Bill Ceda was born in the United States; he died in Liverpool, England, March 9, 1873. DICK SWEENEY, a brother of the famous Joe Sweeney, and who traveled with him in the 30’s and 40’s, giving concerts in black-face, died in Washington, D. C., in 1860, it is said. He was born in Virginia about 1815. [Illustration: FRANK WARD (of the Original Clipper Quartette) HARRY A. ELLIS (of the Original “The Quartette”) JOHNNY THOMPSON FRANK KERNS (Thompson & Kerns were the original double song and dance team; 1862.) CHARLEY GARDNER (Original “Hop Light Loo”) FRANK E. McNISH (Original “Silence and Fun”) “SOME ORIGINALS.”] NELSON KNEASS’ fame has been handed down to posterity for his association with the song of Ben Bolt, which was composed by Thomas Dunn English; an old German tune was supplied by Mr. Kneass, and through it the verses have become immortalized. Mr. Kneass followed the profession of negro minstrelsy for many years. February 1, 1841, he was leader of the “orchestra” at the opening of the Museum, Albany, N. Y. In 1846 he was a member of the Sable Harmonists; in 1853 with Sanford’s Minstrels in Philadelphia, and on June 2, 1854, Mr. Kneass and his daughter, Annie, who later married J. N. Rentfrow, of Rentfrow’s Jolly Pathfinders, were with Wood and Christy’s Minstrels in New York, the former as Aunt Chloe, and the latter as Eva in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” In 1859 he was with a minstrel company in Chicago, and late that same year was with Dan Scott’s Dramatic Company. Nelson Kneass was born in Philadelphia; he died in Chillicothe, Ohio, September 10, 1869. G. WARREN WHITE was a famous vocalist in the early days of minstrelsy. He began as a boy singer, and later was with Dumbleton’s Serenaders; also with Ordway’s Aeolians in Boston. His later years were spent with the Campbell-Castle Opera Company, and the Kellogg Opera Company. Mr. White was born in Boston, Mass., in 1816; he died in Somerville, Mass., in March, 1886. DAN GARDNER was equally at home as a clown in a circus, or as a minstrel. At the age of 13, on the 13th of the month, he ran away from home, and after walking thirteen miles, joined a canal boat show. He soon after returned to his heath, and subsequently held the position of assistant property man at Mt. Pitt Circus in New York, on the site that is now occupied by the Hoe Printing Press Company. Mr. Gardner began his clown business there. As early as 1835 he did a wench character; it is considerably more than probable that he was the first performer to do a female part in black-face. And he was absolutely the first to do Lucy Long, a famous characterization in early minstrelsy. In every decade commencing in the 30’s, Mr. Gardner was prominently identified with minstrelsy. He was with Sam Sanford’s Minstrels as early as 1844, and when the latter took the present Eleventh Street Opera House in Philadelphia, he played numerous engagements there in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.