The Transatlantic Celebrity of Mr. O: Oratory and the Networks of Reputation in Early Nineteenth-Century Britain and America

Abstract

This essay examines the career of James Ogilvie, an innovative orator of the early nineteenth century—one of the first performers to attain celebrity in the United States—who subsequently sought to transfer his fame to Britain. Whereas most scholars scrutinise the phenomenon of celebrity by focusing on its reliance on print and consumer culture, this essay argues for the importance of social networks of friends, patrons and the cultivation of word-of-mouth reputation as a foundation for the creation of celebrity. This research demonstrates that even a socially inconsequential man might play an active role in engaging those networks to build his own fame. Ogilvie’s case also demonstrates the obstacles faced by performers who sought to translate celebrity from one social, national and media setting to another. By placing individual agency and social networks at the centre, this essay ultimately seeks to understand the phenomenon of celebrity in its early years.

Keywords:

• James Ogilvie
• oratory
• public performance
• social networks
• platform culture
• lecture tour
• celebrity

Notes

1. The only scholar heretofore to publish serious work on Ogilvie was Richard Beale Davis; see (Davis 1939, 1941, 1942).

2. James Ogilvie to Benjamin Rush, 21 Feb. 1797, Rush Family Papers (Coll. LCP.in.HSP 134), Vol. 25, Historical Society of Pennsylvania Manuscript Collections, Philadelphia, PA; James Ogilvie to Thomas Jefferson, 20 June 1808 (Oberg and Looney 2016). He had previously delivered lecture series in Richmond and Milton, Virginia.

3. Thomas Jefferson to John Glendy, 21 June 1808 (Oberg and Looney 2016).

4. Alexander J. Dallas to Nicholas Biddle, 5 Jan. 1811, Biddle Family Papers (Coll. 2146), Box 7, Folder 6, Historical Society of Pennsylvania Manuscript Collections, Philadelphia, PA. Spelling in the original.

5. ‘Table 4: Population of the 46 Urban Places: 1810’, U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/Tab04.txt. This size made Lancaster the 27th largest city in the nation, larger than Savannah and only slightly smaller than New Haven and Schenectady.

6. John Quincy Adams diary #27, 1 Jan. 1803–4 Aug. 1809, entries for 28 Apr. 1809 and 1 May 1809 (Adams 2016).

7. James Ogilvie to the Commissioners of the Orphan House, 14 Apr. 1811, Commissioners Correspondence, Box 58, Records of the Commissioners of the Charleston Orphan House, City of Charleston Records, Charleston County Public Library.

8. Minute Book of the Commissioners of the Charleston Orphan House (1810–1814), entry for 25 Apr. 1811, Microfilm COH 1, Records of the Commissioners of the Charleston Orphan House, City of Charleston Records, Charleston County Public Library.

9. Each event raised between $50 and $500 (or between $686 [£452.24] and $6862 [£4523.74] in today’s money.

10. In 1810 Portsmouth was the 20th largest city in the United States with 7400 residents; Philadelphia was the second.

11. See brief mention in John Quincy Adams diary #30, 1 June 1816–31 Dec. 1818, entry for 24 May 1817, in (Adams 2016).

12. George Brodie to William Godwin, 3 Feb. 1821, Ms. Abinger b.1, folders 5–6, Abinger Collection, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Oxford, England.

13. See arrays of advertisements on the first pages of the Morning Chronicle, 1 Aug. 1817 and The Times [London], 15 Oct. 1817.

14. Five shillings was equivalent to about £16.35, or $24.72, today; three shillings was equivalent to about £9.81, or $14.83. Ogilvie charged five shillings for his benefit performances in Aberdeen as well as a few of his initial lectures in Edinburgh.

15. Brodie to Godwin, 3 Feb. 1821, Abinger Collection.