In the collection of Mr. Henry Cady Sturges, of New York, there is a
copy (the only one the writer has seen) of a play which, while it may
not be the earliest, is certainly one of the first printed in
Milwaukee. While the plot of the production is laid in New York and is
largely local in interest, yet the fact that it was printed in
Wisconsin, and the further fact that no other edition seems to be
known, makes it fairly certain that it is the offspring of a writer
who lived in Wisconsin.
The piece bears title as follows: “_The Drummer, / or / New York
Clerks / and / Country Merchants. / A Local Play, / in two acts._ / (2
lines of verse.). / Edited by Mrs. Partington. / Milwaukee:/ Job Press
of Cary & Rounds. / Commercial Advertiser Office./ 1851./” It has 73 +
1 pages and paper covers, the front cover bearing the same title as
above.
A curious coincidence regarding the characters in the play is that the
father of the present owner, Jonathan Sturges, is among them, his part
being that of “Mr. Sturges, a New York Merchant,” that really being
his occupation. “Mrs. Partington” is also among the characters.
This curious production was written at the time of the Jenny Lind
excitement, and that great singer is mentioned in a number of places
throughout the play. Her manager, P. T. Barnum, is there also, while
some of the localities noted are Coney Island, Niblo’s, The Bowery,
and Castle Garden. The first act takes place, first in a saloon on
Broadway, and afterwards in the office of a first class hotel, also on
that well-known thoroughfare. The second act is staged in Mrs.
Partington’s parlor in the same hotel.
Some of the popular books of the period are mentioned, among them _New
York in Slices_, while among the names of well-known New Yorkers are
Horace Greeley and James Gordon Bennett, editor of the _Herald_.
Milwaukee is hinted at, and Mr. Sturges is made to say by the
playwright as he addresses his clerks, “Fourteen hundred dollars from
Wisconsin. Extremely good. Wisconsin crops are nearly all destroyed,
still the money is sure to come from that state. More goods are
ordered, they shall have them.”
The play is interspersed with songs that are saturated with the
alleged humor of the period, and sad to relate, one of these songs has
been torn from the copy before me, probably because of its facetious
nature.
It is doubtful if the writer ever intended to have his production
staged, although the copy now described has several corrections such
as are found in prompt copies.
I am inclined to believe that the statement on the title that its
editor was Mrs. Partington (Benj. P. Shillaber) was simply put on to
add to the humor of the occasion, as I doubt if Shillaber had a hand
in its composition.
On page 73 is the statement that copyright has been secured.
From a perusal of the piece it seems evident that its author knew the
metropolis very well, but the misspelling of proper names and other
evidence makes it seem almost certain that it was the work of some
one, who, while well acquainted with New York, was not a permanent
resident of that city. Was he a writer from Wisconsin? If so, who was
he, and why was he writing a play of this character, a piece whose
plot was taken from a place so far from home?