Andy Alexis wrote: > > I am getting in on this rather late, but one of my historical > interests in California is music, and specifically, the 5 string > banjo. One reprint of an 1858 banjo manual recently reprinted > mentions that the author, Thomas F Briggs, died in San Francisco > shortly after arriving with the Christy Minstrel troupe(the OLD > christy minstels). I looked up the following obituary in the Oct. > 25, 1854 Alta California in the CA Room of the state library: > > "On Monday evening, the 23d inst., of typhoid fever, Mr. Thomas F > Briggs of New York City, well known as a performer of extraordinary > merit in Ethiopian representations, aside from his worth as a man and > a gentleman. His sudden demise will be deeply regretted by his > numerous friends thoughout the States. He was a member of Christy's > Minstrels and arrived in San Francisco recently on the Golden Age." > > So that is the Golden Age link...Thanks for the info on the Golden > Age. > > There was a lengthy tribute to Briggs in a later issue of a > different newspaper(name I can not remember) that is quite hilarious; > it describes his death and his final words after he tries to play > the banjo: "Alas, I can not play the old Cremona anymore..." > > The interesting thing to me is that this minstrel troupe, by all > accounts a widely respected one, found it worth their while to > undergo a 3 month sea voyage to perform in San Francisco. My guess > is that there were two reasons: > 1) declining audiences for this type of entertainment or > 2) they could charge enough at inflated CA prices that it was worth > their while. > > Andy Alexis, THE WEB SITE: http://www.calweb.com/~ndlxs > [email protected] > Sacramento, CA. > "The Pearl of the Central Valley" > > ==== CA-GOLDRUSH Mailing List ==== > Automatic Administrative Reminder: > Your Support Keeps RootsWeb Free! > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html