{"id":2203,"date":"2017-09-26T21:57:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T21:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=2203"},"modified":"2017-09-27T10:01:13","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T10:01:13","slug":"nelson-kneass-pioneer-pop-star-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=2203","title":{"rendered":"Pioneer American Pop Star: Nelson Kneass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tenth in A Series<\/em><\/p>\n

By Matt Chaney, for ChaneysBlog.com<\/p>\n

Posted Tuesday, September 26, 2017<\/p>\n

Copyright\u00a0\u00a92017 for historical arrangement by Matthew L. Chaney<\/p>\n

With the 19th<\/sup> century concluding in America, as the first musical notes of jazz and \u201cragtime\u201d rose along the Mississippi River, a pioneer pop artist was remembered again for his great old song.<\/p>\n

Nelson Kneass was famous before the Civil War, playing his hit Ben Bolt<\/em> on piano<\/a> and banjo<\/a>, when the sheet music sold thousands in America and abroad. The legend revived during the 1890s, long after Kneass died in rural Missouri. A popular novel and stage drama featured Ben Bolt<\/em>, the \u201cplaintive melody\u201d sung by comely heroine Trilby O\u2019Ferrall\u2014under hypnosis of the evil Svengali, no less\u2014and suddenly fans worshipped a dead pop star in Kneass.<\/p>\n

Kneass was a Pennsylvania native who sang Ben Bolt<\/em> as early as May 1847, according to advertisements of the Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, although initially he might’ve used music of other composers. Various musicians were adapting the song from a poem, in forgettable versions, until Kneass arranged his smash hit. \u201cKneass was not only an excellent singer but also a very capable pianist, a versatile banjoist, and a talented composer [presenting] first-class entertainment,\u201d observed historian Ernest C. Krohn.<\/p>\n

Vocalist Joseph H. McCann said Kneass produced his golden take of\u00a0Ben Bolt<\/em> during a riverboat trip they shared from Memphis around 1847, steaming up the Mississippi then eastward on the Ohio. Kneass finished his composition on a landing at Grahamton, Ky., and summoned McCann, according to Will S. Hays of The Louisville Courier-Journal<\/em>. \u201cIf we are not mistaken, Mr. McCann was the first person who ever sang [Ben Bolt<\/em> by Kneass]\u2026 He did so from the manuscript,\u201d reported Hays, a noted lyricist and columnist. McCann toured with the famed Kneass Operatic Troupe and other companies, but ceased in the early 1850s to open a music store in Louisville, among his successful business ventures.<\/p>\n

Kneass continued in entertainment but his name faded in the war period. Struggling financially, Kneass complained of receiving paltry royalties for Ben Bolt<\/em>, a tune beloved in America like Home Sweet Home<\/em> and the classic Oh Susanna<\/em>\u2014which Kneass had introduced, incidentally, on stage.\u00a0A wife died in a riverboat accident while his drinking and declining health caused problems. One story had Kneass arriving at his own funeral, after missing for days, to stun family members and friends gathered round a corpse they\u2019d mistaken for him, fished from a river.<\/p>\n

The performer felt illness creeping by September 1869, stomach malaise, while a Kneass troupe toured northern Missouri. His condition worsened on a train ride and he succumbed that night, Sept. 8, at a boarding house in a railroad town named Chillicothe. Nelson Kneass died virtually penniless at about age 46, leaving a young wife and children. His widow could afford $6 for the burial but no gravestone, and the family relied on charity for money to travel\u00a0home in the East. Surviving troupe players made do from Missouri, largely on their own.<\/p>\n

Publicity, praise revived for the showman in his wake. \u201cNelson Kneass\u2026 is dead,\u201d announced a theater critic, unidentified, in The Memphis Appeal<\/em>. \u201cHe was one of those men that worked hard, lived poor and died miserably. He was a genius.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a fine musician and composed much\u2026,\u201d saluted a newspaper commentary, widely printed. \u201cBen Bolt<\/em> was sung in the lordly mansions and in the lowly cottages all over the land. There was a sadness and sweetness that touched all hearts alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the author and originator of very many popular songs,\u201d said Sam S. Sanford, American stage legend, in remembering Kneass. \u201cHe and Stephen Foster are the two bards of the minstrels\u2026 Kneass belonged to Philadelphia, and as a boy was dressed in petticoats [impersonating girls] on the stage. He was with the Wood\u2019s [minstrels] at Park Theatre in New York, when English opera was first produced. He died poor and unattended by friends\u2026 The publishers of Ben Bolt<\/em> made $50,000 from that one song alone, and its author often needed bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually a modest granite marker was placed on the Kneass grave in Missouri, and the site stood undisturbed a few decades. Then came the \u201cTrilby\u201d sensation, 1890s, the sexy storyline made fashionable through a magazine serial, a best-selling book, and a stage production.<\/p>\n

Neo-fandom for Kneass was vogue and visitors to the Chillicothe cemetery cracked into his tombstone, carrying away pieces. \u201cKneass\u2019s grave was marked until within the last year or so, when curiosity and relic hunters have chipped souvenirs from the slab,\u201d reported The St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> in 1899, adding that \u201cscarcely enough of it remains to show that a headstone had ever been there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Select References<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Monument To Be Built at Chillicothe, Mo., in Honor of Nelson Kneass, Composer of \u201cBen Bolt.\u201d (1899, May 21). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 34.<\/p>\n

Amusements. (1869, Sept. 19). Memphis Daily Appeal<\/em> TN, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Andrews\u2019 Eagle Ice Cream Saloon [advertisement]. (1847, Aug. 12). Pittsburgh Daily Post<\/em> PA, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Ben Bolt. (1869, Oct. 1). Fort Wayne Daily Gazette<\/em> IN, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Ben Bolt. (1894, Oct. 21). Washington Post<\/em> DC, p. 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cBen Bolt\u201d Author in Missouri Grave. (1913, March 9). St. Louis Star and Times<\/em> MO, p. 24.<\/p>\n

Chillicothe Cullings. (1883, Dec. 11). St. Joseph Gazette-Herald<\/em> MO, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Chillicothe\u2019s 1897 Yesterdays. (1928, June 8). Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune<\/em> MO, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Death of The Author of \u201cBen Bolt.\u201d (1869, Sept. 25). Clarksville Chronicle<\/em> TN, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Free Concerts Every Evening This Week At The Eagle Saloon [advertisement]. (1847, May 27). Pittsburgh Daily Post<\/em> PA, p. 2.<\/p>\n

From Thursday\u2019s Daily, Sept. 16. (1869, Sept. 18). Weekly Atchison Champion<\/em> KS, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Grise, G.C. (1947, August). Will S. Hays: His Life and Works<\/em> [master\u2019s thesis]. Department of English, Western Kentucky State Teachers College: Bowling Green KY.<\/p>\n

Hays, W.S. (1883, May 26). The Late Joseph McCann. Memphis Public Ledger<\/em> TN, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Krohn, E.C. (1971). Nelson Kneass: Minstrel Singer and Composer. Anuario Interamericano de Investigacion Musical<\/em>, 7, pp. 17-41. University of Texas Press: Austin.<\/p>\n

Missouri Points. (1897, Feb. 18). Kansas City Journal<\/em> MO, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Most Melancholy Accident\u2014Death of Mrs. Kneass, Late Mrs. Sharpe. (1848, Feb. 26). Poughkeepsie Journal<\/em> NY, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Naming Theatre \u201cBen Bolt\u201d Revives Famous Old Song. (1949, Aug. 16). Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune<\/em> MO, p. 11.<\/p>\n

Nelson Kneass\u2019 Double. (1896, April 12). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em>, p. 34.<\/p>\n

Personal. (1868, July 4). Nashville Tennessean<\/em>, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Songs We Used To Sing. (1890, Sept. 20). Sterling Daily Gazette<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

The Kneass Opera Troupe [advertisement]. (1847, Oct. 16). Cincinnati Enquirer<\/em>, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Matt Chaney is a writer and consultant in Missouri, USA. For more information visit\u00a0<\/em>www.fourwallspublishing.com.\u00a0Email:\u00a0<\/em>mattchaney@fourwallspublishing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tenth in A Series By Matt Chaney, for ChaneysBlog.com Posted Tuesday, September 26, 2017 Copyright\u00a0\u00a92017 for historical arrangement by Matthew L. Chaney With the 19th century concluding in America, as the first musical notes of jazz and \u201cragtime\u201d rose along the Mississippi River, a pioneer pop artist was remembered again for his great old song. … Continue reading Pioneer American Pop Star: Nelson Kneass<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[283,374],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ywFp-zx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2203"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2233,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203\/revisions\/2233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}