A Life Sketch of Clarence Henry Tolman, Son of Joseph Holbrook Tolman & Emma Adell Wood. Written by himself and the press.
Dear Cousins:
As I sit in my “Memory Room,” not a Blanding I assure you, but a real cozy room bedecked with pictures and mementos of a lifetime of adventure and thrills, I ponder the advisability of writing this myself, lest you think; “I Love Me, I’m Wild About Myself;” but truly, Cousins, the only thing I can possibly be egotistic about is the fact that I have all of you and am indeed proud of my heritage. I have a wonderful Book of Remembrance, with reams of pictures and news items of my wanderings and experiences, made possible by my mother who kept them safely in a little trunk awaiting the time I should return home to compile this book.
The book or scroll of time is where we really write the record of our lives. Memories of friends we have made, ecstasies we have lived, and unsullied joys we have felt, through the years, from the pages of this book of life. Lest we forget, we pause from time to time and turn the pages of this Book to live again past thrills, remember friends, and recall pleasant associations.
I know it isn’t proper rhetoric to start a story with a climax, but the story of my life has many climaxes, too numerous to be included in this short sketch. At an early age I dreamed of having my name in “Lights” on the front of some great theatre. It came to pass as you shall see.
The following is a quote from a leading Philadelphia Newspaper, dated Wednesday May 19, 1926:“Developing a desire to go on the stage after appearing in several home talent productions in Pocatello, Idaho, C.H. Tolman, a product of the country where men are men and horses buck hard, traveled 3000 miles in a battered Model T Ford to get to New York City to seek a chance to appear in Shuberts ‘Countess Maritza’! His efforts were rewarded when he was given a place in the chorus. Yesterday he got another promotion, this time to a singing and speaking part as Stephen, the Juvenile lead in the production!” This part, incidentally, lead to the principal role in this production.
Lets turn back the pages to March 18, 1896. In a lumber camp near a sawmill, was born a blue eyed boy, the proud parents, so they say, a Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Holbrook Tolman. I was the 13th child of Emma Adell Wood wife number one. My first recollection of Mother was the kindness in her deep blue eyes framed by ringlets of soft brown hair as she leaned over to tuck me in my home made trundle bed. The songs she sang grew on me from year to year, and as I grew I knew that God intended me to sing too. At a very early age my sister and I sang a duet, in public mind you, the title of the song ” I’ll Give To You A Paper Of Pins, If You Will Marry Me.” This was at Dempsey, Idaho about 1903. It was at this same meeting house that I watched an old time fiddler playing for dances and I soon caught on to the secret of producing a melody…now for a fiddle of my own… I got one as a prize for selling cheap perfume and scented bags. As I mastered the key board, by ear, I thought then that I must have done a lot of fiddling before I came to this earth, it seemed to come so easily.
Needless to say, knowing my parents as you do, I was brought up in the big open spaces and had a rough and tumble time of it. I walked a lot, run a lot, climbed and worked a lot. Became an expert horseman and rode some tough ones, learned to twirl a rope.
I was called upon to demonstrate throwing a rope at Madison Square Garden at a charity benefit. A publicity stunt for our Broadway show as well. I was in perfect physical fitness when I hit the big city, which is a natural trait with most outdoor men. Here is another quote from The New York Times, November 21, 1926.
“To secure voices for “Countess Maritza” the Shuberts recruited artists from the Steppes of Russia, the hill towns of Italy, the farms of France and the bad lands of Idaho. But C.H. Tolman, the singer from Idaho, received his early local-training singing to the cattle at roundup time on the ranches of his native state. For most singers the road to a New York Engagement is long and rough, but Tolman found it longer and rougher than most as he traveled the entire distance from Idaho to New York in a Model T Ford.
“Tolman’s youth was spent in the great out of doors and it was there he developed the powerful physique which is so well set off in his role of First Lieutenant in ‘Countess Maritza.’ It was there he became an expert with the rifle which was to win him honors when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in World War One.” End quote.
The first impression of my father was when he placed me astride his neck that I might reach the whistle cord of the big steam engine that ran the sawmill at Grace, Idaho. In my many years of trooping about the country, mainly by special train; it was necessary for the large N.Y. productions to charter a whole train to carry the actors, musicians and scenery, as you can imagine. There were 100 actors and musicians in the last presentation we took on the road from New York City to Texas. Each time the old Iron Horse blew a whistle a deep rooted memory of that sawmill and the beloved smell of new sawdust and pine needles soothed my wandering soul.
It was not easy to be away from all this…to trade a paradise for noise and confusion, a humble cot for the life of a cliff dweller. The soothing sound of a running brook, a cooing dove, for the rattle and screech of city traffic. I had never known anytime who had had this experience, but my childhood dream was destined to come true regardless of discomfort and sacrifice. I have always been a very sensitive, humble person, with a keen sense of appreciation for the troubles and ambitions of others. The thought often comes to me, why I should have been the black sheep of the family, the only one of twenty or more of my father’s children to desert the then fixed pattern of life, as we knew it, for a theatrical career. Perhaps I saw too much grief and sorrow within our family circle. Those of you who know polygamy will understand me when I say, such a life is trying both mentally and physically. I was about ten years old, I believe, before I realized why my mother so often awakened me at night with her stifled sobs and crying. It was always when father was away from home. I tried from that time on to be a comfort to her in her sacrificial loneliness.
I spent the greater part of my youth in Pocatello, Idaho. Like most boys I had horses and cattle to look after, peddled papers and magazines, sold butter and eggs, then graduated to orchestral performance and singing. My first public performance, aside from church activity, was singing for Mr. McCracken owner of the Lyric Theatre.—Singing with illustrated slides, We had a large Gramophone out front with a beautiful Morning Glory horn to play the songs and tunes of the day to attract the customers. The good old silent days. I did bookkeeping for a grain company.
I fell in love with a Scotch-Irish Lassie, Jessie Mc Fall an Episcopalian. Her mother sent her to San Francisco to forget it all, so I joined the U.S. Marines and ended up in San Francisco. We were married in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakland, California, that little chapel on the shores of Lake Merritt. It is hard to find now, as it is overshadowed by the mammoth St. Paul Apartment Towers. I was assigned to the U.S. Marine Band and proceeded to play and sing to boost the sale of liberty Bonds.
Patriarch Edwin D. Harrison of Pocatello, Idaho gave me a blessing before I left for service, The subject of which is prayer. That has been my mainstay through life, and with fasting, has brought about miracles to me. During my career I was stationed at many different locations and in most cases for a short duration of time, so l could never become activated in any one L.D.S. Ward. In fact there were very few churches and missions available throughout the country at that time.
My association with Elder Guy B. Rose a college professor and the famous author Howard R. Driggs of New York City was a great inspiration to me. I often sang at the mission in Brooklyn.
Before I acquired a leading role on Broadway, I attended the Damrosch School of Musical Art. I had the good fortune to work with The Capital Theatre Family, directed by Major Bowes, the same Bowes who later had the original Amateur Hour on radio. This group was accompanied by large symphonic orchestra under the leadership of Eugene Ormandy, now director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. This vocal organization sang at the Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall and many famous spots where the New York Philharmonic Orchestra had need of choral support. I have performed under the direction of Ormandy, as mentioned, Arturo Toscannini, Stravinski the modern composer conductor, and Leopold Stokowski, all of whom have had a marked influence on my interpretation and appreciation of good music and the dramatic arts.
My first love, however, is for the type of songs my mother taught me, and I have found and have proven that these simple heart songs gave me greater success and a more lasting one than the so called classics. Those are the songs I still sing and hope to sing as long as I can breathe.
My colleagues in this profession with whom I have appeared many times are Al Jolson, Moran and Mack, Hugh Chilvers, Hazel Dawn, Clara Kimball Young Emma Lucy Gates, Eddier Dowling, Tom Patricola, Jack Sheehan, Bert Wheeler, Jack Haley, Frisco, Leo Carrillo, Al Goodman and many more. I particularly enjoyed singing with Vincent Lopez and his Band at the Grand Ball Room of Hotel Aster in New York City. I augmented my income by plugging songs in Tin Pan Alley.
When the Talkies were invented, I saw the hand writing on the wall, theatres and vaudeville were on the wane so I switched to radio. My first radio engagement was on Station WOR-New York and New Jersey. I followed an interview with Thomas A. Edison. I soon headed west again and joined the National Broadcasting Company in San Francisco, was featured for some time with Captain Dobbsie’s Shell Happy Time, also did vaudeville for the West Coast Circuits. I closed this extensive tour at The Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco in 1930. My partner H. L. “Curly” Davis returned home to Estes Park, Colorado and I transferred to Radio Station KGW the NBC outlet in Portland, Oregon, where I sang, played and announced until World War Two.
I rejoined the U.S. Marine Corps and took my son and daughter with me. They both outranked me when we were discharged from service. I have been very happy in Portland, Oregon, own a home for the first time in my life, have been rehabilitated in the church, am teaching genealogy and directing music for the Sunday School at Gresham, Oregon. The great inspiration of my life I believe came to me when I was encouraged by President Joseph F. Smith and Heber J. Grant to further my music career, particularly President Grant, he was a wonderful singer.
My wife, although not a Latter-Day Saint, has always been a sustaining influence in my entire life and I do pray that someday she might see the Gospel.
To my young cousins who would aspire to a musical or dramatic career…be persistent..diligent and appear in public whenever possible. Who knows, you may be scooped up by a talent scout from New York or Hollywood as I was and be on your way.
I love you all,
“Toley” Tolman (stage name)
Visit FamilySearch to learn more about Clarence Henry Tolman. Visit the Thomas Tolman Family Organization to find out how you can get more involved in family history.