Blesh & Janis, in They All Played Ragtime, identify Ben Harney's
wife/stage partner/widow as Jessie Boyce. The marriage was supposed to
have taken place sometime in the 1890s, perhaps as early as 1891.
Blesh/Janis had not interviewed her, as she had already died (when?);
but they spoke to people who knew her & Ben. However, I don't think
I have come across Jessie Boyce Harney except in sources derived from
Blesh/Janis and am beginning to wonder if the name Boyce is another
Blesh/Janis error that has been perpetuated by successive writers.

I have found many newspaper references to a different Jessie named as
his wife/stage partner/widow, this being Jessie Haynes (or Haines). Is
this the same person as Jessie Boyce?

If he had married Jessie Haynes (or Boyce) in the early 1890s, how do
we account for his marriage to Edith Murray on 1 Jan 1897, for which a
marriage certificate exists? Murray, like Jessie, appeared on stage
with Ben.

I've tried to find the maiden name of the Mrs. Harney who had signed
his death certificate at the Fernwood Cemetery (Philadelphia) where -
according to Blesh/Janis - they are both interred, but the records
were lost in a fire in the 1950s.

edberlin36@gmail.com wrote:

Hi Ed (and all).

This is a puzzler indeed. The first item that came up when I looked
through Census records was the 1930 census, which was only marginally
helpful. Assuming the one given, born in KY in 1872, was in Detroit at
that time, the records do not specifically name his wife, unless she
born as Mrs., since only Mrs. Ben R. Harney is shown. However, if it is
helpful, she was born in New York around 1878, and her parents were
from New Hampshire.

Thanks for your efforts on this, Bill.

The earliest reference I could find to Harney performing with a woman
is in 1896 -- "a brunette from South Carolina" -- a description that
fits neither Murray nor Haynes, if we are to believe newspaper reports.

Jessie Haynes begins to show up with Harney in newspaper clippings
around 1908. She is definitely the widow, for Variety names her in the
1938 obit. Her middle initial, occasionally mentioned in newspaper
clippings, was "J".

Harney's death certificate gives a birth date of 6 March 1871. This is
in accordance with the 1880 census, which has him as 9 on his last
birthday prior to June 1, 1880. His marriage certificate, dated...

BEN HARNEY
The Orignator [sic] of Rag Time, and MISS JESSIE HAYNES, Octoroon
Impersonatress.

Source: Fort Wayne Sentinel, Jan. 27, 1906

Ragtime is a difficult thing for anyone not a musician to describe.
However, the audiences next week at the Dominion will have an
opportunity to listen to the first-class exponents of that particular
style of music by Mr. Ben R. Harney and Miss Jessie J. Haynes, known as
the "Octoroon Impersonators." Their turn is an original creation and
consists of singing, dancing, talking (not stale jokes), and piano
playing.
--Source: "Music and Drama," Manitoba (Canada) Morning Free Press.
Sept. 2, 1905, p. 10

Short unnamed news item:

sattalla@gmail.com wrote:

Additional, although likely known.

Give that "I'd Give a Hundred if the Gal was Mine" from 1901 is
dedicated to Edith, we can likely surmise that his unhooking from her
and hooking with Jessie occured within the following 3 years. So he and
Edith were together for at least four or five years, perhaps from
shortly after he moved to NYC in 1896.

Narrows the gap a little.

BE

Thanks. These items are new to me, though I have similar clippings
from other parts of the country (& world). However, it brings the
Harney-Haynes association back to 1904. That Jessie was in the show
1492 is especially interesting. This opened in NY on 5/15/1893 (when
Harney was still in Kentucky) and, according to Boardman, the cast was
composed of top vaudeville performers. Jessie is not among those
named, neither in Boardman nor in the NY Times review. However, the
show was quite successful and was still playing in NY in the summer of
1894 before going on an extended tour. Boardman says the roster was
continually in flux. I'll check the notices to see if Jessie is
mentioned.

Ed

sattalla@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks for the Masonic Temple Theater info. That places him in
Louisville in 1890.
The Jessie Haynes you found seems unlikely, especially with the info
that she was in a show in 1893.

Ed

Good catch on that! I found I have the music, & you're right about the
dedication. In addition, I found another Harney piece -- "The Only Way
To Keep A Gal, Is To Keep Her In A Cage" (1901) -- and it has Jessie
Haynes' photo on the cover, so she was apparently performing the song
on stage with Ben. She also signs the photo, & the handwriting is the
same that appears as "Mrs. Harney" on the death certificate. So this
may be the transition from one wife to another. I'll check the
copyright records on the two pieces to determine the months of
copyright. But we're still left with the question: Was Jessie Haynes &
Jessie Boyce the same person?

Ed

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~harney2/Ben_R.htm

Edyth Murray, Jessie Haynes, and Jessie Boyce one and the same--with
Haynes and Boyce the stage names? If so, why claim not to have married
until 1916?

You've had contact with the person who created these webpages. Does
Linda Harney McDonald of Powell, WY, not have evidence to support that
Murray, Haynes, and Boyce were the same person, as she says?

The show _1492_ was performed around the U.S. into 1899. Might Jessie
Haynes have been part of a touring company rather than the NY
production? I noticed one mention of a Ross Snow from Springfield
(presumably Illiniois since no state was named) performing in the cast
in Decatur.

Sue

edberlin36@gmail.com wrote: