Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, October 1899Various
History
Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, October 1899
Various
American periodicals
[C] Joseph Jefferson, first of that name, the son of
the comedian of Garrick's company, Thomas Jefferson, and
grandfather of our Joe, was born in Plymouth, England, in
1774. Tired of the Plymouth stage, with which he had been
connected from childhood, he came, at the suggestion of
Manager Powell of Boston, to America at the age of twenty, and
played with Hodgkinson and Hallam at the John Street Theatre,
New York, until Dunlap opened the Park in 1798. For five
years he there essayed comic and old men's characters until,
in 1803, he was fortunately and permanently engaged at the
then leading theatre of the country, the Chestnut Street, in
Philadelphia. There he practically remained until his death,
in August, 1832, the favorite and popular comedian of the
American stage. Of the two hundred characters he essayed,
many are unknown to the playgoer of the present day, but
his versatile talent was greatly commended in _Polonius_,
_Jeremy Diddler_, _Touchstone_, _Bob Acres_, _Dominie
Sampson_, _Mawworm_, _Captain Copp_, _Dogberry_, _Scaramouch_
and _Solus_ in "Every One Has His Fault," a comedy by Mrs.
Inchbald.
Only careful and clear-headed readers of William Winter can
form an idea of the comic genius involved in the name of
Jefferson on the American stage. One of its most promising
members, who died when but twenty-three, was John Jefferson,
third son of Joseph. His last performance was in 1831, at
Lancaster, in "The School for Scandal."—The cast was as
follows:
Sir Peter Teazle Joseph Jefferson, Sr.
Sir Oliver Surface John Jefferson
Rowley Joseph Jefferson, Jr.
(Father of Our Joe.)
Lady Teazle Mrs. S. Chapman
(Elizabeth Jefferson, John's sister, a celebrated and
popular Park Theatre actress.)
Mrs. Candour Mrs. Joseph Jefferson, Jr.
Lady Sneerwell Jane Jefferson Anderson
(Daughter of John's sister Euphemia and mother of Effie
Germon.)
Maria Miss Mary Anne Jefferson
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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