The Hanford-Hart
Stage Dynasty

Charles “Edwin” Hanford — Restored and colorized portrait, c. 1890s

From a Brooklyn Butter Factory to the Footlights

Charles “Edwin” Hanford was born on April 27, 1865, in New York City, the son of Charles Edward Hanford (1830–1883) and Mary Elizabeth Banker (1839–1918). His father hailed from Norwalk, Connecticut — a family with deep colonial roots stretching back to the 1600s.

The family’s early addresses trace a path through working-class New York: Ward 8 of lower Manhattan in 1870, 15 King Street in SoHo by 1871, and by the 1880 census, 731 Greene Avenue in Brooklyn. There, at age fifteen, young Edwin worked as a clerk at a butter factory. His father died in 1883, when the aspiring performer was eighteen. Within two years, he would launch a theatrical career that would last four decades.

The Barry & Fay Company & “Dynamite!”

Edwin’s entry into professional theater came through the world of Irish-American comedy-drama. In 1885, he was associated with the Barry & Fay Company — Billy Barry and Hugh Fay’s popular touring troupe, famous for “Muldoon’s Picnic.” It was here that he first met the young soubrette who would become his wife and lifelong performing partner: Bella Hart.

“Dynamite!” — St. Paul Daily Globe, May 19, 1885. One of the earliest known advertisements featuring the Barry & Fay Company, where both Edwin Hanford and Bella Hart got their start.

“Partners in Crime” & “Trixie”

That same year, Hanford copyrighted his first original work: “Partners in Crime” (1885), a play he both wrote and performed in through 1886–1887. A review in the New York Herald praised him as “a versatile comedian who does careful and conscientious work.”

“Partners in Crime” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov 22, 1886

“Trixie, the Romp Heiress” with Jessie Bonstelle — Livingston County Daily Press, Jan 5, 1888. Edwin plays “Bob Linwood, an Artiste.”

In “Trixie,” Hanford performed alongside Jessie Bonstelle — who would later become one of the most famous theater directors in American history, founding Detroit’s Bonstelle Theatre. The cast list shows Edwin as “Bob Linwood, an Artiste” — a role that seems to have suited him perfectly.

“The Shamrock” — The Greatest Irish Play on the Road

In 1888, Hanford copyrighted his signature creation: “The Shamrock,” an Irish comedy-drama that would become his most enduring touring vehicle for over a decade. Advertisements described it as featuring “Sparkling Comedy and Touching Pathos… New Songs and Dances… No Evictions, No Landlords, No Red Coats… Thrilling Race Scene.”

“The Shamrock” at Davis’ Theatre — Edwin Hanford described as “the sweetest singer and representative Irish comedian,” supported by Miss Bella Hart. “The greatest Irish play on the road.” Admission 10, 20 or 30 Cents.

Edwin Hanford at the New Park Theater in “The Shamrock” — Indianapolis Journal, September 16, 1888. Note the portrait showing his confident stage presence.

Performing with John L. Sullivan

In March 1892, Hanford and his wife Belle joined the cast of “Honest Hearts and Willing Hands” at The People’s Theatre, performing alongside none other than John L. Sullivan — the legendary bare-knuckle boxing heavyweight champion of the world. Sullivan, who had retired from the ring, was touring in theatrical productions. Edwin played Teddy Hinton of Layrock, while Belle played Nora Daly, Mrs. Daly’s niece.

A restored theatrical poster for “Honest Hearts and Willing Hands” featuring John L. Sullivan, Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The actual playbill from The People’s Theatre, March 13, 1892. Edwin Hanford and Miss Belle Hanford are both listed in the cast alongside John L. Sullivan.

The Henderson Extravaganza: “Aladdin Jr.”

Around 1900, Hanford performed in “Aladdin Jr.” with David Henderson’s American Extravaganza Company at the Chicago Opera House — a lavish musical spectacle that was a precursor to the modern American musical. Henderson had built the first fireproof, steel-constructed, electrically lit theater in America.

“Aladdin Jr. — A Tale of a Wonderful Lamp” — Original 1894 Strobridge lithograph for the Chicago Opera House. Mr. David Henderson, Sole Manager.

His Honor the Barber & the Smart Set Company

The most historically significant chapter of Edwin’s career was his authorship of “His Honor the Barber” for the Smart Set Company, one of the most important African American theatrical troupes of the early twentieth century, led by S.H. Dudley. The IBDB credits the book to “Edwin Hanaford” — Wikipedia’s article on Dudley explicitly identifies him as “a white playwright.”

The Smart Set Company — “His Honor, the Barber” at the Globe Theatre, Chicago, featuring S.H. Dudley and the “Peerless Comedienne” Aida Overton Walker with 50 Associate Players.

The production gained enormous prestige when Aida Overton Walker — known as “The Queen of the Cakewalk” — joined the cast. The show reached Broadway’s Majestic Theatre for a run from May 8–20, 1911. Its most enduring legacy was the song “That’s Why They Call Me Shine,” composed by Ford Dabney with lyrics by Cecil Mack — an early protest song that has been recorded over 646 times.

“Honor the Barber” review from The Broad Ax, December 3, 1910 — documenting the Smart Set Company’s tour.

The Columbia Burlesque Wheel Years

From roughly 1910 through the mid-1920s, Hanford shifted to the burlesque circuit, writing scripts and performing in shows that traveled the Columbia Amusement Company’s “wheel” — a circuit of 35+ theaters in major eastern cities. He wrote for Rose Sydell, Sam Howe, Harry Hastings, Aurelia Coccia, and other major Columbia producers.

“The Kissing Maid” at the Gayety Theatre, Buffalo — written by Edwin Hanford for Sam Howe’s company.

“St. Elmo” by Edwin Hanford at the Broad Street Theater — boasting “30 Weeks in New York; 24 Weeks in Chicago; 18 Weeks in Philadelphia; 16 Weeks in Boston.”

Copyrighted Works

Edwin’s copyright registrations in the Library of Congress document a staggering creative output:

The Prasada Years & Decline

The 1910 census places the Hanford family at 9 West 64th Street, “The Prasada” — one of the most exclusive luxury apartment buildings on Central Park West. Built in 1907, this Beaux-Arts landmark featured marble lobbies, stained-glass skylights, and apartments of eight to twelve rooms with monthly rents of $190–$300. At their peak, Edwin and Bella were living alongside oil millionaires and society figures, with Central Park at their doorstep. Their theatrical careers were generating real wealth.

But by 1920, the family had moved to more modest quarters at 337 West 116th Street in Morningside Heights. By 1925, Edwin was listed as a mere lodger in New York. He died on May 7, 1926, at age sixty-one, of empyema at St. Luke’s Hospital — just three blocks from his last known address. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. No Find A Grave memorial exists for him.

Bella Hart (Isabel “Belle” Farver) — Restored portrait. Note the photo number “1044-B” suggesting a professional studio session.

Orphaned in Ohio

Belle’s mother Clarissa died around 1875 when the girl was approximately seven. Her brother Charles H. Farver died of a morphine overdose in Columbus at eighteen in 1876. Her sister Effie was paralyzed. The 1880 census shows twelve-year-old Isabel living with her paralyzed sister and brother-in-law in Blendon Township.

“Uncle John K. Farver” — Bella’s father. Original cabinet card photograph, March 1, 1894, by L.N. Baker studio, Columbus, Ohio. Age 67. Inscribed “Mamas Bro” (Mama’s Brother).

“Arrested With the Shoes On”

In 1891, Bella Hart made the newspapers for all the wrong reasons. The arrest notice reveals fascinating biographical details: she told the magistrate she was “about 21,” that she’d married a brakeman on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad about two years earlier, that he’d deserted her, and that she’d worked in Atlantic City before coming to Philadelphia looking for a position. The bail was $100 (not $1,000 as some sources state).

“Arrested With the Shoes On” — The Times (Philadelphia), September 1891. “Bella Hart, a good-looking young woman about 21 years of age…”

This arrest notice reveals a previously unknown marriage — Bella apparently married a B&O Railroad brakeman around 1889 who then deserted her. Whether this was before or concurrent with her marriage to Edwin Hanford (also May 1889) remains a tantalizing mystery.

“An Artist of Vast Experience”

A review of “The Kerry Fair” described Bella as playing Molly Shannon — “both pretty, chic and fetching. She is an artist of vast experience, and in a line of Irish parts, she sets Mr. Hanford a lively pace for the honors.” In 1920, the Pittsburgh Press featured her photograph under the headline “Notable Stars Began in Burlesque Field,” quoting her: “The advent of polished burlesque comedy in the legitimate theater is the natural trend… the higher-priced house has for years looked upon the burlesque field as the natural training school for the development of its talent.”

Performing with the Future Cowardly Lion

Bella’s final known stage appearance was in “Roseland Girls” (1920) on the Columbia Burlesque Wheel. Her co-star in this show was a rising young comedian named Bert Lahr — born Irving Lahrheim in 1895 — who would become immortal nineteen years later as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Lahr was the lead comic; Bella, at approximately fifty-two, was a veteran performer. Lahr would later describe his burlesque years as the foundation of everything he became. He and Bella shared a stage during his formative period.

The Long Twilight

After Edwin’s death in 1926, Belle lived in Torrington, Connecticut (1931–1932). She died on January 23, 1940, in Islip, New York — almost certainly at Central Islip State Hospital, one of the largest psychiatric institutions in America. She has no known obituary, no Find A Grave memorial, and no identified burial location.

Fyrn Watkins — Restored and colorized portrait, c. 1920s. She wears a paisley silk dress with a burgundy velvet turban and matching drawstring purse — the height of flapper elegance.

A Voice Preserved in a Victor Logbook

The 1920 census listed twenty-two-year-old Fyrn as a “Stage Actress” at 203 West 119th Street in Harlem. On September 23, 1920, she walked into a Victor Talking Machine Company studio and performed a female vocal solo with piano. The session is documented in the UCSB Discography as Matrix Trial 1920-09-23-01 — a trial recording, essentially an audition. The titles were listed as “Unknown.” No commercial release resulted.

Fyrn Watkins and Jack Charles Hanford — Restored and colorized photograph, c. 1920s. She gazes up at Jack in his double-breasted overcoat and fedora. Pure jazz-age elegance.

Marriage, Motherhood & Tuberculosis

In 1923, Fyrn married Jack Charles Hanford in Manhattan. They had two children: Fyrn Jacqueline (1925) and Jack (1928). In 1928, Fyrn was diagnosed with tuberculosis. By 1931, she was in Torrington, Connecticut, seeking fresh mountain air. She returned to Manhattan and died at 860 Riverside Drive on February 23, 1932, age thirty-three, leaving behind a seven-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son.

Growing Up at The Prasada

Jack was the surviving son of Edwin and Bella — born in Boston during his parents’ touring years, the younger brother of two infant boys who died in infancy. He grew up in a theatrical household, but his childhood address reveals that Edwin’s career was generating serious wealth. The 1910 census places the family at 9 West 64th Street, “The Prasada” — one of the most prestigious luxury apartment buildings in all of New York City. The Prasada, at 50 Central Park West, was a landmarked Beaux-Arts cooperative built in 1907 with marble-clad lobbies, stained-glass skylights, and apartments of eight to twelve rooms. Monthly rents were $190 to $300 — equivalent to roughly $6,000–$9,500 today. The Hanfords’ sixteen-year-old son grew up with Central Park literally outside his window.

A Socialist on the Upper West Side

Jack’s voter registration records reveal a fascinating political evolution. In October 1915, at age twenty-one, he registered as a Socialist at 374 West 116th Street — placing him firmly in the progressive intellectual milieu of Morningside Heights, near Columbia University. By 1939, however, he had switched his registration to Republican. The arc from youthful socialism to middle-aged conservatism mirrors a common American political journey of the era.

Marriage, Career & War

On August 18, 1916, Jack married Margaret Sherwood Wader (1888–1977) at St. Paul’s Chapel in Manhattan (Certificate #18978). By June 1917, he was working at the Harry Porter Advertising Agency at 18 East 41st Street and living at 106 West 86th Street on the Upper West Side. He registered for the World War I draft that same month.

By January 1920, Jack was living in New Haven, Connecticut at 249 Park Street — possibly connected to work or further education. His first marriage to Margaret ended in divorce, and in 1923, he married Fyrn Watkins in Manhattan. Jack’s career evolved from advertising to journalism: his Mayview admission card lists his occupation as “newspaper work.”

After Fyrn: A Slow Decline

Fyrn’s death in February 1932 left Jack a widowed father of two — Fyrn Jacqueline was seven, Jack Jr. was four. He returned to Torrington, Connecticut briefly (1932), then back to Manhattan. His mother Bella died at Central Islip State Hospital in January 1940. That April, the census found Jack at 433 West 162nd Street in Washington Heights. By April 1942, he had relocated to Pittsburgh at 5529 Fifth Avenue, and by September 1946, he was at 320 South Euclid Avenue.

Mayview State Hospital

On September 26, 1946, Jack was admitted to Mayview State Hospital in Mayview, Pennsylvania — a large state psychiatric facility near Bridgeville in Allegheny County. His admission card (Case No. 22466) records his address as 320 South Euclid Avenue, Pittsburgh, and lists his parents as “Edwin Hanford” and “Bella Hart Hanford” — confirming the stage name connection on an official medical document.

His diagnosis was “Psychosis with cerebral arteriosclerosis (hypertension; hypertensive heart disease).” He died there on November 6, 1950, at 7:01 AM, after four years of institutionalization. The Mayview Register of Discharges and Deaths records his disposition as “S.A.B. University of Pittsburgh” — meaning his body was sent to the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Anatomy Board. No family member claimed his remains.

Jack Hanford’s Mayview State Hospital First Admission Card (Case No. 22466). Note: Father listed as “Edwin Hanford,” Mother as “Bella Hart Hanford,” Occupation “Newspaper work,” Marital Condition “Wid.” (Widowed). His son Jack Jr. lived at 630 North Aiken Avenue, Pittsburgh.

The family line continued: Jack and Fyrn’s daughter Fyrn Jacqueline Hanford married Morgan Donato Jr., and their children included Sherry Donato — the mother of John Schalcosky, the genealogy researcher whose painstaking work made this report possible.

Some of the most vivid details of the Hanford-Hart family story come not from newspapers or official records, but from stories told by Fyrn Jacqueline Hanford (1925–2011) to her grandson John Schalcosky. These oral histories place the family in the orbit of some of the most famous entertainers in American history.

The Hanford Social Universe

The family’s connections to famous entertainers were not mere celebrity brushes — they were the natural result of decades spent in the tightly-knit world of American popular theater. Consider the geographic proximity alone: the Marx Brothers lived at 13 East 118th Street around 1900, Milton Berle was born at 68 West 118th Street in 1908, and Fyrn Watkins lived at 203 West 119th Street in 1920. All three families inhabited the same Harlem corridor during overlapping periods. Meanwhile, Edwin and Bella were performing on the same Columbia Burlesque Wheel that launched the careers of Bert Lahr, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, and W.C. Fields. Their son Jack lived at The Prasada, one of Central Park West’s most exclusive addresses. George M. Cohan worked the same vaudeville circuits. This wasn’t random — it was the ecosystem of American show business, and the Hanford-Hart family was woven into its fabric.

Songs Known to Have Been Performed by Edwin & Bella

From the “Honest Hearts and Willing Hands” playbill (March 1892), the following songs were performed during the show, with words and music by Duncan B. Harrison and sung by the Champion Quartette: “A Knight Rode Gaily,” “Flowers for my Colleen,” “The Anvil’s Clang,” “The Death of the Knight,” “The Lily and the Violet,” “Shamrocks and Kisses,” “Back to Thee,” and “Nora Daly.”

From “The Shamrock” advertisements: “New Songs and Dances” were featured nightly, with Edwin described as “the sweetest singer.” Specific song titles from the show remain unidentified in currently available sources.

According to family oral history (via Fyrn Jacqueline Hanford), Bella Hart was among the first performers to sing George M. Cohan’s “You’re a Grand Old Flag” (1906), possibly in a touring or vaudeville context.

Songs from Shows Edwin Wrote

From “His Honor the Barber” (book by Edwin Hanford, 1909–1911):

Additional songs from the show are cataloged at the Library of Congress under call number M1508 (“His honor the barber” collection). Edwin also published songs through Root & Sons Music Company in Chicago — specific titles remain to be identified through a physical search of their catalog at the Newberry Library.

Sheet Music & Recordings Available Today

The “Shine” Recording Legacy

The song “That’s Why They Call Me Shine” — born in Edwin Hanford’s show — has been recorded by an extraordinary roster of artists across more than a century. Notable recordings include:

Louis Armstrong (1931), Bing Crosby with the Mills Brothers (1932), Frankie Laine (1948), Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Django Reinhardt, and hundreds more. The song has over 646 documented recordings according to SecondHandSongs.com, making it one of the most covered jazz standards of the twentieth century. The ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code) is T-914.729.866-6.