In October of 1888, from the 22nd through the 24th, an actor by the name of George T. Ulmer tried to gain the success Raymond had enjoyed, with a revival of Colonel Sellers and For Congress ; but it was not to be—the public could not accept another actor in the part of the well-loved Colonel. So, for as long as the memory of Raymond's performance remained in the minds of the theatre-going public, Colonel Sellers was exiled from the stage.
But how could this decade-long national phenomenon, which was hailed as a milestone in the development of American drama, be lost as a piece of literature—as an important part of Clemens' body of work? Most likely Mr. Odell and his Annals of the New York Stage can take the credit, at least partially, for this fact. His volumes, published in 1942, are a monumental work in the area of theatre history and are a primary source for research into theatrical productions. While Odell did recognize the play's popularity and called it "one of the plays of the decade," he also called the script a "wretched thing" and implied the question of authorship, vaguely suggesting that it was Densmore's work with Twain's name tagged on. He also quoted a review from the July 1879 issue of Scribbner's Monthly (written five years after the play's premier) which took the position of Raymond as creator, and giving no credit to the script for the production's success. A pity that Mr. Odell didn't use the New York Times' review as a source. After reading the initial account of The Gilded Age in the Annals, it would be easy to assume that pursuing this work would be of little merit.
History proves otherwise.
While being a bare-bones melodrama, Colonel Sellers boasts not only the comic genius of Sellers, but a strong female character as the centerpiece of the drama—a woman's role which a modern actress would long for—the strong-willed and highly ambitious Laura Hawkins. It is a piece which is worth preserving, and it is a work which Mr. Clemens would undoubtedly want to be remembered.
