Names of company members.

“Last evening the minstrel troupe which has been organized under the management of Messrs. Cotton, Reed & Simpson gave their first performance in the cosey little theatre on Twenty-third street which was conducted so successfully for such a long period by poor Dan Bryant. Nearly all the members of the late Bryant troupe are members of the newly organized company. Brockway is the middle man, Dave Reed ‘bones,’ and Ben Cotton occupies the place of ‘end man.’ The hall was filled from pit to dome, and the audience was one of the old time select audiences that used to crowd the theatre nightly under the old management. The programme was a very entertaining one, and the evening was made thoroughly enjoyable by the funnyisms of Dave Reed, Ben Cotton and E. M. Hall, the banjoist. Ben’s new song, ‘The Bold Fisherman,’ who fell overboard and went to the bottom of the sea, was an immense hit. The gem of the entertainment, however, was ‘Senator’ Bob Hart’s scientific discourse on the origin of man, being a fragment of a lecture he had previously delivered before the ‘Historical Society of Harlem Flats,’ where he had expatiated on the ‘paroxysmal true inwardness’ of mankind. Morton and Bernardo in ‘Jealousy’ and ‘The Indian Frauds’ made up of Cotton, W. H. Morton, Bob Hart, Reed and Bernardo as ‘butter grubbers’ and disorderly orderlies, kept the house in a continuous roar of laughter till the curtain shut the 'frauds’ out of sight for the evening.”

"The New York Minstrels, under the management of Messrs. Cotton, Reed & Simpson, well-known veterans in minstrelsy, commenced their career at Darling’s Opera-house, formerly Bryant’s, on Aug. 23, presenting a capital inaugural bill, entitling the new organization to commendation. The salutation has proven that they are worthy successors to the old company that filled the Bryant semi-circle and gave to this establishment a high name and fame in minstrel annals, with poor Dan as head and front of the offending; and although there may be some regret at the absence, in his old familiar place, of the happy face and light heart who was wont to set the house in a roar, yet the habitues of this temple of mirth can find in their followers full evidence that the new troupe is at least as capable as the old. The business management is in the hands of Mr. John Simpson, so long and favorably known as the popular co-partner and treasurer of the Bryant company; the musical department under the direction of A. E. Voos, and the stage-management under the control of Bob Hart. The inaugural bill offered new and old features, so dispersed as to make the programme an attractive one, presenting the company in a well-rendered instrumental mélange, followed by [see above]…The troupe, it will be seen, embraces many of the old, familiar names of the former Bryant troupe, and offers a capital entertainment by some of the best members of the profession, who have been well appreciated by goodly-sized audiences during the past week.”