In November of 1878, Henry Farny began exhibiting “The Silent Guest”, a painting of a well known local elderly German figure who always sat in silence while drinking his beer (often at Weilert’s Saloon). He was considered a splendid, though quiet man who made for “quite a character” in the Over the Rhine area of the city.
Naturally, this unusual man caught the attention of Farny, who was also a frequent visitor to Weilert’s popular establishment. A 1924 story by Frank Grayson tells one tale of Farny’s attempt to convince the man to talk, though it’s not clear when these events took place. Gus Wald, a fellow Cincinnati Literary Club member and friend of Farny’s, who is part of this story, was practicing law in Cincinnati by 1876, so this could have taken place prior to Farny’s painting in 1878.
Anyway, according to Grayson, Farny and his friend attorney Gus Wald once tried to get the Silent Guest (or the Quiet Guest per a December 16, 1924, The Cincinnati Commercial Tribune article, page 8, column 2-3 ) to say something, anything. Farny hoped to get a reaction from him by telling the mysterious fellow, “Fine night, my friend, but don’t you think it will snow before morning?” .. The fact it was mid-July was why he phrased the quest that way. Unfortunately for Farny, his attempt failed.
Wald took his turn, but waited and watched. Eventually, the Silent Guest took a page out of a notebook, wrote upon it, then left his table. Farny and Wald walked over to read the note; it read, “I spit in this beer”. Farny, at Wald’s direction, appended the note with, “So, did we”. When the man returned, he read the note, then angrily shuffled out of Wielert’s.
While Farny and Wald could not get the man to speak, The Cincinnati Commercial reported at the time of Farny’s painting that a few lucky folks had heard the Silent Guest’s story, of how he served during the Napolenoic wars in Europe, how he couldn’t remember much after that, and how he supported himself at the age of 70 as a shoemaker.
Farny’s painting of the Silent Guest proved a success. Newspaper reports from the time regarded the work as excellent and that it marked another forward step in Farny’s career.
“The Silent Guest” didn’t remain on sale for long. Within a couple days it sold to Judge Manning Ferguson Force. Judge Force had moved to Cincinnati in 1848, shortly-thereafter joining the Literary Club, where he befriended future US president Rutherford B. Hayes, with whom he would have a long relationship. Force served in the Civil war, then returned to Cincinnati. In 1877, he joined the faculty of the Cincinnati Law School and was also elected judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati. In 1878 he bought “The Silent Guest” from his fellow Literary Club member Henry Farny. The Hayes Presidental Center holds the Manning Force papers.
The “Silent Guest” is currently owned by the Cincinnati Art Museum.
At some unknown juncture, Farny also sketched the “Silent Guest” for Cincinnati’s Etching club, which donated the illustration to the Cincinnati Art Museum.
