In the late 1860s, Joseph R. Dial moved with his family to Meridian, Mississippi, from Sumter, Alabama. Still recovering from the near total devastation wrought by Union troops during William T. Sherman's expedition in 1864, Meridian could hardly been considered a city. Men like Dial, though, were attracted to the promise of future growth due to the railroads located there. Dial operated a saw mill and cotton gin, and apparently did well, as he built a house for his wife Emily and their family by 1870. In time, he would become one of the most respected citizens of Meridian in the post-war era. It was another member of the Dial family, however, who would have the biggest impact on the future of Meridian.
Edwin
H. Dial, born in 1853, graduated from the University of Mississippi law school
in 1876. After practicing law in Kemper County for a short time, he moved to
Meridian in 1877. Active in politics, he ran for Secretary of State in 1881,
but lost the race to Henry C. Myers, a Confederate veteran from Marshall County
known for his “knightly courage and gallantry…and his magnificent
physique." After losing statewide office, E.H. Dial (right) was elected mayor of
Meridian, a position he held from 1893 to 1901. During his term as mayor, the
city saw a number of improvements in public works, including the installation
of a sewer system and some paving of streets. Meridian also saw the
introduction of electricity, including electric streetcars, and the city
enjoyed a boom in industrial and commercial development. In addition, Mayor
Dial was responsible for much of Meridian’s code of ordinances. In short, it was during his
administration that Meridian entered the 20th Century, both
literally and figuratively. According to an illustrated history of Meridian
published the year after his term as mayor ended, Dial “builded with heart,
brain and conscience for his City's permanent betterment, along high lines of
civic, social and material development.” With all these accomplishments,
though, Mayor Dial is perhaps best remembered for a play.
In 1889, E.H. Dial wrote “The Queen of the East; or The March of
Progress,” a play billed as “a History, in Outline, of the Growth and
Development of the City of Meridian, Mississippi, from the Earliest Period of
Its Existence to the Present Time.” "The Queen of the East" was
performed at the brand new Grand Opera House. Occupying one-third of a city
block owned by the Marks-Rothenberg Company, the opera house (left) was designed by
Gustavus Maurice Torgerson, a Swedish immigrant who also designed several other
buildings in Meridian, including Witherspoon School, the old Meridian city hall
and the main Marks-Rothenberg building. + The new theater opened its doors on
December 17, 1890. According to the Times-Picayune,
the opening was a huge success. “The townspeople and neighbors, especially
theatre goers, were full of pride, curiosity and enthusiasm,” the paper
reported. In addition to the “brilliant success” of the opening performance,
which was “The Gypsy Baron” by Johann Strauss, the Picayune gushed over the opulence of the theater. “[It] is built in
modern style and is equal to any amusement place in the south,” said the
writer. “The stage and its scenic stock are capable of accommodating any large
production on the road, and all the paraphernalia and appointments of a first-class
theater are found in the new theater.” The Mobile Press Register agreed. “The theatre is undoubtedly one of the
prettiest in the South,” the paper wrote, “and one in which any city would take
pride.” The performance of “The Gypsy Baron,” staged by the Conried Opera
Company, was, naturally, standing room only. Before the show, the overflow
crowd was addressed by the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court,
Judge Thomas H. Woods, who had traveled from Jackson for the occasion.
Heinrich Conried, the namesake of the Conried Opera
Company, came to the United States in 1878 from his native Austria. After
working in the New York theater circuit as a stage manager and a minor
character actor, he founded his own opera company which toured the country in
mostly German language theaters. In 1903, he became the manager of the famous
Metropolitan Opera House in New York and brought, for the first time, the works
of Richard Wagner to the American stage. Conried’s success in staging Wagnerian
opera was not without controversy and it was only after legal wrangling with
Wagner’s protective widow, Cosima Wagner, who also happened to be the daughter
of Franz Liszt. Mrs. Wagner not only wanted to protect the purity of her
husband's work, she might also have objected to Conried because he was Jewish.
Regardless, Conried (above right) won the right to stage the operas and under his direction
"Parsifal” was performed for the first time outside of Bayreuth. He even
managed somehow to stage the entire “Ring” cycle. In presenting these and other
great German works to American audiences, Conried also introduced several great
new singers, including Enrico Caruso. The cast for the traveling performance of
“The Gypsy Baron,” which was sung in German, included Miss Rita Selby as
“Saffi,” the gypsy girl. According to a society journal of the period, Selby
had “a chalky complexion, a pretty figure, but a very large mouth, which was
displayed to good advantage when she sang high notes.” Apparently, her voice
attracted the professional attention of Heinrich Conried and captured the
hearts of audiences “all the way from New Hampshire to San Antonio, Texas.” *
After many years in the theater business, Conried’s health declined and despite
a trip to Europe to recuperate, he died in 1909. To honor his contribution to
the theater, funeral services were held in the Metropolitan Opera House in New
York. At the close of the lengthy service, the choir sang a selection from
"Parsival,” and then the funeral procession wound its way to the Cypress Hills
Cemetery in Brooklyn to the strains of Chopin's "Funeral March." So
distraught was Conried’s widow that she supposedly never passed by the
Metropolitan Opera House again.
Back in Meridian, Edwin H. Dial prepared to bring to the
stage his play "The Queen of the East." Although the performance date
at the opera house (seen here in 1890) is thus far unknown, it was probably in the early months of 1891. Officially,
the play served as a fundraiser for the erection a monument to the Confederate
dead at Rose Hill Cemetery. The play also likely contributed to Dial's election
as mayor in 1893. Sporting a long list of cast members (in excess of sixty
people) drawn from prominent members of the community, all segments of
Meridian's “ruling class” were represented, including railroad barons, retail merchants,
captains of industry (both candy and cigar factories were among those highlighted),
newspaper editors and ministers of nearly every church in the city. From the
opening act set in antebellum days to the “Era of Present Prosperity,” the play
featured several lengthy soliloquies by such memorable characters as “The
Spirit of Progress” and the “Goddess of Health.” Among the other cast members
was twenty-six-year-old Julia Rothenberg Threefoot, a sister of the Rothenberg
brothers (and half-sister of Israel Marks) and wife of Kutcher Threefoot, a
longtime member of the Board of Education. Also in the cast as “Meridian” was
Miss Mary White, daughter of Benjamin Virginius White (lower left), who was a Confederate
veteran and very active in the Knights of Pythias. He was also for many years
the city treasurer and chancery clerk for Meridian. Edwin Dial himself played
the part of “Eli,” a sort of seer who had a clear vision of the city's future
growth. Unfortunately, included among the acts was a scene set in
the “deep dark forest” in which three members of the “Ku Klux” named Jim, Bill
and Mike (all played by prominent men of the community) hung a white
carpetbagger. The scene ended with “Bill” triumphantly standing with his foot
on the body of the carpetbagger and proclaiming “Boys, he’s undoubtedly a dead
carcus!” Aside from the unfortunate (to say the least) scene described above,
the play came to a triumphant conclusion with the “Grand March of the
Industries and of Progress.” With all the representatives of commerce and
industry surrounding the throne of “Meridian,” the “Spirit of Progress” began a
lengthy verse, as follows:
Meridian, thou city of the lofty pine!
These nymphs of commerce at thy beauteous shrine
Bow their proud heads, and with one heart agree.
They honor themselves when thus they honor thee.
Thy supple feet, by fairies brushed with flowers.
Shall fleeter grow with time, and all thy power -
The world shall see, and seeing know thy worth.
And Commerce bless the era of thy birth.
Thy past is hallow'd by many a sacred scene;
Most of thine acts, thank heaven, toward virtue lean.
Graves of thine honored dead crown neighb'ring hills -
Their mem'ry yet the living present thrills.
As thou didst pray me, I have come to thee.
And found, on coming, thou art fair to see.
Thy hills I've touched with this, my magic rod,
And homes sprung forth where lately Nature trod.
Thy fact'ries' music mingles with the sound
Of that sweet music from thy rills around.
My subjects---Thrift and Industry and Brawn -
Have hither been by thine own virtues drawn,
The tide which looks and, timid, often waits.
Is moving ever towards thy tow'ring gates.
And here to-night---while eyes of Friendship feast -
I crown thee, fair one-- Queen City of the East!
It is from this verse, penned by Edwin Dial, that many
believe is the source of Meridian's nickname "The Queen City." Others
contend that the name comes from the Alabama, New Orleans, Texas & Pacific
Junction Railway Co., whose lines crossed at Meridian and was collectively
known as the 'Queen & Crescent' route. In this case, the ‘Queen’ referred
to Cincinnati and the ‘Crescent’ was for New Orleans, in recognition of the
railroad’s terminus point. The Queen & Crescent was established about 1893
by William Hardy, who was also responsible for the development of Hattiesburg
and Gulfport. Although it's certainly possible the Queen & Crescent is the
source of Meridian's nickname, Dial's play preceded the railroad by a couple of
years. Yet another theory of the origin of the “Queen City” involves the “Queen
of the Gypsies,” Kelly Mitchell. Her funeral in 1915 was a huge event, with
approximately 20,000 Gypsies in attendance, and her grave in Rose Hill Cemetery
still attracts thousands of visitors each year. The true origin of the city’s
nickname may never be known with certainty, but the play seems most likely. Whether
Edwin H. Dial inspired the name or not, though, there is no doubt he played a
major role in developing Meridian into a prosperous and growing city at the
beginning of a new century.
The house constructed by Joseph Dial and subsequently
owned by Mayor E.H. Dial stood for approximately 135 years. A one-story, Italianate
structure, the house was purchased by the City of Meridian in 1996 with hopes
of restoring it. Unfortunately, the Dial House (top left) was demolished in 2005. Today,
the site is marked with a historical marker. The site of both the "Gypsy
Baron" and The Queen of the East" is, however, alive and well. The
Grand Opera House, completed in 1890, was in operation until 1927, when
competition from moving picture theaters and legal complications closed the
opera house. For decades, the building was vacant. Finally, following a
complete restoration, Meridian's Grand Opera House reopened in 2006 and is
again a venue for theater productions and musical acts. Now known as the Riley
Center (lower left), the opera house is owned by Mississippi State University. No doubt,
Mayor Dial would be pleased that the opera house is once again a part of the “Queen
City.”
+ G.M. Torgerson’s
son was born in Meridian in 1896 and spent part of his childhood in Oxford,
Mississippi. After high school, he worked for several newspapers and was editor
of Hearst’s American
Weekly. He also wrote short stories and detective tales. In 1937, he moved to
Hollywood to write a screenplay based on one of his mysteries, and he died
there the following year. Edwin Dial Torgerson was named for Mayor E.H. Dial.
* In 1893, Selby secretly married George Tilford, the son
of a wealthy New York grocer. The marriage was a surprise to the patriarch of
the family, who was unaware his son had been slipping off to the theater to
watch Selby performing on stage. Because he did not approve of his son’s
marriage, Charles Tilford left George only $6,000 per month in his will (from
an estate estimated at $1 million). When in 1901 creditors sought to secure a
portion of his monthly stipend to pay debts, George Tilford argued in court
that he was unable to support a family on less than the full amount, as he had
been “raised in idleness” and was therefore unaccustomed to work.
Photo and Image Sources:
(1) Dial: https://ia600301.us.archive.org
(2) Meridian: http://en.wikipedia.org
(3) Grand Opera House: http://www/msje.org
(4) Conried: http://www.maggieblanck.com
(5) Gypsie Baron: http://www.newbostonfineandrarebooks.com
(6) B.V. White: http://southernfootprints.blogspot.com
(7) Kelly Mitchell grave: http://www.roadsideamerica.com
(8) Opera house interior: http://mdah.state.ms.us
(9) Dial House: http://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov
(10) Riley Center: http://en.wikipedia.org
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