Another bit of information about JHT:


19 October 1944, New Castle (PA) News, pg. 1, col. 4:
Ninety-Seven-Year
Old Man Is Eloper

Aged Author Of "The Face On
The Barroom Floor" Is On
Honeymoon
ELKTON, Md., Oct. 19—(INS)—Ninety-seven-year-old John Henry Titus, who penned his way to fame with "The Face on the Barroom Floor," today was honeymooning with the former Mrs. Elizabeth Pfliderer, after their elopement in Elkton.
(...)
The marriage was Titus' third. He was reportedly received more than half a million dollars to date for his 120-verse Saga of an old artist ruined by drink, which he wrote 72 years ago.

Turned down by editors for two years, the "Face on the Barroom Floor" was on the lips of virtually every elocution student in the nation within a short time after it was eventually published in 1874.

Reformers glorified in it at Temperance rallies, despite Titus' avowal that he meant it as a satire on "Goodie-Goodies."

Once queried on how he felt about drinking, the former tannery worker replied:

"The only time I drink is when I'm alone or with somebody."