sent his mother a substantial sum of money and arranged for his three youngest siblings to move into his Evansville home and took care of their needs. Because Dresser kept no diary, most of what is known about his personal life came from his brother, Theodore. While living in Evansville, Dresser began a long-term relationship with a local woman, whom Theodore identified as Annie Brace, the proprietor of Evansville's most prominent brothel. Her professional name was Sallie Walker and she may have been the subject of one of Dresser's most famous songs, "My Gal Sal". Historians believe that Annie Brace and Sallie Walker may have both been aliases for Minnie Holland, although this has not been confirmed. The relationship continued for several years, but the couple never married. In 1889 they had a falling out because of Dresser's frequent affairs with other women, including prostitutes. In the early 1880s Dresser worked with a group of vaudeville performers, including James Goodwin, John Leach, and Emma Lamouse. Their shows in Chicago attracted very large audiences, in part because the theater's owner kept admission fees low. In 1883 Dresser had his first songs published as sheet music since his time working with Hamlin. "Essie, over the Sea", "See That No One Plucks the Flowers from My Grave", and "My Mother Taught Me How to Pray" were supposedly published by Arthur P. Schmidt; however, one of Dresser's biographers reported that "1886 is the first year in which a published Dresser song can be documented." Few details are known of the period from late 1883 to the summer of 1886. In 1884 Dresser claimed to have an undisclosed illness. For two years he remained in the "south", away from his family and career. His brother Theodore speculated that Dresser may have had an affair and possibly fathered a child or he contracted syphilis. Dresser's song “The Curse”, written in 1887, may have referred to this period in his life. Its lyrics refer to a dead child and a lover turned enemy. Whatever the case, Dresser did not return to his family or resume performing for the public until 1886, when John Stewart Crossy approached him to act and sing music in his comedy, The Two Johns. Dresser agreed and resumed traveling the show circuit. Dresser continued to compose music during the height of his performing career. Between 1886 and 1893 he published nearly fifty songs,