Opening on 1 October 1900 at the Garrick Theatre, the comedy by R. and M. W. Hitchcock, based upon a bestselling book by David Westcott, was directed by Edward E. Rose and produced by Charles Frohman. It ran for 148 performances. The title character is a shrewd, horse-trading, homespun philosopher, a New England small-town banker who manipulates the plot. It was perfect for the popular comedian William H. Crane, who won unprecedented accolades for his portrayal, and yet the play proved popular on the road in other hands as well. "I never enjoyed playing any part so much," Crane reminisced in his memoir Footprints and Echoes (1927, 187).
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.