Harry Hapgood was born in Elizabethtown, N. Y., February 26, 1825; he died at Amityville, Long Island, N. Y., July 10, 1910.
Master Juba (William H. Lane) was a colored man, and as a jig dancer it is said that the world never saw his equal.
He played the tambourine with the Georgia Champions Minstrels in 1843, and several engagements with Charley White’s Minstrels in New York.
He went to Europe about 1848, and in the Spring of the following year played an engagement with Pell’s Serenaders at the Surrey Theatre in London. He was lionized in Europe, and took the Britishers by storm. He married a white woman there.
“Master” Juba died in London, England, about 1852; he was born in the United States about 1825.
Gilbert W. Pell was a brother of Dick Pelham, one of the original minstrels of 1843.
As a member of the Ethiopian Serenaders, he went to England in 1846. The success of the company was so great in London that morning performances had to be given, and in addition they appeared at private residences of the rich. Mr. Pell, who played the bone end, and the company, whose portraits adorn another page, played an engagement at Palmo’s Opera House, New York, September 15, 1845.
In 1849 he was in England with his brother’s company, known as Pell’s Serenaders. Subsequently he returned to the United States, but early in 1859 he again went to Europe, where he remained until his death.
Gilbert W. Pell was born in New York City; he died in Lancashire, England, December 21, 1872, aged 47 years.
Jno. H. Carle, famous for the singing of “The Lively Old Flea,” accompanied by the banjo, was one of the early prominent proprietors of a minstrel show. In the 50’s he was associated with J. G. H. Shorey and Chas. Duprez; on July 4, 1856, he withdrew from the partnership, and for many years played minstrel and variety engagements.