Kate Partington, actress and banjoist.

[Carl Anderton]

Don't believe I've ever seen this image before-

 

http://www.picturehistory.com/product/id/23424

 

Here she is described as a "Champion Jig dancer"-

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=55WPupUXKPEC&lpg=PA19&ots=...

 

Note also the mention of "young Dan Williams, advertised as the "greatest banjoist in the world."  Have we ever heard of Dan Williams, greatest banjoist in the world?

 

The more one knows, the more one doesn't know, it seems!

[Ian Bell]

Thanks for posting that Carl.

The passage from the book also mentions "Cool Burgess" whose name I've seen on playbills for mid-century minstrel shows in Toronto.

I forget what his specialty was — banjo or bones I think. Somewhere I've got a notebook, where I copied the information off a lot of posters in the collection at the Toronto reference library (25 years ago!) I always remembered Cool Burgess just cuz his name was so damn "cool"!

I'll see if I can find that info.

[Ian Bell]

More on Cool Burgess - Darned if he wasn't in the Canadian Biographical Dictionary —http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6595&&a...

 

[Ian Bell]

Cool Burgess loses his cool (and his gal) From the NY Times - see photo upload. I couldn't figure out how to attach it here.

[Carl Anderton]

That was a danged interesting article.  The second paragraph contained a fact that I did not know.  In 1840,

 

"the black community of Toronto first petitioned against the caricatured depiction of blacks on stage and in circuses."

 

In 1840, before minstrelsy had really taken off!  Sometimes I get so enthusiastic about minstrel banjo music and it's history that I lose sight of the central fact that minstrelsy is a degrading, hurtful style of performance.

 

Thanks for sharing, Ian. 

 

Ian Bell said:

More on Cool Burgess - Darned if he wasn't in the Canadian Biographical Dictionary —http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6595&&a...

 

[Ian Bell]

 I hadn't thought about how early that was for this sort of thing. And this is Toronto they're talking about. Makes me want to look for more about that.

[Ian Bell]

Found the Petition!  City of Toronto Archives website. See uploaded photos.

 

[Carl Anderton]

Awesome.  It's a little hard to read, so here it is in plain text--

 

Oct. 14 1841

 

To

 

His Worship the Mayor of Toronto

 

The petition of the undersigned, people of colour, residing in the city of Toronto:

Humbly (submit?);

 

That your petitioners are informed that a company of "circus actors" from the United States (now traveling in this province) are shortly to visit this city for the purpose of performing.

 

That your petitioners find the general and almost invariable practice of such actors in their performances, have good reason to apprehend annoyances and insults, in the manner they endeavor to make the coloured man ridiculous and contemptible in the eyes of their audience.

 

Your petitioners would humbly pray that your worship would be pleased to prevent the occurrence of such annoyances and insults, as your petitioners believe that such attempted exhibitions of the African character are not at all relished or approved by the sensible and well thinking inhabitants of this community

 

and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray,

 

(signatures) 

[Carl Anderton]

I couldn't read the word following "Humbly," actually it's "sheweth;"  Humbly Sheweth = to show something to someone, without being arrogant about it.

[Don Meade]

Kate was one of the leading lady jig dancers of her day - a group that included Kitty O'Neil, Kitty Sharpe, Naomi Porter, Kate Stanton and Julia Morgan. She lived longer than most and toured as Topsy in Uncle Tom companies through the 1890s. She died in a railroad accident while still on tour. Picture History is no more - the collection was transferred to the Beinecke collection at Yale. I'm not sure if the images will be available for download/sale as they were on the old site.