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It was not until the winter of 1866-67 that St. Paul could boast of a genuine opera house. The old opera house fronting on Wabasha street, on the ground that is now occupied by the Grand block, was finished that winter and opened with a grand entertainment given by local talent. The boxes and a number of seats in the parquet were sold at auction, the highest bidder being a man by the name of Philbrick, who paid $72 for a seat in the parquet. This man Philbrick was a visitor in St. Paul, and had a retinue of seven or eight people with him. It was whispered around that he was some kind of a royal personage, and when he paid $72 for a seat at the opening of the opera house people were sure that he was at least a duke. He disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared. It was learned afterward that this mysterious person was Coal Oil Johnny out on a lark. The first regular company to occupy this theater was the Macfarland Dramatic company, with Emily Melville as the chief attraction. This little theater could seat about 1,000 people, and its seating capacity was taxed many a time long before the Grand opera house in the rear was constructed. Wendell Philips, Henry Ward Beecher, Theodore Tilton, Frederick Douglass and many others have addressed large audiences from the stage of this old opera house. An amusing incident occurred while Frederick Douglass was in St. Paul. Nearly every seat in the house had been sold long before the lecture was to commence, and when Mr. Douglass commenced speaking there was standing room only. A couple of enthusiastic Republicans found standing room in one of the small upper boxes, and directly in front of them was a well-known Democratic politician by the name of W.H. Shelley. Mr. Shelley had at one time been quite prominent in local Republican circles, but when Andrew Johnson made his famous swing around the circle Shelley got an idea that the proper thing to do was to swing around with him. Consequently the Republicans who stood up behind Mr. Shelley thought they would have a little amusement at his expense. Every time Mr. Douglass made a point worthy of applause these ungenerous Republicans would make a great demonstration, and as the audience could not see them and could only see the huge outline of Mr. Shelley they concluded that he was thoroughly enjoying the lecture and had probably come back to the Republican fold. Mr. Shelley stood it until the lecture was about half over, when he left the opera house in disgust. Mr. Shelley was a candidate for the position of collector of customs of the port of St. Paul and his name had been sent to the senate by President Johnson, but as that body was largely Republican his nomination lacked confirmation.
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About the time of the great Heenan and Sayers prize fight in England a number of local sports arranged to have a mock engagement at the Athenaeum. There was no kneitoscopic method of reproducing a fight at that time, but it was planned to imitate the great fight as closely as possible. James J. Hill was to imitate Sayers and Theodore Borup the Benecia boy. They were provided with seconds, surgeons and all the attendants necessary for properly staging the melee. It was prearranged that Theodore, in the sixth or seventh round, was to knock Hill out, but as the battle progressed, Theodore made a false pass and Hill could not desist from taking advantage of it, and the prearranged plan was reversed by Hill knocking Theodore out. And Hill has kept right on taking advantage of the false movements of his adversaries, and is now knocking them out with more adroitness than he did forty years ago.
PRINTERS AND EDITORS OF TERRITORIAL DAYS.
CAPT.E.Y. SHELLEY THE PIONEER PRINTER OF MINNESOTA—A LARGE NUMBER OF PRINTERS IN THE CIVIL WAR—FEW OF. THE OLD TIMERS LEFT.
TERRITORIAL PRINTERS.
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E.Y. Shelly,
George W. Moore,
John C. Devereux,
Martin Williams,
H.O. Bassford,
Geo. W. Benedict,
Louis E. Fisher,
Geo. W. Armstrong,
J.J. Noah,
M.J. Clum,
Samuel J. Albright,
David Brock,
D.S. Merret,
Richard Bradley,
A.C. Crowell,
Sol Teverbaugh,
Edwin Clark,
Harry Bingham,
William Wilford,
Ole Kelson,
C.R. Conway,
Isaac H. Conway,
David Ramaley,
M.R. Prendergast,
Edward Richards,
Francis P. McNamee,
E.S. Lightbourn,
William Creek,
Alex Creek,
Marshall Robinson,
Jacob T. McCoy,
A.J. Underwood,
J.B. Chaney,
James M. Culver,
Frank H. Pratt,
A.S. Diamond,
Frank Daggett,
R.V. Hesselgrave,
A.D. Martin,
W.G. Jebb,
R.F. Slaughter,
Thos. Slaughter,
William A. Hill,
H.P. Coates,
A.J. Sterrett,
Richard McLagan,
Ed. McLagan,
Robert Bryan,
Jas. Wright,
O.G. Miller,
J.B.H. Mitchell,
Chas. R. Stuart,
Wm. F. Russell,
D.L. Paine,
Benj. Drake,
J.C. Terry,
Thomas Jebb,
Francis P. Troxill,
J.Q.A. Ward,
A.J. Morgan,
M.V.B. Young,
H.L. Vance,
A.M. Carver,
W.H. Wheeler,
J.M. Dugan,
Luke Mulrean,
H.H. Young,
W.G. Allen,
Barrett Smith,
Thos. C. Schenck.
Of the above long list of territorial printers the following are the
only known survivors: H.O. Bassford, George W. Benedict, David Brock,
John C. Devereux, Barrett Smith, J.B.H. Mitchell, David Ramaley, M.R.
Prendergast, Jacob T. McCoy, A.S. Diamond, R.V. Hesselgrave, H.P.
Coates, J.R. Chaney, M.J. Clum.