Welch and Rice were two of the best exponents of neat songs and dances in minstrelsy.
About 1863 they attracted the attention of Jake Budd, who adopted them professionally, and named them Johnny and Willie Budd, the “Empire Boys.”
They had appeared before the public individually prior to the above event, each with Sanford’s Minstrels in Harrisburg, Pa.; Johnny Rice was with Charley Petrie before joining Welch.
With Jake Budd they played several seasons with Skiff and Gaylord’s Minstrels, and Buckley’s Serenaders.
They then left Budd, and opened with Simmons and Slocum’s Minstrels in Philadelphia, March 6, 1871, and continued intermittently with that company about six years.
They were with Haverly’s Minstrels in the Spring of 1878, and in the Fall of that year they were members of the original Mastodons, with whom they went to London in 1880, where they separated.
Mr. Welch embarked in the hotel business in England for awhile, but later returned to the United States, and assumed the management of Callender’s Minstrels for the proprietors, Charles and Gustave Frohman.
Mr. Welch’s last engagement was with Dockstader’s Minstrels in New York, April 29, 1887.
He was the author of several musical sketches, and was an intellectual performer.
Johnny Rice played variety and minstrel engagements after separating from Welch.