Paul Dresser

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Born Johann Paul Dreiser, Jr. (born April 22, 1857 – January 30, 1906) was an American singer, songwriter, and comedic actor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Dresser appeared in traveling minstrel and medicine-wagon shows as well as as a vaudeville entertainer.

Dresser made his money by selling his music through sheet music stores, particularly the ones in New York City's Tin Pan Alley, and became a partner in the music publishing industry. The dresser grew up in a large family (including his brother, novelist Theodore Dreiser) and lived in Sullivan and Terre Haute, Indiana.

He had a turbulent childhood and spent many weeks in prison.

At the age of 16, the dresser left home to perform in numerous regional theaters before joining John Hamlin's Wizard Oil traveling medicine wagon show in 1878.

When working for Hamlin, the dresser wrote his first songs.

While dressing as a traveling performer and guitarist, the dresser remained in Evansville, Indiana, for many years.

He later became a nationally known performer and toured with a number of shows, including The Two Johns, A Tin Soldier, and The Danger Signal, among others.

Dresser wrote songs for these shows, performed his songs to other performers, and released his album.

In 1893, the dresser appeared on "Howley, Haviland and Company," a New York City sheet music publisher, as a mysterious partner.

He later became a regular contributor to several music publishing companies.

Dresser spent time in New York City as a wealthy entertainer, highly-selling guitarist, and sheet music publisher.

He was also known for his generosity, particularly to families and friends, as well as lavish spending.

When his music fell out of style at the turn of the century, Dresser's financial hardships were put into financial hardship.

In 1905, his music publishing company declared bankruptcy, and Dresser's health suffered.

A year later, he died penniless in New York City. Despite the fact that Dresser had no formal instruction in music composition, he wrote ballads with a large following, many of which were among the most popular of his time.

Dresser wrote and released more than 150 songs during a career spanning nearly two decades, from 1886 to 1906.

"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" (1897), his second best-selling song in terms of sheet music, during the nineteenth century.

Many newspapers compared Dresser to well-known music composer Stephen Foster following their success with "Wabash."

In 1913, the title song of Indiana, "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away," became the official state song of the state.

The Paul Dresser Birthplace in Terre Haute has been designated as a state shrine and memorial.

In 1970, the dresser was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Early life

Johann Paul Dreiser Jr. was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, the fourth son of Johann Paul and Sarah Mary Schanab Dreiser, who was born on April 22, 1858. By the age of twenty, he had changed his surname to Dresser. His father, a German immigrant from Mayen, became a weaver and dyer who eventually became the head of a woolen mill in Indiana. The dresser's mother, a native of Dayton, Ohio, was a Mennonite who was disowned after her elopement and marriage. He became the eldest of the family's ten living children after Dresser's three older brothers died in infancy. Because of his "chubbiness," one of Dresser's relatives dubbed him "Pudley." Theodore Dreiser, the dresser's younger brother, will be a well-known writer.

The family immigrated from Sullivan, Indiana, where the Dresser's father became the foreman of the newly opened Sullivan Woolen Mills in July 1863. Despite the fact that his father worked in other woolen mills in Ohio and Indiana, he was not a good businessman or manager of a mill. During Dresser's youth, the family suffered with bouts of poverty and misfortune. After a fire stricken the Sullivan mill, the dresser's father suffered a work-related head injury in 1865, he lost his job for a year. In 1867, his father and two sons purchased and operated a new mill, but the company lost its roof as a result of the storm and the men sold it for a loss. Dresser may have seen his first minstrel groups and medicine-wagon performances as a young boy in Sullivan. Many carnivals, festivals, circuses, and fairs were frequented by bands that performed many of the era's hit and patriotic songs. By 1871, the Dresser's family had returned to Terre Haute, where his father worked in another woolen mill.

According to his son Theodore, about 1870, Dresser's father, a devout Catholic and known for his "religious zealotry," sent his eldest son to St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana to study for the priesthood. Dresser was befriended by Father Joseph Alerding, a local priest who was a St. Meinrad scholar, while living with his family. Dresser may have taught Dresser to play brass musical instruments, which may have influenced the decision to send Dresser to seminary school. The Benedictine seminary was too rigid and confining, and the dresser was forced to leave right away. Later on, the dresser would explain that she had gotten into trouble with the priests for teaching the younger boys "tricks of various sorts."

Although his family had migrated to Terre Haute, the dresser returned to Sullivan after he left St. Meinrad. During the summer of 1871 to the summer of 1872, he stayed with family friends while working on local farms. The fourteen-year-old Dresser went back to Terre Haute and worked a number of odd jobs to help his family. Dresser continued his education at the St. Bonaventure Lyceum academy in Terre Haute, learning piano lessons from a local music instructor, his first formal musical education. During this time, the dresser's father's friendship quickly deteriorated, and the adolescent may have had run-ins with the local police. Whatever the reason, Dresser returned to Sullivan to work on a friend's farm far away from the city.

Dresser and his father rekindled their feud after returning to Terre Haute in 1874. The dresser also returned to his old habits of dealing with delinquents and drinking. Dresser, a sixteen-year-old girl, began serving as a teacher and performer at a Catholic church in Brazil, Indiana, but he resigned after less than a year. Charley Kelly, a wandering minstrel, asked Dresser to join his act as a piano player just shy of turning 25. The two spent time in southern Indiana, traveling where they could earn a meager paycheck. Kelly vanished with their money after a few months, leaving Dresser with no funds to pay their lodging or food bills. As punishment, the dresser spent two days in jail. Following his release, Dresser went to Indianapolis in search of work and was reunited with his mentor, Father Alerding, who had recently moved to the city. Although Dresser was only a boy, Alerding gave him a job as a tutor at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Dresser returned to his family in Terre Haute in 1876, after he had been teaching for a year. Almost immediately, he restored his old way of life and spent the majority of his money on alcohol at a local bar. Dresser turned to violence when his money was low, robbery two saloons of whiskey and cash after they had closed for the night. The dresser was jailed for ten weeks before his trial, was found guilty, fined, and sentenced to another month of jail time. Dresser, who was not yet twenty years old at the time, returned to his parents' house in disgrace in June 1876.

Later life

As the nineteenth century came to an end, popular music in America changed to less sentimental styles, ragtime (more syncopated African-American styles than minstrel songs and cakewalks), union and labour songs, and songs that were derived from the more recent immigrant groups. At the same time, a new group of writers and composers emerged to rule Tin Pan Alley, and record sales soon outweighed sheet music sales. Despite these changes, the dresser continued to write in his own style, known as "mother-and-home" songs to younger generations. "The Blue and the Gray" was one of his last hit songs recorded in 1900. Although Dresser's songs were adored by Richard Jose and others, his music was losing out of style. His music's revenues have drastically decreased.

Dresser, although not a good businessman, became an acting partner in his publishing company, which was renamed "Haviland, Howley, and Dresser" in 1900. Dresser's name was hoped to boost sales, but the venture was not a success. Haviland remained a member of the Haviland family until 1903. The dresser continued to write songs, but none of them would have the financial success that the company needed to survive. The "Howley and Dresser" partnership declared bankruptcy in 1905. Dresser founded the "Paul Dresser Company" with funds borrowed from his brother, Ed, but this venture fell as well.

According to one biographer, the dresser's generosity "had few limits" in December 1900. Even though the two were not close, the dresser wrote a poem in honor of his father. In addition, the dresser gave "tramps, hangers-on, and those who were simply down on their luck" with "traps, hangers-on." He also helped his siblings, including his brother Theodore. To assist his clients, the dresser began giving out money to their families. Despite his declining fortune, the dresser continued to invest generously. He gave away a significant amount of money to his acquaintance and family, spent substantial sums in the city's brothels and saloons, and by 1903, he was almost impoverished. Dresser was unable to maintain his lifestyle in New York City because he was unable to care for himself. In addition, the dresser's obesity made it impossible for him to attract women, leaving him depressed and alone.

When the dresser wrote to his sister that he was ill, he began to deteriorate rapidly at the end of 1905, but gave no information. Dresser was forced to leave the hotel where he was staying and move to his sister's and brother-in-law's house in New York City after his funds were finally paid. At 6:23 p.m., the dresser died of a brain hemorrhage at their house on January 30, 1906. He also suffered from alcoholism, overweight, and depression. On February 2, a funeral was held in New York City, but because Dresser died penniless, his remains were held at Calvary Cemetery on Long Island until his funeral bill was paid. Dresser's remains were relocated to St. Boniface Cemetery in Chicago on March 19, 1907, where a funeral and final burial took place on November 19, 1907. Dresser's grave remained unmarked until 1922, when the Indiana Society of Chicago had a boulder from the banks of the Wabash River brought to Chicago to mark his burial site.

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Musical career

Dresser, a traveling minstrel band from Marshall, Illinois, earned a job as an organist and singer with the Lemon Brothers in 1876. The dresser stayed with the company for more than a year, performing as both an actor and singer, until they disbanded near the end of 1877. Dresser continued to Chicago, where John Austin Hamlin recruited him to perform and appear in his traveling shows for the patent medicine.> The dresser wrote his first songs while working for Hamlin. They were marketed as the Paul Dresser Songster (a sheet music collection) and then sold to audiences after his appearances.

Dresser's life from 1878 to 1880 is not known. Around 1878, the dresser may have worked with Barlow, Wilson, Primrose, and West, a well-known traveling minstrel company that was one of the country's most popular tourist minstrel group at the time. Dresser went to New York City about 1879 after being touring with minstrel shows. He hoped to find jobs in Augustin Daly's theatre, according to an 1898 interview. Dresser had returned to Indiana and worked at the Apollo Theatre in Evansville by 1881. He appeared at the Apollo occasionally, but he usually provided music for the plays.

Dresser honed his skills as a guitarist in Evansville and became a nationally recognized talent. He also wrote a "humor-and-advice" column for a local newspaper, the Evansville Argus. He was "a local favorite" who toured the country performing in 1886 by the time he left Evansville in 1886. In March 1881, Dresser went to Chicago, where he headlined his own show. During a benefit concert for Daniel Decatur Emmett (the producer of "Dixie") at the Chicago Academy of Music, he also appeared as one of the featured performers. The dresser's performance was a hit, and he was able to perform in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City, as well as a number of smaller cities, including Indianapolis, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh.

Dresser returned to Evansville, where he had purchased a house. In 1882, he visited his family, whom he hadn't seen in more than three years. Dresser discovered they were in a difficult financial situation by correspondence. His father and the family's older children were living in Terre Haute, while his mother and the younger children were employed on a farm in Sullivan. Dresser, a man known for his kindness, paid for his three younger siblings and arranged for them to move to his Evansville home and took care of their needs.

Because Dresser kept no diary, the bulk of what is known about his personal life came from his brother, Theodore. Dresser began a long-term association with Annie Brace, the owner of Evansville's most popular brothel, while living in Evansville. Sallie Walker's professional name was Sallie Walker, and she may have been the subject of one of Dresser's most famous songs, "My Gal Sal." Annie Brace and Sallie Walker may have both been aliases for Minnie Holland, according to historians, although this has not been confirmed. The couple's marriage lasted for several years, but never married. They were losing out 1889 due to Dresser's regular affairs with other women, including prostitutes.

Dresser spent time in the early 1880s working with a group of vaintainers, including James Goodwin, John Leach, and Emma Lamouse. Their shows in Chicago attracted large audiences, owing in large part to the theater's owner's continued low admission rates. Since being employed with Hamlin in 1883, Dresser's first songs were released as sheet music. Arthur P. Schmidt's "Essie, Over the Sea," "See That No One Plucks the Flowers from My Grave" and "My Mother Taught Me How to Pray" were reportedly published in 1886, according to one of Dresser's biographers.

There are no records of the time from late 1883 to 1886's summer. Dresser was described as having an undisclosed illness in 1884. He stayed in the "south" for two years, far away from his family and work. Dresser may have had an affair, possibly fathered a child or contracted syphilis, according to his brother Theodore. The Curse's song, written in 1887, may have referred to this period in his life. Its lyrics refer to a deceased child and a lover turned enemy. Whatever the situation, Dresser did not return to his family or resume performing in public until 1886, when John Stewart Crossy invited him to perform and sing music in his comedy, The Two Johns. The dresser decided to return to the show circuit and began to travel.

During his career, the dresser started to compose music. He released nearly fifty songs between 1886 and 1893, including "The Letter That Never Came," (1886), "I Believe It for My Mother Told Me So" (1887), and "The Pardon that Came Too Late" (1891). Dresser may have chosen songwriting rather than performing in these early successes, which may have inspired him to focus on performing rather than performing. In addition,, he may have discovered that releasing music will bring even more financial success than writing or performing.

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