Thurlow Bergen

Bergen was born on January 14, 1875, East Saginaw, Michigan to Issarella (Ella) Winner and the lawyer George B.

He played and sang it at the White House for President Cleveland, who gave him permission to dedicate the song to his daughter Esther.

[5][6] He started a successful touring company, and dabbled in composition and writing as well (he wrote many children's stories).

[4] By that time Farquhar and he had divorced, and in May 1914 Bergen married fellow Broadway performer Elsie Esmond née Sturkow.

[9] After 1920, he returned to the stage and performed on Broadway as late as 1940,[3] when he appears in the census as a single theater actor living in an apartment in Manhattan, New York.