1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. This is another how 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: did that get on my list? Topic? But I saw 5 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: it there recently when I was looking at some other stuff, 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: and I started looking back at my notes on it, 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: and then I started, you know, doing internet searches for him, 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: and I stumbled across a weird brief it's not a 9 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: big thrust of the episode post word of drama that 10 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: sprang up, and I was like, oh, I want to 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,639 Speaker 1: talk about that, and we'll get to that, but it is. 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: Don't get too excited. It's not a big thing. It 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: just was funny to me. But today we are talking 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: about Charles Farrar Brown, who is often called the first 15 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: stand up comedian, and he was in the eighteen sixties 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: wildly famous. But his early death and the soaring career 17 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: of one of his friends have kind of contributed to 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: Brown really fading from the spotlight in history. So we'll 19 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: talk about his brief career today. Charles Ferrara Brown was 20 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: born in Waterford, Maine, in Oxford County on April twenty 21 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: sixth eighteen thirty four. His father was Levi Brown and 22 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,119 Speaker 1: his mother was Caroline Eliza Farrar Brown. Their families had 23 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: moved to the town from Massachusetts and Vermont, respectively. Charles 24 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: was their second son. His older brother was named Cyrus. 25 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: The couple also had two daughters, Maria and Ellen, who 26 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: died in childhood. Not long after Charles was born, the 27 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: Browns moved from their farm to a large home, which 28 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,279 Speaker 1: is sometimes described as a mansion. This was a home 29 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: that Caroline's family owned. Levi was a civil engineer who 30 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: performed surveys, but he also did a lot of other jobs. 31 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: He farmed, ran a shop, and served in the state militia. 32 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: Was also briefly the town constable and then the town clerk. Yeah, 33 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: he did a lot, a lot of civic duty. Charles's 34 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: early childhood sounds fairly idyllic. Biographer Don c Sites, who 35 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about behind the scenes, described Waterford 36 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: like this quote, so purely New England was the community 37 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: that it bred plentiful whimsies, many of which cropped out 38 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: in the writings of the humorist, and to a degree 39 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: account for him. Old inhabitants recall small escapades such as 40 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: can be told about mischievous boys in most country villages. 41 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: But then Levi died in eighteen forty seven, when Charles 42 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: was just thirteen, and those idyllic days of childhood ended 43 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: really abruptly. Charles's mother, Caroline found herself in a tough 44 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: spot in terms of finances. Although there had been times 45 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: when money was plentiful, things had gotten a lot tighter 46 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,799 Speaker 1: in the years before Levi's death, and they really didn't 47 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 1: have any money to live off of. Charles later wrote 48 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: of his father, quote, my father was a magistrate and 49 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: lumber merchant, a clear headed and thoroughly honest man, so 50 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: competent in his business as to be consulted on all 51 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 1: kinds of law questions, and so honest that he invariably 52 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: had his hands full of business involving large sums of money. 53 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: I fear he was a little too honest, for he 54 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: died poor. After all. Charles's older brother Cyrus, had already 55 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: left home to begin work as a printer when their 56 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: father died, and although he was barely a teenager, Charles 57 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: also then learned the printing trade. Working first as an apprentice, 58 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: he was put on a coach to Lancaster, New Hampshire 59 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: to learn the publishing business under a man named John 60 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: m Rix, who ran a paper called The Weekly Democrat. 61 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: That first job as an apprentice sounds like kind of 62 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: a wild mix. He lived with his boss, and he 63 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: had to take a cart all over the county to 64 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: collect subscription fees from the residents. He was apparently prone 65 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: to getting into long chats with people and telling them 66 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: stories rather than focusing on his actual job. The printing 67 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: office was on the second floor of a building that 68 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: had storerooms on the first floor, and some of his 69 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 1: coworkers had figured out how to run a hose down 70 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 1: to the room below to tap the rum barrels so 71 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: that they could sip from there the way you would 72 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: through a straw, just sipping on some rum from their 73 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,039 Speaker 1: second floor chairs. Although it does not seem to be 74 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: the doing of Brown, this rum straw set up caused 75 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: the other employees to get so out of hand that 76 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: John Ricks fired them all and shut the paper down 77 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: for an entire week. Charles next found a position in Norway, Maine, 78 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: which is near Waterford, working at the Norway Advertiser. That 79 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: paper had one thousand subscribers, which was considered quite substantial. 80 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: He also hoped to attend classes at the Norway Liberal 81 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: Institute to get more education. He did enroll there, but 82 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: he kind of did more extra curricular things than actual 83 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: school work. He got involved with the drama club and 84 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: the school paper. This time he did not live with 85 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: his boss, but it was pretty close. He rented a 86 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: room at the back of the printing office, but the 87 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: Norway Advertiser went out of business in eighteen fifty. At 88 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: that point, sixteen year old Charles got a job editing 89 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: the new Bedford Standard and he moved on shortly after 90 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: that to the Fall River News. From there, he tumbled 91 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,359 Speaker 1: through a series of jobs at various papers, many of 92 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: which ended when the various offices closed. At the age 93 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 1: of seventeen, he was once again looking for work, and 94 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: that's when, thanks to a recommendation from his old boss, 95 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: John Rix, he landed a position as a compositor at 96 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: a humor magazine called The Carpet Bag that was in Boston, Massachusetts. 97 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: For the next several years, he set type for the 98 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: magazine and in the process he got to read a 99 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: lot of humor writing. He started to think he should 100 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: try his hand at writing it himself, so he wrote 101 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 1: his own humor piece about a fourth of July holiday 102 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: in Waterford. He submitted that anonymously to the publisher by 103 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: mixing it in with the regular mail. The paper's owner, 104 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: Benjamin Shilliber, printed it. Charles was elated. He later wrote 105 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: that he quote thought I was the greatest man in Boston. 106 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: After that, he continued to submit writing to the paper, 107 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 1: initially using the pseudonym Lieutenant Chubb. That was meant to 108 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: be a joke at his own expense. Because he was 109 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: notoriously lanky, People apparently always commented on how very skinny 110 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: he was. One of the other writers for The Carpetbag, 111 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: John Trowbridge wrote of Brown's work during this time, quote, 112 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: his serious countenance veiled a spirit of original and audacious waggery. 113 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 1: One of the interesting things that started happening during this 114 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: time was that Brown was writing in a lot of 115 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: cases about places he had lived or worked before, and 116 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: in some instances that ended up connecting various writers to 117 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: other publishers and editors because they all started to kind 118 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: of get to know one another through Brown's writing. Coming up, 119 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: we'll talk about a job that led to a huge 120 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: change for Brown. But first we'll pause for a sponsor break. 121 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: After the carpetbag, Brown continued to work in journalism, and 122 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: he eventually had jobs at the Commercial, a paper in Toledo, Ohio, 123 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: and at the Plane Dealer of Cleveland, Ohio. It was 124 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: in Ohio that Brown began to develop the character that 125 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: he became publicly known as Artemis Ward. And this whole 126 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: thing started as a joke. Brown wrote a letter to 127 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: the paper as Ward, asking for some free advertising for 128 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: his traveling show. Later wrote of his time at the 129 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: plane dealer in a letter quote, I here commenced the 130 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: Artemis Ward papers. The selection of that nom de plume 131 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: was purely accidental. I wrote the first Ward sketch on 132 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: a purely local subject, not supposing I should ever write another. 133 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: Somehow the name Ward entered my head and I used it. So, listeners, 134 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: you are not going to have the wonder and delight 135 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: that is the creative spelling that is used in this letter. 136 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: But I will try to allude to it where I can. 137 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: So this first letter read, in part quote, sir, I'm 138 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: moving along slowly along down towards your place. I want 139 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: you should write me a letter saying how is the 140 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: show business in your place. My show at present consists 141 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: of three moral bears, A kangaroo, A moves in little 142 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: rascal like would make your life, your sale, your death. Lo, 143 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: I did that almost good? You did pretty good? Twould 144 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,319 Speaker 1: make you life yourself to death? To see the little 145 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: cuss jump up and squeal. Wax figures a General Washington, 146 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: General Tyler, John Bunyan, Captain Kidd, and Doctor Webster in 147 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: the act of killing Doctor Parkman, besides several miscellaneous moral 148 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: wax statutes of celebrated pirroots and murderers, and egaled by 149 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: few and excelled by none. If you say anything about 150 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: my show, say is my snake's as harmless as the 151 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: newborn babe? What an interesting study it is to see 152 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: a zoological animel like a snake under perfect subjection, My 153 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: kangaroo is the most laughable little cuss I ever saw. 154 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: All for fifteen cents. I feel like I should give 155 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: Tracy some sort of award for having to do that 156 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: to the backstory for this Artemis character was that he 157 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: was the manager of a touring side show, and his 158 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: stick was writing letters to papers, often to try to 159 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: advertise his traveling waxworks, and those snakes and kangaroos that 160 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: Tracy just mentioned. As evidenced in that sample that Tracy 161 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: just read, the character's literacy was a bit tenuous. The 162 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 1: writing was always full of very odd spellings and grammatical errors, 163 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: but Ward always touted that he was full of quote 164 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: Yankee common sense. That also meant that he was pretty racist, 165 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: and he was not too kind to women either. A 166 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: lot of his jokes over the years about black people 167 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: or women revolved around his experiences with them being too 168 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: stupid to understand his humor. In eighteen sixty, Brown got 169 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: a job at Vanity Fair as a staff writer and 170 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: moved to New York. To be clear, this is not 171 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: the same Vanity Fair that runs today. It was a 172 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: different paper. This is also when he chose to add 173 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: an e to the end of his last name. Not 174 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: long after he started at Vanity Fair, Brown found that 175 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: the Artemis Ward character had gotten so popular that he 176 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: decided to start giving lectures in character as this side 177 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: show Entrepreneur. This was an unusual move, and it's the 178 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: reason he's often touted as the originator of stand up comedy. 179 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 1: He certainly was not the first person to tell jokes 180 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: on stage. We have plenty of examples in the archive 181 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,719 Speaker 1: where we talk about people who were clowns or gestures 182 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: throughout history long before that. But he took the kinds 183 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 1: of jokes he had seen MC's do as a small 184 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: part of bigger shows, and he turned them into one 185 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: long act on the lecture circuit. He didn't set up 186 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: the scenario for what it was, which is an act. 187 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 1: He just took the stage and started speaking as though 188 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: he were any other lecturer, though his material often wandered 189 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: far afield from the topic that the title might suggest, 190 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: and did indeed connect with audiences as funny. His first lecture, 191 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: for example, was called Babes in the Woods. It had 192 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: nothing to do with any such topic. It had been 193 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,720 Speaker 1: called My Seven Grandmothers at one point in development, and 194 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: it did not have any relevance to that title either. 195 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: If an unsuspecting person happened to attend one of Artemis 196 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: Ward's lectures, they may not have realized that it was 197 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: a spoof. Brown never broke character, and his delivery was 198 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: completely deadpan. All handbills for the lecture that were distributed 199 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: to advertise his shows read Artemis Ward will speak a 200 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:32,520 Speaker 1: piece with no mention of Charles Brown. His work reads 201 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: today as sort of clunky if you're familiar with comedy writing, 202 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,319 Speaker 1: but at the time it was very unusual and pretty groundbreaking. 203 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: One of his bits in that early performance involved stopping abruptly, 204 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: kind of in the middle of the show and saying, quote, 205 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 1: owing to a slight indisposition, we will now have an 206 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: intermission of fifteen minutes. And he would then give the 207 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: audience a moment or two to kind of look at 208 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: each other and wonder at why there would be an 209 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: intermission in a lecture before he would then continue quote, 210 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: but ah, during the intermission, I will go on with 211 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: my lecture. Mark Twain would later write of the character, quote, 212 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: he represented an Artemis Ward, an obscure showman, having much 213 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: of a certain low cunning and shrewdness, a good hand 214 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: at a story, always ready to turn an honest or 215 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: dishonest penny, and whose mission was dollars. And of Brown's delivery, 216 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: he wrote quote, his success as a lecturer depended even 217 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: more on the manner than on the matter. His inimitable 218 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 1: way of pausing and hesitating, of gliding in a moment 219 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: from seriousness to humor without appearing to be conscious of 220 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: so doing cannot be reproduced, so that many of his 221 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:53,680 Speaker 1: best things read flat and tame. In consequence, Artemis Ward 222 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: became very popular and quite lucrative for Brown. He reportedly 223 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: got paid sie sixteen hundred dollars in gold for one 224 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: lecture in California, and one of the first things Brown 225 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: did when he found himself with a considerable amount of 226 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: money was to take care of his mother. The homestead 227 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 1: where the family had been living since before his father died, 228 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: had become encumbered with debts, and Brown paid off all 229 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: of the outstanding balances and gave the property entirely to 230 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: his mother. He also left his journalism work so that 231 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: he could tour full time, and he continued to write articles, 232 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: but these were one offs written as Artemis Ward, and 233 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 1: he got paid very well for them, often as much 234 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: as six hundred dollars each. Brown continued to grow his 235 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: Artemis Ward character by writing books under that name. The 236 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: first of them was Artemis Ward, his book, which was 237 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: published in eighteen sixty two. This is a collection of 238 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: anecdotes and short writings on various subjects like would be 239 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: sea Dogs, the Prince of Wales, and soliloquy of a 240 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: low thief. This book was wildly popular. It sold more 241 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: than forty thousand copies, which was huge at the time, 242 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: and of course it was reprinted many times after that. 243 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: Perhaps the most well known fan of words writing, especially 244 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: what appeared in Artemis ward his book, was President Abraham Lincoln. 245 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: Lincoln reportedly read the entry high Handed Outrage at Utica 246 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: in the meeting with his cabinet where he presented the 247 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: Emancipation Proclamation. That story is quite brief, and it involves 248 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: a visitor towards show walking up to a wax figure 249 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: display of the Last Supper and dragging the Judas figure 250 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:40,239 Speaker 1: out by the feet and then beating the figure. Artemis 251 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: asked the man what he was doing, and the brief 252 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: story concludes quote says he that's all very well for 253 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: you to say, But I tell you, old man, that 254 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: Judas is scaret can't show hisself in Udicki with impunity 255 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: by a darned sight, with which observation he caved in 256 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: Judas's head. The young man belonged to one of the 257 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: first famer and udiki I sued him, and the Jewry 258 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: brought a verdict of arson in the third degree. Imagine 259 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: lots of these things being spelled as they are pronounced 260 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 1: and not as they're actually spelled in English. Yeah, jewelry 261 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: is jo r y. That ensued is sood. This book 262 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: drummed up more business for his lectures that in turn 263 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: led to his fans wanting another book. In eighteen sixty five, 264 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: Artemis Ward authored a second book titled Artemis Ward His Travels. 265 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 1: It's very similar in composition to the first book and 266 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: was also very popular. In eighteen sixty five, Brown as 267 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: Artemis published Artemis Ward Among the Mormons. This is a 268 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: very irreverent characterization of the inhabitants of Utah, based on 269 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: a tour that Brown made through the Western US along 270 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: with his manager, Edward Hingston. This also kind of capitalizes 271 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: on the fascination a lot of people had at the time, 272 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: particularly on the East Coast, with Mormons, and kind of 273 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: this weird obsession with othering them. In an earlier piece 274 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: of writing, he had referred to Mormons as quote an 275 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: on principle the set of riches as ever drew breath 276 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 1: in any spot on the globe. Once again, all of 277 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: those spellings are very wacky, so it was obviously a 278 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: pretty biased account. Although apparently while Brown slash Ward was 279 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: in Utah. He became quite ill with typhoid, and the 280 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,239 Speaker 1: local Mormons took excellent care of him, which, according to 281 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,360 Speaker 1: his friends, caused him to soften his roasting of them. 282 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: In his second book, Ward had already written, for example, 283 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,639 Speaker 1: about an alleged visit to Brigham Young quote in a 284 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: private conversation with Brigham, I learned the follow in facts. 285 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: It takes him six weeks to kiss his wives. He 286 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: don't do it only once a year, and says it 287 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,199 Speaker 1: is worse nor clean in house. He don't pretend to 288 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,680 Speaker 1: know his children. There is so many of them, though 289 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,479 Speaker 1: they all know him. He says about every child he 290 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: meets to call him par and he takes it for granted. 291 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: It is so His wives air very expensive. They hollers 292 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,160 Speaker 1: want something, and if he don't buy it for him, 293 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: they set the house in an uproar. He says he 294 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: don't have a minute's piece. His wives fight among theirselves 295 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: so much that he has built a fighting room for 296 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: their special benefit, And when two of them get into 297 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: a row, he has them turned loose into that space 298 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,679 Speaker 1: where the dispute is settled according to the rules of 299 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: the London Prize Ring. Sometimes they abuse himself individually. Brown 300 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: had workshopped this material about Brigham Young and other Utah 301 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: residents on the stage long before the book came out, 302 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: and in eighteen sixty four he even took it to 303 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: audiences in a totally different format, and that is the Panorama. 304 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: Brown had arranged to stage his Panorama at Dodworth Hall 305 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: on Broadway in New York, which was a dancing school 306 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: at the time. Like any of his shows, it was 307 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: not just about the subject and the title. Although he 308 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 1: did actually talk about Mormons in this one, the advertising 309 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 1: he did for it was really really racist. He hired 310 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 1: a bunch of Irish guys from the city to dress 311 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: in Native American costumes and carry parasols up and down 312 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 1: the street that were painted as signage to get word 313 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: out about the show. The tickets that were printed took 314 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,880 Speaker 1: a stab at Brigham Young. The print on them specified 315 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 1: that the bearer could only bring one wife to the show. 316 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: The show itself involved far more in terms of production 317 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: value than the standard Ward lectures. The lecture segment was 318 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: a largely extremely unbelievable stories of Ward's adventures. On the 319 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: advice of P. T. Barnum, he hired two professional theater 320 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,920 Speaker 1: artists to paint the panorama, working from photos that Ward 321 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: had from his travels. The show really didn't do especially well, 322 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: but Ward toured it to Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, 323 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,480 Speaker 1: before returning to try again in New York. Then Ward 324 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: decided to ditch the original painting to have another one made, 325 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: in part because the original proved unwieldy for travel, and 326 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: also because he wanted to play up the fact that 327 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,719 Speaker 1: he was, in all this effort trying to satirize the 328 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: panoramas that had been so popular in the US Northeast 329 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: for years. They advertised the new painting as a work 330 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: by the old masters that was comical, not only because 331 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 1: it could not be true, but also because it turned 332 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:47,439 Speaker 1: the popular imagery for panoramas on its ear. Scenes that 333 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: were common, like vast landscapes, were made comical under Ward's direction, 334 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: with natural features painted way too large and juxtaposed with 335 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 1: small details like people getting bitten by dog. Some of 336 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: these images were also really racist, particularly representations of Native Americans, 337 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: who were shown at one point scalping Artemis Ward to 338 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 1: complete this whole satire. There was even a staged problem 339 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: where the painting didn't advance properly, and then Ward had 340 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: to go backstage to noisily correct the problem. Another figure 341 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 1: whose fame has greatly eclipsed Brown's in terms of longevity 342 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: is Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain. The two men met 343 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: when Brown was in Nevada on tour, and they immediately 344 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: struck up a friendship. Brown recommended Twain to contacts in 345 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: the publishing industry to get his story the celebrated Jumping 346 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: Frog of Calaveras County, published after Ward had urged him 347 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: to write it. Initially, it was allegedly supposed to be 348 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: included in one of Ward's books, but by the time 349 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: Twain finished it, it was a little too late to 350 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: integrate into it. So Brown reached out to the New 351 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,199 Speaker 1: York Saturday Press with the short story and it was 352 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 1: picked up for publication. The two men remained very, very close. 353 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 1: They were clearly the best of friends when you read 354 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 1: their letters, and Brown is often credited as being a 355 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: very significant influence on Twain's work. Brown's next book as 356 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: Artemis was Artemis Warden London that came out in eighteen 357 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:25,199 Speaker 1: sixty seven, and Brown was hugely successful in England. He 358 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,679 Speaker 1: augmented his stage show with a little more production he 359 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,920 Speaker 1: had his panorama. He worked with an orchestra on bits 360 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 1: of physical comedy of Artemis's stage shows. His frequent editor, 361 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: Edward p. Hingston wrote quote, with regard to Artemis, Ward's entertainment, 362 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: I have only to say, using a novel and poetic phrase, 363 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,479 Speaker 1: it must be seen to be believed. It is the 364 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: manner of the man, even more than his matter, which 365 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: attracts such large audiences. His singularly sparse form, his comic profile, 366 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:02,239 Speaker 1: the prominence of one partainicular feature of his face, the 367 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: way he has of saying good things as if perfectly 368 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: unconscious of what he is saying, and the habit of 369 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: punctuating his sentences by twiddling a little black cane are 370 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 1: all powerful aids to him as a lecturer and his 371 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,919 Speaker 1: esoteric developments. He is the most mirthful of men, and 372 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,120 Speaker 1: those who know him intimately as I do, know him 373 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: to be as gentle hearted as he is, genial, as 374 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 1: candid as he is, cordial, as true as he is talented. 375 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: That one prominent feature that Tracy just read about was, 376 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: in fact his nose, which everyone commented was very large. 377 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: In a moment, we will talk about the rather unhealthy 378 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 1: lifestyle that Brown engaged in while he was in England. 379 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: But first we will pause to hear from the sponsors 380 00:23:48,960 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: that keep the show going. Touring England, Brown really burned 381 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: the candle at both ends. He would perform his shows 382 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: in the evening and then stay up drinking with his 383 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,120 Speaker 1: English friends, many of them writers for the humor magazine Punch. 384 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: Ward also wrote humor pieces for Punch during this time, 385 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: which were lauded as some of the best things the 386 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: magazine had ever printed. But all of this constant work 387 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: and partying meant that he was soon physically just exhausted. 388 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: That exhaustion got bad enough that it was difficult to 389 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: get through his shows each night. But soon it became 390 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: apparent that he was not just exhausted, but also quite ill. 391 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,399 Speaker 1: About two months into his time in England, he was 392 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: diagnosed with tuberculosis after a doctor ordered stay on the 393 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:48,520 Speaker 1: island of Jersey, during which he became terribly, terribly lonely. 394 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,439 Speaker 1: He knew his days were kind of numbered, and so 395 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: he tried to get back to London to see his friends, 396 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: but when he got to Southampton, he was deemed too 397 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: sick to travel any farther and so his friends from 398 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 1: London went to visit him. At the very end of 399 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: his life. He asked for paper and a pencil, because 400 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: he had this idea that he was going to write 401 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: his autobiography, but all he managed was these few lines 402 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: before he had exhausted himself. Quote. Some twelve years ago, 403 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:21,120 Speaker 1: I occupied the position or the position occupied me a 404 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:25,360 Speaker 1: city editor of a journal in Cleveland, Ohio. This journal, 405 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: The Plaine Dealer, was issued afternoons, and I was kept 406 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: very busy, indeed, from eight o'clock in the morning till 407 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,959 Speaker 1: half past three in the afternoon, in collecting the police 408 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: reports and other items that might be of local interest. 409 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: Brown died on March sixth, eighteen sixty seven, in Southampton, England, 410 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: just a couple of weeks shy of his thirty third birthday. 411 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,879 Speaker 1: He was laid to rest in a vault at kensal 412 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,479 Speaker 1: Green Cemetery in London, in a ceremony that filled the 413 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: cemetery up to capacity as every performer and writer in 414 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: the city turned up to pay their respects. Just a 415 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: couple of weeks before he died, Brown had made his will, 416 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,360 Speaker 1: and he had some interesting requests and provisions in it. 417 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: First that his impressive collection of books, which he had 418 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: inherited from an uncle, should go to the boy or 419 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: girl of Waterford, Maine, Quote who passed the best school 420 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: examination between the first day of January and that of April. 421 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: Following his decease, he also made provisions for his young 422 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: personal attendant to work as a printer's apprentice for two 423 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 1: years and then to go to a private school. He 424 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: provided all of the tuition for that school. He left 425 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: the rest of his money to support his mother, and 426 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: the residuals of his books were earmarked to found Quote, 427 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: an asylum for worn out printers in the United States. 428 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: The will also specified that he wanted to be buried 429 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 1: in Waterford, so two months after his death, Charles Brown's 430 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: body was removed from its London vault and shipped back 431 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: to Maine, where it was interred at Elmvale Cemetery in 432 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: the family plot with his father and sisters. Incidentally, his 433 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: cousin's daughter, Florence Brown, was the student who won the 434 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: library of books. In accordance with the rules of his will. 435 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: In November of eighteen seventy one, Mark Twain toured a 436 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,199 Speaker 1: lecture about Artemis Ward and Charles Brown, in which he 437 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,359 Speaker 1: called him Quote. One of the great humorists of our age. 438 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: Twain described Brown this way Quote. His personal appearance was 439 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: not like that of most main men. He looked like 440 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: a glove stretcher. His hair red and brushed well forward 441 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:40,119 Speaker 1: at the sides, reminded one of a divided flame. His 442 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 1: nose rambled on aggressively before him with all the strength 443 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: and determination of a cow catcher, while his red mustache, 444 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 1: to follow out the simile, seemed not unlike the unfortunate cow. 445 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 1: He was of Puritan descent, and prided himself not a 446 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,199 Speaker 1: little on being derived from that stern old stock of 447 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 1: people who had left their country home for the sake 448 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: of having freedom on a foreign shore, to enjoy their 449 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,640 Speaker 1: own religion, and at the same time to prevent other 450 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:12,399 Speaker 1: folks from enjoying theirs. One of the things Twain addressed 451 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: in the lecture was the fact that there were a 452 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: few pieces of wit in the Artemis word repertoire that 453 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: were later revealed to have been said or written by 454 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 1: other men. First, Twain details two such instances, and then 455 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: notes quote. But in spite of this, Ward must not 456 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: be regarded as a plagiarist. It is possible for a 457 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: man to write what he thinks is a creation, but 458 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,399 Speaker 1: which is in fact only a memory. And it is 459 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: also possible for two minds at different times to happen 460 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,239 Speaker 1: upon the same idea. Holmes bears witness to this in 461 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. I myself have written 462 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 1: what I thought was my own, have imagined that I 463 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: have created something clever and really good, and found out 464 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: afterwards that the whole thing had been filched from me 465 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: years and years before by Josephus. In eighteen ninety one, 466 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: Charles Brown was revived, or at least his name sure was. 467 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: He was suddenly all over the papers. And that's because 468 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: that year a man named jay A. Brown retained the 469 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: law firm of Tennike and Remington with the intent of 470 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: proving that Charles Brown had been his father and had 471 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:26,040 Speaker 1: deserted him, his mother and nine brothers in eighteen fifty 472 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: five to start a new life. Charles Brown officially had 473 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: never been married. J A. Brown and his family challenged 474 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: just about everything that anyone believed about Charles Brown, including 475 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: the year of his birth. The alleged widow Brown swore 476 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: an Affi David, that she was married to Charles Brown 477 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: on June seventh, eighteen thirty five. You remember his birthday 478 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:52,959 Speaker 1: at the top of the show. That would have been 479 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: just one year after the birth date that Brown claimed, 480 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 1: and that is in the records in Maine, and she 481 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: and her son actually had a lot of sworn affidavits 482 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: from people in Lexington, Kentucky that Charles Brown aka Artemus 483 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 1: Ward had raised a family there before vanishing. There was 484 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: plenty of paperwork evidence to knock down this claim, but 485 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:19,000 Speaker 1: even if there hadn't been, this probably would not have 486 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: amounted to much. Charles Brown's fortune when he died was 487 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: just not as expansive as a lot of people believed. 488 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: He had paid for his mother's house and her living expenses, 489 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: which were not extravagant, and the money that he'd given 490 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: to pay for his assistants education had been used in 491 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: that way. There really just wasn't much else. The family 492 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,720 Speaker 1: claiming to be Brown's abandoned next of ken eventually seemed 493 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,480 Speaker 1: to have just dropped the matter. Stories about them in 494 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: newspapers seemed to have just kind of slowed to a 495 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: stop not long after that initial reporting. Yeah, there is 496 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: a whole other thing about, like people claiming that he 497 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,240 Speaker 1: had some very expensive pieces of jewelry, and someone saying 498 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 1: that they had seen a large sum of money of 499 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 1: his when he was in London, but none of that 500 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: seemed to be true, or if it was, those things 501 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: had vanished. In nineteen forty eight, a larger than life 502 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: bust of Charles Brown was sculpted by artist Frank Jaruche 503 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: and was put on display at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens 504 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:21,080 Speaker 1: in Cleveland, Ohio, where it remains next to a bust 505 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: of his friend Mark Twain. There is also an elementary 506 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: school named after Artemis Ward in Cleveland, which I kind 507 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: of like because it's named for an imaginary person that 508 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:43,480 Speaker 1: is Artemis Ward slash Charles Brown. Yeah, do you have 509 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: listener mail? Also? You know that I do. This listener 510 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: mail is from our listener, Amanda, and it is a 511 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 1: subject that we may have many males being read about 512 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:59,240 Speaker 1: because lots of answers to it. It is titled non 513 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: goofy or in. I knew the topic as soon as 514 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: you said we'd gotten many emails. Yes, we got so many, 515 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 1: and I love it. Amanda writes, Hello, Holly and Tracy, 516 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: I just finished listening to Ghost of the British Isles. 517 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: Part one, and you asked about non goofy orange kitties, 518 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 1: and I am writing to tell you they do exist. 519 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,480 Speaker 1: They are a bit of an anomaly though. I worked 520 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: in veterinary medicine and as a pet sitter for years 521 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 1: and always favored the orange kitties because they were all 522 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: so weird and sweet. For many years, my husband and 523 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: I were down to just one cat, which was unusual 524 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: for us, but I kept telling myself some sweet orange 525 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: kitty in need will pass my way soon, and I 526 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: waited for the kitty distribution system to do its job. 527 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: The one sweet cat we had was in her twenties 528 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,239 Speaker 1: and we knew our time was limited with her. And 529 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: suddenly an orange cat showed up in our yarn. This 530 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: kitty kept coming around and eventually trusted us enough to 531 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: follow us around and get affection. I went door to 532 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,960 Speaker 1: door and posted flyers in person and online in hope 533 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: of finding the kitty's family. After several weeks, this cat 534 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: was still hanging around, but was getting awfully chubby for 535 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:10,719 Speaker 1: a stray cat. Eventually I lured the kitty into our 536 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: garage and was able to see that it, sure enough, 537 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: was a rare female orange kitty who was looking very pregnant. 538 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: Not wanting her to have her kittens outside, we took 539 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: her in and after a trip to the vets for 540 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 1: a checkup and a microchip scan, we decided to foster her. 541 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:28,400 Speaker 1: She had her kittens with us, and we helped her 542 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: raise them and found them all loving homes. She had 543 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: three orange boys and one Calico girl. We, of course, 544 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: were foster failures and kept both Mama kitty, who we 545 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: named Mango, and one of her sons, who we called Shrimp. 546 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 1: He was the runt and half the size of the rest. 547 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: Mango has been the most normal orange cat I have 548 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: ever met. She is smart and sweet and playful, but 549 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,240 Speaker 1: not the weird goofy that all three of her sons 550 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 1: turned out to be. They are all the typical strange, clumsy, 551 00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: silly oranges you'd expect, but their mother is far more gray, 552 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 1: full composed, and cat like. I don't know if that 553 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 1: was because she spent time as astray or just her 554 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 1: natural personality, or perhaps this is a female orange cat thing. 555 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: I have only known a few in my life, but 556 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:13,839 Speaker 1: I do feel like the girls have never been as 557 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 1: weird and goofy as the Orange boys. Anyway, I just 558 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: wanted to share my normal and goofy orange kitties that 559 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,840 Speaker 1: we love so much. The one with more white is 560 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: Mango and we think is about six years old, and 561 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,920 Speaker 1: the other orange is her son, Shrimp, who is five. 562 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: I also included a video of Shrimp being the goofy 563 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 1: orange boy. He is being afraid of a dryer ball. 564 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: Thanks for all you do. Your podcast is one of 565 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,800 Speaker 1: my favorites and you are both just delightful. Sincerely, Amanda. Okay, 566 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,880 Speaker 1: these cats listen. I'm real weepy about kitties lately, and 567 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,759 Speaker 1: I want an orange cat. So no distribution system, do 568 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: your work. Not quite yet. We're not ready for another cat, 569 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: but you know, put me on the wait list. These 570 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,439 Speaker 1: are so cute, and Mango is absolutely beautiful. In her son, 571 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,920 Speaker 1: it does look a little like he might be a goofus, 572 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,840 Speaker 1: which I love. I love a goofy cat, So thank you. 573 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: Lots of you have smart orange cats, some of you 574 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,319 Speaker 1: have goofy orange cats. I love all the orange cats. Yeah, 575 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 1: the emails come in. You can write to us and 576 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: share your goofy or non goofy orange cat or any 577 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: other animal or anything else. You don't have to pay 578 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 1: a pet tax at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 579 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:27,319 Speaker 1: You can also subscribe to the show if you haven't 580 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:29,319 Speaker 1: done that before, you can do that on the iHeartRadio 581 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:37,720 Speaker 1: app or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff 582 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:40,480 Speaker 1: you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 583 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:45,439 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 584 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:49,479 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.