Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York,
And all the clouds that lowered upon our house,
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried;
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments,
Our stern alarums are changed to merry-meetings
And our dreadful marches to delighted measures.
--Richard III.
The Mormon war cloud that lowered so portentously during the winter of
1857-8 had been dispelled without bloodshed, and peace once more
brooded over the land. The soldiers of the "Nauvoo Legion" had "hung
up their _un_-bruised arms for monuments" and resumed their old
avocations, and the wheels of trade, "the calm health of nations,"
were once again running in their accustomed grooves.
The people had set to work with redoubled energy to make up for the
losses "the war" had entailed upon them, so that they had little time
or inclination for amusement. The advent of Johnson's army into Utah,
although encamped forty miles from the city, had its effect; it
brought in its wake, as an army always does, a lot of camp
followers,--hangers-on--a contingent that was thrown largely into Salt
Lake, and not a desirable one. This made the Mormon people wary and
suspicious, and inclined them more than ever to isolate themselves
from strangers.
Notwithstanding this condition of affairs, in the winter of '59 they
began to resume their usual amusements, and a number of plays were
given that winter in the Social Hall.
By this time the "army" having no active service, began to feel the
need of some amusement, and some of the soldiers improvised a theatre
in the camp.
Sergt. R. C. White, better known later among Pacific coast theatricals
as "Dick" White, was the leading spirit in this affair. White was a
scholar as well as a soldier; moreover, he had the poetic and dramatic
instinct in him, and in common with all living creatures, he felt that
he must exercise his faculties. So in order to give vent to his pent
up love of the drama, he organized a dramatic company among the
soldiers of Camp Floyd. The Sergeant, or "Dick" as he was called, was
not only a clever amateur actor but a poet, and something of an artist
as well. By his skill in this latter line he soon had the necessary
scenery painted for the Camp theatre. Pigments were scarce in the camp
and even in Salt Lake at that time, but White was resourceful, and
equal to every emergency, so he made levy on the quartermaster's
department for liberal supplies of mustard, red pepper, ox blood, and
other strange materials with which to get in his color effects.
The "Camp Floyd Theatre" as it was called, was not a stupendous
structure, only large enough to accommodate about two hundred persons,
and the stage in proportion to the auditorium. It was built of rough
pine boards and canvas--principally canvas--but answered all the
requirements of a theatre for the amusement of the camp.
White had but little trouble in organizing his corps dramatique, so
far as men were concerned, but the female contingent gave him much
concern and considerable trouble to secure. Women in the camp were
scarce, and female talent was at a premium. There were a few officers
whose wives were with them and some "hired help" of the female
persuasion, but none of the women of the camp had any experience in
theatricals. Several were willing, and even eager to try; so White
made a selection and cast a play and put it in rehearsal, but "woe is
me!" the women were all such tyros that he was almost in despair,
until he suddenly conceived the project of engaging one of the Social
Hall actresses to play the leading female character; if he could do
that, then, he reasonably argued that he could get along, but could a
Mormon actress be induced to come to Camp Floyd?
Here was a dilemma; but the bold Richard perhaps thought of the lines
of his renowned namesake, Richard Plantagenet:
"Dangers retreat when boldly they're confronted,
And dull delay leads impotence and fear,"
so he took courage. He opened up a correspondence with Mrs. Tuckett of
Social Hall fame. White was an accomplished writer, and poetical, and
there is no doubt he could write a winning letter. We have no
knowledge of what inducements he offered, so can only surmise that a
liberal salary was the temptation held out to her. Suffice it to say
that Mrs. Tuckett accepted the offer and joined the Camp Floyd Theatre
Company, thus making a noticeable weakening of the Social Hall force,
and creating a commotion among her fellow players in Salt Lake, and
the people generally, as she went in opposition to the wishes of her
husband and friends and the church authorities. It was regarded not
only as an unwise step for Mrs. Tuckett to take, but a discreditable
one.
It was a reproach to the Saints to have one of their number go and
mingle with the ungodly soldiers who had come out here to destroy
them. Mrs. Tuckett was looked upon from the moment of her departure as
a lost sheep from the fold. These apprehensions were not unfounded,
for Mrs. Tuckett, whether wearied of her Mormon environment, or led
away by the unusual attentions shown her by the officers and men of
the camp (with whom her acting soon made her a great favorite), lost
any former love she may have had for Salt Lake, and sundered all
social and family ties there.
"Dick" White, poet, actor, artist, achieved another conquest; not only
had he succeeded in getting Mrs. Tuckett away from the Social Hall
company, but later on he won the affections of the Mormon actress and
took her completely away from her family, friends and church. In some
way White severed his connection with the army before the breaking out
of the Civil War and had gone to California "taking the fair Desdemona
with him." He married her and they lived together in Folsom,
California; only a few years, however; Mrs. Tuckett-White died there
in '63.
Mrs. Tuckett, whose maiden name was Mercy Westwood, was of English
birth, came to Utah in the early '50s where she soon afterward married
as a polygamous wife. The Westwood family had a strong predilection
for the stage; three of her brothers, Richard, Phillip and Joseph
Westwood, figured conspicuously a little later on in the Springville
Dramatic company. Her desertion from the ranks of the Social Hall
company had created a vacancy they found it difficult to fill. She had
been playing the leading roles, filling the place of Mrs. Wheelock who
also became disaffected and went to California in '57 with a number of
others, under protection of Col. Steptoe's command.
What particular reason Mrs. Wheelock had for withdrawing from the
Mormon people, we do not know. She settled in Sacramento where after a
time she became Mrs. Rattenbury, and has never returned except for a
brief visit and this quite recently.
Mrs. Tuckett was the wife of Henry Tuckett who is still living in Salt
Lake; and had four children by him at the time she left, and in
abandoning husband and children to share the fortunes of the soldier
actor Dick White, she subjected herself to a vast amount of severe and
apparently just criticism. There is little known of her life after she
left Utah even by her relatives; she probably regretted the step she
had taken when too late.
The Mormons never forgave White for taking Mrs. Tuckett from them. He
visited Salt Lake about four years after the death of his Mormon wife,
in the dramatic company of John S. Langrishe, who had Mr. C. W.
Couldock with him and was traveling by stage overland to the gold
mining towns of Montana; Virginia City of vigilante fame being their
objective point.
The Langrishe-Couldock company opened in the Salt Lake Theatre, August
the first, 1867, in the "Chimney Corner" with Couldock in his favorite
character of Peter Probity. R. C. White was the Solomon Probity of the
cast. White was apprehensive of trouble if he should be discovered by
the friends of Mrs. Tuckett, who regarded her peculiar "taking off"
almost in the sense of an abduction. Conspicuous among Mrs. Tuckett's
friends were the managers of the theatre, H. B. Clawson and John T.
Caine; so White discreetly kept himself secluded during the day as
much as possible, and only put in an appearance at the theatre when it
was time to dress for the play.
White was not personally known to the managers, or any of the
employees about the theatre. He had been little in Salt Lake during
the army's occupation of Camp Floyd and consequently was scarcely
known. Trusting to these circumstances he hoped to escape recognition,
and avoid the storm of abuse he felt sure would be showered on his
guilty head; but unfortunately his name was on the program and
although a common name and one that might easily escape especial
notice, White was by no means a common man and his performance of
Solomon attracted special attention to him.
Some man in the audience who had met him at Camp Floyd recognized him,
and quietly informed the managers who he was. The whisper spread about
with amazing rapidity and he began to be pointed out as the "reprobate
and unscrupulous scoundrel" who had enticed Mrs. Tuckett away from
home and friends and people.
To make sure that this was the veritable White, the manager made some
inquiries regarding him of Jack Langrishe, his manager. This was
sufficient to arouse the curiosity of the company with regard to
White's previous experience in Utah. White did not make a second
appearance at the theatre. He had caught something of the buzz that
was in the air about him, and quietly dropped out of the Langrishe
company for the remainder of its Salt Lake engagement.
The Langrishes remained two weeks and then moved on to Montana. White
had not been entirely idle in the interim. He had made the
acquaintance of a second Salt Lake woman, whom he prevailed upon to
join him soon after his departure, and they were married shortly
after; the woman casting in her fortune with the Langrishe troupe and
doing such parts as they thought fit to cast her in.
Mr. and Mrs. White eventually drifted into Portland, Oregon, and made
that their home for many years. It was there the writer made their
acquaintance some fifteen years later when he went to play leads for
John Maguire at the New Market Theatre. They appeared to be living
harmoniously and had four lovely children, two boys and two girls, the
eldest about twelve years of age and a promising young actress. White
was then the editor of the "Bee," an afternoon paper, and played on
occasions in Maguire's Stock company.
Some years later White with his family removed to San Francisco, where
he became the stage manager of the Tivoli. It was during his
incumbency of this position that he made the first dramatization of
Rider Haggard's "She," and gave it its first production on the stage,
which proved to be a great success and started numerous other
companies to play it.
White has now "fallen into the sere and yellow leaf" and for the last
dozen years has been affectionately called by the profession "Daddy
White."