Background

Lew Dockstader was born on August 7, 1856 in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. His original name was George Alfred Clapp. He was the son of Chester and Harriet Gouge (Miller) Clapp. His father kept the bar of the City Hotel, of which an uncle, Caleb Clapp, was the proprietor.

Education

Dockstader was a diligent student.

Career

From boyhood Clapp seemed cut out for the stage: he was completely at ease before an audience, could play any musical instrument, apparently, that he picked up, and possessed an inexhaustible fund of drollery. He early became the stage manager and end man of an amateur minstrel company and made his professional debut, under the name of Lew Clapp, in Hartford in 1873. A few years later he and Charles Dockstader formed an act- Dod ing partnership and were billed as the Dockstader Brothers, and Clapp was thereafter known as Lew Dockstader. As a member of various minstrel troupes he played in every state in the Union and always cherished an ambition to have a company of his own.

In 1898 he returned to minstreldom in partnership with George H. Primrose; and in 1903 he became sole proprietor of the company; but minstrel shows were no longer in favor, and Dockstader had to betake himself again to vaudeville, in which he was highly paid and free from managerial worries.

Iiis first venture, in New York 1886-89, left him deep in debt and threatened with bankruptcy, but going into vaudeville he soon repaid his creditors in full. In 1898 he returned to minstreldom in partnership with George H. Primrose; and in 1903 he became sole proprietor of the company; but minstrel shows were no longer in favor, and Dockstader had to betake himself again to vaudeville, in which he was highly paid and free from managerial worries.

In January 1923, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, he sustained a fall, as a result of which a bone tumor developed in his left leg. In December he had to quit the stage.

Achievements

• Dockstader's songs were the hits of the day. Lew became a master at furbishing up old jokes about the Ark, Jonah, Congress, and Hoboken, at convulsing his audiences with unexpected and ingenious “local gags, ” at mimicking the voice, stride, and gesture of political figures such as Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, and Roosevelt.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Vaudeville Gags
  • Fiddle, Dee, Dee
  • Popular Song Album of Lew Dockstader and His Great Ministrel Company
  • Everybody Works But Father
  • Uncle Quit Work, Too

Personality

Dockstader was too generous with his money, however, to be long successful as a manager.

Connections

Dockstader had a wife Lucin who died on January 6, 1920 and a daughter.

Father:

Chester Clapp

Mother:

Harriet Gouge (Miller) Clapp

Wife:

Lucin