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Click on a name to view their biography below.
May Frances Aufderheide was born into a somewhat musical family in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was born to John Henry Aufderheide, a capable violinist who chose a career in banking, and Lucy M. (Deel) Aufderheide. Some sources report varying years of birth, but the 1900 Census is fairly specific with an 1888 date, which aligns fairly well with the ages given in 1920 and 1930. John's sister May Kolmer was a talented pianist who had played public concerts with the Indianapolis Symphony, later teaching at the Metropolitan School of Music. May Frances took classical piano lessons from her aunt while in her teens, but always felt a lure to ragtime and popular music. It was likely when she was attending finishing school in the east that she set some rags down to paper. When she returned around early 1908 May was determined to have one of her pieces published. With the help of young sign painter named Duane Crabb, who drew a cover and arranged the printing, and one his friends, future composer Paul Pratt who did the musical arrangement and engraving, Dusty Rag was released. | ||||||
Charlotte M. Blake was born in Ohio to Edward C. and Caroline P. Blake within a year of the couple's marriage. She was the oldest of six siblings, including three brothers and two sisters. The family appears in the 1900 Census in Jackson, Ohio, near Columbus, with Edward listed as a "commercial traveler." Charlotte started her professional musical career in 1903 at age 18, working as a staff writer and demonstrator for Jerome H. Remick in Detroit, Michigan where the entire family had moved a year or so before. She was a fairly prolific composer for the publisher turning out a reported 35 titles, many of them marches and waltzes. This was done initially without recognition of her gender to the general public. Even Detroit city directories of that time show Charlotte's occupation as merely "pianist." | ||||||
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Henriette Blanke is not one of the prominent figures of ragtime composition by any stretch, focusing largely on waltzes and mood pieces during her decade-long career. However, her presence as a woman composer in the ragtime era and the considerable sales of her works cannot be ignored, thus her inclusion in this set of biographies. Also, recent searches by the author have uncovered a lot more information about her than was previously known, which helps to fill in her overall story a bit better. Thanks to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for information article citations on Henrietta's time in Detroit and some of the details on her marriage to Belcher. The remaining information was researched by the author from numerous public records and assorted articles. |
Grace M. Bolen was born to James A. Bolen and Frances "Fannie" (Carter) Bolen, who were married in June of 1882. Raised in Kansas City, Missouri. Grace was the oldest of two girls and two boys, including Griffith (11/1886), Frances (7/1891) and Lorraine (9/1892).. The family was fairly well off as her father ran Bolen Coal. Thanks to to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for quite a bit of the information on Grace during her Missouri years. | ||||||
Lily Coffee had a short lived writing career, but still provided an important component of Texas ragtime. Her life even warranted a largely unknown TV movie. Not too much information is available on her personal history, but what we've found is contained here, some with the valuable help of researcher Keith Emmons, and most presented here for the first time. Thanks to collector and researcher Keith Emmons of hulapages.com for some valuable follow up research on Coffee's extended family |
Irene Cozad was born on the fourth of July, 1888 in Lineville, Iowa, to Joseph A. Cozad and Olive J. Cozad. She was one of of four girls, including Flora L. (5/1886), Dearcie L. (10/1891) and Anna H. (3/1896), and three boys, including Charles C. (3/1882), Carlisle William (5/1884) and Guy J. (1/1894). | ||||||
Ella Hudson Day, born Luella Lucile Hudson in Texas, was a Texas-based composer who was raised in Whitney, Hill County (there are two Whitneys in Texas) in between Austin and Fort Worth. Her true birth date is partially unclear, as the 1900 census puts her at February of 1876, which is at variance with the November 1875 date cited more often. Her father, William Haney Hudson, was a blacksmith/farmer from Arkansas who moved to Texas with his second wife, Sarah Jane (Northcott) Hudson. Luella was the youngest of his five children. At some point she had enough musical training either privately or in school (either was common at that time for females) as she allegedly had already composed piano music as early as age ten, and was teaching music by her early 20s in San Marcos, Texas. It was while there that she married Eugene Ramsey (Gene) Day (b.1870) on October 12, 1897. He was a tinner in the printing industry who had come from Hernando, Mississippi. Junius was born to the couple in 1899. Much of the timeline and background research presented here, including an invaluable "Who's Who" article from Texas in 1924 that also contained her rare portrait, was sent by Nora Hulse, the champion of women composers of the ragtime era and beyond. Many thanks to Texas music historian Larry Wolz who provided some tidbits of information used here. Also, fan Don Lewis who knew Ms. Day in his youth (back in the Day), and reported on the children's songs. The remaining demographics and information on compositions was uncovered by the author. | ||||||
Geraldine Dobyns was the fifth of seven children born to Harry O. Dobyns and Nellie M. Dobyns in Lousiana. Her large family included two older brothers, Harry and Thomas, two older sisters, Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Winifred (Winnie), and two younger brothers, Fitzgerald and Leo. According to her grandson she was likely born on the Australia Plantation near Milliken's Bend or Madison, Louisiana. Some of the information presented here on Dobyns up through 1910 was uncovered Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse. Many of the remaining demographics and chronology of the family were researched by the author. Thanks go to Geraldine's grandson Arthur Cullen who confirmed much of the information and added details on the Davis's involvement with FDR and their final resting place. | ||||
Ethel May Earnist was long thought to have been a pseudonym for prolific composer and publisher Charles L. Johnson. However, information uncovered in 2006 by Bill Edwards and verified by historian Nora Hulse indicates that she was very real, and the probable composer of Peanuts - A Nutty Rag. Earnist was the only surviving child of three born to Belle (La Gourgue) Earnist and William H. Earnist in Odell, Nebraska, Many thanks to Women in Ragtime historian Nora Hulse who provided some of the information here to supplement my research, John Dawson who did some of the Kansas City legacy searches, historian Reginald Pitts who uncovered her death certificate in 2008, and ragtime performer Terry Parrish who was the catalyst for this search, strongly suggesting that Peanuts was clearly not composed by Johnson. Both Nora and Trebor Tichenor who have signed off on the probability of this Ethel being the mystery composer of Peanuts. |
Irene Giblin was born to printer Richard T. Giblin and his wife Nora E. Giblin in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the oldest of six children, including Gertrude (1/25/1890), | ||||||
Gertrude Imogene Rupert was born in Fairfield, Iowa to railroad worker Frederick Rupert and his wife Anna (McReynolds) Rupert. Little is known of Imogene's early years in Iowa or her music training, but it was evident that the family was on the move. Thanks as always to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for a few additional snippets of information Giles' life, including her additional composition. |
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Louise V. Gustin certainly left some mysteries behind, just as much as she left hints of the possibilities of great compositions had she pursued rag writing beyond what she did accomplish. Between the considerable efforts of researcher Nora Hulse and additional work by the author, some of these mysteries have been recently unraveled. Thanks as always to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for information on Gustin's Detroit demographics and on her first divorce and second marriage that led to more discoveries by the author. |
Elsie Janis has long been known by many as the Sweetheart of that A.E.F., a title which is perpetuated on her headstone. But it was a long climb to that title. The story of Elsie is also deeply intertwined with her start in the ragtime era and the continuing presence of her doting mother. In spite of how well known both of them became, finding some information on their origins which is not present in most biographies of Janis, or at least accurate information, was a challenge at the very least because both were forgetful about many details of their life, including their names and their age, the latter being highly variable over time. Some deep searches by the author in 2008 uncovered much of this information, and some will be presented here for perhaps the first time, or at least the first time in one place.
Elsie's mother was born Jennie Cockrell August 1, 1862 (she regularly claimed aynwhere from 1867 to 1875 later on) to Hiram and Nancy Cockrell in Delaware, Ohio. The Cockrells traced their lineage back to an arrival in the United States in 1757. Jennie's name may have been Jane at birth, but consistently shows up as Jennie in public records. One of her father's close cousins was Senator Francis Marion Cockrell of Missouri, of which there is a traceable connection, and which she did mention in an interview at some point. The 1870 Census shows her as eight years old. The family moved to Centervillage, Ohio in the the early 1870s where Hiram remained for most of his life. In 1880 Jennie appears as a boarder in nearby Mansfield, Ohio, working as a trimmer in a large millinery (hat maker). On May 1, 1884 Jennie was married to John C. Bierbower, who was born in Marion, Ohio, in a ceremony in Bucyrus, Ohio. They soon moved to the area around the capitol city, Columbus, Ohio. Five years into the marriage their only child, Elsie Jane Bierbower, was born on March 16, 1889. In later years she would have birth dates listed in Census records and on passports that varied from 1892 to 1895, the latter year most consistently, but there is no question of the actual year of birth, admitted later in a Time magazine article. It was apparent before Elsie was even two that she was a natural entertainer. As "Baby Elsie" she started singing for activities held at the First Congregational Church in Columbus at the age of two and a half. Jennie was delighted with the reception and quickly caught the management bug that many proud stage mothers were likely to get. She started getting appearances for "Little Elsie" as a singer, and finally got her a stage debut as a singer/actress at age six in the Great Southern Theater production of East Lynne in Columbus with the James Neil Stock Company. Elsie (or Jennie) also caught the attention of the wife of then-Governor William McKinley, and the child performed for the McKinleys at the official governor's residence, the Neil House. One of his favorite tunes that Elsie sang was reportedly Break the News to Mother. As much as Jennie, and reportedly Elsie, enjoyed their growing fame and occasional travel, Elsie's father John did not approve of the theatrical life for his daughter. Rather than deny her daughter, much less herself, of the opportunities afforded by Elsie's inherent talent, Jennie divorced John in the late 1890s. She then gave both she and her daughter a new identity.
Now making theater appearances with a local stock company, Elsie herself had the stage bug. Josephine parlayed their previous acquaintance with the McKinleys to receive an invitation for Elsie to perform in the White House where the couple now lived as President and First Lady. Given how well that went, Josephine next set her sights on the vaudeville stage for Little Elsie, now around ten. She went to vaudeville manager Mike Shea proposing he try the girl for a week. After that time she would either hit the bricks or he would pay her $125 per week. Put right after the opening on her first day, a make or break position, she was moved to second from closing by the end of the day, a position afforded only to top performers. So it was that Elsie, with Josephine in tow, spent the next few seasons performing in vaudeville stock companies. Yet they remained based in Columbus at this time, albeit in a nicer home. The mother/daughter team would call their High Street home across from Buckeye Field, part of the University of Ohio campus, ElJan, and Elsie would not part with it until after Josephine died. They were on the road at the time the 1900 Census was taken, so concerted attempts to locate them in that year proved fruitless, but they do appear there in local Ohio records. Among the emerging talents that Elsie possessed was that of imitation. She was able to do quite passable imitations of many celebrities of the time, including President McKinley and eclectic singing star Sarah Bernhardt. With the variety of talents she developed, Elsie was able to form a viable act that could sustain the larger part of a vaudeville show. Yet in spite of her good press, the child actress was not allowed to work in New York City for some time due to local child labor laws strongly enforced by The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, who also set limitations on youngsters Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson and Buster Keaton. In the case of Keaton the abuse was very real. But as for Elsie, her mother was her mentor, guide and protector. Added to her act were more impersonations, including vaudeville star Eddie Foy, himself a caricature, George M. Cohan in his gung-ho all-American style, Harry Lauder and his Scottish antics, and the patriarch of the great acting family, John Barrymore. In 1905, After several years of vaudeville touring and summer stock, Elsie, now nearing 16, replaced Anna Held for a tour of The Little Duchess, staged by Held's husband Florenz Ziegfeld. The tour was a success, and the following year Janis was offered a role in The Vanderbilt Cup on Broadway.
The first of many tours that Elsie and Josephine would make to Europe was to France in mid 1908, likely traveling with The Hoyden. They are shown arriving back in New York on the Rotterdam on August 3rd, just in time for her to engage in a new show. The next big production, The Fair Co-Ed, started on the road in 1908, affording Elsie a visit to her home town of Columbus where she was very well received. The local paper raved about her acting, singing and dancing. The show ended up in New York in 1909 playing 136 performances. At some point in 1910, mother and daughter took a break and were found back in Columbus for the 1910 Census. Elsie is listed as an actress with a theatrical company, and Josephine as her divorced mother, but with 13 years trimmed off her life showing an age of just 35 to Elsie's deflated 18. The same information appears in the Ohio Miracord Census for that year. She was one of the top paid stars of the stage in the still-developing entertainment industry, pulling in between $2,500 and $3,000 per week in 1910, either in stage musicals or vaudeville appearances. This was equivalent to two other top American female stars, Nora Bayes and Eva Tanguay. Next up was an English play brought to America, The Slim Princess, which opened on the road in 1910. This production, which went for 104 performances on Broadway in 1911, also introduced Elsie as a songwriter, her entry being I'd Rather Love What I Cannot Have, Than Have What I Cannot Love. It also signaled a transition into full adulthood for some of her fans and reviewers, as the following from The Music Trade Review of October 8, 1910 will attest: "It is Miss Elsie Janis now, if you please. No more little Elsie or even just plain Elsie, for the brilliant young lady is sedate and twenty and the relics of childhood days have been cast aside. 'The Slim Princess,' published by Chappell & Co., is the first play in which Miss Janis has ever worn her hair 'done up,' and considerable dignity attaches itself to this momentous transition... It is a new young woman who comes to us this year, with the recommendation of her name in electric lights above the Studebaker entrance, a mature and serious-minded young woman whose memories of the days long ago, when she was the 'Little Elsie' of vaudeville fame, are quite dim and hazy. Do not imagine that in personality the fair Elsie is less popular than ever, for no star ever held the affections of a company of stage players with firmer grip than she. But the romping days and the games of baseball with the boys, the decidedly ingenuous jokes on prim uplifters of the stage—all are forgotten." In some respects, The Slim Princess became somewhat autobiographical for the actress, who while seen and heard often was rarely found with a romantic partner. It would become known in inner circles that Ms. Janis was potentially either a lesbian or at least bisexual, so if she did have relationships of that type they were certainly kept quiet. Her mother's role in Elsie's choice has rarely been explored, which perhaps could have been a result of often warning Elsie about stage door Johnnies or men in general, or perhaps from experiences with her father. In any case, Josephine was evidently tolerant of her daughter's choices in this matter. Some of Elsie's energies were put into a book in 1911 called Star for a Night, largely a publicity vehicle for her stage work in the play of the same name. In July of that year Josephine and Elsie ventured to Europe on the Lusitania for another tour, arriving back in early August.The next couple of years found Elsie doing everything from stage revues to recordings of popular songs. One revue featured her second song, Fo' de Lawd's Sake, Play a Waltz, which had some popularity in New York City. After Over the River, which ran for 120 performances, Elsie won a role in The Lady of the Slipper, running an impressive 232 shows from 1912 to 1913. That summer was a trip to England, returning in August on the Imperator with Josephine, as always, by her side. Her single ragtime song, The Anti-Ragtime Girl, was published in 1913. It comically names off all of the "offensive" dances that the girl in question refuses to participate in, all of them fed by ragtime music. By 1914 Elsie stated her home as the Globe Theater, but Josephine was living in White Plains, New York, a short commute which is likely where Elsie spent much of her precious down time. They went to England in the summer of 1914 so Elsie could star in the Passing Show in London. In London, Elsie became romantically involved with comedian Basil Hallam for a short while, and the couple even cut a few sides together in 1914, then again in 1915. It was in 1914 that Janis did her first entertaining for the boys on their way to war. Elsie and Josephine returned on the Mauretania from Liverpool in October, 1914. There was also a song that Elsie wrote and performed which was this time actually associated with a dance and specific dancers. A Castle Walk Song was composed for the premier dance couple of the time, Vernon and Irene Castle. Vernon had appeared with her in Lady of the Slipper. It should be noted that Elsie only made a handful of sides in the United States for Victor in 1912, of which three were released. For whatever reason, her records sold much better in Europe, and the recording quality was higher, so virtually all subsequent sides were done by the His Master's Voice, the British equivalent of Victor. This makes them much more rare in the United States as collectors items. Elsie had also worked at the Palace Theater that year, a place that even Al Jolson was not able to get into, and she proved to be quite popular there doing her songs, imitations and other comedic material. However, Josephine, who was unflinching in her negotiations when it came to Elsie but also not abusive in that regard, insisted that the theater had not lived up to their promises to the star, and she pulled Elsie from her contract. Owner Edward Albee did not take kindly to this, and he attempted to blackball Elsie from The Palace publicly. His publicity in this regard turned back on him in an ugly way since the public could not imagine any such disagreement would be Elsie's fault, and they in turn came out against the theater creating potential financial issues. In the end, Albee had to send a public letter of apology to Josephine and Elsie, and offered them a much better deal, which worked out for all involved. In the end, the dynamic and perhaps even more famous Al Jolson STILL could not make it into The Palace, even though he evidently did rather brashly crash it one night, perhaps one of the reasons for his being shunned by Albee. 1915 turned out to be a productive year for Elsie. A second book appeared titled Love Letters of an Actress, a fictional series of letters showing the progression of a number of humorous love relationships. She also entered into a film career, making four movies for Paramount Pictures, writing the scenarios (the early version of a screenplay) for all four of them. This was followed by a collaboration with the up and coming composer Jerome Kern Kern and Janis came up with the show Miss Information, which may have turned out to be a little bit "miss-guided" in execution, closing in just around 6 weeks. After another trip overseas for a new edition of The Passing Show, While there she again became briefly involved with Basil Hallam, but did not respect his concerns about the potential of being drafted for the growing war effort. Elsie ended that relationship and returned on the St. Louis in August. Hallam would end up dying in uniform in 1916, and many believe that Elsie never quite got over the loss. Upon her return Elsie immediately went into a show made from the remnants of Miss Information, this one also with Kern, titled Very Good Eddie. This one they writers evidently got right, for it started in the Princess Theater late in the year, went to two other theaters during its Broadway tenure, and closed again at the Princess after an accumulative 341 performances. This was followed in late 1916 by the ostentatious and very expensive Ziegfeld production The Century Girl which itself went around 200 performances. The fortunes of mother and daughter Janis were enough that Josephine was able to secure a shrewd deal for a home in Tarrytown, New York, known as the Talleyrand, which they named The Manor House. There they were able to live in style, most certainly in a manner quite different from Josephine's rural Ohio upbringing.
Following her earlier efforts to give the troops morale in a time of war, Elsie committed herself to doing this for all of the doughboys in Europe, and set out on a six month tour into the war zone. One previous trip, sponsored in part the YMCA and Salvation Army, as the U.S. Government was neutral and would not commit to backing her, established her as a cherished presence near the battlefields, so it was not hard to encourage further support, or perhaps aggressively negotiate for it since Josephine did the leg work, for this extended tour. Elsie's passport issued December 19, 1917, shows her traveling "to France and England. To France to make a tour of hospitals and rest camps through the racket and for tours to sing and entertain THE BOYS." Josephine's applications stated she was going "To assist Elsie Janis to fulfill theatrical contract. Mother/Personal Manager." This trip was when Elsie clearly earned her title "Sweetheart of the A.E.F." With Josephine by her side taking the same risks, Elsie was not considered as much a glamour girl as she was one of the guys in a sense, Her small troupe traveled around in pickup trucks or similar vehicles, using them as a makeshift stage. She would perform for anywhere from fifty to five thousand soldiers at one time, always to vigorous cheering, and even learned enough French to extend her act into the realm of French troops as well. They all looked forward to sing-alongs at the end, something that allowed the boys to participate in a way that reminded them of the folks back at home. Out of this experience came a 1919 book, The Big Show: My Six Months with the American Expeditionary Forces, and a documentary movie along the same lines called The Big Drive. She also appeared in one of the earliest Warner Brothers Vitaphone sound shorts, Elsie Janis Behind the Lines at the Front, shot in 1926. (This is currently available on DVD on The Jazz Singer set.) Elsie's selfless example in this regard clearly set the stage for what would eventually become the U.S.O. in advance of World War II. After an extended stay after the war, continuing to entertain through Europe, Elsie and Josephine returned to the United States on the Rotterdam from Plymouth, England, on August 31, 1919. They were met in the harbor by a tugboat with a banner reading "Welcome Home Elsie Janis," and to a swelling crowd in port, having endeared herself to the American public even more during her time away. Unable to return to the stage owing to an Actors Equity strike that all but closed New York theaters, Elsie went back into film, working for a time for the Selznick Picture Corporation. One of the films was A Regular Girl for which she wrote the screenplay and a title song. She also prepared a new show based on her experiences in the war called Elsie Janis and Her Gang in a Bomb Proof Revue. When she finally got clearance to return to the stage, the show started on December 1 and played through mid January, going briefly on the road after 55 performances on Broadway. The 1920 Census shows Elsie and Josephine residing in Talleyrand at Tarrytown, with Elsie as an actress in motion pictures (in spite of her current stage work), and Josephine as 46 (adding a year to her previous claim), divorced, and manager for her daughter. Also in the household were five servants: a housekeeper, a chauffeur, a cook, a waitress, and a gardener to maintain the large property. Either because of the shift of the film industry to Hollywood, or perhaps since her company had gone out there, Elsie purchased a house in Los Angeles in early 1920, and would eventually trade up to Beverly Hills. On an April 1920 passport application she is shown as residing in Los Angeles. But she again recognized that she worked better in front of a live audience that could give her feedback, rather than in front of the camera. So Elsie again took another show to Europe and the United Kingdom in 1920, It's All Wrong: A Musical Complaint, followed by a tour of Elsie in Paris, actually staged in Paris in 1921, arriving back on the Titanic's sister ship The Olympic on August 31. Once back in the United States the actress attempted a new rendition of Elsie Janis and Her Gang which played from January through March for only 56 performances. Not able to capture the same energy after the war that she had before, and competing with the new acts emerging in the frenetic jazz age 1920s, her fortunes started to fade. Appearing wherever Josephine could get her booked, usually in Europe, she still worked fairly consistently through the decade. In 1925 Elsie got good some exposure in Puzzles of 1925, but after 104 nights the show closed. Her best effort of that year was the clever book If I Know What I Mean, one of the first that discussed her relationship with her tenacious manager mother. Elsie was also spending more time in Los Angeles, having bought an estate in Beverly Hills. Among her best friends there were actress and "America's Sweetheart," Mary Pickford, and her husband Douglas Fairbanks. Another book came out in 1926 called Counter Currents, co-authored by Marguerite Aspinwall. It was followed Behind the Lines for Vitaphone. Josephine and Elsie made two trips to France in 1926 and 1927. Another book came out in 1928 featuring contributions by Elsie. In her stage imitations of the famous Will Rogers she had become quite adept with a lariat herself, thus her role in the book Roping: Trick and Fancy Rope Spinning along with Rogers and actor Fred Stone.
As the Great Depression was just underway, the 1930 Census showed Elsie now living in Beverly Hills with Josephine, the latter listed as widowed (if there is a story to that we were not able to find it) and 58, a step closer to her actual age. Elsie listed herself in her new profession, a writer for motion pictures. Living them was one cook and a domestic servant. Indeed, Elsie started to amass film credits as a writer of both stories and dialogue. Among these were Close Harmony, Madam Satan, Reaching for the Moon and The Squaw Man. She also had several more compositions added to her musical credits. But it was also in 1930 that Josephine (Jennie), Elsie's constant companion, and at times both her biggest fan and driving force, finally passed on. Elsie took the loss of her mother hard, and buried herself in her behind the scenes film work. In what turned out to be a questionable decision, Elsie married Gilbert Wilson before the year was out. He was a stockbroker who was only 24 to her 41, and some termed it a marriage on paper only. However, in a 1936 letter reprinted in Time Magazine, and originally appearing in the Tarrytown News, she noted that after her mother died, "I had asked for a helpmate who would understand me. He came and was young enough to be as inexperienced in the fundamentals of mating as Old Maid Janis was at 42 [sic]. Result: Four years of two being one completely, and now an understanding of what is what. He is young enough to make a new life for himself, if orders are such..." The intent of that last line is unclear, but it was perhaps a harbinger of what was to come. As for what had already been, she attempted another autobiography in 1932, updated from a first attempt in 1928, and optimistically titled So Far, So Good. Early on in the marriage, Elsie evidently tried to turn the stockbroker into an actor with mixed results that created tensions. Perhaps a better indicator of the nature of their relationship is that she finally got him cast in a Noel Coward revue in 1934, Set to Music, and Gilbert soon became a frequent party companion to the gay playwright. Elsie herself was known to appear at parties with company as diverse as the "notoriously libidinous" actress Marilyn Miller at her side. She also attempted another show, staging New Faces of 1934, which ran from March through July for a respectable (given the times) 159 performances. But Elsie's lifestyle was fraught with drawbacks during the Great Depression, and Elsie's fortunes started to diminish. A serious automobile accident in 1935 created issues both with her body and her finances. In September, 1936 she made a move which prompted the Time Magazine letter printed above, selling her beloved Tarrytown Manor House and most of the possessions within during a three day auctions. While she attributed this as "Orders for G.H.Q." (General Head Quarters and she referred to God), it was more likely to help keep the couple solvent and in their Beverly Hills home where she spent more time. The property soon ended up in the hands of John D. Rockefeller Jr.. Through the second half of the decade Elsie and Gilbert spent more time apart than together. While spending most of her time on the West Coast in the late 1930s, she did attempt a Broadway comeback that was short lived. Her self-titled variety show, Elsie Janis, sort of a throwback to vaudeville with narration infused, opened on New Years Day 1939, and disappeared after a mere four performances. She was also involved with Frank Fay Vaudeville, a nostalgic revue, fared a bit better, lasting for 60 performances from March through late April of the same year. But that was it for Elsie Janis and the theater. She appeared once more on screen in 1941 in the film Women in War, playing a nurse in France. As for the real war, her husband Gilbert enlisted in the Army on April 22, 1941, and was shipped overseas for around five years. His enlistment shows him as an actor or entertainer born in Illinois and still married. As for Elsie, the car accident had pushed her into somewhat of a religious conversion and she started an involvement with the church that continued through most of the rest of her life. She did benefit performances, was involved with four war time patritotic concerts, appeared on radio whenever there was an opportunity, and spent fifteen years visiting veterans of past and present conflicts reading to them, writing to them, and honoring them however she could. At one point during World War II she even worked with Bob Hope, who had pretty much taken over the role of entertainment ambassador that Elsie had held since before America entered World War I in 1917. In 1946 when Gilbert returned it was clear to the couple that no real marriage existed. Rather than divorce they simply chose to live separate lives. In retrospect she was still loved, having had a number of works of music and poems and other literature dedicated to her. The number of articles that she had been writing for various magazines about her life and her associations with other stars started to trickle down to virtually no output. Other than her visits to veterans she was rarely in the public eye any more and spent most of the last decade as a recluse in Beverly Hills. When the end came in 1956 she was attended to by her long time friend Mary Pickford, who was at Elsie's side when she passed on. Another past friend was there as well. She had a framed photographc of her first real love, Basil Hallam, on the table next to her bed. While Pickford had been America's Sweetheart for so long, Janis still remained the American Soldier's Gal Pal, and was well remembered by many, particularly those of the armed forces. Her career had spanned vaudeville from before ragtime up through the height of swing and movie musicals. Her selflessness in recognizing and honoring those who fought for the United States set an example that continues among many entertainers to this day. Little Elsie Bierbower from Ohio had finally made good, but the show had closed and it was time to take the pictures down. Some of the information on Ms. Janis' life was gleaned by many biographies, including two of her own; magazine articles, including some she penned; and theater reviews or newspaper listings. The remainder was researched by the author, delving into Census records, passports, shipping manifests, and some deep family histories going back to the 1850s. The information on her origins leading up to 1905 or so is as accurate as can be presented based on public records, and is often contrary to known information on Janis and her mother, some of which was fabricated by the two women. Corrections or addendums are most certainly welcome with corroborating information. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sadie Koninsky left a fairly impressive legacy in composition, and not just in ragtime. She spent the bulk of her life in Troy, New York, born there to German/Polish father Harris Koninsky and German/British mother Mary Koninsky. She was the youngest of five children, including Edward M. (1/1865), David H. (9/1869), (Moses) Maurice Nathan (7/23/1874) and Sarah (1877 - died before 1900). All years of birth are what was listed in the 1900 Census, but are at some variance with the 1880 record. In the 1880 Census, Harris is listed as a tailor and Edward, shown as 16, was a clerk. Sadie is strangely absent from the record, brining her birth year into question. As the Census was taken June 1, she may have been actually born in August 1880. Thanks as always to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for information on some of Koninsky's activities in Troy. The bulk of the information was researched by the author from public records, embedded sheet music information, perodicals and newspapers. | ||||||
Elma Ney McClure is yet another example of a female composer with a great deal of promise that was sadly unrealized. Little information is available on her, but what we've found is contained here. |
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Anita Owen was born in Brazil, Indiana, near Terra Haute, to Welsh immigrant John Dale Owen and his Ohio born wife Margaret (Hughes) Owen. Her birth name appears to have been Esther, although Anita may have been either a first or middle name at that time. The birth year also varies widely depending on what tale she told the Census takers. Given estimates of 1873 to 1875, 1874 has been settled on as it is consistent with her stated age at her death. Esther had one older brother, John Owen Junior. On the 1880 Census, John Senior is listed as a musician, as he was a Welsh music teacher and composer of some note, and very musical. Margaret was the niece of English composer Sir Thomas Hughes. So music certainly was present at a respectable level in this family, even though she claimed in later interviews to have had little actual musical training as a girl. Anita was educated at the Convent of St. Mary of the Woods in Terra Haute, and between the school and her father was well trained in music composition, harmony and theory, and piano performance. According to her obituary she sold her first song at age 15 or 16 for a mere $5. Whether or not this was Awake, Beloved is unclear. | ||||||
Muriel Pollock (it was sometimes seen spelled as Pollack) was a first-generation American, the daughter of Russian immigrants Joseph and Rose Pollock, born in Kingsbridge, New York. She was the oldest of three siblings, including Robert (1/1896) and Ruth (1906). As of 1900 the family was living in the Bronx in New York City with Joseph working as a news dealer. Muriel is curiously shown as Mary, possibly an alternate birth name.
She obtained her musical education at the New York Institute of Musical Art (later known as Julliard), focusing on harmony and performance, and stayed in New York for some time. She helped support herself in school by playing in Manhattan movie houses. A talented pianist who was among the first women to record in the novelty piano style for both disc and piano roll, she is known to ragtime fans largely for her Rooster Rag.By 1917, Muriel was part of the piano roll recording and editing staff for the Rythmodik Music Corporation, a branch of Ampico. She was shown as employed as a music composer by Rythmodik in the January 1920 Census, but living across the river in Closter, New Jersey still living with her family. When the focus of Ampico shifted away from the Rythmodik line around mid 1920 she moved to the Mel-O-Dee Music Company. Muriel's roll recordings showed how adept she was in the interpretation of works by novelty writers, but her early work was more focused on editing the playing of others, fashioning ideal performances. There was an interesting account of her piano roll work by writer Robert A. Simon published in a May 1920 edition of The New York Evening Post, and is excerpted here: "The most remarkable thing about player pianos," recently commented a man who owns one, "is the fact that famous pianists are able to make hand-played rolls of their best numbers without a mistake. Aren't they nervous when they record for posterity? Or do they forget about temperament and rattle off a flawless performance for the machine?"
There are several reasons why hand-played rolls fail to reveal the "blue" notes, which sometimes drop from the most magical fingers. One of the best reasons is Miss Muriel Pollock, whose job it is to edit recordings for a large player-piano house. Editing isn't Miss Pollock's only calling; she admits that she herself has made a recording of "Dardanella" and that sometimes she composes. Take it either way, she is a specialist in "blues," whether she eliminates them or immortalizes them on the perforated paper. "My troubles start where the player's leave off," explained Miss Pollock in her little cubbyhole in the recording studios. "When a famous pianist like Rachmaninoff or Mischa Levitski comes to play for us he goes into a room with a recording piano. There he plays all by himself, and the roll tells the rest."
Miss Pollock, however, soothes the irate genius by cryptic red and black pencilings on the master roll, after which an equally cryptic mechanical process removes the "notes that are sweeter unheard. "Don't you think that a pianist is entitled to a few 'blue' notes when he plays rolls?" I suggested, "knowing that future generations will judge him by what passes between him and the piano alone in that little recording room?" '"They aren't always alone," replied Miss Pollock, "although most of them prefer to record without company. There's one woman, whose fame extends beyond their piano playing, who feels that she performs better when she carries with her the contents of several bottles of expensive, not to say far-reaching, perfume. And then there's a young pianist who likes to be accompanied on a second piano, with some one beating time for him. One great symphonic conductor broke a lovely new baton the other day while we were recording a concerto." However, concert pianists are not so eccentric as the folk who make the dance rolls. "Rag players are the most temperamental," said Miss Pollock. "Even the women players of classic music are less emotional than the jazz artists. I know of one fox-trot exponent who would like to play in evening clothes to give class to his offerings. Concert pianists worry about shading and expression, but jazz players worry about soul. There are enough souls floating about loose when there's a blues recording going on to supply most of the ouija boards in town." Although world-renowned musicians hover constantly about Miss Pollock's studio, her greatest thrill came not so many years ago when she started her musical career as a pianist in a movie house somewhere on Long Island. "I was only a kid then," she reminisced, "and one night, between shows, a man came down to the piano and said: 'You played that last piece better than any one I ever heard and I ought to know because I wrote it'." Miss Pollock strummed a few bars on her piano. "Do you recognize it?" she asked. It was "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee." "Who are the celebrities whose rolls you have laundered?" I inquired. Miss Pollock reeled off a list that sounded like the musical "Who's Who?" "But don't mention all these names," she implored, "because they might get excited, and the next time they played for us [there would] be so many blue notes that I mightn't be able to catch all of them—and then posterity might blame the pianist instead of me." Throughout her career Pollock collaborated with a number of lyricists, creating both popular songs and stage musicals. Some of the first notices of Muriel playing for public concerts were found in 1920.
In 1923 Muriel had two of her pieces interpolated into the Broadway show Jack and Jill, which ran for 92 performances. From the late 1920s to early 1930s, while still in New York, Muriel teamed up with pianist Constance Mering on the radio for a number of vivacious duets. They also cut several rolls for the Duo-Art label. Advertisements of 1925 and later show the name of another partner, Vee Lawnhurst (often shown as V. Lawnhurst) as well.Muriel and Constance were featured nightly in the musicals Rio Rita (1927-1928) and Ups-a-Daisy (1928) on Broadway, a time during which two piano teams like Victor Arden and Phil Ohman were big draws in the theaters. The following year, Pleasure Bound, a stage musical that she wrote much of the music for, had a fairly decent run of 136 performances before closing. She allegedly wrote many more musicals, but this is the only one known to have been produced on Broadway. Pollock and Mering continued to sparkle with their inimitable style over the radio into the late 1930s, but Lawnhurst's name started to show up with increasing frequency as her alternate partner, and Mering's faded at the same time. Around 1926, Muriel was married to Will J. Donaldson, a songwriter who co-wrote Rialto Ripples with Gershwin, and also worked for the Rythmodik branch of Aeolian as a staff artist and producer. Pollock's last known contribution to the Great White Way would be in Shoot the Works in 1931, which included a hodgepodge of pieces by composers as diverse as George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. Muriel became a member of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1933. In addition to her piano performance, she was becoming known as a skilled organist as well, and would often focus on theater organs for her later appearances on radio. More importantly, Muriel believed in the power of radio broadcasts and felt that they could be even better utilized for the dissemination of culture and music. In an effort to prove this, under the sponsorship of the Palmolive Company, she composed a suite of Spanish-themed pieces in 1929, debuting the first of them, Dance Espanol, exclusively on the Palmolive program on NBC. In Muriel's own words came a fairly accurate assessment of the future of the medium: "I firmly believe that the time has come for radio to demand its own special form of music and that many such compositions from now on will first reach the ears of the public via the air. To my mind radio demands a special technique of the composer just as it does of the musician and the vocalist and that the finest music of the air will be written specially for it with a clever understanding of the musical requirements of the broadcast studio." Even before Constance Mering's untimely death in 1933, Pollock was playing duets almost exclusively with Vee Lawnhurst, usually for NBC. Often billed as the Ladybugs, these New York radio fixtures continued their run of creating hot duets on both radio and record, and some of their broadcasts were being syndicated around the country. Vee was turning into a fine composer as well, , contributing music for interpolation into some Broadway revues. Muriel was showing up quite often from 1929 on as a solo artist on programs with widely varying content, often a mix of popular classics and popular songs. She even played one piano roll duet with George Gershwin, the Aeolian version of Make Believe. Muriel and Will had a son, Theodore (Ted) Donaldson, in 1934. When Pollock and Donaldson moved to California in the mid 1930s, Muriel, now without Lawnhurst as her playing partner, was unable to retain the popularity that she had sustained in New York. Her solo broadcasts on NBC continued, often as a guest artists on popular programs and more on organ than piano. Some were from California and some were done from New York when she could get there. After the mid 1930s Muriel eventually faded from public view. Her husband continued working as a composer and arranger on both coasts throughout the late 1930s and 1940s, in both recording and movie studios. Even their son Ted became an actor before he was ten, appearing on the radio, on stage, and in some movies as a talented child performer. His big screen debut was with Cary Grant in 1943. The family lived at 1422 N. Alta Vista Blvd. throughout most of the 1940s and 1950s.Muriel worked to re-establish herself again in the late 1930s, this time writing short radio musicals for children, many of which were broadcast in syndication from 1940 into the early 1950s. Most were written with Madge Tucker ("The Lady Next Door"), NBC's director of children's programming. Some were also reduced in size to accommodate a children's record set. During this time she often wrote under the name Molly Donaldson. Also, selected compositions for children's piano books were composed with her son Ted. She more or less retired by 1950. With Will she wrote The Boys and Girls Quiz Book in 1940. Muriel's composer husband, Will Donaldson, died in 1954. On July 1, 1955, Muriel and Ted donated the Will Donaldson Collection of Theodore Drieser Books and Manuscripts to the UCLA Special Collections Department. Muriel lived in Hollywood until her death at age 76. She bequeathed a twin stone diamond ring to Los Angeles City College, where she furthered her education as a student in the late 1950s, for the purpose of establishing a scholarship. The ring was auctioned off in January, 1973, and started a liberal arts scholarship in her name. In the 1990s, musician Artis Wodehouse resurrected a number of fine piano rolls by Muriel and others in a MIDI format that allowed for enhanced expression on a Yamaha grand, once again bringing life to a performer who herself gave life to many great pieces during her career. | |||||||
Zema Randale represents one of the more tragic cases of a promising performer, and perhaps even composer, being taken from this world much too soon for our liking. At the time she died she was a shooting star, making inroads into jazz that exceeded many of her male counterparts in the same field. Little was known of Miss Randale's upbringing, but the collective facts on Zema that have been discovered by the author are presented here, some for the first time, along with a few contemporary articles from periodicals that were written during her nearly three year rise to fame. Hopefully they will present a more complete story than has been available to date.
Her origin is presented here as the most plausible scenario found, but until further documents are obtained this is partially postulation based on the known facts that are at as little variance with each other as possible.
Efforts to find the origin of the Randale name in association with Zema met with no definitive answer. However, Zema's acquired stage name started to appear in vaudeville notices in the Midwest in late 1908. By this time she had become an actress of some versatility, and was known more for her stage talent than her playing, which was still developing. This versatility was underscored in 1909 when she appeared in Zanesville, Ohio, playing the lead role in Peck's Bad Boy, based on a series of stories about a teen-aged boy and his comic adventures. The picture (right) that went with the ad shows her as clearly older than 8 or 9 years old, likely in her mid teens. In the 1910 Census Zema is shown living with her mother, Mae [or May] Householder, now widowed, in Columbus, but Owen, almost 20, had evidently moved out of the home. Zema was also listed under her mother's married name rather than as Randale. Curiously, mother and daughter relocated during the Census period of April 15th to 26th as on April 16th they are shown at 153 [looks like] Winirer Avenue, and a week later they were found at 1301 High Street. Mary was working as a seamstress/dressmaker in a dry good store, and Zema was listed as 16 and working as an actress on the vaudeville/theatrical circuit. It is also possible that these were both temporary residences as Zema was traveling in vaudeville by this time. Another wrinkle was added in 1911 as Zema was appearing with a Betty Randale. No direct relationship between the two was found, and they were not billed as a sister act; only as a girl act. Betty may have been a cousin or other relative, and the source of the name, but anybody under that name was hard to pinpoint in the Census. They were advertised in the Bismarck Daily Tribune on January 29, 1911 appearing at the Grand Theater: "Zema and Betty Randale, in songs, dances and pianologue, are a pair that is hard to beat anywhere, and are considered as one of the best act[s] in the circuit. This being the fact leaves no doubt as to the high quality of the act." The subsequent review on January 31 read: "Zema and Betty Randale, who bill themselves 'a pair hard to beat,' more than make good that claim. We have yet to see their equal on a Bismarck stage." It is surmised that in this act Zema was the pianist, but may have also done some singing and dancing. Since she later showed an excellent acuity as a writer, Zema may have also worked as a young piano monologist, a term which stage veteran Cora Salisbury termed as a "pianologist." Notices were also found for Zema and Betty with a host of others at the Airdome in Lincoln, Nebraska, in August 1911, a brief mentions in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio in 1911 and 1912. The screen goes blank for a year or so, which was a time in which Zema, approaching twenty, was possibly receiving further training in her pianistic skills. By late 1913 these had become considerable within the vaudeville circuit in Illinois, where she had settled. She started recording piano rolls for the Imperial Player Roll Company as early as November, 1913. In the January, 1914 edition of The Piano Magazine, Imperial announced their new acquisition: "A remarkable player of 'rag time de luxe' discovered by the Imperial Player Roll Company of Chicago, Miss Randale is a resident of Chicago and her piano playing is characterized by remarkable originality and clarity of expression. Her hand played rolls will be featured in the Imperial catalogue exclusively." Miss Randale's pianistic prowess got her noticed in other musical circles as well. As noted in The Music Trade Review of December 18, 1915: "Miss Zema Randale, a well-known pianist of Chicago, who has made scores of records [piano rolls] for the Cable piano player, is conducting the orchestra which has been engaged for the White and Black Room of the Livingston Hotel, where informal dances are held in connection with the cafe." Obviously her focus had changed from overall stage performance to primarily piano, and that a female of her age was put in front of a mostly male orchestra also speaks well of her acquired reputation. Zema ventured into the field of composition as well, having her clever Mutilation Rag, commissioned and published by the Cable Piano Company in mid 1915. There were reportedly more pieces composed by her, but to date they have not come to light. The Imperial Company had a good reputation for high quality "hand-played" (well edited) piano rolls with top local artists. Having added Zema to their roster around 1914, they started advertising her as a top "raggist" in 1916 along with their whiz kid from the University of Chicago, Lewis J. Fuiks. Her work was described in glowing terms in The Music Trade Review of September 30, 1916: Zema Randale has run amuck with Felix Arndt's Operatic Nightmare in the Imperial Co.'s October bulletin. The demon Zema has ragged this naturally distorted composition until it sounds like a twelve-cylinder car with the ignition system out of order. However, in the "tutti" she strikes her stride, hitting smoothly on all twelve cylinders with nary a miss to the elaborate ending. This is one of Miss Randale's finest recordings and will stand for a long time as a splendid example of ultra modern ragtime, the type of music for which America has become so renowned. For ragtime, if not the highest, is the most distinctive type of American music.
Miss Randale's aptitude for this type of playing was discovered at an early age. At the present time, she stands as one of the foremost exponents of real ragtime in this country. Her ragtime acrobatics have attracted the attention of managers of theatres. Some of the country's best musicians consider Zema's peculiar genius of intense interest from the standpoint of counterpoint. For this young lady, although lacking an academic musical education, can simultaneously play two different melodies, blending their contra-motion in a manner which would cause Bach to grow green with envy. And she does it extemporaneously! That's what interests musicians. It's a gift with which few musical souls have been endowed. It is said that during her engagement at one of the Chicago theatres no less an authority than Fanny Bloomfield Zeisler found much interest in listening to Zema's original performances. Even in her first two years at Imperial, Zema Randale's name quickly spread throughout the industry as a performer to pay attention to. A forward thinker in many ways, she was concerned with all facets of the process from the arrangements and recording of the rolls to how they were received by the consumer. Her thinking never got in the way of innovation, apparently, as this article in The Music Trade Review of November 14, 1916. would indicate:
Zema Gets Ahead of Herself
Zema Randale, one of the Imperial Co.'s staff pianists, is a musical enigma. A late display of her genius was quite accidentally caused by a discussion in the recording room between Miss Randale and William Hartmann, chief arranger, as to the most effective way to play the second chorus in a popular ragtime number. Mr. Hartmann, who constantly strives for new musical effects in player rolls, was suggesting to Miss Randale an idea of his. Miss Randale absorbed Mr. Hartmann's view and then with a display of versatility with which she is gifted, she agreed to play the second chorus with the right hand one beat ahead of the left hand, and yet producing a rhythmic and symmetrical composition which would satisfy the most ardent admirer of ultra-modern ragtime. The result was that Miss Randale played the composition in such a manner that musicians who have studied the second chorus are at a loss to comprehend how she so entirely avoided the unity with which the two hands normally co-ordinate. An eminent psychologist from the University of Chicago, who is also strongly musically inclined, has called this faculty of Miss Randale's one of her best exhibitions of real genius. For, in this number, she not only destroys the unity customarily existing, but she spreads over the whole a co-ordination of musical values which makes the entire production both musical and of decided interest to students of music and psychology. Keyboard wizards Randale and Fuiks turned out some of the best of the Imperial arrangements of popular songs and instrumentals throughout 1916, after which Lewis left for New York to pursue a career with Ampico under the name Victor Arden. Zema remained in Chicago, not only venturing into jazz recordings in 1917, but gaining traction as one of the finest ballad interpreters in the industry. She was soon joined by Charley Straight who would also make his own mark on Imperial, and even record some rolls with her. Zema's growing gravitas helped her lead the charge for Imperial at a piano trade show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in mid January 1917. "Robert E. Lauer, manager of the piano department of the Boston Store, this city, is continuing with much success the series of demonstrations of the Ampico Reproducing piano, which was inaugurated several weeks ago, when Zema Randale herself made her first public appearance in Milwaukee. Mr. Lauer is a great believer in the future of the player-piano and is pushing these instruments in every way possible." The association with Ampico is not clear, as Zema continued working for Imperial in a dedicated manner. By the middle of the year Zema had become the face of Imperial, known as one of the first female artists to record the new music, "jazz," to piano rolls. In a review of another trade exposition in Chicago in May, The Music Trade Review noted that: "The Imperial Player Roll Co., makers of 'Songrecord' player rolls, will be one of the exhibitors at the Coliseum during the Music Show, and will show a fine display of the company's product with strong specialization on the company's rolls with words and the 'jazz' library with which the company has been doing such a fine business. Zema Randale, who is one of the best recorders of the popular in music, will be in charge, and will personally see that the Imperial line does not lack for adequate representation." The end result of that effort, as written up two weeks later, was that: "The Imperial Music Roll Co. had a booth that, although it wasn't the largest, was one of the busiest and most popular of the entire exposition. Zema Randale, whose 'jazz rolls' have been such a popular feature of the Imperial library, acted as hostess in a most charming fashion' and together with G. G. Bradford and other talented Chicago singers kept a crowd congregated continually about the exhibit and oftentimes obstructing traffic." As her name and her product grew in popularity, there was a natural curiosity to find out who the girl behind this powerhouse musician really was and what motivated her. One of the best examples of this type of a window into her mind was printed in The Music Trade Review in their January 5, 1918 issue, which included a rare interview with the artist:
ZEMA RANDALE TALKS ON MUSIC
Imperial Player Roll Artist Tells of Progress Being Made in Securing Faithful Reproductions of the Work of the Pianist A good many good folks still look upon the player-piano as a medium for the dispensing of "canned melodies," and this unwarranted judgment is usually due to the fact that the person who renders it has failed to keep pace with the marvelous progress made during the past year or two in the reproduction of pianistic effects through the medium of the greatly improved player roll. The old machine-cut roll was mechanical and very often it was harsh and full of faults. But with the introduction of the hand-played roll these defects were gradually overcome, and the final perfection of a reproducing process by the Imperial Player Roll Co. has changed all of this. Now the artist, after careful preparation, plays a selection and every touch is truthfully reportrayed upon the master roll. Every artistic accomplishment is indelibly inscribed - ability is as if it were photographed - and after careful retouching under the direction of the artist the finished print in the form of the finished roll is passed on to the player-pianist, perfect in every detail. In seeking information on the progress being made in this reportrayal of pianistic ability an interview was obtained with Miss Zema Randale, of the Imperial Player Roll Co. Miss Randale is probably best known through her interpretation of old-time melodies and popular ballads of the day, together with the best in modern dance music. Miss Randale said, in talking of her work: "I have been playing dance music for a good many years, and, of course, you realize that in playing modern dance music perfect time is absolutely essential, and likewise one must be unusually careful of the harmony, and here it is that my work with the Imperial Co. has been of wonderful help. "I played my first Imperial rolls with a great degree of confidence. I felt that I was in full command of the piano, and when the first proofs of these first numbers came to me and I played them on the player I must admit that I was delighted with the results. I felt that each roll was a true portrait of my ability, and, handing the roll to our advertising manager, I said, "It is I - I hope folks will like me.' "But there is another thing about producing rolls as we produce them in the Imperial Co.: I said I felt confident of my mastery, my command of the piano. I felt that I knew just exactly what would come out on the rolls which I produced. Imagine my surprise and my delight on discovering in my rolls little touches of harmony which I had never heard before. "I must have been putting these things into my playing unconsciously, and unquestionably these were the things which made my playing popular. "You can well believe that I improved on this discovery I sought for more of these little touches, and I truly believe that my playing for Imperial rolls has clone more to improve my technique, to give a smoothness and a finish to my playing, than even my many years of study, my many hours of close application to my chosen life-work. "One of these days I am going to put into print what I believe my Imperial player rolls can teach the music-loving public. For, although player roll music in the past has been largely recreational, I am confident that its future will be just as largely educational." In her continuing development of a fluid ballad performance style, Zema realized that the end user was often uneducated in the facets of performance they could apply through controls on their own home player piano. Proper manipulation of treble or bass volume variances, pumping pressure, and even tempo changes can be rendered to enhance the playback of any edited "hand-played" roll to, in some cases, rival that of an automated reproducing piano. To that end, Imperial and Zema wanted to find a way to convey this to the consumer. So she had a large hand in creating a small booklet that could be included with rolls or given out separately which not only informed the pianolist how to utilize their piano's controls to great musical advantage, but also detailed the process of creating the rolls in layman's terms. The Music Trade Review enthusiastically commented on this development in their February 23, 1918 issue:
Imperial Educational Work
It is one thing to produce a good thing and another thing to secure its intelligent use by the ultimate purchaser. That makes two good things. The Imperial Player Roll Co. have just published a little booklet on "Ballads," by Zema Randale, of the company's recording staff. Miss Randale first describes the manner in which she records for the Imperial rolls. This is decidedly interesting, but the most valuable part is found in her very lucid instructions to playerpiano operators by which they can get the most out of the ballads. She takes a specific song record, "Lorraine, My Beautiful Alsace-Lorraine," and gives valuable interpretative hints. This is excellent work and of a genuinely good nature. As a matter of fact not enough of this kind of educational campaigning is done by the music roll manufacturers. They are beginning to learn, however, that they can through the means of the printed word give concise and easily comprehended instructions for getting the most out of their rolls. It is to be hoped that we will see a constantly increasing effort of this kind. More detail was provided about this groundbreaking booklet in their March 30 issue:
The brochure is small enough to slip into a music roll box. It contains a portrait of Miss Randale, and comprises a short talk, ostensibly by that lady, setting forth the manner in which she prepares her records of popular ballads for publication as Imperial hand-played rolls. The story tells simply the whole process, bearing hard on the personal side of the work and very lightly on the technical side. It is very interesting indeed, and shows the amount of care and skill needed to get a satisfactory and successful record of even a simple song. Indeed, without any desire to conceal the fact that the story is rather highly colored in its tone, it does not tell other than the truth; and tells it in a way that cannot but be popular. Following the description of her own work, the gifted lady demon of the keyboard goes on to tell how the person who takes her roll to his or her playerpiano should play the same to get satisfactory results. Here also, allowing for some pardonable and slight musical solecisms, the story is well and simply, but effectively told. A list of Randale interpretations concludes the contents of this interesting little booklet.
An excerpt from "Ballads," extracted from the Billings Rollography compiled by Bob and Ginny Billings, reads as follows:
After selecting some particular number, I make it a practice to go over it carefully, note by note. I study the harmony with exacting care. I search diligently for those sections in every song which I know from experience are liable to become harsh, to predominate in its finished roll, when, in fact, they should be carefully subdued. Then I make it a practice to practice the chosen number over and over and over again, until I can play it with unerring exactness.
Then comes a period of playing the entire selection, passage by passage, to discover possible pianistic effects not present in the original score, and here, if I may say it, is the real test of an artist's ability in reproducing for the Player Piano. Of course, one must be letter perfect, one must have perfect command of the piano, and in addition, one must have the ability to discover these pianistic possibilities or the finished roll will be flat, uninteresting, a mere technical reproduction of so many notes in such and such sequence. After all of these preliminaries, the first proof is cut directly from my playing on the piano in the Imperial Studio, and in this work I use a big Concert Grand... When these first proofs are cut, I first play them on the players, and you can imagine the delightful experience of hearing one's technique and talent on such occassions. True, I am not always flattered by the results... I then have an assistant play [the first proof] while I accompany the roll on the Grand Piano to detect every possible flaw. After innumerable changes, all designed to effect perfection, the master roll is finished and its replicas boxed and passed on to you. Zema contracted diphtheria, a highly contagious and serious respiratory ailment, in early April. During her week in the hospital it was reported in an article from The Music Trade Review of April 20, 1918, that the piano whiz "...made a brave battle for life, and the specialists and nurses in attendance marveled at her wonderful resistance and her cheerfulness and optimism throughout the siege of sickness. Sadly she made it only to Saturday, April 13, when she passed on at the age of 24½. To add to the tragedy, her fiancée, Mr. George Reed Wright Jr. (5/1892), was "somewhere on the Atlantic" as a member of the United States Government Scout Patrol service, part of the Navy. The couple was to have been married at the end of April, and Mr. Wright did not find out about the tragedy until he arrived in Chicago to prepare for the wedding. As of the 1930 Census, George was still unmarried, living with his widowed mother.
Miss Randale was interred at Oakwoods Cemetery in Chicago. On the anniversary of her death from at least 1919 to 1921 there was a notice printed in the Chicago Tribune obituaries that read similiary to this one from 1920: "IN MEMORIAM. HOUSEHOLDER -- Zema Randale Householder. In loving memory of our dear daughter and sister, who passed to beyond two years ago April 13. We Mourn for you, dear Zema, Though not with outward show; For hearts that mourne sincerely, Mourn solemnly and low. MOTHER AND BROTHER." They may have been arranged for in advance, as there is a possibility that her mother, Mae Householder, died in mid-1920. Efforts are underway to confirm this in addition to extracting other bits of information to complete the puzzle that was Zema Randale. Her amazing musical legacy in both words and music was no puzzle, and her rolls continued to be featured by Imperial for some time, and later by QRS when they obtained the Imperial catalog around 1923. The legendary Zema Randale still resonates with many piano roll enthusiasts today who marvel at this lovely "demon of the keyboard." | ||||||||||||
Bess Rudisill was born in Rensselaer, Ralls County, Missouri, around 100 miles from the area considered to be the "Cradle of Ragtime." She was the second of four children born to James W. Rudisill and Ella M. (Bradley) Rudisill, including one older sister, Mina, and two younger brothers, Corwine and Robert Alva. Soon after she was born the family moved to the nearby New London area. Thanks as always to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for information on Bess Rudisill while in the New London area. | ||||||
It seems that there are two different schools of people who know at least something about Cora Salisbury - those who study or play ragtime piano, and those who know of her great protégé Benajmin Kubelsky. Hopefully the story of both will be melded together here. Cora was born in Wisconsin in 1868 to Maine native James Harrison Folsom (known as Harry) and his wife Eliza M. (Knofsker) Folsom. In 1870 the family is listed living in Winnebago, Wisconsin, just northwest of Oshkosh, along with James' younger brother Benjamin and his wife. Both brothers were working in the local saw mill, as lumber was a big Wisconsin industry in the exponentially expanding United States. The family was still living in the area, now in Oshkosh, in 1880, when Harry was listed as a saw filer. In 1884 Harry passed on. His widow, Eliza, started taking in boarders, something she would do throughout the next two decades.
Most of those who stayed at the Folsom boarding house turned out to be theatrical types in traveling troupes or Chautauquas, usually at the Grand Opera House in town. So Cora certainly had exposure to contemporary music and learned something about working on the stage. Cora had been learning piano throughout her teens. She is mentioned in a February, 1887 article in Oshkosh as performing for the Carriage Men at the Y.M.C.A. along with Mary A. Grundy and the Keystone Orchestra. In April she is mentioned again, this time playing for Neff's Ball, a library benefit. Her name started appearing often in the local paper, over the next few years, sometimes in a social context, but often as a performer.On June 6, 1888, Cora Folsom married newspaper editor Charles P. Salisbury, which could have been the end of a potential performance career. However she did work from time to time as an accompanist. Charles had been a newspaper man for several years, working as an editor for the Oshkosh Times, but eventually shifted careers and became the manager of the local Grand Opera House, then later in the 1890s the Great Northern Theater in Chicago. There is no indication of whether Cora primarily played the role of housewife in the beginning or worked in music. However, it was publicly announced in 1897 that she had become a part of his musical theater troupe, The Music Hall Stock Company, based at that time in Buffalo, New York where the couple had relocated the prior year. At some point by the late 1890s the marriage, which was childless, became contentious according to the family. While in Buffalo in the late 1890s, both mother and daughter fostered a relationship with Eliza's cousin Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of former President Grover Cleveland, the only man to serve two non-consecutive terms in that office. By 1900 mother and daughter were found in Washington D.C. in the Census, with Eliza now running a boarding house for members of congress and their aides, and Cora as a saleswoman for an indeterminate product (the garbled text looks like "toilet" but could be "toiletries"). Mentions of Charles' company are difficult to locate, so they may have been there independently of him. The pair returned to Buffalo in 1901, likely due to her husbands current production company of A Trip to Buffalo performing there. Cora was at the Buffalo Pan American Exposition on September 6, 1901, in the Temple of Music hall (cannot confirm if it was in a performance capacity), and was reportedly standing in very close proximity to President William McKinley when the attempt on his life was made by P.M. Czolgosz at 4:07 PM. McKinley would die eight days later from infections sustained from inadequate medical attention when attempts were made to remove the two bullets. During this period it is unclear how often Charles was traveling together with Cora and Eliza due to the marital tension. However, in November of 1901 an article in The Daily Northwestern in Oshkosh cites his role as the producer of A Trip to Buffalo which had recently returned from playing in that city for a short run in Oshkosh. It also indicated that Cora was accompanying him on the Eastern tour of the play. But their marriage was not to last. The couple legally called it quits with a final divorce in November of 1903. As cited on the wires in May of that year, "Miss Cora Folsom Salisbury of New York is [in Oshkosh] for the purpose of prosecuting an action for divorce against Charles P. Salisbury, formerly of [Oshkosh]. The basis of this action is non-support. The defendant was manager at one time of the Great Northern Theater in Chicago." Eliza and Cora were reported to have gone back to Washington, D.C. for a time to run another boarding house. Cora was able to focus even more on music while there, not only teaching piano but taking some time to compose as well. Through this period she kept the married name of Salisbury as it was the one in which she had gained her growing reputation as a stage pianist. She returned to Waukegan by the middle of the decade.It was around 1907 that Cora created her own comic vaudeville act and started to travel, most likely with a small troupe of other vaudeville performers. She is listed in a September, 1907 Oshkosh Daily Northwestern News article performing at the Bijou vaudeville theater, giving a pianologue. On November 23, the same newspaper noted that: Mrs. Charles P. Salisbury, who is well known in Oshkosh as a pianist and vocalist, has taken up vaudeville with marked success. She has just had a trip through Michigan occupying two weeks, which she found delightful and successful. Now she has started on a tour of twelve weeks for which she has contracts to go through Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, with two weeks in Chicago. After that it may be that she will go on a further tour, perhaps coming through Wisconsin. Mrs. Salisbury appears in vaudeville under the name of Miss Cora Folsom Salisbury. The Evening Gazette of Burlington, Ia., said of her appearance there last week: "Cora Folsom Salisbury, who is at the Garrick this week, says a pianologist is a person who plays a piano and then some. Miss Salisbury calls herself a pianologist. The word does not appear in the dictionary, but she gives a side-splitting definition of it three times a day. She says she has hopes that some day they may incorporate her title in some unabridged edition of the encyclopedia dictionary [to date it has not happened], but in the meantime she is content with demonstrating its possibilities on the vaudeville stage. Miss Salisbury has an act that is absolutely new. It is also irresistibly funny. She is a good-looking little woman, but is willing to sacrifice her good looks and graceful carriage at times to amuse the public. She has evidently made a close study of the different methods different women pursue in playing the piano and she sings one song that is alone worth the money, entitled 'I Would if I Could, but I'b Married.' She says she finds the general public appreciates a 'pianologist' better than a pianist, and besides, the former can make more money."
One of Cora's first published compositions was the waltz Paula in 1906, followed by Poodles Parade in 1907, printed by Thiebes Stierlin in St. Louis. Publisher choices further suggest that she was traveling during this time period. The following year saw another piece in print, My Light Guitar under the logo of Will Rossiter in Chicago, extremely hard to locate today so likely in a small run. In 1909 her most famous piece found its way into print, Lemons and Limes: A Sour Rag, also published by Rossiter. It mentions a piece she had composed called Love's Embrace, but the existence of this waltz in print is difficult to verify. In the 1910 Census it is difficult to pinpoint either Cora or Eliza, so one or both may have simply missed the local Census takers while on the road. Her mailing address as listed a few months earlier in 1909 was the Barrison Theater in Waukegan. One more composition would come from Cora during these years of travel, albeit still based in Wisconsin. This was Ghost Dance, a novelette published by Rossiter, That would be the end of published compositions by Cora Salisbury, but one of her best acts was yet to come.
From perhaps 1905 on, one place in particular that was frequented by Cora in her capacity as a pianist when she was not traveling was the Barrison Theater in Waukegan, Illinois. By 1910 she had become a regular there and was the musical director of the Barrison. Around the same time she met a talented violinist who had joined the orchestra at age 15 in 1909, a move that got him expelled from school, Benjamin Kubelsky was being paid around eight dollars per week, so to him life seemed good. Finally Cora took some notice of Kubelsky, and there is a possibility he went on at least one of her vaudeville tours in 1910 or 1911.
The original name of the traveling act was Salisbury and Kubelsky: From Grand Opera to Ragtime. However, a legal wrinkle created a change. Another much more famous violinist, Jan Kubelik, was using a similar title for his own traveling show, and was ready to bring legal action against Salisbury if they did not change the name of their act. Since the had seen some success in their short tenure, the answer was to change the name of one of the actors. Therefore Benjamin Kubelsky became Ben K. Benny (or Bennie). Still touring with their Opera to Ragtime act, now billed as Cora Salisbury and Benny, they were, as Benny put it later, "killing audiences" around the circuit. Among the pieces played in their shows included Cora's own compositions, plus popular songs like Everybody's Doing It by Irving Berlin, one or more renditions of the Turkey Trot, the poignant classically-based song The Rosary, and the old standard Poet and Peasant Overture. At several points in a show Benny would exaggerate the difficulty of the music by moving the violin dramatically, and keeping the pinky finger of his bow hand extended. As he later recalled, "I was an actor playing the role of a violinist." Over the two seasons they traveled the act went through a number of changes, eventually infusing a little bit of comedy, and also seeing some name changes. In October, 1912, the pair played in Oshkosh where Cora was warmly welcomed during a week of a well documented homecoming. In 1914 Eliza had became ill and needed more frequent care. So Cora had to abandon the act with Ben Benny and return to Waukegan to care for her mother. Ben eventually teamed up with pianist Lyman Woods and would reprise the act as Bennie and Woods: From Grand Opera to Ragtime. But again, the question of what's in a name came up when another established bandleader named Ben Bennie took exception with Ben Benny. Another change was instituted, along with infusion of a little more comedy, and the career of comedian Jack Benny was born. He would forever remember with gratitude the role that Cora had played in refining his stage skills and getting him out in front of the public. Now retired from the stage, Cora got married again on October 7, 1914, this time to Navy Warrant Officer George L. Aulmann. He had been stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Waukegan, Illinois, but they were married in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Cora and her mother then resided with George in Waukegan. Eliza died on November 11, 1915 and was buried in her beloved long time home of Oshkosh. Cora's health quickly deteriorated after the loss of her mother and she remained in ill health for the next five months. She went to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, for a stay in a sanitarium, during which she recovered somewhat. On April 9, 1916, Cora was hospitalized for an attack of peritonitis. She appeared to be recovering several days later when she had a sudden turn early in the morning of April 16, dying in minutes before George was able to get to the hospital from the Naval base after having been called by the hospital. George was now a widower after a mere 18 months. He would move back to California and remarry in the 1920s. As per Cora's final wishes she was buried beside Eliza in Oshkosh. But through her rags, and through the success of her finest student of the stage, she lives on well beyond her relatively fruitful time on Earth. Some of the information here was derived from various interviews of Jack Benny published over the years. Thanks also go to ragtime enthusiast and MIDI performer John Cowles who sent along some of the family information presented here, which was gathered by distant relation Tammy Wright through the writings of her grandmother, Dorothy Shorey Gavin. Much of the information on George Aulman was further clarified and corrected by women of ragtime researcher Nora Hulse. The remaining information was researched by the author in public records and publisher listings. |
Adaline Shepherd was born in Iowa to Vermont-born grocer Charles Shepherd and his Massachusetts native wife Ella G. Shepherd. She was the last of three children, including Josephine (1/1876) and Harry A. (9/1881). Adaline was usually called Addie well into her twenties. It is likely that her early education included some music instruction at the piano, common for girls at that time. However, she was largely untrained in composition or theory, and mostly self-taught. |
Less is not always more. In the case of Ethyl B. Smith there was supposed to be more, but we simply can't confirm that, having to do with less. While not a complete mystery, there are still many unanswered questions about this somewhat talented lady composer and piano instructor. Attempts to pin her down in city directories and Census records proved daunting, considering her common last name. While nothing totally conclusive was found, through forensic evidence we believe we have a good match. Thanks to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, who found the Christensen article and the information on the Fontella Club. The remaining information was found, with some requisite struggles, through public records, news reports, and the process of elimination. |
Bertha Stanfield was a born in rural Missouri to William H. Stanfield and Mary D. Stanfield, the youngest of five children, including brothers Harrison (Harry) C. Stanfield (1870), Aaron E. Stanfield (1876), Orson P. Stanfield (4/1881), and one older sister, Sarah J. Stanfield (1873). The family, comprised of William, Mary, Orson and Bertha, is shown in the 1900 Census living on the Shawnee Nation Indian Reservation in southeast Kansas, with William and Orson working as farmers, the same occupation William had listed in 1880 in Buffalo, Missouri. Thanks as always to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, provided much of the information here through her regional and local research in Baxter Springs, Kansas. Remaining demographics were researched by the author in Joplin, Missouri, Baxter Springs, Kansas, and in public records. |
One of the more cryptic composers in ragtime was actually related by marriage to one of the most eclectic ragtime publishers, and she would manage to find her own place in the history of the genre, albeit leaving a bit of controversy in her wake. Carrie Bruggeman was born in Alton, Illinois as Caroline May Bruggeman to tailor Adolph Bruggeman and his wife Mary Bruggeman. Just over a year before her birth Adolph appeared as single, so her parents were married with the year of her birth. Carrie claims she had very little musical training, and mostly played by ear. However, she had enough lessons that she was able to read music sufficiently, and it landed her a job at the Boston Department Store in St. Louis in the late 1890s as a sheet music demonstrator, a position commonly held be women in the Midwest and East. It was there that she met William P. Stark, the son of music store owner and fledging publisher John Stark, in 1899, the same year the senior Stark had taken on Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag for publication and distribution. Will handed her a copy and asked if she would learn the piece and plug it. She worked hard to do so, and in her own words, "began pounding it out at work as often as I dared."
As of the 1900 Census Carrie was still living with her parents, Adolph listed as a garment cutter. Mary shows with the name Matty, which is either a misinterpretation by the enumerator or an alternate name for her. The family also had two boarders living with them. Even though she was employed part time as a pianist, she did not have any occupation listed. While Carrie claims that Will kept visiting her at the store and soon proposed marriage, in reality the couple was not married until at least 1904 according to official records. In the interim, Carrie not only started learning more rags and songs, but writing them as well. One of the first of her instrumentals to be published under the Stark imprint was Dainty Foot, released under the heading of a "dance characteristic" and a "schottische," but very possibly the same work. This was followed by an almost-rag the next year, Comus, probably the last one issued under her own name. Then for a while she was busy with marriage and babies, giving birth to John S. Stark around 1906 and Ruth C. Stark in late 1907. Her next piece in 1908 would appropriately enough be a lullaby, most likely written for her children, and perhaps the first of her pieces published under the opposite gender pseudonym of Cal Stark. As of the 1910 Census William was listed as a music publisher, but Carrie showed no occupation. The couple was hosting Carrie's mother, who had been widowed early in the decade, and her stepfather, William Peters,, who had married her mother around 1906.Carrie herself admitted to not being able to notate her own works, and the she had written more songs than she could even remember, although very little actually made it into print. That which did get published was usually completed by her brother in law, the resident musician of the company, Etilmon Justus Stark, who also had several compositions in his own name in print. She would play the piece for him and he would notate it for typesetting and production. But there was at least one exception to this, which was her next act, a hard one to follow. There was a stir caused in 1911 and 1912 that was literally a matter of politics. Carrie wrote a song, (some insist she adapted an already existing tune from the Sally Ann family) with Iowa born newspaper printer and editor Webster Mil (Webb) Oungst (1854-1943). The song They Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Aroun', was arranged by John Stark's staff arranger and composer Artie Matthews and published by Carries father in law. It nearly immediately became known as the official theme song for the Presidential Campaign of Missouri's favorite son James Beauchamp "Champ" Clark. It is somewhat likely that Oungst submitted the clever lyrics to publisher Stark in hopes that it could be set to music, and since Will was managing at that time, he had Carrie step in to plug in the melody. Mrs. Stark claims she chose the name pseudonym of Cy Perkins because it sounded like a "good hillbilly name, and might make the music sell better. Candidate Clark actually had a nice lead going, and this may have also been the motivation for Carrie to use the pseudonym of Cy Perkins in order to avoid any controversy as a woman songwriter involved in a political campaign. In any case, the piece was known even before it was officially published by Stark. The Dawg song became so popular that publisher M. Witmark wanted it for its own catalog. They offered John Stark the staggering sum of ten thousand dollars to acquire the piece and the plates, plus any unsold copies to date, which was soon accepted. However, soon after this the campaign of Clark, who was at that time the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Washington DC, against contender Woodrow Wilson collapsed,
Carrie got back on the horse, and in 1914 put out two more songs as Cal. One was a tango, a dance and music form that was very popular at the time, and the other was a a waltz, usually a safe bet for light but solid sales. In 1917 Carrie as Cal turned out another fine fox-trot/blues, which would perhaps her last in print. Baby Blues was also released as a song with lyrics by Margie Brandon, very likely the wife of another Stark composer Clarence E. Brandon. These were put out on the Stark's subsidiary Syndicate Music Company, a label reserved for pieces that didn't quite meet the standards of pieces issued under his main logo. But John Stark, who had lost his wife a few years before, was now trying to champion a nearly dead genre in his last gasps of rag publication, and soon Carrie lost her best outlet to jazz and old age. As of the 1920 Census she again was shown with no occupation, and William as W.P. was listed this time as a music printer, rather than a publisher. While she did not give up piano playing during the remainder of her life, Carrie more or less faded from public view for a while, and lost her husband Will Stark in the 1940s. Then came the release of the book They All Played Ragtime in 1950, and the acknowledgement, clearly found in the notes taken for the book, of Carrie's role in They Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Aroun', which helped make her somewhat of a local celebrity again. Caroline Bruggeman Stark lived much of her final two decades with her daughter in Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis, occasionally venturing out to public ragtime events as pictured here. She finally passed on in 1972 just as the huge revival of the very pieces her father-in-law had championed was getting underway. Thanks to Ragtime historian Sue Attalla, for much of the history and information on They Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Aroun' and its association with Clark. Sue is also responsible for the verification of Webb Oungst's identity and his role in the piece. Also thanks as always to Ragtime Women Historian Nora Hulse for some of the chronology of Carrie Stark's life. All additional information was researched directly by the author. |
Nellie Stokes was born in Springwells in Northwest Michigan to British immigrants James W. Stokes and Clara Stokes. She had one older brother, Charles J. Stokes. Thanks as always to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse for much of the Detroit information on Stokes, including her employment with Jerome Remick. The remaining demographics on the family were researched by the author. As always, if anybody has more information on where Nellie went after 1911, or you care to follow up on what is already here, please contact us so we can share our research to date. |
Kathryn L. Widmer did not leave much behind musically, but her single rag was certainly one of Notoriety and deserves recognition. Thanks as always to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for kindly providing information on Widmer's premature demise. Most of the remaining demographics were researched by the author. | ||||
Carlotta Williamson was born to Erastus Edward Williamson and Mary Ann (Carrigan) Williamson in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. She spent most of her life in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Carlotta was evidently a child prodigy, as an ad from around 1874 uncovered by researcher Nora Hulse shows her sitting at a large upright, listed as "Carlotta Williamson, Infant Pianist, Aged 5 Years," followed by an address. Erastus left Mary and Carlotta in the late 1870s, leaving them destitute. In 1880 mother and daughter are both found living in a boarding house on Cambridge Street in Boston with Mary working as a dress maker. Carlotta was first married in Boston to Edward B. Wickwire on April 29, 1891. but she was single again by the time of the 1900 Census. Carlotta was living again with Mary in Boston, now working as a sales person in a hat store. Thanks to Ragtime Women historian Nora Hulse, for providing a date of death and information on a couple of Williamson's compositions. The remaining information was researched by the author from numerous public records and assorted articles. | ||||||
Fannie B. Woods was thought to be a pseudonym for Charles L. Johnson until 2005 when it was revealed that the composer of Sweetness was indeed a real person.
At the age of 19 Fannie composed Sweetness, the publication of which may well have been facilitated by Louisville publisher Al Marzian, who had recently had his own Angel Food Rag published with Forster Music Publishers in Chicago. Woods further had the enthusiastic backing of the Herman Strauss Company department store, also based in Louisville. They featured her as a local celebrity, allowing her to play Sweetness and other pieces in their store on several occasions in 1912. Fannie evidently signed copies of the piece as well. According to a receipt the family provided she received a total of $75 for the rag from Forster. Sweetness is dedicated on the inside to W.J. Mansfield. Woods would marry William J. Mansfield the following year, and take that name for the rest of her life. This further reinforces her role as the composer of Sweetness. Fannie was not only a fine pianist but also a well-regarded organist, spending over four decades playing for the Parkland Baptist Church, and three decades for Pearson's Funeral Home. Between 1914 and 1927, she and her husband had three daughters, Mildred, Mary and Jean and a son as well, William Jr. The family is shown in the 1920 Census on Cypress Street with Fannie's parents living in the same home and William listed as a bookkeeper. In the 1930 Census they were living in a new location on 26th Street, and Cora was now listed as a widow. William was now a credit manager for a plumbing company. He died suddenly at the age of 60 on November 10, 1947. Fannie retired from playing by the mid 1950s, but continued to teach piano and organ to younger students nearly to the end of her life. Fannie and Edna also enjoyed performing Sweetness and other pieces as a two piano duet from time to time. Fannie Mansfield died in Louisville December 28, 1974 at age 82. The only other compositions that may have been attributed to her were available locally in Louisville, and were likely church related. A couple of mentions of possible compositions show up in various recital or concert programs published in area newspapers, but publication cannot be confirmed. I would like to add a personal note of thanks to Louisville dentist Dr. William J. Mansfield, Fannie's son, who helped me obtain information and materials in relation to his mother, and former Woods student and musician Rhonda Rucker who brought this information to my attention, and therefore to the ragtime community. It was this, more than anything, that motivated me to begin extensive further research to ascertain
more accurate
renewed or reinforced facts on all of the ragtime figures featured on this site. |
Gladys Yelvington (born Elizabeth Yelvington) spent her life in Indiana, the fourth of five children of Asa Yelvington and Alice (Cranor) Yelvington. |

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