I developed a 20-30 minute talk about “Sources for Finding Addresses” (for Genealogy) including some links of where to find them. The presentation was given at the Scarborough Public Library Genealogy Group on 28 October 2019 and included the following:
You can download the presentation HERE.
For this week’s Treasure Chest Tuesday, I’m looking at three clippings from one page (0110) of the Donna Darling Collection.
The first two clippings relate to Donna’s playing at the Majestic Theatre.
The first is a simple ad.
MAJESTIC
The Talk of the Town
Frederick V. Bowers
Popular Musical Comedy
Star and Song Writer,
In His
The first is a simple ad.
With a Bevy of Pretty Girls
— — —
COMING THURSDAY
Another Musical ComedFavorite
DONNA DARLING & BOYS
Sadly, nothing in this ad indicates which of the many Majestic Theatres this was nor does it indicate when. Luckily, an accompanying clipping on the same page provides a likely location and date for the show.
Majestic Theatre,
Harrisburg Pennsylvania
Week of April 3, 1922
MAXINE & BOGGY
The Comedy Dog
STEIFF PIANOS used in this Theatre
Spencer—CASE & MAYNE—Edith
In
“I WOULDN’T DO THAT”
Beautiful Musical Comedy Favorite
MISS DONNA DARLING & CO.
Assisted by Murry Walker and Jack Finney
In a Song and Dance Cocktail
“AS YOU LIKE IT”
MORGAN & MORGAN
“Making you Laugh”
MELODY LAND
In
Abbreviated “VARIETIES”
A Cycle Of
Songs and Dances
With
White and Mills
Juliet Beaumont
Kathleen Harrington
Ethel Cook
Assisted by
Olga Sirlis……………….Pianist
Martha Conwell …… Saxophonist
Charlotte Maloney…Violinist
Verna Dorn …………… Drummer
Scenery by Robert Law Studio
Staged by Douglas Royce
Newspaper articles, found at Genealogy Bank, confirmed that Donna played at the Majestic in Harrisburg on April 6th, 7th, and 8th. Also, in the Harrisburg Patriot on April 4th was the same ad in the clippings.
The third clipping is part of a York Opera House show. No date is provided, but articles at Newspapers.Com confirmed that Donna played at the York Opera House in York, Pennsylvania, on April 3rd to 5th. The clipping shows many of the same acts seen in the Majestic clipping.
In place of Case & Mayne is:
Ralph Jim
KITNER AND REANEY
In “An Ocean Episode”
And in place of Morgan & Morgan was:
Lorraine Verna
HOWARD & SADLER
Presenting their Harmonious
Comedy Songalogue
“Wedding Belles”
Program items A and B are missing in both the clippings, it appears that all other filler films started the two showings. For example, at the York Opera House, instead of “Case & Mayne” and “Morgan and Morgan” was the last chapter of “Breaking Through” and “Aesop’s Fables.”
The “Life of Madonna Montran” was updated with the following:
April 3-5, 1922 – York, PA – York Opera House – Donna Darling & Boys – News May 2019. DDC-56.
April 6-8, 1922 – Harrisburg, PA – Majestic Theatre – Donna Darling & Boys (Murry Walker & Jack Finney) in “As You Like It.” – Genealogy Bank – DDC-56.
Edward Lamb was christened on 15 January 1832 in Warcop, Westmorland, England[i]. As such, I suppose he was born in late 1831. His parents were Edward and Ann Lamb. He was born in Warcop, Westmorland, England. It appears that he was the middle of three children. A sister, Isabella, was about two years older and another sister, Mary, about three years younger. All were born in Sanford/Warcop area[ii].
The death certificate for his daughter, Margaret, indicates that her father was born in Sanford, England.[iii] As there is no Sanford, England and a very small village, Sandford, is next to Warcop, England, so I’m sure that is what was intended.
Sandford is a very rural farm area today, and I’m quite certain it was the same then. His father, also named Edward, died when Edward, the child, was only eight years old.
Sir George Hayter’s coronation portrait of the Queen
While little Edward was growing up, slavery was abolished in the British Empire and Victoria ascended to the throne of England.
By the 1841 Census, nine-year-old Edward was living with his mother and his two sisters.[iv] Also, with the family was Dorothy Bradley; I’m not sure who Dorothy is or how she is related. They were enumerated in Soulby, Westmorland, England. (Westmorland is now Cambria, England). My suspicion is that she is directly related and Ann and the children moved in with her for a short while after Ann was widowed. I need to do more research on Dorothy.
The 1851 Census finds Edward living with his mother, Ann, and his sister, Isabell, in Soulby. Ann has a 13-acre Farm. Both Isabella and Edward are “employed at home.”[v]
Edward married Isabella Atkinson on 27 November 1853 in Warcop, Westmorland, England[vi]. They had five children.
Children of Edward and Isabella (Atkinson) Lamb[vii]
| Child | Birth | Marriage | Death |
| Jane Lamb | Abt. 1852 | – | – |
| Ann Lamb | Bef. 26 Mar 1859 | – | – |
| Margaret Mary Lamb | 28 Apr 1860 Appleby in Westmorland |
22 Aug 1878
Peter McAllister |
14 Jan 1929 Mount Oliver, PA |
| James Cooper Lamb | Bef 18 May 1862 | – | – |
| Edward Lamb (3rd) | Apr-May 1864 Kendal, Westmorland |
– | – |
The 1861 Census finds Edward working as a Victualer. A victualer is the keeper of a restaurant or tavern.[viii] With him are Isabella and Margaret. Dorothy Bradley, who Edward was living with during 1841, is visiting them.[ix]
The 1871 Census finds Edward again living with his mother and two sisters. Ann is listed as widowed and is the owner of the house and land they are on. Edward is listed as a laborer.[x]
Edward’s daughter Margaret moved to Maryport (50 miles westward on the coast) where she met and then married Peter McAllister. Margaret’s 1878 marriage registry entry indicates her father, Edward, was an Inn Keeper.[xi]
In 1881, the Census record indicates that Edward was back in Sandford and was the proprietor of a house and land and was an annuitant[xii]. He is listed as married, however, neither his wife nor his children were with him. Something to note is that in England, the Census records indicate where a person was on a particular date, not where they live. So, Edward’s wife and children could have been visiting someone on April 3rd, and the census records would have put them at that location.
The 1891 Census finds Edward living in Warcop again. There he is living “on his own means.” He is listed as married, but again, his wife does not appear with him.[xiii]
Edward died on 1 November 1893 in Sandford of Cirrhosis of Liver and Pulmonary Congestion. His sister, Mary Lamb, was present at his death.
Edward Lamb (1831-1893) spent his entire life in Westmorland, England. All of his known life events took place within five miles of each other – Sandford, Warcop, Soulby, and Kirkby Stephen.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IHUy2KEXd_5c9r4MkDhJ0eG5PlT_Cg0n&usp=sharing
In Part 4 of my ThruLinestm analysis of my 2nd great-grandfather, William Henry Brown, I’m looking closely at the matches descended from Edward Waberton Brown. Ed was born in Dakota Territory in 1884 shortly after his parents moved from Saline, Michigan to the Dakota Territory. North Dakota became a state five years later, in 1889. Edward married Dertha Merkel on 3 November 1901. The two had 13 (or 14) children. Five of those children have descendants that have tested with Ancestry. I was surprised to learn that all five were females. Three of the individuals are 2nd cousins once removed (105, 97, & 70 cM shared), one is a 3rd cousin (37 cM shared), and one is a 3rd cousin once removed (18 cM shared). All five share an amount of DNA with me that I would expect based upon the relationship.[i]
“CJ” has minimal tree on Ancestry. It does provide his/her parents names and his or her maternal grandmother’s name which links him to Edward Warberton Brown. There were no new facts regarding “CJ’s” ancestors nor sources for the facts held. As such, I was only able to add him to my list of cousins (with a note of the amount of DNA we share).
“JC” has a very minimal tree on Ancestry. It does provide his/her parents names and his maternal grandfather’s name. There were no sources for any of his/her facts. As such, I was only able to add him to my list of cousins.
“BP” has a nice tree that clearly connected to Virginia Marion Brown to Edward Waberton Brown, and to Henry William Brown. Thanks to the tree of “BP” I was able to identify three new cousins, including “BP.”
“GH” is a 3rd cousin, with whom I share 37 cM across 4 segments, is a double cousin. We share William Henry and Marion (Sanford) Brown; we also share Enoch and Minerva Ann (Tolliver) Mannin (my 2nd great-grandparents). These lines are not related to each other, but many of their descendants are related to both. “GH” was the only cousin I was able to add to my tree.
“AD” is a 3rd cousin, once removed, with whom I share 18 cM on one segment of DNA. I had much of this person’s tree already as I had researched some of this line previously. It is another case where two brothers (Harry and Floyd) married two sisters (Emma and Ruth Brown) and I had reviewed Floyd and Ruth previously. I was able to follow this line down to “AD” and add 12 new cousins to my tree, including “AD.”
If you are a descendant of Edward Warberton Brown (ca. 1884-1965) please consider testing with Ancestry DNA; it is an excellent genealogical resource and can help you broaden your tree too. I’d love to learn how we are related.
All of my ThruLines posts are listed under the ThruLines Thursday category. Continue reading
We know that April, 1920, was a grueling month for the “Chin Chin” cast. On April 22nd they played Frederick, MD. On the 23rd they traveled the 65 miles north to Carlisle, played there one night then on the 80 miles to Reading for another two shows – a matinee and an evening show.
The Reading Eagle – April 18, 1920, Page 16
The first advertising I found was in the Reading Eagle, starting on April 18th. There was a standard ad on page 16, along with a lengthy article about the show.[i]
RAJAH THEATRE
“CHIN CHIN”
Coming to the Rajah Theatre matinee and night, Saturday, April 24, Charles Dillinghan’s “Chin Chin,” the musical comedy which is one of those tales of love and wishing common to the Arabian Nights.
The Reading Eagle – April 18, 1920, Page 16
All impossibilities are crowded into it, jumbled together like the figures in a dream in the end it resolves itself into a vehicle for the display of the clever grotesqueries of the two clever “turn” artists, Walter Wills and Roy Binder. Mr Wills, whose body seems made of rubber, and whose facial expressions change as quickly as the wheel of fortune gives Chin Hop It Paderewsky, Mlle Falloffski, a gendarme and a ventriloquist, transformations accompanied by such curious tricks and poses such tumbling, dancing, imitating such a running fire of jokes and fun-making that the audience fairly screams with laughter. Mr. Binder gives in rapid succession Chin Hop Lo, the widow, a coolie, and the ringmaster, lightning changes of mood, manner and get-up that provide the audience to mirth. George Usher makes an aggregable and picturesque Aladdin.
The danseuse is Irene McKay, and astonishing acrobatic and step performer whose twinkling feet are full of speed and syncopation. Her number with Mr. Willis entitled “Dance Poetic,” is a remarkable performance ending with a surprise to the audience.
The favorite songs are “The Chinese Honeymoon,” “Good-bye Girls,” “I’m Through” “Volet,” “The Gray Dove,” and “Love Moon.” The most recalled dance and song numbers are the “Teddy Bear Dance,” (without words), “Go Gar Sing Gong-Jue,” “Temple Bells,” The Rag of Rags,” and “Bally Moony.”
The clever saxophone sextette by Tom Brown’s Clown Band is one of the most amusing and delightful bits of the play. The company is one of the largest organizations presenting a musical comedy on the road today. There girls and girls.
There were adds and articles daily in the Reading Eagle or the Reading Times from the 18th through the 23rd. I did not see any that called out Donna directly, but a couple mentioned “Love Moon” being sung, which was a song sung by the Goddess of the Lamp (Donna’s role).
It is likely that the “Chin Chin” cast had off on Sunday, April 26th. However, the show must go on and it played at the Hippodrome in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
The Rajah Theatre between 1917 and 1921
Photo courtesy “Go Reading Berks”
The Rajah Theatre was initially built in the 1800s as a market with a Masonic Temple on its upper floors. It was built on a potter’s field of a cemetery. Although the cemetery interred were supposed to be reinterred at another location, in the early 1800s there were still 30 uncovered during the building during 1873.[ii] It was converted to a theatre in 1886 and became the Academy of Music.
The 1913 Theatrical Guide indicates that the Academy of Music had a seating capacity of 1,341 – 795 on the Main Floor, 341 in the Balcony, and 206 in the Gallery. Besides the Academy, there were four other theaters in Reading at the time, the Orpheum, Hippodrome, Lyric, and Palace Theatres.
In 1917, The Academy of Music was purchased by the Rajah Shriners, renamed the Rajah Theatre, and became the vaudeville house that “Chin Chin” played at.
Rahah Theatre after the 1921 fire. Photo Courtesy of George M. Meiser IS via Reading Eagle [iii]
In May 1921[iv] the Rajah burned and underwent substantial rebuilding. The theatre reopened on September 10, 1922.
The theater had two more fires, both in 1935, but recovered quickly from them.[v]
In 2000, the building received a $7 million facelift and became the Sovereign Performing Arts Center (named for Sovereign Bank). Today, it is the Santander Performing Arts Center (for the Santander Bank) and is home for the Reading Symphony Orchestra, the Reading Civic Opera Society, and hosts a variety of events.[vi]
Specifications for the Academy of Music (Rajah Theatre)[vii]
Today, the Rajah Theatre is the Santander Performing Arts Center.
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