A Pioneer in the Fullest Sense: The Wit and Wisdom of George Ade's Father

By Ade Royalties and Publishing

A Pioneer in the Fullest Sense chronicles the life and times of John Ade, the father of George Ade, one of America's greatest playwrights and humorists. Written largely by John himself with contributions from his son George and also editor and great-great-grandso

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ade Royalties and Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781734713664

Book preview

Illustrations and Photographs; Sources and Credits

Cover: John Ade, William C. Ade Collection, photography by John Boshears

Photograph of John Ade with signature. Courtesy of the Newberry Library

Map of John’s voyage to America in 1840. Map by William C. Ade and Ryan Scheife

Map of John’s travels in America. Map by William C. Ade and Ryan Scheife

Portrait of John Ade. Courtesy of James Ade Kurfess

Portrait of Adaline Bush Ade. Courtesy of James Ade Kurfess

John in Masonic regalia. William C. Ade Collection by Perfect Pixels

John holding one of his grandchildren, circa 1907. William C. Ade Collection by Perfect Pixels

John’s official picture as Newton County Recorder, 1860-1864. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

John’s home in Kentland. Courtesy of the George Ade Home

John Ade family formal portrait. Courtesy of the George Ade Home

Formal picture of John that hung in his home in Kentland. William C. Ade Collection, photography by John Boshears

Formal picture of Adaline that hung in the family home in Kentland. William C. Ade Collection, photography by John Boshears

John Ade family informal picture. George at far left, John and Adaline center. Courtesy of the Newberry Library.

John and Adaline on their front porch. Courtesy of Sigma Chi

George Ade at age 14 reading Mark Twain. Cartoon by John T. McCutcheon, photograph by Ryan Scheife

Rare picture of George Ade. Courtesy of Purdue University Special Collections

John’s horse and surrey. Courtesy of the George Ade Home

Hand reaper with cradle. Courtesy of Newton County Historical Society, photograph by Perfect Pixels

Tourist’s Pocket Map of the State of Indiana, 1833. Courtesy of the George Ade Home

Handwritten manuscript dedication of John’s History of Newton County.

Published dedication of John’s History of Newton County.

Moving to the Frontier, 1853. Map by William C. Ade and Ryan Scheife

Wanderlust Trip of 1847. Map by William C. Ade and Ryan Scheife

First railway station in Chicago, 1849. Originally published in History of Chicago. From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 1884

1849 Chicago Flood. Engraved by R. N. White, Chicago, originally published in History of Chicago. From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 1884. p. 200.

Group Portrait of Pottawattamie Indians, Retrieved from the Library of Congress

Shabonee. Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society

Chief Crane and unidentified Native American man. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

State Street in Morocco, 1882. Courtesy of the George Ade Home

Early Trails, 1884. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

John Murphy, founder of Morocco. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

Beaver Lake. Courtesy of Chris Light/Wikimedia Commons

A. J. Kent, founder of Kentland. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

Greenhead fly. Courtesy of Allocricetulus/Shutterstock.com

Lemuel Milk. Courtesy of Kankakee County Museum Photo Archive

Edward C. Sumner burial place, Benton County, Indiana. Courtesy of Coan.net

Moses Fowler. © USA Today Network

Col. Abel D. Streight. Courtesy of Alamy.com

Historic site, New Harmony, Indiana. Courtesy of Alamy.com

Newton County’s first courthouse. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

Newton County’s old courthouse. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

Newton County’s new courthouse. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

John Ade’s desk. William C. Ade Collection, photograph by Perfect Pixels

Oliver P. Morton. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

Memorial statue to Governor Morton. Alamy stock photo

Vicksburg after the Civil War. Originally published in The Photographic History of The Civil War in Ten Volumes: Volume Two, Two Years of Grim War. The Review of Reviews Co., New York. 1911. p. 206.

John’s Civil War travels. Map by William C. Ade and Ryan Scheife

Chattanooga after the Civil War. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

Robert Ingersoll. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

Slave mother and daughter. Courtesy of Alamy.com

Slave pen. Cropped stereograph by Brady’s National Photographic Portrait Galleries, circa 1861-65. Courtesy of Alamy.com

Civil War memorial, McKinley Park, Brook, Indiana. Courtesy of Chris Light/Wikimedia Commons

Indiana Society outing at George Ade’s Hazelden Farm. Cartoon by John T. McCutcheon, courtesy of the George Ade Home

John’s 1913 Vacation Trip with George to California. Map by William C. Ade and Ryan Scheife

John at Hazelden, circa 1912. Courtesy of Sigma Chi

Stained glass memorial to Adaline Bush Ade. Collection of William C. Ade, photograph by Perfect Pixels

John’s funeral procession. Collection of William C. Ade

Union Civil War veterans posing by John’s grave, circa 1918. Courtesy of the George Ade Home, photograph by William C. Ade

John Ade’s resting place, photography by William C. Ade

John Ade’s grave as it appears today, photograph by Ryan Scheife

John Ade, 1908. Collection of William C. Ade

Cartoon. By permission of Michael Ramirez and Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Cartoon. By permission of Michael Ramirez and Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Cartoon. By permission of Michael Ramirez and Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Cartoon. By permission of Michael Ramirez and Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Don’t Believe Those Who Say You Can’t Do the Job Tackled. Courtesy of Purdue University Special Collections

Back cover: Original Newton County courthouse. Courtesy of the Newton County Historical Society

Preface

(by William C. Ade)

Why a book about John Ade, the father of George Ade, the great Hoosier satirist and playwright? Today when I googled George Ade I found 22 million results, but when I conducted an online search for John, I found only a handful of entries. With the exception of John’s obituary, these entries contained nothing more than a passing mention of him being the father of George Ade. Indeed, to the degree that history has remembered John, it is as George’s father—just as John himself predicted. This is a shame. John’s own story is just as remarkable as that of his famous son and his influence on his son’s career and writings was profound.

George Ade’s nationally syndicated newspaper columns, bestselling books, Broadway plays and Hollywood movies were immensely popular at the turn of the 20th century, bringing him great fame and fortune. He also enjoyed the acclaim of the toughest critics of his era, including H. L. Mencken. His record of three simultaneous first run plays on Broadway has never been beaten and was tied only once, by Neil Simon. George’s plays were mostly comedy-dramas done in a realistic style. Throughout his writings there is a keen observation of people and how they interacted. George was one of the first to make extensive use of the vernacular or slang in his works. He wrote books and plays about everything: political satire (The Sultan of Sulu, The County Chairman), the Temperance Movement (Mrs. Peckham’s Carouse, The Old Time Saloon), the first play ever about football (The College Widow), the emptiness of modern life as traditions are lost (Olof Lindstrom goes Fishing, Mr. Payson’s Satirical Christmas, Marse Covington), the enigma of women (Nettie, Aunt Fanny from Chautauqua), and intergenerational relationships (The Mayor and the Manicure, The Maneuvers of Joel and the Disappointed Orphan Asylum). He wrote a warm-hearted kind of satire where reason, tolerance and humor usually prevailed in the end. Throughout his works, whenever a father figure is present he is most often portrayed as wise, industrious, and kind—as was George’s own father, John. Clearly, John was always front-and-center in George’s mind as he developed his inspiring, witty, fatherly characters.

For example, in his four-act play Father and the Boys, the workaholic father tries to get his two sons to give up gambling, social climbing and sports to do some work, marry nice girls and settle down. To drive home his point with the boys, Father decides to beat them at their own game by quitting work, playing roulette, and shamelessly escorting pretty young Bessie about town at all hours. In the end all comes ‘round to right, almost the way Father wanted it.

Photo of John with his signature. Courtesy of the Newberry Library

Then there’s Speaking to Father, a one-act play about a daughter bringing home her want-to-be fiancé to meet her dad. The daughter’s choice looks pretty bad to Father—until, that is, he meets the prospective suitor Mother has lined up. At that point Father intervenes on his daughter’s behalf in a most kindly and entertaining way.

The worldly-wise father George enlisted as the lead character in his one-act play The Mayor and the Manicure is another smart, tolerant and protective man. When the Mayor’s son gets mixed up with a crafty, blackmailing manicurist while away at college, the Mayor conjures up a trick to beat the manicurist at her own game, saving his son from a web of intrigue.

The father in The Maneuvers of Joel and the Disappointed Orphan Asylum is betrayed, left penniless and packed off to the poor house by his own son in an incident that actually happened in real life not far from where George grew up. However, George rejects the standard King Lear ending. Instead, the father regains a second life on earth by his own shrewd tactics.

The father in Marse Covington is long gone along with the Old Plantation; however, his honor and kindness towards his former slaves of 50 years prior are central to a plot with deep pathos.

The two fathers in The College Widow appear at first to be opposites; one a boffin of a college president slightly lost in his ivory tower, while the other is a blunt self-made millionaire with both feet planted firmly on the ground. But both clearly have the best interests of their son and daughter in mind, with reason and tolerance in their hearts.

In The County Chairman one father is wise, open-minded and benevolent while the other has the deep flaw of an unforgiving nature. In the end, the unforgiving one loses.

While the fathers in George’s stories are not type-cast, there is a clear preference for those who are sympathetic figures. In many cases the fathers in George’s plays and stories are as heroic as his own father.

The Pioneer Spirit

Were John Ade just a nice guy, Christian, tolerant and reasonable, there would, suffice it to say, be no need for a whole book about him. However, he was much more than that. John lived an exciting and eventful life and, as the title of this book suggests, he was a pioneer in the fullest sense as described by one of his eulogizers upon his passing. As a 12-year old he left his job in a brewery in Lewes, England to set sail with his family for the United States. The Ades settled for a time in Cincinnati where young John drove a team for a contractor and did as much studying as he could. He never got a full year of formal education yet made good on the frontier in an Abe Lincoln sort of way. He was a hero in his community long before his son George made Ade a household name. John was an intrepid traveler and explorer from a tender age. He was a brave early settler in a new, remote and unproven country and later became a brave early settler in a new, remote and unproven Indiana prairie town where he started out as a shopkeeper, then a blacksmith, then cashier of the Discount & Deposit Bank of Kentland. Ultimately, he would go on to become a much-admired businessman and trusted elected official. He was a hard worker and a friend to everyone he met. By all accounts, he never missed an opportunity to give and to guide, to listen and to learn. And in the midst of all his many activities, he and his beloved wife Adaline raised a productive and happy family that included one of Broadway’s greatest playwrights.

A tribute to John, which first appeared in a publication called Jasper and Newton Counties, 1916 and was reprinted in the Brook, Iroquois and Washington Township Sesquicentennial Collection, 2006, tells it like this:

His life was essentially one of service, and well it has been said that he who serves is royal, for no other patent of nobility can equal this. Without entering into the great white light of publicity, John Ade pursued his course toward the goal of all that is desirable and ennobling in life, concentrating his resources and lifting them into the sphere of worthy achievement. His fair fame rests not on the idea of mere financial success but upon the firm basis of work accomplished and honors worthily won. His character was the positive expression of a strong and loyal nature, and in studying his clear-cut, sane, distinct character, interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation.

Not many people are remembered for things they did 100 years after their passing, but on two occasions while I was growing up in Newton County, Indiana, I was told stories about John by people to whom I was not related. The first time was when the Brook Christian Church was celebrating its 100th anniversary. My father and I were not members of the church, but as John’s descendants we were given special invitations to the celebration due to his role as one of the founders. There we heard many stories about his contributions to the church and the community. One day years later, as I was collecting my mail at the post office in Brook, I ran into a gentleman named Norm Light. In a short conversation, Norm reminded me that my ancestor John Ade had risked his life during the Civil War to bring back to Newton County the remains of Norm’s great-great grandfather, first lieutenant Albert Light. Although it was an event that had happened more than a century prior, Norm and his family had never forgotten John’s bravery and benevolence on behalf of their ancestral war hero.

In his book The History of Newton County, John wrote the following passage referring to the many local preachers he had come to know over the years. It could just as easily be said about him:

We sometimes fail to appreciate the value a community receives from the life and influence of a good man living in it. In fact, there are many communities to-day that are influenced, morally and religiously, by the lives of men who have passed away years ago, of whom it may truthfully be said, "Though dead, their influence still lives.

It’s safe to say that wherever John went, he inspired admiration among all who met him. In 1908, George was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago and brought along his ageing father as his guest. William Howard Taft had offered George the vice-presidential spot on the ticket, and although George had refused the honor, he remained a fervent supporter of Taft. At the convention George left his father on the convention floor with one of the state delegations as he moved around talking to other delegates, and when he went back for John, he was gone. After frantically asking after him someone said, Isn’t that him up by the podium? Sure enough, John, one of the few remaining Frémont Republicans (Frémont had been the first Republican presidential nominee in 1856, four years before Lincoln), had been invited to be an official ballot counter up on the main stage with the candidates themselves.

John was a lifelong Republican and made no bones about it. While his involvement in politics enriched his life greatly, it also made for at least one uncomfortable moment. John was named Morocco, Indiana’s first postmaster during Whig-Republican Millard Fillmore’s presidency, but when Democrat Franklin Pierce took office a few years later, John was fired from his post for offensive partisanship. It seems that John was not shy about voicing his political opinions, no matter the cost.

As close as George and John were, they did not always see eye-to-eye. When George and his brother Will left the Republican Party in 1912 to join Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose party, their father remained a stalwart Republican, saying only, I raised my sons better than that. George was a personal friend and active supporter of Theodore Roosevelt, yet would not run for office himself. Brother Will ran for Congress on the Bull Moose ticket. George would later write that he never belonged to any party, although he was loyal to the Republicans in all but two national campaigns.

Pioneer days were hard, but whining about ones’ circumstances was frowned upon, to say the least. One of the old sayings was, You have to play the cards that life has dealt you. In other words, don’t complain, just do your best. When John was asked in his old age why he didn’t buy a lot of land when he arrived in Newton County in the mid-1800s, when land was only a dollar an acre, he replied, Because I didn’t have a dollar. Like most of the early pioneers, John was nearly broke during his early life.

Contrast John’s reality with that of his son, George. George was rich and famous in the early part of the 20th Century. He could have lived anywhere: Chicago, where he got his first big break; New York, where his Broadway plays were immensely popular; or Hollywood, where he was a much sought-after writer (and sometimes director). Yet he chose to live and work in pastoral Newton County, Indiana, only ten miles from where he was born. The reason was simple—it was the home of his roots, his family and neighbors, and especially, his beloved father. To fully understand George and his work, one must also get to know his father and understand the sacrifices a pioneer man like John made for his children.

It may not be a coincidence that after John passed away, George published fewer—and some would say lesser quality—works than when his father was alive. Fathers, especially those possessing exceptionally high qualities as John did, are often revered by their sons. There is no doubt in my mind that George idolized his father and sought ways to honor him, not only through his work but at every opportunity. For instance, there came a day during George’s lifetime when a new town was founded in Newton County. A railroad depot was to be built there, and a couple of railroad company bigwigs, along with some local residents, called for the depot and town to be named after George, the area’s most famous citizen. George refused and declared that the honor should go to his father, for he was the real pioneer who had helped open up the prairie. According to Professor Ronald Baker’s book From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History, George won that battle and the town was indeed named for John.

The enduring values that John taught his sons extended throughout George’s life. Near the end of his career George formed a close collaboration with Will Rogers, at the time the highest paid star in Hollywood. Rogers famously said, I never met a man I didn’t like. John shared that philosophy. He was widely known for never saying anything bad about anyone. The story goes that upon the death of the town’s meanest drunk, a few of the townsfolk approached John for some fun, placing bets as to whether he would be able to say anything good about the not-so-dearly departed. When pressed, John replied, "Well, he was a pretty good whistler."

George never claimed the same noble restraint for himself, although he usually came close. In a letter, he once wrote of hating the guts of a man who had slandered him, then rebuked himself for even thinking such thoughts. His ideal of striving to maintain a code of live-and-let-live never waned. Again, this was most likely due to the altruistic example set by his father.

This book tells John Ade’s remarkable story of pioneering, community service and family leadership, mostly in his own words but also with some input from myself and his son George, whose brief autobiography kicks off the book for those who are either not familiar with or need a refresher on him and his work. Chapter 1 contains John’s Personal Recollections from a handwritten manuscript of a privately published pamphlet. Chapter 2 is a newspaper article from George about his father’s early travels to Chicago (wonderful fodder for Chicago history buffs!), and Chapter 3 is a lovely piece John wrote about a day-long wagon ride in 1860 with his children during which they visited several Newton County neighbors. It offers a snapshot of a long-ago era and one good man’s simple observations of the people and places that surrounded him. With a couple of exceptions, Chapters 4 through 38 are abridgments from John’s book The History of Newton County. I have mostly removed the drier statistical passages from his writings while leaving his stories intact. Here you’ll find John’s chronicling of the establishment of the local government, banks, schools, mail service, newspapers, businesses, churches, and so forth—literally everything that went into the raising up of a brand-new prairie town in Indiana in the 1800s. He even includes descriptions of significant incidents such as fires, the impact of the Civil War on the community, murders, trials, and weather events. Embedded within that string of chapters is one written by George about the Prairie Kings—a few of the notable early settlers in and around Newton County and their entertaining exploits—and another written by myself in which I share a previously unpublished bit of family lore, a tale about a Lazy Farmer that I believe likely originated with John. Throughout I’ve highlighted words and phrases that John and George used in their writings which may be unfamiliar to contemporary readers, and I’ve provided their definitions in footnotes.

I close the book with material related to John’s 85th birthday celebration at George’s home and a speech John made in 1913 about George’s birth and his early exploits on the family farm. And finally, there’s the memorial George wrote upon John’s death. It is a concise tribute of a son to his beloved father. The handwritten and cut and tape manuscript of this document is in the Newberry Library in Chicago. The chapter also includes notes about John’s funeral and a collection of quotes from condolence letters received by the Ade family. I’ve added photographs and illustrations for visual appeal and to bring clarity to John’s stories, as well as an entertaining bonus: a brief sketch George wrote for a silent movie that I don’t believe was ever made. The story is a beautiful illustration of George’s (and by extension, John’s) outlook on life. I uncovered this previously unpublished gem while doing research for this book, and I couldn’t resist including it here.

When John wrote his memoirs in 1911, many parts of America were still at a level of economic development not far removed from life in the 1850s. The excellent film Sergeant York accurately portrays this. Readers of John’s stories in 1911 would know about cattle drives, horses, mules, yoked oxen, walking behind a plow, life before electricity, indoor plumbing, etc. but the reader today probably has no first-hand knowledge of this life. The easiest way to gain an appreciation for the hardship and trials of the pioneers of yesteryear is cinema, especially historically accurate cinema.

After seeing the 1923 debut of the silent film The Covered Wagon, George wrote that it was the best movie he had ever seen and that director James Cruze had performed a great national service by his accurate portrayal of pioneers. Cruze himself was the son of Mormon pioneers who had crossed the Great Plains. In making the film he had on the set several advisors—old timers who themselves had made the great trek. The attention to detail and the general mood of the piece is impressive.

When talkies came in, Raoul Walsh brought the story of pioneers to an epic scale in 1930 with The Big Trail, introducing a young John Wayne to the world. The little wagons of The Covered Wagon gave way to immense prairie schooners in this version of the lives of the pioneers. Everything was bigger on The Big Trail!

Growing up, George’s favorite author was Mark Twain, in particular his portrayal of life in antebellum Missouri in Tom Sawyer. I highly recommend David O. Selznick’s classic for those seeking to visualize what life was really like in a small-but-growing midwestern town like Kentland during the days of John Ade and when George was a boy of Tom Sawyer’s age.

George wrote that his earliest memory was sitting on a rail fence watching the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 when he was a lad of five. George’s and John’s lives were in the orbit of Chicago; great was the depth of their association with the Windy City. What was it like back then? From the time of the Great Fire through to just after John’s death is accurately portrayed by Selznick in his 1933 production Sweepings. Not all pioneers were rural folk pushing a plow or toting a pickaxe. The movie, based on Lester Cohen’s book, tells a slightly fictionalized tale of the illustrious pioneer merchant Marshall Field and family of Chicago. One of the early lines in the movie is George’s famous quote, ‘Early to Bed and Early to Rise’ is a Bad Rule for any one who wishes to become acquainted with our most Prominent and Influential People. Watching the movie attentively, one will spot more signs of George’s influence, although none are credited. There are many lessons about business, life and money in the book and the film, perhaps the most profound being what happens when a rich man spoils his children.

The Hollywood epic How the West was Won covers the whole period of John’s life from the time he left the East Coast, including the Civil War and into the beginnings of the 20th century. While not as authentic as the cinema mentioned above, it is certainly entertaining.

This list would not be complete without Death Valley Days, one of George’s