HENRY RUSSELL.
Born 1813.
Age 25.
From a Painting.
 From a Daguerrotype. |
 From a Photo. by Barraud. |
OR years enough to satisfy any man's ambition, Mr. Henry Russell's songs were in everybody's mouth, and it is to be doubted whether any composer of songs for the people ever enjoyed a greater popularity. When we were children our parents used to sing "Woodman, spare that Tree," "The Ivy Green," "Cheer, Boys, Cheer," "Man the Lifeboat," "There's a good time coming," and other songs of his. He had the happy talent, in addition to his great gifts, of hitting the public taste, and of producing songs which "caught on" the moment they were heard; and all the country sang "Buffalo Girls," "Coal Black Rose," and "Get out of the way, Ole Dan Tucker." Henry Russell was born December 24, 1813, and was singing contralto at Drury Lane Theatre when Elliston was impresario. He sang before George IV., and he relates how the King took him on his knee and kissed him. In 1825 he went to Bologna to study, and there he gained a gold medal for an original operetta. At twenty he went to America, and there commenced his wonderfully successful career as a descriptive singer. In England he drew crowded audiences everywhere, and one of his entertainments, entitled "The Far West," contributed greatly to the flow of emigration to the United States and our colonies. Mr. Russell is seventy-eight years of age, and looks twenty years younger. He is the father of Mr. Clark Russell, the well-known novelist.
