were the singing comedian Charles "Cuba" Santana and the trombonist Amos Gilliard. After the latter moved to Rusco and Holland's Georgia Minstrels, he claimed that Chappelle and his brothers had threatened him at gunpoint before throwing him off the company train. Performer William Rainey brought his young bride, Gertrude – later known as "Ma Rainey" – to join the company in 1906. That year, Chappelle launched a second traveling tent company, the Funny Folks Comedy Company, with performers alternating between the two companies. The business continued to expand. Following a dispute, his brothers Lewis and James Chappelle left the company around 1907. In August 1908 one of the Pullman carriages used by the show burned to the ground in Shelby, North Carolina, killing several vaudeville entertainers who were sleeping. The fire started after one of the company horses kicked over a tank of gasoline near a cooking stove. Chappelle quickly ordered a new carriage and eighty-foot round tent so the show could go on the following week. Pat Chappelle died from an unspecified illness in October 1911, aged 42. At his death, he was said to be "one of the wealthiest colored citizens of Jacksonville, Fla., owning much real estate". His widow, Rosa, remarried and sold the Rabbit's Foot Company in 1912 as a going concern. F. S. Wolcott's Original Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, 1912–1959 The Rabbit's Foot Company was bought in 1912 by Fred Swift Wolcott (1882–1967), a white farmer originally from Michigan. He owned a small carnival company, F. S. Wolcott Carnivals, and put on a touring show, "F. S. Wolcott's Fun Factory", based in Columbia, South Carolina. Wolcott maintained the Rabbit's Foot company as a touring show, working as both owner and manager, and attracted new talent, including the blues singer Ida Cox, who joined the company in 1913. Ma Rainey recruited the young Bessie Smith for the troupe and worked with her until Smith left in 1915. Wolcott moved the show's touring base to his 1,000-acre Glen Sade Plantation, outside Port Gibson, Mississippi, in 1918. Company offices were located in the center of the trading town. Wolcott began to refer to the show as a "minstrel show" – a term Chappelle had eschewed. Company member trombonist Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker, described Wolcott as "a good man" who looked after his performers. Each spring, musicians from around the country assembled in Port Gibson to create a musical, comedy,