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Friends and Acquaintances 29 |
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drop in, one evening in 1847, at the boarding house of Archibald Irwin, Jr., and hand him a copy of "What Must a Fairy's Dream Be?", just off the press of Peters & Field. Archibald could observe the compliment to his young kinswoman on a title-page grand in ornate script and flourishes: "Ballad, Written & Composed for and respectfully Dedicated to Miss Mary H. Irwin by Stephen C. Foster."
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Who were the friends and acquaintances of Stephen Foster in Cincinnati? He wrote few letters and he kept no diary. Nevertheless, from contemporary sources freshly investigated, there emerges out of the past a considerable company of those whom Stephen certainly knew, others whom he probably knew, and still others whom he manifestly knew about. They form a typical portrait gallery of the time and place.4
Down this aisle are clean-shaven gentlemen of the 'forties wearing buff or blue waistcoats and white cravats or shirt-frills: such names as Michael P. Cassilly, merchant and real estate owner; William B. Cassilly, his son and successor; James C. Hall,* produce merchant and president of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; Robert Buchanan,* commission merchant and active member of Christ Church; General William Haines Lytle, lead-
* James C. Hall and Robert Buchanan were friends of Stephen's father whom he gave as business references. |
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