Tribble, Andrew A.
(born: 1879 - died: October 15, 1935)Andrew Tribble was born in Union City, KY, where he also attended school. Andrew and Amos Tribble were the sons of Alice Tribble, and they were all boarding with a family in Union City in 1880, according to the U.S. Federal Census. Andrew Tribble is noted as one of the greatest female impersonators in theater, with a career that spanned 40 years. As a child he was a member of the pickaninny band In Old Kentucky. He later moved to Chicago and joined the Pekin Theatre. One night he dressed in drag and did a performance that the audience loved. He was cast in Cole and Johnsons' musical Shoo-Fly Regiment. His most popular character was Lilly White, a washerwoman.
In 2019, a marker was dedicated to Andrew Tribble in Union City Park. Andrew Tribble died at his home in Baltimore, Maryland. He is buried in the Earlham Cemetery in Richmond, IN (see Andrew A. Tribble at Find a Grave). He was the husband of Bessie Asbury, the couple married in Marion Indiana on October 11, 1899 (source: Indiana Marriages Index in Ancestry). They had a son named Atwood Tribble. Andrew A. Tribble's birthdate in this entry comes from the 1880 U.S. Census where the Tribble family is enumerated with Andrew as a two year old.
At the time of his death, one of Andrew A. Tribble's siblings was Mrs. Cyrilda Davis. Hiis body was taken to her home in Richmond, IN, where the funeral was held. His other siblings were Mrs. Ellen Runyan, Frank Dunbar, and Fielden Dunbar. Source: "Andrew A. Tribble," The Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram, 10/18/1935, p.11.
For more see A History of African American Theatre, by E. Hilland; African American Performance and Theater History: a critical reader, ed. by H. J. Elam, Jr. and D. Krasner; Critley King, "A Little known legend; Madison man hopes to shed light on Black performer's legacy," Richmond Register, 02/22/2018 (online); "Andrew A. Tribble," The Richmond Item, 10/18/1935, p.2. Listen to the WEKU 88.9 recording by Samantha Morrill titled "Marker Dedicated to Vaudevillian Andrew Tribble in Madison County."