There has been a drama in real life as a sort of side show to the regularly announced Irish drama at Holmes' Star theater during the present week. Basil West, who appears in the stage drama as Sir Reginald Dare, is one of the principal actors in the real drama. His honors as the principal actor are shared with pretty 17 year old Lulu Harris.
    Basil West appeared in Brooklyn with the Duncan and Sullivan "Honest Hearts and Willing Hands" company. He represented himself as an Englishman, and he was proud of his thoroughly English manner of dress, carriage and speech. The company went from here to Philadelphia, and it was then learned that Basil West was a native of that city. John L. said he had a contempt for a dude who denied his American origin, and intimated that he would hit the fellow in earnest some night. West resigned his position in the company at once. He then came on to New York and stopped at the Hotel Viario. Here he met Lulu Harris. She was an orphan, and her aunt, whose husband was proprietor of the hotel, cared for her. West loved the girl and asked for her hand. The aunt objected because of her youth. The next day the girl disappeared and West was requested to move. He secured an engagement with the "Shamus O'Brien" company and Lulu, who was a prisoner at the house of another aunt, in Long Island city, read his name on a play bill and heard that he was to appear at the Star theater this week. She escaped the vigilance of her aunt Monday and walked all the way from Hunter's Point to the theater on Jay street. She asked for West and was referred to the boarding house connected with the theater. This is at 50 Willoughby street. Mrs. Harry Hogan, whose husband is employed in the box office, presides over the boarding house. She let the girl remain in her house until West should appear at the theater. He had but a few minutes to talk with the girl, but he learned what had happened and said he would marry her as soon as the play was over. But Mrs. Hogan's motherly instincts saw that all was not well and she questioned the girl and then telegraphed her relatives. The police of New York had been looking for the runaway. At midnight an aunt of Lulu's appeared and found the girl asleep in the room with Mrs. Hogan's children, she being locked in the room and her lover having been sent to New York. The girl was taken home.
    On Tuesday the consent of the girl's guardians was secured and a happy party went to the City Hall, New York, where an alderman made Lulu Harris the wife of Basil West.

Source:

Unknown, "A Drama With a Pleasant Ending, Romance of Actor Basil West and Miss Lulu Harris," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, Thursday, 11 December 1890, p. 6.

    Basil West, whose romance is detailed above, is in actuality Wooddrop Wynkoop, the son of Alfred Wynkoop, M.D., and Helen Keturah Crispin.

    Richard Wynkoop, in the 1904 edition of the Wynkoop Genealogy in the United States of America, has this to say about his family on pages 152-153:

    767. Alfred Wynkoop, M.D., (Abraham 431, Benjamin 175, Abraham 52, Benjamin 8, Cornelius 1,) born April 3, 1825: married, April 17, 1856, Helen Keturah Crispin, of Salcombe, Devonshire, England. He was a druggist and physician, in Philadelphia: then a surgeon, in the Union army; then a druggist and physician, in New York: and, afterwards, in Philadelphia.
    Child of Dr. Alfred and Helen K. Wynkoop:
1285. Wooddrop: b. Dec. 1, 1858.

    My good friend Joe Check, [email protected], of Bay Shore, New York, was the first one to uncover Wooddrop's alias and profession and it was he who pointed out this article to me recently. Joe wrote me, back on July 31st, 2003: "There is a letter from Woodrop in [Alfred Wynkoop's pension file] so at least we've got his signature. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to locate a photo. He was married, (I found the listing in the 1920 U. S. Census), and his wife's name was Virginia. No children as far as I know. Basil West is listed in Who's Who in Hollywood. I haven't seen the actual entry but it does give his year of death as 1934."

    I'm not entirely sure what happened to Lulu Harris, but it seems apparent that Wooddrop/Basil married twice. In 1881 he attended Oxford University, in England, his mother's home country, where he was listed as W. Crispin Wynkoop. He was 21 years old and born in Philadelphia, the United States. He was unmarried and an undergraduate at Oxford University. He was living with William Jowett Whiting's family as a boarder.

    The letter that Joe mentioned earlier is dated February 6th, 1908, and written on stationary from the Hotel Victoria in New York City. While primarily a statement concerning his mother's financial condition, and his reasons for not being able to appear in person before the examiner in Philadelphia due to involvement in a play in New York City at the time, he goes on to say, "I always feel deeply sorrowful that I am unable to contribute to their comfort, but if you know anything of the theatrical calling you would realize how impossible it is. Long runs are rare. I am not much of a business man. In all walks of life that is essential." He goes on to sign the letter, "With best wishes, Believe me, Sincerely yours, Wooddrop B. C. Wynkoop (Basil West.)"

    Joe, this is a great story, if a little confusing, with lots of twists and turns. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention.

    Chris