Tweet
I've run into Pete Williams twice in the last 22 hours and it has really piqued my interest in him and his establishment. The first sighting was in chapter 6 of Tyler Anabinder's excellent "Five Points, The 19th Century NYC Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum. I quote page 198-99--
"Of the many dance halls, one--Pete William's place--became by mid-century a virtual city landmark. A tourist believed that he "had not seen New York city unless he had visited Uncle Pete's," located at 67 Orange Street just south of Bayard. The establishment's fame dated back to 1842, when Charles Dickens featured the saloon--then called Almack's--in American Notes. ...described (Williams) as "a middle-aged, well-to-do, coal-black negro, who has made an immense amount of money from the profits of his dance-house--which, unfortunately, he regularly gambles away at the sweat-cloth of the roulette-table as fast as it comes in. He glories in being a bachelor...is a great admirer of the drama," and owned a team of fast horses that he loved to race. "
"Pete William's basement..."looked very clean and beautiful. It was a spacious room with a low ceiling, excessively white-washed, nicely sanded, and well-lit, and the black proprietor and his 'ministering spirits' (literally fufilling their vocation behind a very tidy bar) were well-dressed and well-mannered people." But it was the mixing of blacks and whites on the dance floor that shocked well-to-do visitors. "Several very handsome mulatto women were in the crowd...and a few 'young men about town,' mixed up with the blacks; and altogether it was a picture of 'amalgamation,' such as I have never before seen." "
"..."And now the orchestra strikes up 'Cooney in de Holler' and the company 'cavorts to places.' " As the dancing progressed and the musicians picked up the pace, the passion of the dancers became far too palpable. "The spirit of the dance is fully aroused," observed Reverend Pease. "On flies the fiddle-bow, faster and faster; on jingles the tambourine 'gainst head and heels, knee and elbow, and on smash the dancers. The excitement becomes general. Every foot, leg, arm, head, lip, body, are all in motion..." "
A picture on page 198 from the Feb. 18, 1860 New York Times Illustrated News shows a dance at Pete Williams's with a banjo player and a fiddle player providing the music. It is attached below.
The second sighting comes from Frank Converse's Old Cremona Songster, pub. 1863, page 13, "Comic Quartette," entitled "Pete Williams."
"Old Pete Williams is dead and gone,
We ne-er shall see him mo-r-e,
He used to wear an old grey coat,
all buttoned down be-fore."
"Of the many dance halls, one--Pete William's place--became by mid-century a virtual city landmark. A tourist believed that he "had not seen New York city unless he had visited Uncle Pete's," located at 67 Orange Street just south of Bayard. The establishment's fame dated back to 1842, when Charles Dickens featured the saloon--then called Almack's--in American Notes. ...described (Williams) as "a middle-aged, well-to-do, coal-black negro, who has made an immense amount of money from the profits of his dance-house--which, unfortunately, he regularly gambles away at the sweat-cloth of the roulette-table as fast as it comes in. He glories in being a bachelor...is a great admirer of the drama," and owned a team of fast horses that he loved to race. "
"Pete William's basement..."looked very clean and beautiful. It was a spacious room with a low ceiling, excessively white-washed, nicely sanded, and well-lit, and the black proprietor and his 'ministering spirits' (literally fufilling their vocation behind a very tidy bar) were well-dressed and well-mannered people." But it was the mixing of blacks and whites on the dance floor that shocked well-to-do visitors. "Several very handsome mulatto women were in the crowd...and a few 'young men about town,' mixed up with the blacks; and altogether it was a picture of 'amalgamation,' such as I have never before seen." "
"..."And now the orchestra strikes up 'Cooney in de Holler' and the company 'cavorts to places.' " As the dancing progressed and the musicians picked up the pace, the passion of the dancers became far too palpable. "The spirit of the dance is fully aroused," observed Reverend Pease. "On flies the fiddle-bow, faster and faster; on jingles the tambourine 'gainst head and heels, knee and elbow, and on smash the dancers. The excitement becomes general. Every foot, leg, arm, head, lip, body, are all in motion..." "
A picture on page 198 from the Feb. 18, 1860 New York Times Illustrated News shows a dance at Pete Williams's with a banjo player and a fiddle player providing the music. It is attached below.
The second sighting comes from Frank Converse's Old Cremona Songster, pub. 1863, page 13, "Comic Quartette," entitled "Pete Williams."
"Old Pete Williams is dead and gone,
We ne-er shall see him mo-r-e,
He used to wear an old grey coat,
all buttoned down be-fore."
Attached Files
Comment