Though many details about his early life are in dispute, scholars agree that Arnold was born in New York City and that his father may have been the Reverend George B. Arnold.
Barry Gray's obituary provides evidence of his seemingly regular visits to Pfaff's and his association with several Bohemians at the beer cellar.
Aldrich is described as the literary critic for the Home Journal until he was succeeded by Barry Gray.
Arnold is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Brougham is mentioned as a "playwright" who "associated closely with the Bohemians" (5).
Coffin's obituary does not mention Henry Clapp, Jr., by name, but rather refers to the "King of Bohemia," which was Clapp's nickname. Clapp is credited with having loaned $100 to Geroges Clemenceau so that Clemenceau could "go to Maine and court the present Mme. Clemenceau, once a pretty Yankee girl" (5).
Ada Clare is described as the "quaintest and most remarkable figure at the round-table" in Pfaff's cellar, where she had "hundreds of beers quaffed in her honor." The other Bohemians looked upon her as a "'good fellow,' and yet as a sort of divinity or 'child of the regiment'" (5).
At the time of Gray's death, Clemenceau was described as the "Radical leader of France" and as a former "rugged, aimless man-about town," who often joined the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar." Clemenceau received a $100 loan from the "King of Bohemia" so that Clemenceau could "go to Maine and court" the "pretty Yankee girl" that would later become his wife (5).
Edgar Fawcett is mentioned as an author who has "sung the sweetness of that murky cellar," presumably Pfaff's. The following lines are printed within the obituary:
"Before I was famous I used to sit in a dull old underground room I knew, and sip cheap beer and be glad for it, with a mild Bohemian friend or two."
"I would cast, and gladly, from this gray head, it's crown to regain one sweet lost year with artistic George, with splenetic Fred, with Dreamy Frank, with the pipes and beer" (5).
Gayler is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Barry Gray is described as a man with "a peculiar vein of humor" and a writer who composed "a clever sort of doggerel by the yard" (5).
"Deep down in the fat and ancient Pfaff's cellar," Gray used to "hold high wassail with the Bohemians" (5). Gray was remembered as "one of the brightest of that brilliant and witty company [of Bohemians]." He is lauded as "one of the keenest of the company, and his wit was never dull." He was well-known for the "razor-edged repartee in which he engaged with some of the foremost Bohemians" (5).
Gray earned his own literary reputation after succeeding Thomas Bailey Aldrich as editor of the Home Journal . He is the author of such books as "Married Life at Hillside," "Out of Town," "Infelicities of Married Life," and "Cakes and Ale."
At his death, Coffin left behind a wife and two sons. One of his sons was named after the artist Albert Bierstadt. His only daughter had died in 1885, and Coffin never recovered from the "shock" of her death, which contributed to his own poor health (5).
Although Coffin had been employed at a Custom-House, he was forced to resign, and for several months before his death, he was unable to leave his bed. He died in his home in Fordham on Friday, June 11, 1886 (5).
Fitz-Greene Halleck is described as "cracking jokes" at the "dripping round-table" at Pfaff's.
Halpine (Miles O'Reilly) is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
House is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
O'Brien is described as "light-hearted" and is included in the list of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Shepherd is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Urner is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Ward is described as a Pfaffian who "tried to make the democrats of literature believe that he was born to be an undertaker," and he is included here among the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).(5)
Whitman is mentioned as a poet who sat "at the dripping round-table" and "read his Yawps" He is included among those "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
"Ned" Wilkins is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Winter is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Wood is mentioned as one of the "happy, careless children of Bohemia" who attended the "carnivals in Pfaff's cellar" (5).
Though many details about his early life are in dispute, scholars agree that Arnold was born in New York City and that his father may have been the Reverend George B. Arnold.
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