain the glad message that there still exists in the hearts of old Bostonians tender memories of that golden time Old Boston Museum days of our fathers and our forefathers. In the preparation of this volume, I wish gratefully to acknowledge thanks to Mr. James Burrows and Mr. John Bouve Clapp for their kindly assistance, and also to Mr. RobertGould Shaw for the use of many photographs. KATE RYAN. AUGUST, 1915. vin CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE FOREWORD ……. vii I. EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOSTON MUSEUM . . i II. MY FIRST VISIT TO THE BOSTON MUSEUM . . 9 III. WILLIAM WARREN … …25 IV. MRS. J. R. VINCENT ….. 44 V. Miss ANNIE M. CLARKE … . - 63 VI. CHARLES BARRON …… 80 VII. SALAD DAYS … … 91 VIII. THREE COMEDIANS … …117 IX. THE Two RELIABLES … . .136 X. PINAFORE DAYS 158 XI. FAMOUS STARS 173 XII. THE YOUNGER GENERATION … .205 XIII. YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY 239 INDEX … …251 IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Kate Ryjm Frontispiece FACING PAGE The Boston Museum in 1876 … . 4 The Boston Museum in 1903 . . f . 4 Moses Kimball 8 Manager R, M. Field 8 Kate Ryan in 1872 - 20 Kate Ryan in 1886 20 William Warren 30 Warren as Jefferson Scattering Batkins 30 Mrs. J. R. Vincent 58 Annie M. Clarke as tc Peg Woffington and George W. Wilson as Triplet …. 66 Charles Barron 88 Annie M. Clarke 88 James Nolan 104 William J, LeMoyne 104 George W. Wilson 124 James H. Ring 124 J. A. Smith 124 James R. Pitman 144 James Burrows 144 Sadie Martinet as Hebe 160 xi