I’m in the midst of reading the book, Junius Brutus Booth: Theatrical Prometheus by Stephen M. Archer. One of the most fascinating things I’ve come across thus far is the drama that occurred when Junius Brutus Booth made his star debut in the theaters of London. In preparation for a post about the matter, I found myself with a wealth of material on the early theatrical life of Junius Brutus Booth. Instead of summarizing key points of Junius’ initial acting career, I decided to write a series of posts examining the humble acting beginnings of the man who would later father a theatrical dynasty, including the assassin of President Lincoln. What follows is a continuing part of a series of posts entitled, “When Junius Took the Stage”. Click here for Part 1, here for Part 2, and here for Part 3 of the series.

Part 4 – When Junius Took the Lead

Back home in London after a tour of the European continent, 19 year-old Junius Brutus Booth was still struggling to make his way.  Recently married and with a baby on the way, Junius needed to make a name for himself in his chosen theatrical profession.  Upon his return from the continent, Junius used the name of a patron he had met during his travels in order to gain an audience with the manager of the Covent Garden Theatre, Henry Harris.  Junius signed a five year contract with Harris, with a salary of two pounds a week for the first four years which would double on the fifth year.  Not willing or financially able to wait until the 1815-1816 theatrical season commenced in the fall, Junius spent the summer of 1815 in the country provinces.  He joined Thomas Trotter’s theatres in the costal cities of Brighton and nearby Worthing and was paid one pound ten shillings per week.

A portion of an 1830 map of England showing London, where Junius played at Covent Garden, and the costal cities of Worthing and Brighton, where Junius played at Thomas Trotter’s theatres.

Pregnant Adelaide joined her husband at Brighton but, by September the couple was back in London awaiting Junius’ debut at Covent Garden.  Junius was still merely a supernumerary, a supporting player.  While he was given a weekly salary regardless of whether he worked or not, his pay was not sufficient enough to even support him.  On October 5^th, 1815, Junius had another mouth to feed with the birth of his daughter, Amelia Portia Adelaide Booth.  The only way to earn an adequate amount of money to support a family as an actor was to progress into a star.  In order to become a star, a supporting character had to be on stage as much as possible in order to gain supporters and beneficial reviews.  During the 1815 – 1816 season at Covent Garden, Junius’ work was hardly consistent, hindering his efforts to create a following of fans.  Over the nine month season at the Covent Garden, Booth acted only 18 times.  His most repeated role during this time was the part of Silvius, the sheepherder, in the play, As You Like It.  Little better than a walk on role, Booth played Silvius a total of 5 times that season.

At the end of the 1815-1816 season, it was very obvious to Booth that Harris and the Convent Garden Theatre were not going to give him the chances he needed to be a star.  During the summer months, Booth returned to the provinces of Worthing and Brighton playing at Thomas Trotter’s theatres there.  Trotter increased Booth’s salary from the previous summer, and now paid him two pounds two shillings per week.  This was an increase even over his normal pay from Covent Garden and, at Trotter’s theatres, Booth was able to act regularly and in more lucrative roles.  As the summer came to a close, Booth wisely decided to remain in the provinces for the 1816-1817 season.  As his acting ability grew, Junius began to assemble a modest group of supporters in the provinces.  On September 25^th, 1816, Junius got the opportunity that all supernumeraries prayed for.  At his theatre at Brighton, Thomas Trotter announced that Edmund Kean, the leading actor in England, was to play Sir Giles Overreach in A New Way to Pay Old Debts.

Edmund Kean

A leading London star in the provinces was a sure way to pack the houses and people came out to witness Kean’s majesty. In a serendipitous twist, Kean never showed up.  Kean later stated that he had never agreed to any such performance at Trotter’s, though it is equally likely that an attack of brandy prevented him from making the journey.  Trotter quickly brought in Booth who had been performing at his Worthing theatre.  Junius played the role meant for Kean that night, and he pleasantly surprised the expecting audience.  As Dr. Archer states in his book, “the neophyte had risen to the occasion.”  This successful, break out performance by Junius Brutus Booth led Trotter to give him more substantial roles.  In time, this greater exposure allowed Booth to gain a following of fans.  Several of these fans turned out to be better than your run of the mill theatre goers.  Three rich and influential patrons banded together on Junius’ behalf.  They collectively paid a visit to Henry Harris back at the Covent Garden Theatre in London.  They convinced Harris to give Booth a trial night in the city where he would play the leading role.  His shot as a star on the London stages occurred on February 12^th, 1817.

Junius’ star debut came at a crucial time for the young actor.  He and Adelaide had suffered the devastating death of their first child, Amelia.  Though her exact date of death is unknown, it is likely that the poor girl passed away sometime during Junius’ season in the provinces.  Mourning the loss of their daughter, a needed boost in Junius’ theatrical career was just what the small family needed.  Alas, when Junius arrived at Covent Garden to rehearse for his leading role, he was greeted with less than open arms.  His former cast mates jeered him stating, “Why, I declare! It’s little Silvius of last season, come to play Richard the Third, in opposition to the great Kean!” “I wonder, now, if the manager expects respectable actors to play secondary parts to him!”  In fairness, it was probably a slap in the face to the troupe of Covent Garden to play supporting roles to an amateur that had been among the lowest in their ranks a year before, even if the arrangement was for only one night.  One of the supporting actresses, a Sally Booth, requested that Junius might add an “e” to the end of his surname so that, upon his assumed failure that night, the audience would not mistakenly believe they two were related and therefore tarnish her reputation.  In turn, Junius made a snide remark about how Ms. Booth had been trying to change her own name through marriage with an equal amount of success as her acting ability.

Despite the negativity from his colleagues, Junius prepared for his best, and perhaps only, chance at stardom.  He chose Shakespeare’s Richard the Third as his play as it was one of his successful roles in the provinces.  This was Junius Brutus Booth’s chance to replicate the success of Edmund Kean.  Kean, himself, had come from the provinces as an unknown actor in 1814 and was now the most celebrated star in London with a following of devoted fans known as Keanites.

We can only imagine the amount of stress and trepidation Junius must have felt when the curtain rose on February 12^th, 1817.

Junius Brutus Booth as Richard III

When the curtain fell at the conclusion of the play, Junius’ fate as an actor was set.  Here are some quotes from London theatre critics of “Mr. Booth’s” debut at Covent Garden:

“an exact copy or parody of Mr. Kean”

“a perpetual strut and an unwielding swagger”

“He stamps too often”

“[he] traverses more extent of the stage than any Actor we ever beheld”

“Though it may pass at Brighton for grand, gracious, and magnificent, even the lowest of the mob will laugh at [it] in London”

From these reviews, it would appear that Junius was practically booed from the stage.  However, the exact opposite was true.  Despite the complaints of some theatre critics and loyal Keanites, Booth closed Richard the Third with “rapturous and unanimous applause”.  Following Junius’ bows, another actor appeared onstage to announce the next evening’s performance, as was customary.  When the audience heard that tomorrow’s play, A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, would not feature Junius Brutus Booth, they stood shouting chants of, “Richard the Third!  Booth as Richard!”  The shocked messenger actor retreated backstage and consulted the manager.  In face of the sudden and thunderous acclamation of Booth, the manager ceded to the audience’s wishes.  He announced that Booth would repeat his role and talent the following night.  As Dr. Archer expertly sums up in his book, “No new tragedian, fresh from the country, could ask for more.”

The next night, Junius received an almost identical demonstration of support.  At the conclusion of his second performance as Richard the Third the audience once again rose to their feet and demanded a third performance for the next night, Friday.  Though this time the manager refused, he did announce that Booth would return as Richard on Monday the 17^th.  Junius had succeeded in establishing himself as an exciting, new tragedian and soon had his own following of fans named “Boothites”.

There is no doubt that Adelaide and Junius’ father, Richard, were incredibly relieved at Junius’ new found success.  However, in a city such as London, there can be only one reigning monarch of the stage.  A battle, the likes of which had never been seen before, was about to start between the rising upstart Junius Brutus Booth and the king of the London stages, Edmund Kean.  Which would come out the victor in their Shakespearian scuffle? Stay tuned for the next post in this series.

References:
Junius Brutus Booth: Theatrical Prometheus by Stephen Archer

After my last post about the whole Booth family living under one roof during the 1860 census, Art Loux posed an interesting question:

Has anyone found the Booths in the 1870 census? I have looked for Mary Ann, Rosalie, Edwin and Joseph but have not found any of them. Asia was in England.

I decided to see if I could find an answer for him.  I decided to look for Edwin first, hoping the rest of the family would be with him.  As a popular actor, I figured he would be the easiest one to track down.  Having recently bought Arthur Bloom’s wonderful new book, Edwin Booth: A Biography and Performance History, I figured I’d have the answer in just a half hours work. Boy was I wrong.  After a couple days of pouring over census pages, I’ve still come up empty trying to find the greatest Hamlet of his generation in the 1870 census.  However, I have two ideas as to why I haven’t been able to find him: Either Edwin missed the census or the census missed him.

First, utilizing Bloom’s biography of Edwin, let’s discuss Edwin Booth’s life leading up to the 1870 census.

1867 – 1869:

The three years previous to the census were very formative years in the life of Edwin Booth.  In June of 1867, Edwin purchased four adjacent land plots at the intersection of 6^th avenue and 23^rd street in New York City.  It was here, that Booth invested his fortune to build his own theatre, Booth’s Theatre.  Though Booth managed the building of the theater, he spent little time witnessing the progress on it.  Instead, he spent the acting seasons of 1867-1868 and 1868-1869 touring in order to fund the project.  He had hoped to have the theatre ready to go by December of 1868, but delays pushed back the grand opening of his theatre until February 3^rd, 1869.  He opened his namesake theatre with Romeo and Juliet.

Booth’s Theatre

Shortly after the theatre opened for business, Edwin most likely read in the papers about the presidential pardon of Dr. Mudd for his involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  Pardons for conspirators Samuel Arnold and Edman Spangler followed soon after.   Seven days after his theatre’s debut, Edwin Booth wrote to President Andrew Johnson asking, again, for the remains of his misguided brother.  Edwin was successful this time, but he did not go to Washington, sending his brother and business manager Joseph in his stead.

During this period, Edwin had fallen in love again.  Mary Devlin, Edwin’s first wife and mother of his only child, Edwina, had died in 1863.  The new object of Booth’s affection was Mary McVicke.  Mary was the step-daughter of James McVicker, the actor and owner of McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago.   In mid-1867, Booth offered Mary McVicker the role of his leading lady for the 1867-1868 season.  In truth, McVicker was hardly experienced enough to be a leading lady, but Edwin was smitten with the 19 year old.  They toured together and by the summer of 1868, Edwin and Mary McVicker were living together.  They finally made the arraignment official and married on June 7^th, 1869, four months after the opening of Booth’s Theatre.  By October of 1869, Mary was pregnant.

Edwin and Mary (McVicker) Booth

From Bloom’s biography and newspaper accounts, we learn that during this time period Edwin and Mary were living in Booth’s Theatre in a suite of rooms.

When the summer months rolled around, Edwin and Mary liked to vacation at Long Branch, New Jersey.  Long Branch had been a beach resort town since the late 18^th century.  By the 19^th century, it had become a “Hollywood” of the east coast, with many actors (particularly those from New York) calling Long Branch their summer home.  In fact, Mary’s stepfather, James McVicker, owned a home in Long Branch and the family would summer there.

During the 1869 -1870 theatrical season, Edwin needed to make more money to help repay his debts from building Booth’s Theatre and therefore went touring.  Pregnant Mary joined her husband as he travelled to Philadelphia, Boston, and other New England cities.  By January of 1870, the Booths were back at their own theatre.  Edwin’s next documented performance outside of New York was not until the 1870 – 1871 season.

1870:

After a great deal of researching here is my timeline for Edwin Booth for the year of 1870, the census year.

January – April,  1870 – Edwin and Mary are at home, living in Booth’s Theatre on the corner of 6^th avenue and 23^rd street, NYC.  Edwin is performing in his own theatre.

April 16^th, 1870 – Edwin’s last performance at Booth’s Theatre for the 1869 – 1870 season.

May 1870 – Edwin and (most likely) the pregnant Mary travel to Long Branch, New Jersey for a brief vacation before the baby is due in June.  Newspaper clippings support the idea that Edwin was in Long Branch.

May 30^th, 1870 – James McVicker, Mary’s stepfather, opens at Booth’s Theatre in a new play called “Taking the Chances”.

Early June, 1870 – Edwin and Mary return to their home above Booth’s Theatre in New York.

June 13^th, 1870 – Edwin writes a letter to Jervis McEntee from New York, verifying that he is back home.

June, 1870 – Per Bloom’s biography: “Edwin and Mary were married in June 1869, and by late October she was pregnant.  The baby was almost a month late.  The doctors in attendance convinced the Booths that Mary miscalculated.  They all thought it was a joke, but the result was a disaster.” If the couple expected the baby was going to be born in June, this would explain why they left Long Branch after only spending a month there.  Since Mr. McVicker was playing at Booth’s Theatre, it would make sense that he would want to witness the birth of his (step) grandchild.

July 3^rd, 1870 – Per Bloom: “Mary was a physically small woman, and the baby was so large (10- ½ pounds) that the attending doctors were forced to use forceps, which slipped twice and damaged the child’s head.  Edwin assisted at the birth, which came at 11:30 p.m. on July 3, 1870.”  By 4 a.m. the baby, named Edgar, had died.  The birth occurred at home in Booth’s Theatre.

July, 1870 – The birth was hard on Mary, and she was sedated with chloroform for five days after.  During her sedation, Edwin buried Edgar next to his first wife, Mary Devlin, in Massachusetts.  When he came back, he took Mary back to Long Branch to recover, likely with the McVickers in tow.

July 25^th, 1870 – A letter written by Edwin Booth to Jervis McEntee from Long Branch, NJ, verifies that Booth was back at Long Branch.

August 20^th, 1870 – A letter written by Edwin Booth to Charles Gayler (the playwright for the play Mr. McVicker had debited in May) from Long Branch, NJ, verifies that the couple was still at Long Branch.

September 5^th, 1870 – Edwin Booth starts the 1870 – 1871 season at McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago.  Mary, now recovered from the after effects of childbirth, accompanies him, and her parents, there.

October – December, 1870 – Edwin Booth acts in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.

December 16^th, 1870 – Booth is in Philadelphia playing at the Walnut Street Theatre.  Edwin wrote to a friend on this date stating, “I shall be home at Xmas (God willing) and will follow Jefferson at Booth’s in Jan.  This is rather unexpected, tho’ I’m rather glad of it, for I am sick of traveling, and it is not the thing for Mary, who has been confined to the house for a week past…”  It appears Mary had continued to follow Edwin during his entire tour.

December 24^th, 1870 – Edwin’s last performance in Philadelphia.  Edwin and Mary assumedly go home to New York.  Edwin starts playing at his own theatre starting January 9^th, 1871.

Theories:

With the timeline above, I have two theories as to what happened with Edwin Booth and the census.

1. Edwin Booth missed the census.

According to Ancestry.com: “The official enumeration day of the 1870 census was 1 June 1870. All questions asked were supposed to refer to that date. The 1870 census form called for the dwelling houses to be numbered in the order of visitation; families numbered in order of visitation; and the name of every person whose place of abode on the first day of June 1870 was with the family.”  From newspaper accounts, we know that Edwin Booth was in Long Branch, NJ in May.  From a letter Booth wrote on June 13^th, we know that he was then back in New York.  Two possible scenarios would eliminate Edwin Booth from being counted.  Either Edwin was still in Long Branch when his neighborhood was surveyed or Edwin was back in New York when the census enumerators came, but since he had been living in Long Branch on June 1^st, they did not include him.  Two identical newspaper clippings from two different papers make a joke that supports the idea that Edwin Booth missed the census:

2. The census missed Edwin Booth

The 1870 census was not without controversy.  After it was completed many states, including New York, believed that large portions of the population had been missed.  Could Edwin Booth have been one of those who were missed?  It may not be as ridiculous as it sounds.  Mary Booth’s step father, James McVicker, was engaged at Booth’s Theatre from May 30^th –  June 11^th performing in “Taking the Chances”.  Though I’ve not yet found documentation for it yet, it is extremely likely that Mr. McVicker stayed on at Booth’s Theatre to await the birth of his (step) grandchild.  This puts Mr. McVicker in New York City from May 30^th to at least July 3^rd.  If census takers surveyed him, he could honestly say he was living in NYC on June 1^st and he would have been included.  However, like Edwin Booth, James McVicker is nowhere to be found in the 1870 census.  He’s not in New York City, he’s not in Long Branch, he’s not back home in Chicago.  Nor is there any record for Mrs. McVicker in the 1870 census either.  Perhaps the 1870 census actually missed Edwin Booth and his entire household.

The weirdest part of all of this is that, barring an obvious mistake by me, the Booths had to have been missed not once, but twice.  New York City was given permission to do a recount of the 1870 census and started a 2^nd enumeration in December of 1870.  Edwin would have been at home when the enumerators were in his neighborhood in early January, but again, there is no record of him.  Perhaps, living in his own theater as he did, the census people did not think to knock on the theatre doors and ask about anyone living there.

The Rest of the Family:

While I was not successful in finding Edwin Booth for Art, I did find Mary Ann, Rosalie, and Joe.  The three of them were not living at the Booth Theatre.  In August of 1869, Edwin wrote a letter to a friend in which he stated, “I sold my house some weeks ago—obtained comfortable quarters for my brother and sister— with whom Joe resides…”  The “Joe” Edwin names is not his brother, but rather actor Joseph Jefferson.  When this letter was written, Joe Jefferson was performing his famous Rip Van Winkle character at Booth’s Theatre.  This helped me place the residence of the Booth family somewhat close to the Theatre.  When I found the following census record for a “Maria”, Rosalie, and Joseph Booth, boarding less than a mile from Booth’s Theatre down 6^th avenue, I knew I had found the right family.

Mary Ann, Rosalie, and Joseph Booth in the 1870 Census. Click the image for the full page.

They all decided to fudge their ages a bit.  In reality, Mary Ann was 68, Rosalie was 47, and Joe was 30.  Oh vanity, thy name is Booth.

Conclusion:

If I have completely wasted my time and Edwin is actually in the 1870 census, plain as day, I welcome the correction.  I’d be embarrassed for missing him, of course, but I’d rather know.

Despite his fame and fortune, Edwin Booth has proven to be an elusive man.  Though I’ve come up empty handed trying to find him in the 1870 census, the process of searching for him has taught me more about his life around that period than I would ever have known otherwise.  I searched the records, documented Edwin’s movements and read hours’ worth of census pages.  The search for knowledge is what makes this all worthwhile.  Still, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and take a nap until the next census to recover.  Or maybe a vacation would do me some good.  I’ve read Long Branch, NJ is nice.

References:
Edwin Booth: A Biography and Performance History by Arthur Bloom
The 1870 Federal Census accessed through Ancestry.com
Newspaper articles from GenealogyBank.com
The Hampton-Booth Theatre Library online card catalog
Letters from Edwin Booth to John E. Russell from The Outlook magazine April 20^st, 1921