Charles Felton Pidgin (November 11, 1844 – June 3, 1923) was an American author, statistician, and inventor.Ayers, Herry Morgan

(1917; 2015) He is best known for his 1900 novel ''Quincy Adams Sawyer'', which became successful largely due to a big marketing campaign, and was adapted for the stage and silent film.

Biography

He was born on November 11, 1844, in

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for ne ...

, to Mary E. Felton and Benjamin Gordon Pidgin. As a young child, Pidgin was rendered lame by an accident to his hip, and he was also partially blind for a number of years. He graduated from

The English High School The English High School in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1821, is one of the first public high schools in the United States. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed upon its first relocation in 1824.''Encyclopædia Bri ...

in Boston in 1863, and worked for ten years in the mercantile business. He was appointed chief clerk of the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1873. In 1888 he independently published a book titled ''Practical Statistics''. He was appointed as chief of the bureau in 1903, and remained there until 1907, leaving to focus on his writing work.Boyden, Frank L
Popular American Composers
''Popular American Composers'', pp. 27-28 (1902) In addition to serving as a state statistician, Pidgin remained busy in many other pursuits. He invented statistical tabulating machines,Pidgin, Charles Felton, 1844-1923. - Finding Aid
princeton.edu, Retrieved 5 January 2016 and wrote songs and musical comedies. And he also became a fairly prolific author, for which he became best known.(3 February 1917)
Has the United States More than 118 Notable Composers?
''Musical America'' (letter to editor where Pidgin combines his statistical skills with his musical interests to report how many composers appear in ''Who's Who in America'' and their ages) On the stage, Pidgin's musical comedy adaptation of ''

Peck's Bad Boy Henry "Hennery" Peck, popularly known as Peck's Bad Boy, is a fictional character created by George Wilbur Peck (1840–1916). First appearing in the 1883 novel ''Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa'', the Bad Boy has appeared in numerous print, stage, an ...

'' was first produced in 1883 and ran for many years. His first and most popular novel ''Quincy Adams Sawyer'' was published in 1900 and sold over 250,000 copies.(16 September 1905)
Charles Felton Pidgin's Books
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''(20 April 1901)
Notes and News (last item)
''

'' (reporting that book is selling 2,000 copies per day)(16 February 1901)
News and Notes (third item)
''

'' (reporting that book sales are approaching 100,000 mark) It was aggressively marketed by his publisher, C.M. Clark Publishing, run by Carro Clark, the wife of Pidgin's friend Charles Atkinson.(2 March 1902)
Woman Publisher Who Has Succeeded
''Los Angeles Herald'' It was adapted into a popular stage play in 1902, which toured widely and played at the Academy of Music in New York.(25 March 1902)
"Quincy Adams Sawyer" - Pidgin's Novel of New England Life Produced on Stage
''

''(8 August 1902)
"Quincy Adams Sawyer" - An Amusing Rustic Drama, with a City Chap for a Hero
''

''(6 September 1902)
"Quincy Adams Sawyer" in a Week
''Cambridge Tribune''(18 January 1904)
At Opera House
''

Kentucky New Era The ''Kentucky New Era'' is the major daily newspaper in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in the United States. History The paper was founded in 1869 by John D. Morris and Asher Graham Caruth, as the ''Weekly Kentucky New Era.''(5 March 19070
"Quincy Adams Sawyer"
''The Cornell Daily Sun''(9 May 1905)
"Quincy Adams Sawyer" - Rural Play, Elaborated, Seen at the Academy of Music
''

'' The book was adapted to

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s of the same name in 1912 (by Puritan Special Features Company, of which little is known),(10 January 1914)
Pictures Stimulate Interest in Play
''

The Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. ...

'' and again in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

starring John Bowers,

Blanche Sweet Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the early days of the motion picture film industry. Early life Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first name Sarah was ra ...

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often gr ...

, and

Barbara La Marr Barbara La Marr (born Reatha Dale Watson; July 28, 1896 – January 30, 1926) was an American film actress and screenwriter who appeared in twenty-seven films during her career between 1920 and 1926. La Marr was also noted by the media ...

. Both films are considered lost. Pidgin's next novel, ''Blennerhassett'' (1901), sold over 60,000 copies before even appearing in print.(June 1908)
Books
''Sunset'', p. 182 Pidgin's 1902 novel ''The Climax: or, What Might Have Been: A Romance of the Great Republic'' envisioned an

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

where

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

did not kill

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, and later became president.Feeley, Gregory (6 September 2004)
The Way It Wasn't
''The Weekly Standard'' Pidgin was an avid enthusiast of Burr, who he felt was wronged by history, and a number of his novels involve Burr. Motion picture and method of producing the same 1917 US patent

Motion picture and method of producing the same 1917 US patent

In 1916, Pidgin filed a patent application to display dialogue in silent films, proposing that actors inflate balloons or party favor-like objects with text on them to recreate the act of speaking.Cartmell, Deborah
A Companion to Literature, Film and Adaptation
(2012) The idea never took off, and this proposal has only received modern attention as being a rather ludicrous idea.Felton, Bruce

(2003)Ptak, John F. (28 January 2014)

''JF Ptak Science Books''(30 January 2014)
An Absurd Device to Add Dialogue to Silent Films
''Neatorama'' Pidgin married three times. He married his first wife Lizzie Abbott Dane in 1867, and she died the following year. In 1873 he married Lucy Sturtevant Gardner, who became a doctor and practiced medicine until her death in 1896.(20 June 1896)
Death of Dr. Lucy S. Pidgin
''Cambridge Chronicle''(27 June 1896)
A Friend of the Sick and Unfortunate - Death or Mrs. Dr. Lucy Pidgin Mourned by a Wife Circle of Friends - a Sketch of her Life and Work
''Cambridge Chronicle'' His third wife, married in 1897, was Frances Fern Douglas.The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 13
pp. 479-80 (1906)(24 July 1897)
Pidgin-Douglas
''Cambridge Chronicle'' Pidgin died at his home in

Melrose Highlands, Massachusetts Melrose Highlands is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Melrose, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Formerly part of neighboring Stoneham, it became part of Melrose in the latter part of the nineteenth century. There ...

, on June 3, 1923.Miscellaneous Notes - Charles Felton Pidgin
''Journal of the American Statistical Association'', Vol. 18, No. 143 (Sep., 1923), pp. 919-924(5 June 1923)
Charles F. Pidgin (death notice)
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

List of novels

* ''Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks'' (1900) * ''Blennerhassett'' (1901) Atherton, Gertrude. (12 October 1901)
Mr. Pidgin and Alexander Hamilton (letter to editor)
''

''Smith, Geoffrey D
American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography
p. 532-33 (Cambridge Press 1997)(26 October 1901)
Hamilton and Burr - Mr. Pidgin Replies to Miss Atherton's Criticism of "Blennerhassett"
''

'' * ''Stephen Holton'' (1902)(3 May 1902)
Mr. Pidgin's "Stephen Holton"
''

'' * ''The Climax'' (1902)(2 October 1902)
The Climax (review)
''

'' * ''The Letter H'' (1904) * ''A Nation's Idol'' (1904) * ''Little Burr, the Warwick of America'' (1905) (inspired by

Jeremiah Clemens Jeremiah Clemens (December 28, 1814 – May 21, 1865) was a United States senator and novelist from Alabama. A Southern Unionist, he opposed the secession of Alabama from the Union in 1861 but briefly served in the Confederate Army. He was the a ...

's ''The Rivals'' (1859))(22 April 1905)
A Novel of Aaron Burr
''

'' * ''The Corsican Lovers'' (1906) * ''Sarah Bernhardt Brown'' (1906) * ''The Hidden Man'' (1906) * ''The Toymakers'' (1907) * ''Labor'' (1908) * ''Theodosia'' (1908) (about

Theodosia Burr Alston Theodosia Burr Alston (June 21, 1783 – January 2 or 3, 1813) was an American socialite and the daughter of the third U.S. Vice President, Aaron Burr, and Theodosia Bartow Prevost. She became First Lady of South Carolina after her husband, ...

, daughter of Aaron Burr)(25 January 1908)
Wide Variety in Forthcoming Books
''

'' * ''The Further Adventures of Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason Corner Folks'' (1909) * ''The Chronicles of Quincy Adams Sawyer, detective'' (1912) * ''The House of Shame'' (1912)

References

External links

* * * *
Selections From the Operatic Works of Chas. F. Pidgin and Chas. D. Blake. Sing Again. Bird Song.
at Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Pidgin, Charles Felton 1844 births 1923 deaths English High School of Boston alumni People from Roxbury, Boston People from Melrose, Massachusetts Writers from Boston 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American statisticians Mathematicians from Massachusetts 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts