THE CAREER OF MARY ANN DUFF

THE AMERICAN SIDDONS

1810 - 1839

Penny Maya Landau

A Dissertation

Submitted to^ the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

December 1979

Approved by Doctoral Committee:

y ■ iif'W'bG Ad visor S/hool oP/SpeechM Communication

Graduate college Kepresentative

BOWLING GREEN U11ÏV. LIBRARY It

© 1979

Penny Maya Landau

All Rights Reserved il

ABSTRACT

Mary Ann Duff, an early nineteenth century American actress, was born in London in 1794, and came to the United States in 1810 with her husband, actor John R. Duff. They performed with various acting companies in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. After several years as a secondary actress, Mrs. Duff began to develop her talents, emerging as the more popular of the two, which earned her the title, the

"American Siddons." Her career continued until 1839, when she retired to New Orleans, converted to Methodism, and eventually died in New York in 1857.

Mrs. Duff performed with several great actors of the time, including

Edmund Kean, Edwin Forrest and Junius Brutus Booth, all of whom praised her talents as a great tragic actress. Although Mrs. Duff was highly regarded by her peers and her audiences, she has been overlooked in the chronicle of American Theatre History.

The major objective of the study was to explore and prepare a chronicle of the acting career of Mrs. Duff, through an investigation of her life, focusing on the aspects of her professional career, from her debut as Juliet in Boston in 1810 to her final performances in New

Orleans in 1839.

During her twenty-nine year career, Mrs. Duff played over two hundred characters, and was one of the earliest examples of the actresses of the Classic school. She possessed the ability to move her audiences to tears with her portrayals, creating believable and sympathetic characters, thus establishing herself as an outstanding and highly respected actress. Ill

The study contends Mrs. Duff's neglect in the chronology of history is due, not to a lack of talent, but to her judgmental errors in the area of management, failure to make necessary social contacts that would have furthered her career, her establishment as a star on stages other than in New York, her early retirement, and the fact that she left no memoirs of her life or career. IV

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There have been several people who have been instrumental in the creation of this study. I would like to express my thanks to those who have been of assistance to me: to Dr. Norman Myers for his advice and counseling; to Dr. Briant H. Lee for his editorial assistance; to

Dr. Lois A. Cheney for her constant support and encouragement; to Dr.

Ramona Cormier for her guidance and moral support; to Dr. Allen S.

White for making this a reality; to Carol Lashuay for easing my mind; and to Paula Geyser who was always there.

Penny Maya Landau

Portsmouth, New Hampshire 1979 V

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ...... 1

The Early Years 1794-1810 5

CHAPTER II THE CAREER YEARS ...... 12

1810-1817...... 12

1818-1831...... 19

1831-1839 51

CHAPTER III THE POST CAREER YEARS...... 73

1839-1857 73

CHAPTER IV THE ACTING STYLE OF MARYA NN DUFF...... 86

Roles Portrayed...... 86

Seven Determining Factors ...... 103

CHAPTER V SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ...... 134

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 144

APPENDIX I CHRONOLOGY OF MRS. DUFF’S CAREER...... 152

APPENDIX II SHAKESPEAREAN ROLES PORTRAYED ...... 155

APPENDIX III NON-SHAKESPEAREAN ROLES PORTRAYED ...... 156

APPENDIX IV COURT TRANSCRIPT, Notices of Mrs. Duff . . . 162

APPENDIX V LETTERS OF JOSEPH NORTON IRELAND, Notices of Mrs. Duff...... 170 vi

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

John Duff as Hamlet...... 7

Mary Ann Duff as Mary in Superstition...... 31

John Duff as Marmion...... 41

Playbill of Jane Shore, Walnut Street Theatre ...... 52

Mrs. Duff in later life...... 78

Mrs. Duff and J.W. Wallack in a scene from Adelgitha . . 121 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Mary Ann Duff performed with the noted actor Edmund Kean in

Boston in 1821, playing Ophelia to his Hamlet, Cordelia to his Lear

and Hermione to his Orestes. So great was her success, that Kean de­

clared she was "superior to any actress on the British stage.Mrs. 2 Duff, reputed to be "one of the greatest tragic actresses of her time,"

was hailed as the "American Siddons" for it was said that, upon viewing

her performance in the title role of Jane Shore, the audience "could al- 3 most imagine Mrs. Siddons" standing before them. In later years, George

C. D. Odell, in his Annals of the New York Stage, was to refer to Mrs. 4 Duff as "...one of the shining lights of our theatrical history."

Mary Ann Duff was born in London in 1794, and came to the United

States in 1810 with her husband, actor John R. Duff. They both performed with various acting companies in Boston, Philadelphia and New York, with

Mrs. Duff eventually becoming the more popular of the two. She performed not only with Kean, but also with the elder Booth, Thomas Abthorpe Cooper

and Edwin Forrest, all of whom praised her talents as a great tragic actress.

Although Mrs. Duff was a nineteenth century American actress who was highly regarded by her peers and her audiences, she has been generally overlooked in the chronicle of American theatre history. The major objective of this study, therefore, is to specifically explore and pre­ pare a chronicle of the acting career of Mary Ann Duff, through an investigation of her personal and professional life. The study will

1 2

focus on the professional aspects of Mrs. Duff’s life, from her debut

as Juliet in Boston in 1810 to her final performances in New Orleans in

1839, the last recorded dates of her formal career.

The reason for selecting the career of Mrs. Duff as the subject of

the study is the apparent stature of the woman as an actress. She was

respected by her peers and was in demand as a performer with the greats

of the time, but her place in the history of the American theatre has

not been established.

Little has been written about the career of Mary Ann Duff, and,

with the exception of an article by Garff Wilson in the March 1955 issue

of Educational Theatre Journal, no previous scholarly work has been

produced on this "undisputed queen of the American stage.Only one

work, Mrs. Duff by Joseph Norton Ireland, published in 1882 as part of

the "American Actor Series," gives an overview of her life and her

career.Ireland also prepared a manuscript entitled Notices of Mrs.

Duff, which contains background information on Mrs. Duff and other information heretofore unpublished.? Ireland secured his information

from various news sources and a series of personal interviews, but

neither of his works is annotated, and their reliability rests solely

on the reputation of their author, a noted writer whose other books g include Records of the New York Stage 1750-1860, and a biography of 9 actor Thomas Abthorpe Cooper.

This particular study reviews the career of Mrs. Duff, examining

the events of her career as well as her most important and successful

roles. The remainder of Chapter I pertains to Mrs. Duff’s early years, her performances in Dublin and her voyage to the United States with her 3

husband, John R. Duff.

Chapter II, "The Career Years," focuses on Mrs. Duff’s professional

life, and is divided into three sections: 1810 to 1817, from her

arrival in America and her humble theatrical beginnings to the time

when her career took a sudden turn upward, surpassing that of her husband

1818 to 1831, from the period when Mrs. Duff was the main support of her

family and became known as the "American Siddons," until the time of

John Duff's death in April of 1831; and 1831 to 1839, from Mrs. Duff's

return to the stage following her husband's death until the time of her

retirement in New Orleans. Each section includes a discussion of both

audience and peer reaction to her performances, criticism of her acting

and any changes that occurred in her acting style or ability.

Chapter III covers the post-career years of 1840 to 1857, including

Mrs. Duff's retirement in New Orleans, her subsequent conversion to

Methodism, her final years in obscurity and the unusual circumstances surrounding her death in 1857.

In Chapter IV, divided into two sections, Mrs. Duff's specific characterizations are discussed. Her roles of greater and lesser importance are explored, as well as the criticism that each received.

The second section of this chapter focuses on the "Seven Determinants of

Style" as discussed by Garff Wilson in A History of American Acting.

The seven factors that Wilson lists as determinants of style (the actor's physical endowments, spiritual and mental abilities, manners and customs of the period, aesthetics of the period, the force of training and ex­ perience, the repertory of the period and the playhouses and settings of the period) are investigated and related to the specific factors per­ 4

taining to Mrs. Duff as a representative of the classic school of . 10 actors.

Included in the appendices are a brief chronology of Mrs. Duff’s

life, listings of Mrs. Duff’s Shakespearean and non-Shakespearean roles

copies of a section from Ireland’s Notices of Mrs. Duff pertaining to

a court case involving Mr. and Mrs. Duff and a New York theatre manager.

Also included is previously unpublished correspondence between Joseph

Ireland and family and friends of Mary Ann Duff. The letters were written to Ireland during his attempt to locate Mrs. Duff in the late

1870’s, and are included in his unpublished, preparatory manuscript,

Notices of Mrs. Duff.

Several sources have been consulted in the preparation of this study, but the most valuable have been the first-hand reviews found in the New York Evening Post, New York Albion, New York Mirror, Boston

Gazette, and Boston Traveller. Additional sources such as the Boston

Centinel, London Times, New York Times, and the Philadelphia Gazette supplied occasional reviews and articles pertaining to Mrs. Duff and her career. All these journals have provided the author with commentaries and reviews that have greatly enhanced the study of this nineteenth century tragedienne.

Since Mrs. Duff left no known memoirs, those of her contemporaries have been consulted in order to ascertain the relationship between Mrs.

Duff and her fellow actors. Works such as James Murdoch’s The Stage,

Tyrone Power’s Impressions of America and William Wood's Personal

Recollections of the Stage provided information on the Duff's and their performances. Other works such as James Rees’ The Life of Edwin Forrest 5

and Thomas Gould's The Tragedian: An Essay on the Histrionic Genius of

Junius Brutus Booth discuss Mrs. Duff in relation to the actors about which these books were written.H

Several additional works such as Horace Greeley's Recollections of

a Busy Life, David Grimsted's Melodrama Unveiled and Mary Henderson's

The City and the Theatre have provided views of the times in which Mrs.

Duff performed, enabling the author to draw a clearer picture of the

circumstances that surrounded the career of Mary Ann Duff, the "American

Siddons.

The Early Years 1794-1810

In 1809, three sisters made their debut as dancers at the Dublin

Theatre. Their names were Dyke, Ann the youngest, who was to become

Mrs. William Murray, wife of the manager of the Edinburgh Theatre;

Elizabeth, who wed the poet Thomas Moore; and the eldest, Mary Ann, born in London in 1794, who married actor John R. Duff, settled in the United 13 States and later became known as the "American Siddons."

The three were the daughters of an Englishman in the service of the

East India Company. Little is known of their father, except that he died abroad, leaving "his wife and three daughters with small means of support.Under their mother's supervision, the girls were "prepared for the commencement of a stage career by the celebrated D'Egville, ballet master of the King's Theatre, London."^ They made their debut in 1809, attracting immediate attention, all three hailed as being 16 "remarkable for their beauty and sweetness of disposition."

Later that year, the Dyke sisters had occasion to meet the Irish poet, Thomas Moore. As was the fashion of the time in Kilkenny, public 6

benefits for the poor of the city were given annually. It was at one

of these events that the services of the Dyke sisters were secured, and

Tom Moore was introduced to the fifteen-year-old Mary Dyke. Moore fell

passionately in love, composing several verses for this young dancer.

Mary did not return his affections, and rejected him. It was this re­

jection that led Moore to compose his celebrated love song:

Mary, I believed thee true, And I was blessed in thus believing; But now I mourn that e’er I knew A girl so fair and so deceiving,- Fare thee well.'l?

Moore turned his attentions to Mary's sister Elizabeth (Bessy), 18 eventually marrying her on March 22, 1811. Perhaps as compensation for his earlier verses to Mary, Moore wrote the following tribute to his wife:

Fly from the world, 0 Bessy, to me, Thou wilt never find any sincerer; I'll give up the world, 0 Bessy, for thee I can never meet any that's dearer.19

Moore was devoted to his wife, and Joseph Norton Ireland in Mrs. Duff, commented:

He appears to have been throughout life devotedly attached to his wife, who proved to be a most amiable and domestic woman; and he never omits an opportunity in his 'Diary and Letters' to speak of her in terms of the highest admiration. His diary, which is .said to have been carefully prepared by himself for posthumous publication, contains no allusion to the first-loved sister, however; and a letter from the Right Honorable Earl Russell, who acted as its editor, assures us that he has no remembrance of her name occurring in any of his papers, although Mrs. Moore in her letters makes frequent allusion to the Dyke family.20

Several years after Elizabeth's marriage to Thomas Moore, Mary 7

ZMWZOraPIF äs HAAIMT,

John Duff as Hamlet 8

Dyke's youngest sister, Ann, married William Murray, manager of the

Theatre Royal of Edinburgh, and the brother of Mrs. Henry Siddons.

Mrs. Murray, noted for her great beauty as were her sisters, died short- 21 ly after the marriage.

The reason for Mary Dyke's spurning of Thomas Moore was her

attraction for a young actor named John R. Duff. Duff, born in Dublin, was a classmate of Moore's from Trinity College, and had been preparing himself for the law when the acting profession attracted his attention.

He was engaged at the Dublin Theatre when he met Mary Ann Dyke, and had been recommended by the great tragedian Thomas Abthorpe Cooper to Mssrs.

Snelling Powell and James A. Dickson for a possible position at the

Federal Street Theatre in Boston. The appointment was secured, and Duff proposed to the fifteen-year-old Mary Ann. She accepted, and the two 22 sailed for America in July of 1810, shortly after their marriage.

On November 2 of the same year, John Duff made his debut on the

American stage as Octavian in "The Mountaineers" and as Baron Willinghurst 23 in the musical farce "Of Age To-morrow," both to excellent reviews.

He followed these performances at the Federal Street Theatre, with the role of Gossamer in "Laugh When You Gan" on November 8, and the title 24 role of Hamlet on November 30. The following is from the review of

Hamlet in the Boston Gazette:

The Hamlet of Mr. Duff, though in many parts, particularly the closet scene, remarkably well-performed, will not be ranked among the characters in which he is destined to make a shining figure. His forte is genteel and sprightly comedy; or, if he puts on the buskin, it should be to impersonate the lighter kind of impassioned heroes.^5

Described by Ireland as "an Apollo in person and...a Crichton in 9

accomplishments," John Duff became a favorite of the Boston audiences, 26 winning his highest acclaim in light comedy.

Mary Ann Duff made her American debut at the Federal Street

Theatre as a dancer, and on December 31, 1810, made her acting debut as 27 Juliet to her husband’s Romeo. Mrs. Duff's performance was neither a

complete success nor a total failure. William Clapp, in A Record of the

Boston Stage, wrote:

A more beautiful woman had not trod the stage, and so far as the making up, and 'personal' was concerned, it was admitted that a more gentle Juliet, or one possessing so black an eye, had not appeared; but the 'spirit' seemed wanting. Her style was indifferent, and lacked both power and conception, and her best friends lost all hopes of her ever assuming a position.28

Although Mrs. Duff was "at an age and in a situation to appreciate keenly the emotions and anxieties of Capulet's daughter... she made no 29 such success in the part as she afterwards attained." Ireland made the following statement in support of Mrs. Duff's premiere performance as Juliet:

It must be remembered that Mrs. Duff was then but sixteen years of age, and that experienced critics have asserted that no woman is competent to play Juliet till she is too old to look the part. The contrast between the earlier and latter portions of the character is so great that few'juvenile artists are enabled to blend harmoniously the two extremes.30

In spite of the lack of enthusiasm shown by Mrs. Duff, Powell and

Dickson offered her a position as an actress with the company. Thus, the

American acting career of Mary Ann Duff, which would span the next twenty-nine years, had begun. 10

NOTES ON CHAPTER I

Garff Wilson, A History of American Acting (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1966), p. 43. 2 John S. Kendall, The Golden Age of the New Orleans Theatre (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1952), p. 194. 3 George C. D. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage (New York: Columbia University Press, 1928), p. 268. 40dell, p. 421.

^Garff Wilson, "Forgotten Queen of the American Stage: Mary Ann Duff," Educational Theatre Journal (March, 1955), p. 11. 6 Joseph Norton Ireland, Mrs. Duff (Boston: James R. Osgood, 1882). ?Joseph Norton Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Puff, Unpublished Manu­ script (Columbia University Rare Book Collection, Brander Matthews Dramatic Library, 1880, 2 vols.). g Joseph Norton Ireland, Records of the New York Stage 1750-1860 (New York: T. H. Morrell, 1866). 9 Joseph Norton Ireland, Thomas Abthorpe Cooper (Boston: James R. Osgood). ^wilson, History.of American Acting, pp. 6-13.

Hjames Murdoch, The Stage (Philadelphia: J. M. Stoddart, 1880); Tyrone Power, Impressions of America During the Years 1833, 1834 and 1835 (London: Richard Bentley, 1836, 2 vols.); William Wood, Personal Recollections of the Stage (Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1855); James Rees, The Life of Edwin Forrest (Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson, 1874); Thomas Gould, The Tragedian: Aft Essay on the Histrionic Genius of Junius Brutus Booth (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1868). 12 Horace Greeley, Recollections of a. Busy Life (New York: J. B. Ford, 1868); David Grimsted, Melodrama Unveiled (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968); Mary Henderson, The City and the Theatre (New Jersey: James T. White, 1973). 13 George 0. Willard, History of the Providence Stage, 1762-1891 (Providence: The Rhode Island News Company, 1891), p. 77. 14 Dictionary of American Biography, p. 488. "^Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 5. 11

^Arthur Hornblow, A History of the Theatre in America from its Beginnings to the Present Time (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1919), Voi. I, p. 283. l?Ireland, p. 6.

^Willard, p. 77.

19 Charles E. L. Wingate, Shakespeare's Heroines on the Stage (Boston: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1895), p. 235. “^Ireland, p. 7.

^Ireland, p. 8.

^Ireland, p. 8.

^Ireland, p. 8.

^Hornblow, p. 283.

25 Boston Gazette, December, 1810.

^Ireland, pp. 8-9.

27 Thomas Allston Brown, A History of the New York Stage (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1903), Voi. I, p. 259. 28 William W. Clapp, A Record of the Boston Stage (Boston: James Munroe, 1853), p. 115. 29 Mary Caroline Crawford, The Romance of the American Theatre (Boston: Little, Brown, 1913), p. 214. 30 Ireland, p. 11. CHAPTER II

THE CAREER YEARS

1810-1817

Mrs. Duff’s second appearance at the Federal Street Theatre was on January 3, 1811, as Lady Anne to the Richard III of George Frederick Cooke, one of the most renowned tragedians of that time.“'’ She followed that role with several lesser ones such as Lady Percy to Cooke’s Falstaff,

Miranda to John Duff's Marplot in The Busy Body and in two serious pantomimes which were popular in their day, "Oscar and Malvina" and

"Brazen Mask." Joseph Norton Ireland made the following comment about her performances, "the grace and expressiveness of her pantomimic action 2 met with the highest commendation."

On the 29th of April, 1811, the Duffs had their first "benefit" in

America. The "benefit" was an integral part of theatrical life, as

David Grimsted explained:

Audiences then, as now, ruled the theatre basically by their patronage. Any type or piece of enter­ tainment that proved popular was repeated and any which failed to draw was discontinued. But besides this broad economic control, audiences held direct financial power over each actor, manager, and author. Part of every salary contract was a provision for a benefit sometime during the year. For the visiting stars the benefit generally came at the close of their engagements, whereas the regular members of the company took benefits at the end of each season. For everyone a benefit consisted of the money taken in for a performance minus a certain sum or percentage deducted for house expenses. Because the salaries of stock actors ran from moderate to meager, their success for the season often depended on a bumper benefit. Many actors...must either depend on a successful benefit night or have to struggle with

12 13

poverty from the time their engagements cease, until nearly the commencement of winter.3

In the case of the Duff’s benefit, there were two plays presented,

The Honeymoon, with Duff as Duke Aranza and Mrs. Duff as Zamora, and

Three and the Deuce starring John Duff as Pertinax, Percival and

Peregrine Single. His representation of the "Three Singles" was his most popular, and records show that he played them at least eighty times 4 during his career. Mrs. Duff participated in a recitation with music, a "pas seul" and a "pas de deux" from "Oscar and Malvina" which she performed with a Mr. Fisher. Ireland reflected on her performances:

To those who knew Mrs. Duff only in after years, the idea of her executing a pas seul and other dances, as a benefit attraction, must seem ludicrously strange; yet it would appear that in ballet and pantomime she had made her strongest impression on the Boston audience.

In History of the Philadelphia Stage, Charles Durang also commented on Mrs. Duff's early presentations:

...she proved, in the first series of her performances, a most tame and truly mechanical drawling actress, a "walking lady" in every sense of that technical phrase. With those defects she combined a most unaccountable and inherent indolence...an apparent want of interest in all things but domestic affairs. Mrs. Duff went through her parts as a mere honorable task, which was due to business, so as to earn her salary for her family uses.6

During the next two months, Mrs. Duff portrayed several more characters, and in July, the Boston company made its annual tour to

Providence, Rhode Island. They remained there until September 27, 1811, and, with the retirement of Mrs. Darley, the company's leading "juvenile lady," Mrs. Duff was given most of the choice female roles, thus finding a "wider sphere for the exercise of her talents."? It was in Providence 14

that Mrs. Duff had her first chance to play Desdemona to her husband's

Othello, Ophelia to his Hamlet, Statira to his Alexander the Great and

Morgiana in Forty Thieves, her training as a dancer "lending a great g and hitherto unknown elegance to the part."

Oh the 12th of August, Mrs. Duff made her debut as Jane Shore,

which was to be one of the greatest roles of her career. She ended the

season with performances as Cora in Pizarro, Lady Priory in Wives as

They Were and, with John Duff, as the hero and heroine of a play by

John Howard Payne entitled Mazeppa, the Hetman of the Ukraine. The

star of the season was unquestionably John Duff. In his History of the

Providence Stage, George Willard reported:

His' performances were applauded by almost all the playgoers, but people of the most correct taste preferred to see him in comedy and farce, for which he was best qualified. As an actor of comedy he was one of the best who has ever trod the American stage, but as a tragedian he was but little above mediocrity.

Although Willard also stated that Mrs. Duff "manifested no

inclination for the stage, and entered with but little spirit into the

business of the profession," Ireland maintained that, despite her lack

of enthusiasm, Mrs. Duff was one of the most popular young actresses on

the Providence stage.Ireland remarked:

Her youth, beauty, simplicity of manner, melodious voice, and faithful earnestness of endeavor during this season established her as a favorite in Providence, and through­ out her whole career she was ever there a welcome visitor.

In October, the company returned to Boston and Mrs. Duff began her

second season at the Federal Street Theatre. She performed with her husband in Laugh When You Can, one of the few comedy roles of her career 15

This performance was followed by a succession of personations, culminating with Ophelia to the Hamlet of John Howard Payne. On

February 10, 1812, Mrs. Duff then played in the ballet pantomime of 12 Cinderella, which was also well-received.

During this time, John Duff made a trip to Philadelphia, and per­ formed Macbeth and Jeremy Diddler. He returned to Boston in March, and on April 20, 1812, the Duffs enjoyed their last benefit in Boston.

Early in May, John Duff announced that he and his wife would be joining the Warren and Wood Company of Philadelphia and Baltimore, where they were to remain for the next five years, with John Duff as the chief 13 attraction and Mary Ann Duff as the ingenue. William B. Wood, manager of the company, made the following comment about the Duffs:

Duff's excellent acting...added to his high reputation, as well as to the treasury..she (Mrs. Duff) was very pretty, but so tame and indolent as to give no hope of the improve­ ment we afterward witnessed.

John Duff made his debut as a company member on May 20, 1812, again as

Macbeth and Jeremy Diddler, performing in Baltimore. His wife's debut came shortly afterward with the character of Zamora in The Honeymoon.

These performances were followed by their benefit as Malvina and Carol in Oscar and Malvina, firmly establishing their places within the Warren and Wood company.^

They later visited Washington, D. C., and were in residence in that city when the announcement of the War with England was made. They continued to reside in Washington through August, with their benefit presenting the Duffs as Rolla and Cora in Pizarro and in the title roles in Katherine and Petruchio. Mrs. Duff's performance as Katherine, based 16

on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, was the only comedic Shakes­

pearean role in her repertoire.^

In September, the Duffs returned to Philadelphia for the regular

season, with Mrs. Duff premiering at the Chestnut Street Theatre in the

role of Angela in The Castle Spectre. Wood commented on her performance,

"Mrs. Duff now appeared as Angela, with faint success. The Lady was at this time a mere novice."'''? Her husband, on the other hand, was enjoy­ ing much success with this new company, causing Wood to remark:

Mr. Duff...often played, on his sole attraction, to houses of seven or eight hundred dollars, and brought more positive profit to the house in two years than any star who visited us. His benefit... brought fifteen hundred and seventy-four dollars... For his wife's benefit he personated Richard III to Mrs. Duff's Lady Anne, the receipts being nine hundred and forty-nine dollars.18

It is interesting to note that, according to J. T. Buckingham in the

March, 1812 issue of the Boston Polyanthos, Mr. Duff was earning a salary of fifty-six dollars per week, which was, more than likely, the 19 combined salary of both John and Mary Ann Duff.

The second season with the Philadelphia company saw little change in the acting of Mrs. Duff. Ireland commented:

She...as yet had developed but little force, and her most successful representations were confined to characters requiring loveliness of person, with expressive simplicity and pathetic tenderness of delineation...as Mrs. Duff had little mirthfulness or gayety in her composition, her chances for prominent characters were few; nevertheless, she was occasionally entrusted with Ophelia and Cordelia, as well as Lady Percy, Lady Anne, Floranthe, and a few others. She also played Edmond in The Blind Boy and Julio in Deaf and Dumb...Mrs. Duff's beautiful figure enhanced the charm of her acting as boys and pages, in which line she soon became an acknowledged favorite.20 17

The career of John Duff continued to flourish, and the Philadelphia

Aurora of March, 1813 made the following remarks about his performance

of Richard III:

Never have we seen such variety and contrast of character, united with so much excellence in all, as we have seen in the performances of Mr. Duff. Never do we recollect so great a loss, as that of the drama in the death of Cooke, so immediately and so admirably compensated. It is not indeed Cooke, nor Cooke’s cast of manner and personifi­ cation, but it is another planet in a larger orbit, and so incomparable in what he does that pleasure and applause are invariably associated with his appearance.21

For the next three years, the Duffs, frequently referred to as the 22 "handsome couple," continued to perform with the Warren and Wood

company, spending the months of September through May in Philadelphia at

the Chestnut Street Theatre and the months of June through August touring 23 Baltimore, Washington, D. C. and Alexandria, Virginia. John Duff had

continued success as a leading man, with Mrs. Duff as his subordinate.

She was occasionally permitted to premiere a new character such as

Rosamonda in Abaellino on March 30, 1814, but the remainder of her portrayals were limited to past roles such as Lady Anne in Richard III 24 and Cordelia in King Lear.

There is little documentation on the theatrical activities of Mrs.

Duff between 1814 and 1816. At that time, the Duff family included only one child, Mary, the eldest daughter, born in 1810. In all, Mrs. Duff gave birth to thirteen children, ten of whom survived, seven of them reaching maturity. It was during this time (1814-1816) that Mrs. Duff became ill, causing her to withdraw from complete activity in the theatre

She performed occasionally, but devoted the majority of her time to her 18

family and her health. According to Ireland, Mrs. Duff was

apparently content to remain subordinate to her husband in matters

theatrical.

In April, 1817, Mrs. Duff again resumed a full schedule with the

Philadelphia company, appearing as Cordelia for her benefit on the 5th.

John Duff made occasional appearances in Albany and New York City,

returning to Baltimore for their farewell benefit with the Warren and 27 Wood company on June 30, 1817. The Duffs left Philadelphia and re­

turned to Boston to work with Powell and Dickson, with John Duff as 28 manager of the company. On September 1, Mrs. Duff made her first

appearance with the company in five years, as Rosalie Somers in Town

and Country in Providence.

The next month, on October 9, 1817, Mrs. Duff opened at the Federal

Street Theatre in Boston as Lady Macbeth, followed by Rosalie Somers on

the next day. Ireland commented on the performances:

Her improvement was at once noticed, and she was not pronounced as interesting an actress as she always had been as a woman. Her power­ ful and harmonious voice was highly praised, and its modulated tones of tenderness and pathos were said to be very effective.29

William Clapp/ in A Record of the Boston Stage, gave two main reasons for the change in Mrs. Duff's acting ability, both related. Clapp said the following about John Duff, "Mr. Duff had his faults, and among them a love of jovial company, which threatened to check his prosperity as an 30 actor." Duff also suffered from the gout, and was absent from the stage quite a bit, distressing Mrs. Duff greatly. Clapp added:

Stimulated by necessity, and fearful, perhaps, that she might at any moment be thrown upon her own resources, Mrs. Duff brightened up, and 19

though for years she had been content to toil and travel as a third rate actress, she suddenly, as if touched by a magic wand, threw off the languor of indifference, and exhibited the true fire of genius.

No longer content to remain in her husband's shadow, Mrs. Duff

began to attract favorable attention from the critics. This was a

turning point in her career, and was to make Mary Ann Duff the artist

whom the American press soon would be "unanimous in dubbing 'The 32 American Siddons'."

1818-1831

Many opportunities followed the change in Mrs. Duff's acting, the greatest of which was the chance for her to play in Romeo and Juliet 33 opposite the noted tragedian Thomas Abthorpe Cooper. They performed in February of 1818, and were so well-received that Mrs. Duff was "at 34 once pronounced an actress of the first magnitude." Ireland commented:

Her improvement here was great and wonderful. She had all the loveliness and innocence of youth, the fervor and force of passion, the ecstacy of joy, and the agony of grief, terror, and despair, combined in her most harmonious and powerfully developed personation.35

Mrs. Duff had now "arrived" and her performances began to call 36 attention to this young actress. In March, she played several roles, among them Jane Shore, Julia from Sheridan's Rivals, Statira in Alexander the Great, Cora in Pizarro, Orasmyn in The Ethiop and Irene in Blue

Beard. While working for Warren and Wood in Philadelphia, Mrs. Duff had portrayed the princess in Aladdin, and now delighted the Boston audiences with her portrayal of the title role. 20

In August, the troupe was in Providence for the summer season, and Mrs. Duff first attempted the role of Juliana in Tobin's Honeymoon, but the part reverted to Mrs. Powell upon the company's return to 37 Boston in September.

As the Boston season progressed, Mrs. Duff was given more and more important parts. On November 30, 1818, James W. Wallack, later the owner of the successful Wallack's Theatre in New York, made his Boston debut. Wallack and Mrs. Duff performed Rolla and Cora in Pizarro, and 38 the performance again "increased her reputation." Ireland also noted that Mrs. Duff's performance "materially added to the brilliancy of his

(Wallack's) success." The two continued to perform together, portraying

Desdemona and Othello and Ophelia and Hamlet. Mrs. Duff finished the year with the roles of Annette in The Maid and the Magpie and Ellen

Enfield in The Falls of Clyde, the latter for seven performances, "an 39 unusual run for the period."

On the 17th of February, 1819, Mrs. Duff played Louisa in Sheridan's opera The Duenna. Ireland stated:

Little has been said of Mrs. Duff's musical accomplishments in public, but she had been represented as a very sweet and charming songstress in private life; and she had previously appeared as Mrs. Cornflower, the heroine of Dibdin's opera The Farmer's Wife.

Her next role, for her benefit on March 31, was Annette from The Maid and the Magpie, the part she premiered in December, 1818. The following is an excerpt from the announcement of the benefit in the Columbian Centinel

We hear with pleasure that the present appearance of the box-book presages a full auditory this evening, when Mrs. Duff will attempt a benefit. To the ladies of Boston we trust it is not necessary to point out 21

the merits of this amiable actress, and if the gentlemen neglect to patronize their own sex it is hoped they will not extend their neglect to the ladies. We hope therefore that some of that exuberance of patronage which had been bestowed on comets will not be withheld from this brilliant though fixed star.^l

The season closed on June 7, with Mrs. Duff performing Bertha in

The Point of Honor and Amazaide in Zembucca. The company went to

Providence as usual, for the summer, and Mrs. Duff continued to play

the leading female roles opposite her husband. The company, which

during the regular season had introduced James Wallack to the Boston

audiences and had secured the "elegant and universally admired" Thomas

Abthorpe Cooper for an unusually long engagement, now presented Mr.

Thomas Betterton, the "celebrated actor of London and Dublin" in his

Providence debut. This presented an opportunity for Mrs. Duff to appear with more experienced and established stars. Since her acting ability was improving'noticeably, the experience she gained with actors such as

Betterton and Cooper added to her stature within the company. She and

Betterton performed as Marianne and Vapid in The Dramatist and Charlotte

Rusport and Major O'Flaherty in The West Indian.

The company returned to Boston for the new season, but Mrs. Duff did not perform until December 31, with the part of Adela in Mordecai

Noah's She Would Be A Soldier, or The Battle of Chippewa. Following several performances as Adela, Mrs. Duff was absent from the stage until

May 8, 1820, when she played Zulieka in The Bride of Abydos, and continued through June 9, performing Juliet, Cora and Zorayda (from The East

Indian) with James Wallack. During this time, it is assumed that Mrs.

Duff gave birth to one of her children, since her sons James Lenville 22

and John were born in either 1820 or 1821. There are no precise

dates for these births, but one of the two boys could have been born 42 during this absence from the stage.

Again, the company returned to Providence, and Mrs. Duff played

the leading roles, but, for some unknown reason, did not premiere any

new characters during the summer season. The regular season opened on

October 2, 1820, with the Duffs performing together in a series of 43 plays. On October 13, Mrs. Duff gave a performance as Hermione in

The Distrest Mother, taken from Racine’s Andromaque. In The Romance of

the American Theatre, Mary Caroline Crawford commented on the reaction to this portrayal:

In October, 1820, Boston theatre-goers were talking of little else than her impersonation of the heroine in Jane Shore, and when, on the thirteenth of this same month, she gave her impassioned representation of Hermione in The Distrest Mother...she fairly electrified her auditors. Throwing aside all tameness and restraint, she now showed full the fire and passion that had long been slumbering in her soul. For, while her genius had been developing, life had pressed her hard. She was never free from the care of a young and growing family... and it was very likely for this reason that she was able to give such a presentation of a mother’s love and tenderness as has never been equalled on our stage.

Ireland also concurred with Crawford on these performances of Mrs.

Duff’s and stated:

...the lady’s personation of the character (Jane Shore) raised her in a marked degree in the estimation of the public, which was still further increased on the 13th of the same month by her presentation of Hermione...This was the character in which the Bostonians first fully appreciated her genius and talents.^5 23

Mrs. Duff followed this triumph with the premiere of three new

roles, Lady Maragret in The Vampire, or Bride of the Isles, the "beauti­

ful and touching personation" of Jeanie Deans in The Heart of Mid Lothian

and as the Countess of Lovelaugh in the comedy Rochester, which proved

to be "one of her very few positive triumphs in the comic line." She

ended the year 1820 with a series of roles opposite Thomas Abthorpe 46 Cooper, and received "renewed evidence of popular appreciation."

Mrs. Duff was premiering more and more roles, adding to her repertoire.

In January, 1821, she added Lady Randolph from Douglas to her list of characters. Ireland commented on the latter role, "Lady Randolph in

Douglas (was) a part in which her representation of a mother's love and „47 tenderness has never been equalled on our stage; so say those who saw it.

During the month of February, Edmund Kean was engaged for a two-week run, and he and Mrs. Duff performed together as Hamlet and Ophelia, judged "uncommonly impressive," followed by the characterizations of

Cordelia and King Lear for two performances, and, on his benefit night, 48 as Hermoine to his Orestes in The Distrest Mother. It was this last performance that won unanimous acclaim for Mrs. Duff, and was the second turning point in her career, causing Ireland to remark:

She had before played the character with applause but, stimulated by the unwonted excellence of her support, her genius now essayed its highest flight and won the crown it had so long deserved. It was while rehearsing this part that Mr. Kean is said to have requested her to play with less force and intensity, or her acting would throw him into the background; to which she replied that, though she honored his rank and position in the profession, her duty to herself and the public would constrain her always to play to the best of her ability. Her hour of supreme triumph had at length arrived, for at night her performance fairly divided with Mr. Kean's the applause of the 24

house, which unanimously pronounced her the equal of the greatest actor of the age; and in theatrical circles her brilliant success was the leading subject of conversation. Kean himself was so astonished at her personations that he said she was the superior of any actress on the British stage, —an opinion that he frequently reiterated.^9

In addition to the support from Kean, the Boston Gazette also mentioned

Mrs. Duff's performances. The review stated:

The eye of fancy almost beheld the sacred shade of Racine descending from above to proclaim her for his own resuscitated Hermione. Those who have seen Mrs. Duff's Ophelia will remember it through life. Certain it is she has the power, and we have felt it, to consecrate sorrow, dignify emotion and kindle the imagination as well as to awaken the sympathies, which are among the highest attainments of this enobling art.^O

In March, Mrs. Duff played Countess Adela in The Warlock of the

Glen and Helen Mar in The Hero of Scotland, both of which she repeated for her benefit on the 26th. An article in the Boston Centinel mention­ ing the event said:

...the professional talents of Mrs. Duff have not been sufficiently known or estimated in this town. Her personations during the engagements of Messrs. Cooper and Kean the present season have elicited the warmest and most general applause, and they were among the first opportunities the public availed themselves of to know and appreciate her excellence and to award her the meed she has so long deserved. Her Ophelia, Cordelia, Tarquinia, and Hermione will long be remembered as among the highest displays of histrionic talent.51

The Boston Gazette of March 25, 1821 also talked of Mrs. Duff's benefit and stated:

Mrs. Duff...we can by no means forego the gratification of saying a few words respecting 25

this favorite actress. A favorite she has always been, but not without some touch of alloy. Hitherto she has lacked animation; but this season, especially during the engage­ ment of Mr. Kean, she has burst from our dramatic constellation like a celestial stranger. She has evinced new powers and has proved that she is possessed of talents which must raise her to the foremost rank of her profession. Never ' within our recollection has an actress, who deservedly ranked so high before, raised herself so much in the estimation of the public within a month as Mrs. Duff.52

Her benefit was a success, playing to overflowing houses. The reviewer

in the Boston Gazette praised her acting and remarked:

...never have we witnessed such a display of histrionic talent as in the presentation of Hermione by Mrs. Duff. There was a spirit of inspiration breathing throughout the performance, passion developed and sustained the most vivid and imposing in nature, a pathos and sublimity of action, voice, and expression which genius seemed to have impressed with her own image and hallowed with the breathings of her own divinity.53

Mrs. Duff's abilities as an actress were improving steadily, and the press was finally taking notice of the change.

In May of 1821, Mrs. Duff assumed three new roles: Eugenia in

Dimond's The Foundling of the Forest, Belvidera in Otway's Venice Preserved and Queen Elizabeth in Richard III. In addition, she also played

Cordelia to Kean's Lear and closed her season with the company as Jane

Shore, having "won a position in advance of every actress hitherto known . 54 in Boston, and with a fame that resounded throughout the entire country."

Due to an extended illness, Mrs. Duff did not perform until eight months later on January 14, 1822, in the role of Jane Shore. Her appearances were less abundant than in past months, and between 1821 and

1823, she was frequently absent from the stage due to health problems. 26

Again, because no actual birth dates of the Duff children are known,

her illness could have been due to pregnancy. Both her son William

and her daughter Eliza were born during the early 1820’s, and perhaps

this absence from the stage was due to the birth of either child. The

Duff family was continually growing, and as Mr. Duff’s career faltered,

his wife’s flourished, making the family more dependent on their

mother's earnings as an actress to support them.

In March, she premiered the part of Therese in John Howard Payne's

Orphan of Geneva, followed by her only performance of the title role in

Rosalind, an adaptation of Shakespeare's As You Like It.

Mrs. Duff began to perform in short comedies, with little success.

Ireland has stated:

...she enacted... the widow Belmore in Murphy's comedy The Way to Keep Him; and...Lady Jane in the same author's Know Your Own Mind; but comedy, was not her forte and she rarely caused any furor therein, her highest praise being that she was calmly correct and not unpleasing.

In May, Mrs. Duff had the opportunity to work with Junius Brutus

Booth, the two performing King Lear and Cordelia and Hamlet and Ophelia.

She so pleased Booth that he "pronounced her without equal either in

Europe or America, and later, in a letter to George Holland (the comedian), described her as the greatest actress in the world.Mary Caroline

Crawford added that "in Philadelphia as well as in Boston the receipts immediately doubled when she was supporting Booth.

During the summer, John Duff managed the New City Theatre at

Washington Gardens in Boston, and, supported by Mrs. Duff, Mr.' and,Mrs.

Charles Durang from Philadelphia, and several actors from the Park Theatre 58 in New York, became the theatre's principal attraction. Mrs. Duff 27

played Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, "her most effective 59 comedy impersonation." She also played the role of Mrs. Haller in

Kotzebue's The Stranger for the first time, and Ireland commented, "her

representation was an entire success, and from all accessible records,

it would appear to have been repeated more frequently than any other of her characters."60

After the summer season, there is no record of any performances

given by Mrs. Duff until April, 1823. Her daughter Matilda was born

sometime between the end of 1822 and early 1823, so Mrs. Duff's vacation from the theatre could have been for the birth of her youngest daughter. When she did return to the stage, it was at the Chestnut Street

Theatre in Philadelphia for her first appearance there in six years.

She performed for the occasion of Booth's benefit, and the two played 61 Hermione and Orestes in The Distrest Mother. Prior to Mrs. Duff's arrival, Booth had been averaging $250.00 per night, but on the evening of their performance together, the net was $492.00. William Wood re­ marked :

We now had the first appearance of Mrs. Duff since her late very decided success in Boston. She seemed to have made in that city a discovery of powers up to that time latent, and now destined to astonish and delight future audiences. Her success as Hermione fully confirmed the judge­ ment of her Boston friends.82

John Duff made arrangements for the couple to perform for the summer months in Baltimore under Warren and Wood of Philadelphia's

Chestnut Street Theatre. Mrs. Duff commenced her engagement on May 7,

1823, as Juliet to her husband's Romeo, followed by several additional roles including her premiere performance as Florinda in The Apostate, 28

63 which was, along with Mrs. Haller, one of her finest characterizations.

Ireland mentioned the engagement of the Duffs:

Although late in the season, and in a small city, their nightly receipts averaged two hundred and ten dollars, with a benefit to Mrs. Duff of six hundred and thirty-four; and this where Mr. Booth had lately been playing to an average of one hundred and eighty-five dollars for eight nights, and a benefit of two hundred and sixty-nine.64

In August, Mrs. Duff performed in Washington, D. C., with Junius 65 Brutus Booth. At the close of the season, arrangements were made for

Mrs. Duff’s appearance at the Park Theatre in New York City. Her successes in Boston and Philadelphia were responsible for the engagement, whose announcement appeared in the New York Albion, "We are most happy to add that Mrs. Duff, the darling of the Boston boards, has made a short engagement with our manager, and will in September present herself to a

New York audience.

Mrs. Duff made her New York debut at the Park Theatre on September 5, 67 1823, in the role of Hermione to Booth's Orestes in The Distrest Mother.

The New York Albion of September 6, 1823 stated:

Mrs. Duff made her debut on our boards last night as Hermione in The Distrest Mother. It was in this character she reaped such a rich harvest of laurels before the Boston audience, and in which she made a powerful impression on the house last night. Mrs. Duff possesses a fine person, a sweet voice, and great command of countenance, and we are confident will soon become a general favorite.68

According to George C. D. Odell in his Annals of the New York Stage, the National Advocate of September 9, 1823, echoed the judgement of the

Albion by commenting: 29

Her figure is commanding, her face handsome, and expressive, with a good keen, and rapidly moving eye. Her mad scene possessed great merit, and from the rapidity of her gestures, and the quickness of her motions, we should infer that she had been a student in the Kean school...The voice of Mrs. Duff is good, with­ out possessing great compass, and we should altogether judge that she is in every way qualified to sustain a high rank in the drama, and become a favorite with our audience.69

Several days later, on the 13th of September, the New York Albion again

praised Mrs. Duff, further establishing her as a star on the New York

stage. The Alb ion remarked:

Mrs. Duff, we have reason to believe, has the public sentiment strong in her favor. Her powers in delineating passion, particularly with her expression of countenance, is apparent to all...We sincerely hope she will have a permanent engagement at this theatre; her tragic powers would be a great acquisition to the company.20

During the month of September, Mrs. Duff played several roles

opposite Thomas Abthorpe Cooper at the Park Theatre. Her popularity was increasing, and this engagement was one of the few she had at the

Park. Mrs. Duff took her benefit as Florinda in The Apostate on

September 24, playing opposite her husband, who made his first appearance

in New York in almost ten years.The Alb ion of September 27 mentioned

the event:

It is with much regret that we announce that Mrs. Duff will not be engaged for the season... The benefit, we fear, was not remarkably productive, but Mr. and Mrs. Duff had the satisfaction to receive unbounded applause from all parts of the house./z-

John Duff had not been engaged at all by the management, and was beset by bouts of rheumatism and the gout. Mrs. Duff had therefore 30

become the principal attraction and main source of support of the two, 73 yet she was not re-engaged by the Park either. Odell offered one

reason for this failure on the part of the Park’s management:

Why, then, were the services of Mrs. Duff not retained? Who can say, especially in view of the insistence of the press that she continue to grace the boards? I regard the admission of the small financial returns of the benefit as signi­ ficant; perhaps the managers realized that Mrs. Duff had not yet established herself. Possibly the crowds that had witnessed Mrs. Duff’s performances had been drawn more by the then overpowering attraction of Cooper, with whom she had invariably played, than by any suddenly acquired reputation of her own. The small audience at her benefit, without the magnet of Cooper...may account for much.74

But Ireland gave another reason for Mrs. Duff's failure to be retained:

The shortness of this engagement was ' undoubtedly the greatest mistake or mis­ fortune of Mrs. Duff's professional life. She made a powerful impression on her audiences and every writer spoke in her praise, but the difficulty was to get the fashionable world to see her...but the New York dilettanti seemed to consider it a piece, of presumption for a stock actress from the Boston and Philadelphia theatres to present herself as a star on the Metropolitan stage, and many of them, in consequence avoided the theatre during her stay.75

The Duffs left New York and resumed their engagement with Warren and Wood in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Mrs. Duff spent the month of

October in Baltimore, and on December 24, 1823, opened in Philadelphia 7 6 as Hermione to Booth's Orestes. She continued with the company, per­ forming with Wallack, Booth and Cooper in a series of plays, culminating with her portrayal of Mary in Superstition on March 12, 1824. Although 31

Mary Ann Duff as Mary in Superstition, from a painting by Naegle, in possession of the Players Club, New York City 32

the role was well-received, Mrs. Duff was rarely permitted to perform

the part while working for Warren and Wood. On the opening night, Mrs.

Duff’s performance so outshone that of Mrs. Wood, that the manager did

not like to see his wife in such a "disadvantageous contrast," and forbade Mrs. Duff to perform the part when Mrs. Wood was in the cast.??

One of the few existing portraits of Mrs. Duff is in the character of

Mary, and was painted by Neagle and engraved by Longacre. The portrait,

as well as the Neagle portrait of John Duff, is in the possession of the

Players Club in New York City.

The Duffs continued to perform at the Chestnut Street Theatre during

April and early May. For her benefit, Mrs. Duff chose to premiere a new role, Madame Clermont in Adrian and Orilla, which was to become her most frequently»played character. Kean claimed that her performance as Madame

Clermont was "the best sustained delineation of maternal affection" that he had ever witnessed. Late in May, Mrs. Duff went to'Baltimore and played with Booth in The Apostate, her role of Florinda "being honored 78 with nine distinct rounds of applause."

In June, the Duffs went to work at the Chatham Garden Theatre in

New York City, under the direction of Barriere. Although the Chatham was a lower-class house, as opposed to the more prestigious Park, Mrs.

Duff nevertheless appeared as a "star" for the first time in New York.

She commenced her engagement with the portrayal of Belvidera in Otway's

Venice Preserved, and the performance drew much praise, as an article in the "Emerald stated:

If we spoke of Mrs. Duff as we feel, we should risk the imputation of flattery or enthusiasm. With a beauty the most intellectual, she 33

combines gestures and elocution of the highest order. We saw her in grief and in joy, in sorrow and in gladness; and were charmed with the heavenly expression of a countenance at one time beaming through the clouds, and at another time giving increased splendor to the light which occasionally en­ livened the hopes of Belvidera...We shall never as long as our attachment for the drama exists, forget the power with which Mrs. Duff acquitted herself.29

She followed that performance with Mrs. Haller in The Stranger, and again the critics were impressed with her talents, as this article in the New York Mirror said:

...(they) gave full scope to their talents... Duff's coldness contested surprisingly with the heart-rending grief, and the energy of Mrs. Duff in the last act...If there is a fault about Mrs. Duff it is because her acting is too real - it runs away with the judgement... 80

Mrs. Duff finished the month with the roles of Jane Shore, Mrs. Beverly, 81 Madame Clermont and Juliet to her husband's Romeo.

In September, the Duffs decided to return to Boston, where Mrs.

Duff performed, supported by her husband and the young actress Jane 82 Placide, who was to become a great tragic actress in future years.

The Boston Gazette spoke of Mrs. Duff:

This interesting and excellent actress has made her way to the high standing she now holds, without clamor, excitement, or party influence. She was always thought to possess first-rate powers, but these not properly schooled; and until the time Kean came here, her reputation had nothing extraordinary in it. She was beautiful and lovely before, but at that time she burst upon the public in the most astonishing manner in the character of Hermione; after which every character she acted underwent a change for the better, and since then her powers have been constantly developing.83 34

Mrs. Duff’s career was growing, and the critics were finally

admitting that she had improved as an actress, and were giving her

the praise that she had so long deserved. The Duff's spent the months

of October through December in Baltimore, appearing every night that

the theatre was open. Mrs. Duff played several roles including

Isabella and Katherine the Shrew, finishing the engagement with

Florinda in The Apostate opposite Duff as Malec, J. B. Booth as Pescara and William Conway as Hemeya.

In late December, she and her husband went to Philadelphia to perform with Warren and Wood. While playing Zulieka to Cooper's Selim in The Bride of Abydos, Mrs. Duff was injured, causing her to be absent from the stage for almost two months. Ireland recounted the accident:

In the last act of the piece the walls of the Seraglio, in which Zulieka is confined, are supposed to be beaten down by an outside assault; and, by some mis-management of the blocks of which they were composed, Mrs. Duff was precipitated from a gallery a distance of ten feet to the stage, producing severe contusions on her head and face, and causing such anxiety in the audience that they refused to leave the house till they were assured by Mr. Wood...that no bone had been broken.84

When Mrs. Duff reappeared on March 2, 1825, she was welcomed back with much enthusiasm. She performed with Booth and Cooper, and premiered a new part written expressly for her, that of Olympia in Ugolino. For her benefit on April 22, she chose Katherine and Florinda, two of her most popular roles.

In May, Mrs. Duff was engaged in Baltimore, performing until June, when she took a vacation. She did not perform again until October, 1825, and spent much of her time caring for her family. In late October, Mrs. 35

Duff premiered the role of Emma in William Tell, and revived Eugenia

in The Foundling of the Forest for her benefit. The company moved to

Philadelphia in November, and Mrs. Duff once again performed with

Cooper, Conway and Kean. Forest joined them in early 1826, and they

performed until May. The appearances were Kean's last in Philadelphia,

and Ireland remarked that Kean was quite vocal in his "continued 85 commendation of Mrs. Duff's co-operation."

The Duffs left Philadelphia for New York and the Chatham Garden 86 Theatre, now under the management of Henry Wallack. They performed

from May through July, and Mrs. Duff's portrayal of Mrs. Beverly in The

Gamester on June 5, was reviewed in the New York Mirror:

Fine as was the acting of Conway we will venture to say that a greater than Conway was there, for Mrs. Duff was unquestionably the presiding spirit of the hour. The opinion lately expressed by a contemporary journal, that this lady is superior to any actress on either the American or British stage, we think has every probability of being correct; and we are more and more inclined to confide in it every time we witness her performance.87

She performed at the Chatham Garden through July 17, when the

season closed, playing opposite Conway. After her portrayals of Mrs.

Haller and Juliet, the New York Mirror made the following evaluation of

Mrs. Duff as an actress:

The lovers of the drama, in this city, begin to be convinced that the splendid talents of this lady constitute one of the richest dramatic treasures which our country has ever possessed; and we cannot but reflect with indignation upon the managerial tyranny on one hand, and the want of taste on the other, which has so long kept them in comparative obscurity. It was the opinion of many 36

eminent theatrical critics in England... that Mrs. Siddons was, in her time, superior to any performer, either male or female, on the British stage; and we are almost tempted... to make a similar comparison between Mrs. Duff and the rival stars of the American drama... To say that Mrs. Duff is an ornament to her profession, would be but common praise: - Her mind reflects fresh brightness upon the genius of her sex, and demands, not merely our praise, but our reverence.88

In that same month of June, Mrs. Duff was in the premiere production

of George P. Morris' drama Brier Cliff, a Tale of the Revolution, as the

character Crazy Bet. Ireland stated that, although Mrs. Duff's performance

in the play was impressive and well-received, "the part was quite un- 89 worthy of her powers." Following Brier Cliffs, Mrs. Duff played

Eugenia in The Foundling of the Forest to Conway's de Valmont, Lady Mac­ beth to his Macbeth, Portia to his Brutus and Mrs. Beverly to his Beverly 90 in The Gamester. Odell commented that the performances given by Mrs.

Duff at the time were "some of the greatest... of her life, and some of 91 the best ever given in the city by any actress."

After the close of the season at the Chatham Garden, the Duffs, displeased with the management of Henry Wallack, joined C. W. Sandford of the Lafayette Theatre, also in New York City. On July 20, 1826, Mrs.

Duff made her debut at that theatre as Juliet. Ireland talked about her first performances at the Lafayette:

Her position in New York was now well established, and frequent calls were made for her appearance in some particular part...She here played for the first time in New York her highly pathetic part of Jeanie Deans in The Heart of Mid Lothian, which she repeated several times. Her Lady Randolph, to the Young Norval of Mr. Burroughs., was pronounced the finest known 37 92 since the retirement of Mrs. Siddons.

It was at this time in her career that Mrs. Duff became known as "The

American Siddons." Comparisons between the two actresses were common

in the reviews of Mrs. Duff's performances, and the appellation was

included in several articles written about her.

Mrs. Duff continued the engagement at the Lafayette with the

roles of Jane Shore, Florinda, Mrs. Haller, Madame Clermont and Angela 93 in The Castle Spectre. In late September, Henry Wallack announced his

new season at the Chatham Garden Theatre and included the names of John

and Mary Ann Duff in the company list. John Duff replied to this

announcement by publishing the following letter in the Evening Post of

September 20, 1826:

Perceiving in the papers of the day our names associated with the Chatham Garden company, I deem it proper to state that neither Mrs. Duff nor myself has any engagement with Mr. Wallack.

(signed) 94 John Duff

They now joined the company at the Bowery Theatre under manager

Charles Gilfert. John Duff's popularity had lessened, and he was beset by attacks of the gout, causing him to be absent from the stage for long periods of time. He was, however, considered the leading player at the 95 Bowery, a position warranted by his reputation and his experience.

As the leading actress, Mrs. Duff commenced her engagement on November

23, 1826, as Jane Shore, and ended the year in December with a performance of Cordelia to Edwin Forrest's King Lear, John Duff's Edmund and Thomas 96 Hamblin's Edgar. 38

In the early months of 1827, Mrs. Duff again performed with

Forrest, playing Queen Elizabeth to his Richard III. On January 9,

1927, Mrs. Duff portrayed Madame Clermont in Adrian and Orilla with her husband in the role of Prince Altenberg. The Alb ion of February 10 commented on their performance:

We have no space to express in sufficient detail our surprise and admiration at the Madame Clermont of Mrs. Duff. The play is excessively trashy but her acting is peculiarly fine. Since the time of Miss O’Neill we have seen no performer so successful in the delineation of maternal affection. It would be judicious in Mrs. Duff to persuade her husband to make himself master of his author. His inaccuracy and forgetfulness on Tuesday were shameful.97

John Duff's illnesses were becoming progressively worse, and it was apparently having an effect on his ability to perform as an actor.

After this performance as Madame Clermont, Mrs. Duff was invited to play for the benefit of Junius Brutus Booth at the Chestnut Street

Theatre in Philadelphia. On February 17, 1827, for one night only,

Mrs. Duff portrayed Belvidera in Venice Preserved to the Jaffier of 98 Booth and the Pierre of Henry Wallack.

It was shortly after this engagement, on March 1, 1827, that Henry

Wallack filed suit against Charles Gilfert and John Duff for "loss of services and breach of contract," stemming from the unfortunate incident in September, 1826, when Wallack announced the Duffs as members of his company, and John Duff disavowed any relationship to him or the Chatham

Garden. Wallack felt that they had a valid contract, and charged that, since the Duffs were extremely valuable and an asset to any theatre company, by spiriting them away, Mr. Gilfert had deprived Wallack of his chief attractions and source of income. The trial, the transcript of 39

which is included in the appendix of this study, took place in the

early part of March, 1827, in the Court of Common Pleas in New York

City. It was a significant case, for the rights of the actors to secure

their own engagements, and to be treated as something more than just the

property of the company or the manager they work for was in question.

The term "valuable" as applied to the Duffs in this case could be

applied to a piece of furniture or a cow, and the defense felt that the

actors had more rights than' an inanimate object or a piece of livestock.

Under examination, Mrs. Duff stated that she had received no salary

from July 15, 1826, until October 9, 1826, and no salary for her last

week's performances at the theatre. She said that she had contacted the

manager about the matter, but received word that Wallack wanted her to

sign several papers, which she refused to do until her account was

settled. When asked if she were engaged by Wallack at the time, Mrs.

Duff replied:

I told him that I considered that (engagement) as broken, inasmuch as Mr. Wallack had treated me with much rudeness, and had not paid me my last week's salary. He asked permission of me to say I was disengaged, which I granted him.99

Mrs. Duff also added that the role choices that Mr. Wallack had made

for her were not to her liking and did not present her at her best.

John Duff also testified that he had made arrangements with Mr.

Sandford of the Lafayette Theatre, and later with Mr. Gilfert of the

Bowery, for an engagement for his wife and himself, under the assumption

that his obligation to Mr. Wallack was null and void since their salaries had not been paid by the Chatham company.

The Plaintiff maintained that the Duffs were in breach of their 40

contract for failure to resume their engagement when the Chatham Garden

re-opened. The Defense felt that the breach of contract was on Wallack's

part, for his failure to pay the defendant and his wife their due

salaries. By Wallack's neglect in paying the Duffs, he had been in

breach of their contract, forcing the actors to find employment else­

where.

After an hour of deliberation, the jury filed a verdict in favor

of the Defendant, John Duff. Gilfert, on the other hand, was judged

guilty, and was instructed to pay Mr. Wallack the sum of six cents

damages and six cents costs.This was. the first trial involving a

manager and his actors that favored the rights of the actor. As a

result, the Duffs were able to be more in control of their acting careers

Mrs. Duff's benefit immediately followed the end of the trials, and

it was considered a success. For the occasion, she chose the character

of Madame Clermont from Adrian and Orilla to be presented on March 5,

1827, at the Bowery Theatre. The Evening Post announced the performance:

Mr. Kean has pronounced her Madame Clermont, which she has chosen for her benefit, the most finished performance he ever witnessed. We are confident there will be a rush to see it.101

On March 12, Mrs. Duff portrayed the character of Helen Macgregor in

Rob Roy, with Henry Wallack in the lead part. The Albion commented on the unlikely pairing:

Mr. Wallack, as every one knows, the manager of the Chatham, had only last week brought an action against Mr. Gilfert of the Bowery for seducing away Mr. Duff; yet within a few days he volunteers to act upon Mr. Gilfert's stage as Mrs. Duff's dramatic husband. We do not understand these things, and perhaps they are not worth understanding.102 41

John Duff as Marmion, engraving by A.B. Durand, after a painting by Neagle 42

The New York Mirror of March 17, 1827, reviewed the performance

and stated:

The part of Helen MacGregor is not suited to her transcendent powers...but...we sat in the same box with an actor, whose province is to smooth the wrinkles on the brow of care, and whose original humour in that house has always called forth peals of laughter. We saw the big tears roll down his cheeks for the well-depicted sufferings of Helen MacGregor! Mrs. Duff will appreciate the compliment, when we tell her, that the tears of Hyatt attested the excellence of her performance.103

Mrs. Duff’s next performance was as Hermione in The Distrest

Mother. The Albion, after severely criticizing John Duff for his

"inaccuracy and forgetfulness" of his lines in February, only to be

rebuked by the angry actor, had cooled considerably in its praise for

Mrs. Duff’s work as well. They said the following about her latest performance:

We have no room to speak of The Distrest Mother, except to laud Mrs. Duff's Hermione, and to wish that she would be a little less tragic in her tragedy. Horace says that people who wish to make others weep, must begin by weeping themselves...He never intended that they should keep their visages in a state of perpetual irrigation. With this exception, Mrs. Duff is without any superior on the American stage.104

Even though the review criticized Mrs. Duff's emotional displays, it still maintained her superiority to other actresses of the time.

On April 7, 1827, Mrs. Duff played the role of Jane Shore, and, once again, her performance reminded the press of Mrs. Siddons. The

Mirror stated, "...her representation of Jane Shore is pronounced to be one of the greatest efforts of human genius. We could almost imagine Mrs. Siddons stood before us."^ 43

The remainder of the season cast Mrs. Duff with Forrest. During

the season she performed over sixty times, representing twenty-six

different characters, with Belvidera, Calanthe, Elvira and Madame

Clermont taking precedence over the lesser roles. Her engagement ended

on July 25, with her benefit as Elvira to Forrest's Rolla in Pizarro 106 and as Annette in The Maid and the Magpie.

After a few weeks rest, Mrs. Duff again performed at the Park

Theatre in New York in conjunction with the appearance of Thomas Abthorpe

Cooper, opening on September 27, in Venice Preserved. They continued to

perform together through October, and for her benefit on the 12th, Mrs.

Duff chose Virginia to the Virginius of Cooper. Odell remarked about

the performance, her last in America before her voyage to Europe:

Mrs. Duff's benefit on October 12th clanged farewell. Her Virginia was tragically slain by the Virginius of Cooper...I wonder if New York gave the great lady a bumper? I have my doubts; something generally kept Mrs. Duff from the altitudes attained by less worthy players.107

After the benefit, Mrs. Duff left New York and went to the Federal

Street Theatre in Boston. On November 2, she was joined in the engage­ ment by Forrest who played Damon to her Calanthe, Virginius to her

Virginia and Othello to her Desdemona. The papers praised her performances as the Boston Gazette of October 22, 1827 commented:

At this moment, Mrs. Duff is more highly gifted than ever; her powers have ripened into matured excellence, and in her particular line her contemporaries readily yield her the palm. We think she has greatly improved since her last visit, and are convinced she can make a stand in any theatre whatever.108 ,

The Boston Traveller of October 23, agreed with the Gazette's appraisal ; , 44

of Mrs. Duff's talents, and stated, "Mrs. Duff is undoubtedly the

Siddons of the American stage. We have seen no other so fitted, both 109 personally and mentally, to take the highest stand in her profession.

She concluded her engagement on November 15, and took a benefit as

Imogine to Forrest's Bertram on that night.

On*December 4, shortly after the engagement at the Federal Street,

the Duffs sailed from Boston to Liverpool on the ship New England.

Nothing was heard from them until April, 1828, when word reached America

that Mrs. Duff had appeared at Brighton and London. Her debut at the

prestigious Drury Lane Theatre in London took place on March 3, 1828,

with Mrs. Duff appearing in the title role of Isabella, supported by

Macready, Wallack, John Cooper and Miss Lane, who later became.Mrs. John

Drew. Mrs. Duff's appearance was announced in the London Times, and the

actress was billed as being "from the Theatre Royal, Dublin," to avoid

prejudice towards anything American. Ireland noted that Thomas Abthorpe

Cooper had been hissed from the stage during a performance of Macbeth,

and, although Mrs. Duff was born in London, she was considered to be an

American actress by the British public. The London Times reviewed her

performance, and the following article appeared:

The tragedy entitled Isabella was last night performed at this theatre for the purpose of introducing to a London audience Mrs. Duff of the Theatre Royal, Dublin. The fame of this lady's talents had already preceded her here, and a numerous audience attended to witness her first performance. Mrs. Duff appears to be about thirty years of age: her person is of the middle size, rather slender, and elegant. Her eyes and features are pleasing, and susceptible of a dramatic expression which she knows how to turn to 45

good account. There is a graceful and becoming ease in her deportment, and all her motions are natural and pleasing. Every thing about her bespeaks a perfect acquaintance with the business of the stage, and we never saw a debutante more free from embarrassment or restraint. This is evidently with her no less the effect of practice than of a consciousness of her own abilities, which certainly are of no ordinary kind. The character of Isabella is one which, from the beginning of the tragedy to the end of it, calls incessantly for an expression of misery, or bursts of passion. ■ We are of course unable to judge by one specimen the precise quality of the talents of Mrs. Duff; but certainly she performed in a manner which excited the admiration, and at once secured to her the favour of the audience. We are already much disposed to include Mrs. Duff in the number of the best tragedians of her sex, (always excepting Mrs. Siddons), who have of late years appeared in London; but before we pronounce decidedly as to the rank to which her talents have raised her in her profession, we wish to see her in other characters, wherein she may have better opportunities of displaying the variety and extent of her powers. HO

By her own admission, in a letter to Mrs. Charles Durang, Mrs.

Duff said that she "had never before suffered so much from stagefright, and that the applause at the conclusion of the play was so tremendous that it entirely unnerved her."''-'''''' The reception upset her so much that she was ill and unable to play until April 14, when, as Adelgitha in the play of the same name, she was supported by John Cooper and

Charles Kean. This portrayal was more favorably received than that of

Isabella, and the London press began to reassess Mrs. Duff’s abilities as an actresé, as the following review from the Times indicated:

Mrs. Duff made last night her second appearance at this theatre as Adelgitha, in the tragedy 46

which bears that name. We do not think the character calculated to show dramatic power to any very great advantage; never the less, Mrs. Duff made the most of it, and displayed talent of no ordinary kind. In the present scarcity of well-qualified actresses in the line of tragedy. Mrs. Duff becomes a great acquisition to this theatre; and if she cannot be compared to a Siddons or an O’Neill, at least she is superior to those who have of late aspired to the highest rank in her art...the house was very well attended. H2

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Duff returned to Boston on May 20, 1828, aboard

the Amethyst. The press speculated about her abrupt return to her

adopted land, but Ireland made the following comments which seem to

explain the situation:

...one (reason for the departure) was probably a disagreement between Stephen Price,-then manager of Drury Lane,-and Mr. Duff regarding Mrs. Duff’s salary. For the two nights that she played she received nothing! Mr. Duff probably came to the conclusion that although Mrs. Duff's fame might be increased by a London engagement, their general prosperity would be advanced by a return to America, where they were so widely known and highly esteemed.

Perhaps another reason for their departure was a personal one.

Mrs. Duff's sister, the wife of Thomas Moore, the poet, failed to greet

her upon her arrival in London, and sent word to her that it would not

be convenient for them to meet. Since her mother and her younger sister « were dead, and Mr. Duff's health was poor, Mrs. Duff apparently felt

that there was nothing in London to warrant their staying any longer.

Upon their return to Boston, they were immediately engaged by Mr.

Finn and Mr. Kilner of the Federal Street Theatre to perform on May 22 and May 30, the only two nights that were open before the close of the 47

current season. Her popularity had not lessened during her absence,

and she resumed her career in America as Mrs. Haller, which was

received by an enthusiastic audience. In early June, Mrs. Duff played 114 in Salem, Massachusetts, again to an appreciative crowd.

Mrs. Duff returned to the New York stage, securing an engagement

at the Chatham Garden Theatre, opening on June 17, 1828, as Mrs. Haller.

On June 28, she appeared at the Park Theatre for one performance at

J. B. Booth's benefit. They performed The Apostate as Florinda and

Pescara, and, to return the favor, Booth appeared at the Chatham

Garden in Venice Preserved as Jaffier to Mrs. Duff's Belvidera for the

lady's benefit on July 1. Two days later she had her farewell performance

at the Chatham Garden as Isabella, thus ending her brief engagement in New York.115

On August 4, Mrs. Duff opened in Providence, Rhode Island in the character of Jane Shore, and also premiered a new role, Clari in John

Howard Payne's opera of the same name. Her Providence following had not diminished, and she continually played to large houses.

During the winter months, Mr. Duff was engaged at the Federal

Street Theatre, playing whenever his health would permit. Mrs. Duff was performing at the new Tremont Theatre, for the amount of fifty dollars per week, with four benefits for the season, the largest salary she ever received during her career. Mrs. Duff opened on October 29, 1828, as Florinda to the Pescara of Booth, and as Hermione to his Orestes.

These portrayals were followed by an engagement with Wallack in Hamlet and Macbeth.

Mrs. Duff continued at the Tremont, except for a brief run at the 48

Federal Street for her husband’s benefit in The Stranger.on

November 28, 1828, Mrs. Duff played the role of Belvidera to the Jaffier

of John Gilbert. The experience was a memorable one for Gilbert, and

in a speech given at the Lotus Club in New York on November 11, 1878,

he recalled the event:

...fifty years ago I made my debut at Boston. I commenced with a first-class tragedy part. The public said it was a success. I certainly thought so. The manager evidently thought so too, for he let me repeat it. I suppose it was good for a young man. It might have been that it was an inspiration, for the Lady Belvidera of the play was Mrs. Duff, the most exquisite tragic actress I ever saw, and I make no exception.117

Mrs. Duff concluded her season in Boston and ventured to

Philadelphia for a short series of performances. For unknown reasons, the engagement was not successful, and, after playing to scanty houses, she returned to Boston. There she played with Hamblin, Wallack and Booth, continuing at the Federal Street Theatre until September, 1829. During her stay, her husband's illness became more and more acute, causing the family to depend almost entirely on the earnings of Mrs. Duff for their support. On April 22, she appeared in the first production of a drama entitled The Bohemian Mother in the part of Mathilde, which was to become her most frequently repeated character. The Boston Traveller made the following comments on the performance:

The part of Mathilde is peculiarly adapted to the fine, sympathetic powers of Mrs. Duff; and she seems very wisely to seize hold of the advantage and, in the tender and affecting scenes, almost go beyond herself. Its effect upon the audience is striking. They are by degrees attracted to what is passing before them, and insensibly become spellbound, holding 49

a breathless silence until the charm is broken either by the termination of the scene or by the sobbing aloud of some warm-hearted lady who was unable longer to repress her feelings. H8

In September, Mrs. Duff rejoined the Tremont Theatre company to

perform Mathilde, and continued to play Mrs. Haller to Cooper’s

Stranger and Queen Isabel to Booth’s Richard II. Mrs. Duff was re­

ceived more enthusiastically in Boston than in any other city, and, although she maintained a home in Philadelphia, she considered Boston her first home, and the city that always welcomed her return. She remained at the Tremont through the end of the year, performing with

Forrest, and premiering the title role in Mary Stuart, a new drama taken from Schiller’s work. Booth came to perform in Boston, and on

January 24, he and Mrs. Duff played Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. This was the first time that Mrs. Duff had portrayed the part of the Queen, and it was done so at Mr. Booth's request. She remained in Boston until April, acting with Forrest and Booth. Mrs. Duff's career was at its peak, and she was performing with the finest actors of the time.

They respected her talents, and she was much sought after as an actress.

On February 15, 1830, Mrs. Duff played Nameokee opposite Forrest in the Boston premiere of Stone's tragedy, Metamora. She then travelled to Baltimore for May, performing with Cooper, Hamblin and Forrest. In

June she and John Duff went to the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and her husband, whose career was on the wane, was seen in several afterpieces and comedies, but was unable to secure any permanent engage­ ment due to his failing health. In late June, Mrs. Duff went to Boston for a short run. She was travelling constantly, but her financial 50

situation forced her to accept almost any offer that would provide

enough money to help her family.

The Duff’s returned to Baltimore in October, 1830, to perform in

the newly built Adelphi Theatre. The new establishment, nicknamed the

"Mud Theatre" because of its rustic location and unpaved terrain,

presented Mrs. Duff as Isabella. The house was still unfinished, so

the company moved to the Holiday Street Theatre where Mrs. Duff played

Hermione to the Orestes of Booth in The Distrest Mother. They returned

to the Adelphi on the 28th, in The Merchant of Venice with Mrs. Duff as

Portia to the Shylock of Charles Kean, followed by Hamlet with Kean as

the Dane, Mrs. Duff as Gertrude, Booth as the Second Actor, Warren as 119 Polonius and John Duff as the Ghost.

In November, Mrs. Duff was engaged at the Chestnut Street Theatre under the management of Lamb and Coyle. On November 29, 1830, she played Florinda to John Duff’s Malec in The Apostate; the role was one 120 of John Duff’s last performances. The following month she went to

Charleston, South Carolina for the first time, and performed with Cooper and Forrest and an actor named George Hill, later known as "Yankee"

Hill, who was a member of the Charleston company. She remained there through March, 1831, performing Jane Shore, Mrs. Beverly, Mathilde, 121 Hermione and Mrs. Haller, the finest roles in her repertoire.

In April, Mrs. Duff returned to Philadelphia and the Chestnut

Street Theatre, performing Naramattah in The Wept of Wish-ton-wish in its Philadelphia debut. Then, on April 28, 1831, John Duff suffering for many years with Various ailments, died at the age of forty-four.

Duff had played over three hundred parts during his career, and, despite 51

his recent failures, was still a well-respected member of the

theatrical profession. William Wood, of the Philadelphia company,

commented on Duff:

John Duff expired, after a long series of sufferings from gout, with which he was a sufferer even in early life. This versatile actor maintained for some years a high estimation with our audience...Duff was another instance of gravity and reserve in private, while in public he seemed composed of vivacity and spirit.122

Mrs. Duff was now left alone with her family, which included

seven children: Mary, the eldest born in 1810; Eliza; James, the

eldest son born in 1820; Thomas, born in 1823; Mathilda; John and

William. A benefit was given for Mrs. Duff on May 14, 1831, although

she did not perform herself. She took a leave from the stage, and

began to prepare for the task of supporting herself and her children

_ on the salary she earned as an actress, and the benefits accorded to

her by her public.

1831 - 1839

With the death of her husband on April 28, 1831, Mrs. Duff was

left as the sole support for her family. The company at the Chestnut

Street Theatre in Philadelphia gave her a benefit on May 14, and this

helped to alleviate some of her financial troubles. However, the

problems of raising a large family made Mrs. Duff's return to the theatre

a necessity. On May 24, 1831, she returned to the Chestnut Street 123 Theatre as Mrs. Haller. From Philadelphia, Mrs. Duff went to Boston

and the Tremont Theatre for a two week engagement consisting of Mrs.

Haller, Elvira, Mathilde, Mrs. Beverly and several lesser roles. After 52

<ï)eatre, WALNUT STREET.

Powerful Attraction! i Grand Concentration of TALENT. t

The Managers of this Establishment, anxious to gratify their patrons and the lovers of the Drama, have spared neither pains nor expense to render the Theatre worthy of public patronage, and in addition to the Brilliant names of COOPER, BOOTH, AND BARTON, They have added that favourite Actress, MRS. DUFF, Who will appear this Evening in the Character of JARS SHORE

Wednesday Evening, July 13, 1831. Will be presented Rowds celebrated Tragedy of JANE SHOR Richard, Duke of Gloster...... Mr. BOOTH. Lord Hastings...... Mr. COOPER. Dumont...... Mr. BARTON. Jane Shore...... Mrs. DUFF. Alicia...... Mrs. MAYWOOD.

After -which, [2d time] the laughable Farce of ZPast IO o’clock.

TO-MORROW EVENING, Mr. J. R. Smith’s Benefit.

I

Playbill of Jane Shore, Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, July 13, 1831 53

closing in Boston she made her first appearance in New York in four

years at the Bowery Theatre, playing with Cooper, Booth and Hamblin,

each playing for the other's benefit. The four performed frequently

during the early 1830's with Mrs. Duff as the leading lady in all 124 their plays. After Boston, they went to Philadelphia, playing

through July, 1831.

Mrs. Duff rested during the month of August, and in September she

opened at the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia as Jane Shore. In

conjunction with this engagement, she had the opportunity of introducing

her eldest daughter, Mary Duff to the Philadelphia audiences in the

role of Ernestine in The Somnambulist. Miss Duff, supported by actor

James Murdoch, was well-received, and accompanied her mother to Balti­ more where she repeated her Philadelphia success in the part of Ernestine.1^5

In New York, manager Richard Russell opened a new theatre called

the Richmond Hill, and secured Mrs. Duff for the company. She made her debut there on November 15, in the part of Belvidera. The theatre, once the residence of Aaron Burr, boasted an admirable company, "of which 126 Mrs. Duff was the most notable member." She performed her most successful roles such as Mrs. Beverly and Mrs. Haller, and also premiered new roles, like Rose Redland in The Robber's Wife. Odell commented on the theatre and its main attraction, "Why was the Richmond Hill Theatre?

The only answer I can find is Mrs. Duff; and doubtless that answer 127 suffices." The New York Mirror of December 17, 1831, was equal in its -praise of Mrs. Duff:

We have seldom, if ever, beheld a lady capable 54

of arousing and touching the feelings more than Mrs. Duff. With a noble person for the stage, and a face full of soul, she addresses herself to the hearts of her hearers in a voice which for plaintive tenderness, and thrilling expression, we have never known equalled. ■'■28

Mrs. Duff took a short leave from the Richmond Hill and performed 129 for two weeks at the Arch Street Theatre. She returned to the

Richmond Hill in January, 1832, playing many of her most popular roles; however, her co-stars were neither Cooper, nor Booth, nor Hamblin, for

Mrs. Duff was being supported by actors with far less experience and merit than she possessed. Odell commented on this by saying:

I weep for Mrs. Duff, queen of tragedy. Why could this woman not get into the Park Theatre? Is that mystery forever to be insoluble? Imagine Mrs. Siddons at Sadler's Wells, or Mary Anderson in vaudeville! And think of Mrs. Duff as Portia, supporting (February 12th) the amateur Biddle as Shylock! It is too sad for thought. But, I wonder, was this much more grotesque than her wasting (January 16th) her beautiful Cordelia on Alexander Wilson's Lear?130

In spite of Odell's concern over Mrs. Duff's lack of adequate support,

Ireland stated that the press was generally pleased with her performances

He remarked:

The critics again sounded forth her praises in terms like the following:- "Richmond Hill really deserves a warm patronage. Mrs. Duff shines forth there as she would shine anywhere." "Mrs. Duff has no superior on the American stage. Her representations are full of the most touching tenderness and pathos." "The talented Mrs. Duff takes a benefit this evening at the Richmond Hill. During her short re-engagement she has confirmed the impression of the audience that she has no superior in this country."131 55

The benefit mentioned by Ireland was presented on January 30, 1832, with Mrs. Duff in the title role of Adelgitha and as Mary in the new melodrama of Will Watch. The play, termed a "quasi-novelty,” was, according to Odell, not of sufficient quality for the talents of Mrs. 132 Duff, and "the gifted lady was sinking into a melodramatic slough."

Mrs. Duff returned for a "re-engagement" on February 1, in the more respectable role of Elvira in Pizarro. Her performances were well- received and well-publicized, but the managers neglected to mention her supporting casts. Odell stated:

Russell wisely abstained from publishing his supporting casts; I suspect they were very weak. In fact, it was not until I got into the swing of this present chronicle that I realised how poor - except for the devine Duff - was the offering of the early season at the new theatre.133

Mrs. Duff's performances were attended by several notable people of the time, and Horace Greeley, in Recollections of a. Busy Life, commented about a performance that he had witnessed at the Richmond Hill:

During...my first Winter in New York, a new theatre was opened at Richmond Hill, in what was said to have been Aaron Burr's country- seat thirty years before, and was still deemed far up town...There were no streetcars, and scarcely an omnibus, in those days; Richmond Hill was away from the great thoroughfares; so, though the house was small, it was seldom well filled; I think I thus attended ten or twelve times, - oftener than in any five consecutive years thereafter...Here I saw Mrs. Duff personate Lady Macbeth better than it has since been done in this city, though she played for thirty dollars per week, and others have received ten times that amount for a single night. I doubt that any woman has since played in our city,- and I am thinking of Fanny Kemble,- who was the superior of Mrs. Duff in a wide range of tragic‘characters.134 56

Although Mrs. Duff was due to make a southern tour following her

engagement at the Richmond Hill, Russell persuaded her to remain at

the theatre for the rest of the season. She continued to perform in

lesser melodramas, which seemed to net more profit for the theatre

than the presentation of the more classical pieces that Mrs. Duff was

used to. She played characters such as Mary in The Innkeeper’s Daughter,

Lissette in The Sergeant's Wife, Ella Rosenberg, Innogen in Adelmorn

the Outlaw, Zelinda in The Slave and Victorine, which were met with

wide approval. Odell, however, still lamented these poor offerings of

Mrs. Duff's and said:

I could weep for Mrs. Duff - What a succession of "leading" men had had the honour of appear­ ing with the lady, since Cooper left in November...I cannot feel that the fates ever were kind to this wonderful actress; she is the mystery woman of the American stage. With just a shifting of circumstances, she might have dominated the theatre of her day.135

Mrs. Duff still had her family to support, so whatever roles were

selected for her to play were presented by the actress with little

complaint.

On April 9, 1832, Mrs. Duff presented her daughter Mary in her

first New York appearance, as Helen Worrett in Man and Wife and Louisa T36 in The Dead Shot. Mary Duff was well-liked, and was given a short engagement at the Richmond Hill, commencing on April 11 as Annette in

The Maid and the Magpie, a role her mother had frequently played. Miss

Duff, the "successful daughter of a great mother" was obviously "well schooled by her fond parent" and proved herself "worthy to wear the mantle of her accomplished mother." Mary Duff was given a benefit at the Richmond Hill on April 25, in the character of Cora to the Elvira 57

of her mother, in the drama of Pizarro. This benefit was the

last appearance of Mrs. Duff at the Richmond Hill, and in May she went

to Boston to the Tremont Theatre for a series of performances with 138 Edwin Forrest. On May 1, they performed Macbeth, followed by

Metamora, Venice Preserved and Othello. On her benefit night, she

played Elvira to Forrest's Rolla and her daughter's Gora. Ireland

commented on the appearance:

A very large and fashionable audience collected on this occasion to give a token of respect to an old favorate, and to welcome the daughter to the stage that had so long been worthily graced by the mother.1^9

Mrs. Duff spent the months of July, August and September in

Philadelphia, but there is no record of her performing in any of the

theatres there. Since the Duffs still had friends in Philadelphia,

Ireland suggests that perhaps she was taking a deserved rest from the 140 stage for the summer months. The next recorded appearance of Mrs.

Duff is on October 3, 1832, in the part of Adelgitha in Cincinnati,

Ohio. She also played several of her most popular parts, culminating 141 with Mathilde in The Bohemian Mother on October 15.

While a member of the company of Caldwell and Russell, Mrs. Duff also travelled to New Orleans. It was on the journey from Cincinnati to New Orleans that Mrs. Duff inadvertently became a heroine during an outbreak of Cholera aboard her steamship. Ireland recounted the story as follows:

...the Asiatic Cholera broke out among the passengers on the steamer with the most fatal results, and here the beauty and sympathetic tenderness of her character shone out with a lustre that gave her more true glory than all 58

her triumphs of art upon the mimic stage. Fearless for herself she ministered to the sick and dying with all the devotion of a woman’s nature, and whispered words of comfort and Christian hope to many a sinking wretch who before had found few to pity him and none to save. On her arrival at New Orleans, the survivors tendered her a vote of thanks, couched in the most eulogistic terms, which was published in all the papers of the day.1^2

Mrs. Duff began her engagement on November 27, 1832, at the

American Theatre in New Orleans, in the part of Isabella. She played

many of her favorite characters, such as Jane Shore, Florinda, Mrs.

Beverly, Mathilde, Lady Macbeth and Cordelia, but was required under 14' the terms of her contract to study no new parts during the engagement.

From December 25, 1832, until January 29, 1833, Mrs. Duff was either

"absent from the city or did not choose to play." She resumed her

engagement at the American on January 29, remaining there for a nine-day

run. After an illness caused her brief absence from the state, Mrs.

Duff took a benefit on March 9, as Rose Redland in The Robber's Wife and 144 in the fourth act of Merchant of Venice.

From March 10, 1833, until late June of that same year, Mrs. Duff was again absent from the stage. At this time, she was suffering from

severe depression and was greatly troubled and beset by financial difficulties. She made a brief and unprofitable appearance at the

Richmond Hill in New York, then under the management of Moses Phillips.

Ireland maintained that the theatre was especially dull during the summer months of 1833, because the public had been "over-fed and over-excited during the preceding season at the Park and the Bowery by the constant attractions of the Kembles, Forrest, Booth, Cooper, Charles Kean" and 59

others. Indeed, the arrival of Fanny Kemble on the New York stage

"with her youth, beauty, talent, and foreign prestige, left small room

145 for older lights to revolve in." She took her final performances

as Jane Shore on July 15, and as Katherine the Shrew for her benefit 146 on July 18, and "the flickering fire of Mrs. Duff went out."

Mrs. Duff, despondent’over her financial failures of the past year

and greatly in debt due to the necessity of supporting her family,

entered into a "marriage" with Charles Young of the Richmond Hill company

Ireland explained the situation:

It appeared that Mr. Young, while escorting her from rehearsal one morning, suggested marriage to her, which, after naming certain stipulations and reservations, she accepted; and...the parties went through the nuptial ceremony according to the ritual both of the Catholic and Episcopal churches. The peculiarity of the affair was that Mrs. Duff immediately disavowed and repudiated the act, never in any way acknowledged Mr. Young as a husband, and the marriage was soon after legally dissolved.1^7

In her petition for an annulment, Mrs. Duff stated that she had

entered into the arrangement while in a state of depression and drug- induced distraction following a season of illness and severe domestic troubles.. She was in dire financial straits, and was taking opium for her health problems, when Mr. Young, mentioning an inheritance that had been settled upon him, offered to marry her and to include her children in his wealth. After the ceremony, he admitted that he had no money and that her stipulations, not to live with him for three years and to retain her professional name, were null and void. This proved to be too much for the already troubled Mrs. Duff to bear, and she refused to continue with the relationship. She went to stay with Mrs. Ewing, an 60

old friend for many years, and rested at the Ewing home in Frankford,

Pennsylvania, until she was well enough to resume her professional

career. She was mentally and emotionally exhausted, and still under a physician's care for her depression.^8

After several month's rest, Mrs. Duff returned to the stage as

Adelgitha at the Chestnut Street Theatre on January 13, 1834, continuing 149 to perform through the end of the month. From January 31 through

February 14, Mrs. Duff played in Baltimore at the Front Street Theatre,

and then appeared at the Pittsburg Theatre for the month of March,

playing Nameokee to Forrest's Metamora, with her name above that of her co-star.150 Mrs. Duff was forced to tour these cities in order to

provide for her family, ‘ but Ireland stated that there was Tittle monetary

profit in these appearances. He quoted a "pitiful letter" written by

Mrs. Duff to Mrs. Durang during that period:

Dear Madam,-! trust you will pardon my again troubling you, but Matilda in her last letter again forgot to mention her place of abode. I addressed a letter to her last week which is not answered; I suppose it yet lies in the office...I wish to return home when it may please my children to let me know where that home is...I hope you and the children all are well. That they may bring you comfort is the fervent wish of

Your friend, Mary Ann Duff Excuse this wretched scrawl as I am both ill and troubled...131

Mrs. Duff did not return to her home, and in April, secured an engagement in Washington, D. C. The run was brief, and again illness forced her to refrain from performing during May and June. In July, she played for several nights at the Walnut Street Theatre in 61

152 Philadelphia with her daughter.

In the Fall of 1834, Mrs. Duff performed in Baltimore and was

given a complimentary testimonial on December 8, "tendered by eminent

residents of the city, and the companies both of the Front Street and

Holiday Street theatres." She appeared as Madame Clermont and Mathilde,

and thus concluded her stay in Baltimore.

Francis Wemyss, the manager of the Walnut Street Theatre in

Philadelphia, engaged Mrs. Duff for the season, commencing on December

29, 1834, with a portrayal of Tullia in Brutus. She continued to per­

form through June of 1835, playing Mrs. Haller, Gertrude, Florinda and

Queen Elizabeth to the Stranger, Hamlet, Pescara and Richard III of

Junius Brutus Booth. On April 4, she appeared for the first and only

time as Mrs. Bromley in Simpson and Company for her daughter's benefit.

She made her last appearance at the Chestnut Street Theatre on June 5,

1835, as Eugenia in The Foundling of the Forest, and her last at the

Walnut Street Theatre on June 23, as Emilia to her daughter's Desdemona 153 and the Othello of Augustus Addams.

After a two month rest, Mrs. Duff made her first appearance in New

York in two years, at the new Franklin Theatre under the management of

Dinneford. Her opening performance was as Mrs. Haller in The Stranger on September 8, 1835. Mrs. Duff, then forty-one years old, was received with much enthusiasm as she performed her most popular characterizations 154 of Florinda, Adelgitha, Isabella and Mrs. Beverly. Ireland commented on her reception by the New York audiences:

All were spellbound as of old. Her soul- subduing voice still melted the hearts of the sternest listeners, and caused the tears 62

of sympathy to moisten many a man's unwilling cheek. Sorrow, sickness, and disappointment had- not quelled the fire of genius...and in every varying emotion of the soul she was still the pathetic, powerful, brilliant, and impassioned actress whose magnetic quality aroused the enthusiasm of her audiences and sus­ tained their interest in her characters unflagging to the end.135

On October 29, Mrs. Duff, on leave from the Franklin, made her

last appearance on the Philadelphia stage as Adelgitha and Rose Redland

for her benefit. The Philadelphia Gazette mentioned the event:

Mrs. Duff. This estimable lady and excellent actress takes a benefit at the Walnut Street Theatre to-night, at the close of a very successful engagement. In the whole range of the profession there is not an individual whose claims on public respect and sympathy have precedence to hers. To enumerate them would be tedious and altogether unnecessary in a community where her long tried services and domestic worth are so well known and appreciated. Let her benefit be one in reality.136

She returned to New York and the Franklin Theatre on November 2, and made her last appearance on the New York stage as Desdemona,

Belvidera and Portia in The Merchant of Venice, all performed at the

Franklin, and as Mrs. Haller, performed at the Bowery Theatre. On

November 30, 1835, Mrs. Duff made her final appearance in New York in the role of Elizabeth in The Golden Farmer.^?

Mrs. Duff was still suffering from her depression due to financial difficulties, and following her engagement in New York, she returned to her home in Philadelphia for a rest. She was followed by "an admiring suitor to whom she soon after gave her hand." The man was Joel Seaver, an attorney who had helped Mrs. Duff with some financial and legal matters 63

In Mrs. Duff, Ireland reprinted a letter from Mrs. Duff to one of her

creditors, asking that several personal items of hers be sold to pay

some debts. She had retained Seaver to perform the task, for the letter

introduced "Mr. Seaver, who is authorized to effect the sale" of the

belongings. Mrs. Duff was still heavily in debt, and, no doubt, Mr.

Seaver’s proposal of marriage was seen as a solution to her problems.

With mounting monetary problems, she must have felt that the marriage

would mean having the financial security for herself and her children

that her acting could no longer provide.

Mrs. Duff gave her last performances in Washington, D. C. in

January and took her benefit on February 1, 1836, as Jane Shore and

Portia in The Merchant of Venice, the last "record discovered of her 158 appearance on the eastern shore of our continent."

Although no precise date exists for the marriage of Mrs. Duff and

Mr. Seaver, it is known that they were married and left for New Orleans

shortly after Mrs. Duff's'final benefit in Washington. While practicing

law in New Orleans, Seaver felt it would be more advantageous to change

the spelling Of his name to the more French-sounding Sevier. Mrs.

Sevier refrained from appearing on the stage until October 13, 1836, when she performed for the Ludlow and Smith company of St. Louis in the part of Adelgitha. She followed with Annette from The Maid and the Mag- 159 pie, Isabella and Mrs. Haller. In The Theatre on the Frontier,

William Carson commented on the appearances of Mrs. Duff:

As the chill nights of autumn were coming on and the battered doors of the old salt house were about to close forever, there came quietly to St. Louis an actress of a very different type, and the intelligent drama-lovers of the 64

city were offered what was probably the greatest artistic treat of their experience. The newcomer was Mrs. Mary Duff, for years acknowledged by many as the supreme tragedienne of the American stage. Fame, which has dealt kindly with her successors, Fanny Kemble and Charlotte Cushman, has passed over this woman...When St. Louis first saw this remarkable woman, she was at the close of her professional career, but, if competent opinions are to be credited, she had lost none of her power... What a pity there remain no accounts of her performances on this occasion! . Of these there were but four, all she could give... If not her greatest, these were among her most popular characters, and the doomed salt house probably witnessed the finest tragic acting of its checkered career.160

After the performances at the "Old Salt House" in St. Louis, Mrs.

Duff returned to New Orleans, next appearing on the stage in that city

on April 17, 1837. She played at the American Theatre in the role of Isabella followed by Mrs. Haller in The Stranger.1^1 On June 3, Mrs.

Duff played a benefit for "destitute widows and children" at the St.

Charles Theatre in New Orleans, in the character of Emily in the farce 3.62 Frightened to Death. John Kendall commented on her performances, and

stated that Mrs. Duff’s engagement "was the highlight of the Camp’s

(American Theatre) season, and, in a sense, of Russell’s history as a ,.163 manager.

Mrs. Duff went into semi-retirement following her performances in

1837, and when she next appeared, a year had elapsed. In March, 1838,

she appeared at the American in Bertram, Othello and Adelgitha, "thus 164 evincing that the legitimate drama" was patronized. On April 21, she appeared as Eugenia in a benefit for the Orphan Boy’s Asylum. On May

30, she played Florinda in The Apostate, closing her engagement at the 65

American with Mrs. Haller on May 31, 1838.^63 she performed mostly

for benefits and charitable events, and was content to remain at home,

tending to her children and her husband.

In April, 1839, Mrs. Duff again came out of semi-retirement, this

time to perform with Forrest at the St. Charles Theatre in New Orleans

Together they played their greatest roles: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth,

Cordelia and King Lear, Nameokee and Metamora, Desdemona and Othello,

Queen Elizabeth and Richard III and Elvira and Rolla in Pizarro. On

April 17, 1839, Mary Ann Duff made the last appearance of her formal

career, at the St. Charles Theatre in New Orleans, in the character of

Isabella. After a career that spanned twenty-nine years, Mrs. Duff retired from the stage, and permanently entered private life as Mrs. 166 Joel G. Seaver. 66

NOTES ON CHAPTER II

^Clapp, p. 123.

2 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 11. 3 David Grimsted, Melodrama Unveiled: American Theatre and Culture 1800-1850 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), p. 62. 4 Ireland, p. 13. ^Ireland, p. 13,

^Charles Durang, History of the Philadelphia Stage from 1749 to 1855, Vol. I (From the papers of John Durang, compiled by Thomas Wescott, Philadelphia Sunday Dispatch, 1868), p. 110. ^Ireland, p. 13.

g Ireland, p. 13. ^Willard, p. 76.

10Willard, p. 77.

^Ireland, p. 14.

12 Ireland, p. 16. 13 Crawford, p. 214. 14 William B. Wood, Personal Recollections of the Stage (Philadelphia Henry Carey Baird, 1855), p. 173. 15Ireland, p. 16.

1^Reese D. James, Old Drury of Philadelphia: A History of the Philadelphia Stage 1800-1835 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1932), p. 113. 17Wood, p. 172.

1 8 Wood, p. 172. 19 Boston Polyanthos, March, 1812. ^Ireland, pp. 18-19.

21 Philadelphia Aurora, March, 1813. 67

22 Noah M., Ludlow, Dramatic Life As I Found It (St. Louis: G. I. Jones, 1880), p. 456. 23James, p. 149. 2^James, p. 149. 25 Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, p. 14. 26 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 45. 27 James, p. 226. 28 Clapp, p. 148. 29 Ireland, Mrs. Puff, p. 21. 3<3Clapp, p. 116.

33"Clapp, pp. 115-116.

32Kendall, p. 194.

33 Lewis C. Strang, Players and Plays of the Last Quarter Century (Boston: L. C. Page, 1903), p. 190. 34 National Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York: James T. White, 1896), p. 60. 35 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 22. 36 Crawford, p. 215. 37 Ireland, p. 22. o o Strang, p. 190. 39 Ireland, pp. 22-23. ¿^Ireland, p. 24.

41 Columbian Centinel, March 31, 1819. 42 Ireland, p. 26. 43 Strang, p. 190. 44 Crawford, p. 215. ¿^Ireland, pp. 26-27.

¿^Ireland, p. 27. 68 47 Ireland, p. 28. 48 Strang, p. 190. 49 Ireland, pp. 28-29. ^Boston Gazette, February 25, 1821.

^Boston Centinel, March 25, 1821.

52 Boston Gazette, March 25, 1821. 53 Boston Gazette, March 26, 1821. ^Ireland, p. 32.

^Ireland, p. 33.

56 Strang, p. 191. 5?Crawford, p. 216.

58 Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Puff, p. 40. 59 Strang, p. 191. ^Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 34.

61james, p. 386.

Wood, p. 173. < o James, pp. 389-391. 64 Ireland, Mrs. Puff, p. 35. 65 Ireland, Mrs. Puff, p. 36.

New York Albion, August 30, 1823. <7 Brown, p. 259. 68 New York Albion, September 6, 1823. 69 Odell, Voi. Ill, pp. 88-89. ?%ew York Albion, September 13, 1823.

710dell, Voi. Ill, pp. 89-91

72 New York Albion, September 27, 1823. 69 73Wood, p. 302.

74 Odell, Vol. Ill, p. 91. 75Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 39-40.

76james, pp. 399-401.

77Arthur Hobson Quinn, A History of the American Drama from the Beginning to the Civil War (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1951), p. 147. 78 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 42. 79 Emerald, August, 1824. 80 New York Mirror, August 21, 1824. 810dell, Vol. Ill, p. 130.

82 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 43-44. 83 Boston Gazette, September 18, 1824. 84 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 46-47. 8 5 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 48-49. 86 Brown, p. 87. 87 New York Mirror, June 10, 1826. 88 New York Mirror, June 24, 1826. 89 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 56. 9°0dell, Vol. Ill, p. 211.

910dell, Vol. Ill, p. 196.

92 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 57. 930dell, Vol. Ill, pp. 219-220.

94 Evening Post, September 20, 1826. 95 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 60. 960dell, Vol. Ill, pp. 259-261.

97New York Albion, February 10, 1827. Eliza O’Neill (1791-1872) "Successor" to Mrs. Siddons, retired in 1819 to marry Lord Becker. 70 98 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 65-66. 99 Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, Appendix.

100 Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, Appendix. 101 Evening Post, March 5, 1827. 102 New York Albion, March 13, 1827. 103. New York Mirror, March 17, 1827. 104. New York Albion, March 24, 1827. 105 New York Mirror, April 7, 1827. 106 Odell, Vol. Ill, pp. 269-273. 107 Odell, Vol. Ill, pp. 302-303. 108 Boston Gazette, October 22, 1827. 109 Boston Traveller, October 23, 1827. 110 London Times, March 4, 1828. 111 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 90. 112 London Times, April 15, 1828. 113 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 92. 114 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 92-93. 115 Odell, Vol. Ill, pp. 362-363. 116 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 95-96.

Brander Matthews and Lawrence Hutton, Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the United States : From the Days of David Garrick to the Present (New York: Cassell and Company, 1886), Vol. Ill, p. 90. 118. Boston Traveller, April 23, 1829. 119 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 100-106. 120 James, pp. 455-459. 121 W. Stanley Hoole, The Ante-Bellum Charleston Theatre (Tuscaloosa University of Alabama Press, 1946), pp. 98-99. 71 122 Wood, p. 367. 123 James, pp. 482-483. 1240dell, Vol. Ill, pp. 526-527.

125 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 109-111. 126 Glenn Hughes, A History of the American Theatre: 1700-1950 (New York: Samuel French, 1951), pp. 135-136. 127 Odell, Vol. Ill, pp. 578-579. 128 New York Mirror, December 17, 1831. 129 Odell, Vol. Ill, pp. 580-582. 13°0dell, Vol. Ill, p. 581.

131 Ireland, p. 114. 132 Odell, Vol. Ill, p. 581. 1330dell, Vol. Ill, p. 582.

134 Greeley, p. 203. 135 Odell, Vol. Ill, pp. 582-584. 136n ... Brown, p. 234. 137 Odell, Vol. Ill, pp. 584-585. 138 . Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, p. 114. 139 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 117. 140 Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, p. 115. 141 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 118. 142 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 119. 143 Nelle Smither, A History of the English Theatre in New Orleans (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1944), p. 99. 144 Kendall, p. 60. 145 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 118. 1460dell, Vol. Ill, p. 649. 72 147 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 120-121. 148 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 121-122. 149 James, pp. 584-585. 15^Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, p. 118.

151Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 122-123.

152 Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, p. 119. 153 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 123. 1540dell, Vol. IV, pp. 90-93.

155Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 126.

158Philadelphia Gazette, October 29, 1835.

1570dell, Vol. IV, p. 94.

158Ireland, Mrs. Duff, pp. 129-131.

159Ludlow, p. 464.

1 ZQ William G. B. Carson, The Theatre on the Frontier (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1965), pp. 178-179. 161_ ..u Smither, pp . 272-273. 162„ -.1, Smither, p. 142.

163Kt, endaall, p. 109. 184New Orleans Picayune, February 9 185Kendall, p. 111. 166_ -.1, Smither, p. 157. CHAPTER III

THE POST CAREER YEARS

1839 - 1857

After her few performances in New Orleans in April, 1839, Mrs.

Duff retired from public life, becoming a devoted wife to Joel Seaver.

She was noted for works of charity, and avoided mention of the stage and the part she had played in the theatre in America. Ireland main­

tained that the Seavers were extremely happy, and that Mr. Seaver’s

"only aim was to provide her (his wife) with every comfort and luxury within his power."''' They left New Orleans frequently, visiting friends and relatives. Ireland stated:

They occasionally visited the Northern and Middle States, but Mrs. Seaver’s associations with the stage were broken, and her retiring habits prevented her from renewing her inter­ course with her old companions and fellow players.2

John Kendall, in The Golden Age of the New Orleans Theatre, added the following:

She (Mrs. Duff) had been a resident of the city (New Orleans) for several years, and continued to make her home here; but yielding to certain religious scruples, she separated herself more and more from the theatre, until her identity was forgotten in the city and she became known only as the pious and charitable Mrs. Seaver ...However, she did not retire until she had had at least one more opportunity to test her great talent in public - during the season of 1845-1846... Mrs. Duff emerged from the obscurity in which she permitted herself to dwell in New Orleans, for two final performances at the end of April.3

She played Mrs. Haller in The Stranger on the 26th of April at the New

American Theatre for the benefit of Mrs. Green, and her "brief return

73 74

to the theatre was her interest in this lady and a wish to insure 4 the success of her benefit." On the 27th, she portrayed Therese in

The Orphan of Geneva at a benefit for the Fireman's Charitable Association

this being the last recorded performance of Mrs. Duff's life. Kendall

commented on the event:

How the performance went off on either of these two nights we do not know, the news­ papers contented themselves with chronicling Mrs. Duff's participation, but say nothing about her acting or about the behavior of the audience in the presence of a great and very famous artist. Probably no one, not even Mrs. Duff, realized that when the curtain fell on the night of April 27th, finis had been written to a splendid chapter in American dramatic history.3

In 1850, at Mr. Seaver's request, Mrs. Duff, raised in the Catholic religion, renounced her faith and entered the Methodist Episcopal

Church. Ireland recounted her activities for the church and said:

She took an active part in its Sabbath School teachings, joined the Temperance Society, and was a distributor of religious tracts as well as an earnest and eloquent supplicant in the frequent meetings for prayer. She soon became noted for her deeds of charity and mercy, for her loving, gentle spirit (which indeed she had always displayed during the proudest periods of her theatrical career), for her persuasive entreaties to the sinning, her eloquent exhortations to the repentant, and her kindly ministrations to the sick and suffering.8

Although she was alienated from her profession, she did not lose interest in it entirely. In the following letter, written to her son, actor Thomas Thatcher Duff, she mentioned his reception by the Richmond audiences : 75

Baltimore, November 13, 1850 My Dear Child,-The arrival of your letter this morning removed the anxiety I had felt for some days lest illness prevented your writing. I am much pleased on account of your favorable reception...Write soon, my dear child, and be assured that your spiritual and temporal good is the fond wish and fervent prayer of Your affectionate mother, Mary Anri Seaver

Between 1851 and 1852, Mrs. Duff suffered several personal

tragedies, with the deaths of her two oldest sons, John and James, and her two oldest daughters, Eliza and Mary. John Duff, Jr. had never acted, and died in 1851. James Lenville Duff, her eldest son, had per­ formed in the West with moderate success, and died unmarried at the age of thirty. Eliza, her second daughter, was an actress for a short time, but left the stage to marry Isaac Von Leer, and died leaving several 8 young children. Her eldest child, Mary Duff, had shared her mother’s triumphs of the stage, making her debut in Philadelphia in 1832. Miss

Duff had married Augustus A. Addams, an actor from Worcester, Massachusetts 9 in 1835, and after divorcing him, remarried J. G. Porter, also an actor.

Mrs. Porter died in Memphis, Tennessee on August 1, 1852, following a life of hardship and marital problems.18

During these troubled times, Mrs. Duff composed many poems and prayers for her children and grandchildren. Ireland also mentioned a manuscript containing "numerous letters, comments on passages of Scripture, an elaborate disquisition on the Lord’s Prayer, and a religious novel said to possess great interest." The whereabouts of these works are un­ known, and Ireland quoted from "scraps in this collection" by reprinting 76 a poem entitled "On the Prospect of being Homeless" which seemed to indicate Mrs. Duff's troubled state of mind:

Grant me a hut near pastures green Where limpid waters bless the scene, That I my mortal thirst may slake At morning-tide when I awake; But let thy house, 0 God be near, That I the word of truth may hear, And, free from earthly care and strife, Drink the glad waters of eternal life.H

Shortly thereafter, James Rees, an old friend of Mrs. Duff's, was visiting in New Orleans and called on her. Rees described the visit:

Mr. and Mrs. Seaver resided in a neat cottage situated on Canal Street. It was handsomely furnished, and all its surroundings bore evidence of the taste and judgement of its owners. I had a most interesting tete-a-tete with the distinguished lady...A spirit of holy calm rested upon her features; a smile as if from heaven, rather than of earthly growth, lit them up with a sort of supernatural glow. As we gazed upon them we thought of the time when they were worked up by the frenzied passions of the characters of her once glorious art, when as Isabella or Lady Macbeth she drew down rounds of applause from her excited audiences, making the walls of "Old Drury" shake to their very centre. ; She now sat in her soft cushioned chair, not in the robes which atone time made her look every inch a queen, but in the simple garb of a lady, one no longer of the world, worldly, but with the calm quiet dignity of a follower of Jesus, conscious of her usefulness here and of its reward in the great future... In our conversation we alluded to William B. ' Wood, and the theatres of the period in which Mrs. Duff was the ruling star. Closely we watched her countenance. Her eyes brightened, and the soul which had long lain dormant and at peace seemed for a moment aroused. The actress was herself again, and the scenes of the past, her days of triumph, were all gone over, but more like the recital of a dream than the relation of a once mightly reality. It was however but a flash of the former glow of genius. "It is past now" she said; "that was 77

my worldly life: the present, and I hope the future, my heavenly life!"12

Mrs. Seaver continued to live and work in New Orleans until 1854, when her husband’s political views forced them to leave the area. The

exact nature of these political opinions is unknown, but it has been

suggested that Mr. Seaver, being an educated and civilized man and the husband of a devoutly religious woman, was not in favor of the practice of slavery, and was perhaps an abolitionist. One thing is certain, and that is that his views were decidedly in relation to the "rising 13 sectional animosity."

The Seavers left New Orleans in 1854, with the intention of settling in Texas. Their arrival in that state has never been confirmed, and the next record of Mrs. Seaver's whereabouts is in New York City in late

1854, when she arrived to live with her youngest and last surviving daughter Matilda, then Mrs. I. Riellieux. For reasons unknown, she arrived without Mr. Seaver, and resided with her daughter and her family by herself, until she died of cancer on September 5, 1857, at the age of sixty-three.I4

Mrs. Seaver was buried on September 6, on the Hill of Graves in

Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, along with her daughter Matilda, who died six months later. On April 15, 1858, the two were interred in grave number 805, lot 8999, "at the head of which a stone bears the single inscription: 'Mother and Grandmother'.Her husband, Joel G.

Seaver, died on April 28, 1858, in New York City, twenty-seven years to the day, after the death of John R. Duff.

Sometime between 1857 and 1873, William Duff died, leaving Thomas

Thatcher Duff as the only living child of Mary Ann and John Duff. Thomas 78

Mrs. Duff in later life 79

Duff was an actor and theatre manager for many years associated with the New Greenwich, Chatham and Bowery theatres in New York. He eventually retired and went into business with a Mr. R. Owens of Quincy, Illinois, remaining there until his death on June 14, 1892.^6

The circumstances of Mrs. Seaver's death were not known until 1874, when Joseph Norton Ireland proposed a biography of the actress as part of the American Actor Series. William Winter had also proposed a bio­ graphy of Mrs. Duff, but abandoned the idea due to lack of information on the lady. In The Wallet of Time, he mentioned Ireland and his work:

A "Life" of Mary Duff was written, with laborious care and devoted zeal, by that ripe and admirable dramatic antiquarian and scholar, Joseph Norton Ireland; and his book is replete with interesting facts and significant critical opinions. The name of that author, well and widely known by his comprehensive "Records of the New York Stage," is a guarantee- of accuracy and fulness of theatrical detail. He knew the history of our stage; his judgement was sound, his taste severe, his style simple. In writing his memoirs of Mary Duff he chose,-instead of writing an exclusively personal protrayal and analysis of his heroine,-to suggest her greatness in the dramatic art, and to re­ produce her identity, by reflecting the impression that she made upon the times through which she lived. Ireland fre­ quently saw Mrs. Duff on the stage, and therefore he might have spoken from his own knowledge, without reference to the opinions of other contemporaries; but he preferred to offer an unembellished chronicle, and, with characteristic reticence and modesty, to yield the precedence to those old journals in which Mrs. Duff's performances were first dis­ cussed, at a time when they were as real to their public as those of Sarah Bernhardt and Mrs. Fiske are to the public today.-'-7

Ireland began his inquiries into the last years of Mrs. Duff's 80

career and her life in New Orleans, and contacted Thomas Duff in

Quincy, Illinois. Duff gave him the following information which Ireland

related:

...he first heard of his mother's death in 1864, and Supposed that she died in some country town in Pennsylvania - probably Frankfort, but he had never been able to ascertain with certainty. He forged me to pursue the investigation if possible and inform him if any effort resulted satisfactorily. He gave me the name of two ladies resident in New York - (his nieces) who he thought could tell me all about the matter - but had refused to answer his letters. This assertion the ladies have since denied, but maintain that they had given every required information to their uncle, Thomas Duff.18

Ireland contacted the ladies and received the following letter from

the eldest daughter of Matilda Duff Riellieux:

Accept from my sister and myself our gratitude for the expressions of regard for our grandmother, whom we knew only as an earnest Christian who for many years devoted her life to acts of charity and goodness. A great sufferer herself from an inward cancer - of which she died - made her pitiful for others sorrows, and to us she was almost an angel in whom we could see no fault. The life of which you write seems, and was, a separate existence of which we scarcely knew.19

Ireland continued:

From - or through them I learned that their mother (Mrs. Seaver's daughter) was residing in New York with a second husband (their step­ father) in 1854, when their grandmother Mrs. Seaver unaccompanied by her husband reached their house and took up her residence with them and remained there until her death... Their stepfather had never known of Mrs. Seaver's once having been an actress and it appeared to be the desire of the family to A 81

keep such knowledge from him. These young ladies state that Mr. Seaver never visited his wife while she remained with them.20

Ireland then communicated the news of Mrs. Duff's death to James

Rees of Philadelphia, a long-time friend of the actresses, and that

knowledge was to be "under an injunction of secrecy." Rees, however,

found it necessary to disregard the injunction and published a "highly

sensational article" in the Philadelphia Sunday Mercury of August 9, 1874

Rees, in a letter to Ireland dated December 8, 1873, stated that Mrs.

Duff "could not have died without my being advised of the fact." Perhaps

his reason for publishing the story was more personal than professional,

but the fact of her death was finally revealed to the public. Three

weeks later, the following article appeared in the New York Times under

the heading of "Where Actors are Buried":

...here (Greenwood) by close searching may be found the grave of America's greatest resident actress, Mrs. Duff. Hidden from the world for many years, induced to dwell in a Southern home far from her earlier friends and admirers; avoiding the associates of her long and triumphant professional career, and glorying alone in deeds of charity and mercy, she eluded all search from those who would have addressed her merely as an artist; and finally, when driven by sorrow to revisit the city of her most brilliant triumphs, at the house of a daughter, sunk to her last deep sleep on the 5th of September, 1857. From that time to this her grave has been unknown to the world and to all her living collaborators of the stage. The secret of her life and death was so well kept that not even her closest relatives residing out of New York could give the time or place of her dicease, and solely by the persevering efforts of one interested in dramatic history and bio­ graphy was her nameless burial-place at last discovered. Interred with her daughter in a 82

single grave - now profusely covered with flowers by loving hands - few would think, as they came upon it, that the greatest and grandest actress of her day was sleep­ ing beneath a lonely stone, bearing the simple inscription, "Mother and Grandmother"

The problem that led to the confusion about Mrs. Duff’s death was a clerical error on the part of the cemetery. When Mrs. Duff was interred, the clerk entered the name of Mary "Levire" or "Levin", obviously a misreading of the name "Severe" which was the name listed on the record of her death, thus eluding her biographer in his search 22 for information.

The information that was gathered by Ireland for his biography of

Mrs. Duff was not always correct, as the following letter from Mrs.

Elizabeth Jefferson Fisher, once Mrs. Richardson, an actress and friend of Mrs. Duff's, reprinted in Notices of Mrs. Duff, ’indicated:

When I left New Orleans nearly two years after the war, Mrs. Duff was living there rejoicing in the Methodistical name of Sister Sevier, having joined that sect... I was told she disliked being reminded of her old profession, a very silly weakness to my mind, but I have no doubt she was sincere in wishing to ignore lt.^-3

The general information that Mrs. Fisher provided was correct, but Mrs.

Duff died in 1857, clearly four years before the war, showing that Mrs. 24 Fisher was not to be relied on for accuracy of events.

The official report of Mrs. Duff's death came from a Mr. Senior, an undertaker in New York who wrote; "Mary Severe died on 5th September, 1857, buried from the residence of Mr. , 36 West 9th Street, New York, „25 She also died at that number. Physician's name I cannot ascertain.'

The residents of 36 West 9th Street, New York, were the Riellieux family, 83

Mrs. Duff's daughter Matilda and her grandchildren. Her son Thomas was not notified of his mother's death until 1864, and not until

Ireland's persistence with Mrs. Riellieux's two daughters yielded that 26 information in 1873.

Seventeen years had elapsed between the actual death of Mrs. Duff and the public announcement of it, and Ireland noted:

There would seem to be some mysterious cause for the silence and secrecy observed at the time of Mrs. Duff-Seaver's death, and during the latter years of her life, which will probably never be unravelled.27

Although the reasons for living her last years in obscurity are known, this particular question still remains unanswered. 84

NOTES ON CHAPTER III

Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 135 ^Ireland, p. 135. ^Kendall, pp. 109 and 158. 4 Kendall, p. 194. ^Kendall, p. 195. ^Ireland, p. 134. ^Ireland, p. 136. ^Ireland, pp. 137-138.

H. P. Phelps, Players of a Century: A Record of the Albany Stage (New York: Edgar S. Werner, 1890), p. 240. "'"^Clapp, p. 296.

^Ireland, p. 138.

''"^Ireland, pp. 139-140.

13 Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1971), p. 528. "'"^Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, pp. 126-128.

Ingrown, p. 258.

"'"^Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, p. 134.

l?William Winter, The Wallet of Time (New York: Moffat-Yard, 1913) p. 67. 18 Ireland, Notices, p. 126. 19 Ireland, Notices, p. 129. 20 Ireland, Notices, pp. 126-128. 21 "Where Actors are Buried," New York Times (August 30, 1874), p. 3 22 Notable American Women, p. 529. 23Ireland, Notices, pp. 133-134. 85

24Treland. Notices, P- 133.

25Treland. Notices, P- 134.

26Treland. Notices, P- 126.

27Treland. Notices, P- 128. CHAPTER IV

THE ACTING STYLE OF MARY ANN DUFF

Roles Portrayed

During Mrs. Duff’s twenty-nine year career, she portrayed over

two hundred and twenty different characters. Of those roles, a number

were successful and were frequently repeated: Mathilde in The Bohemian

Mother, Mrs. Haller in The Stranger, Jane Shore, Belvidera in Venice

Preserved, Calanthe in Damon and Pythias, Madame Clermont in Adrian and

Orilla, Mrs. Beverley in The Gamester, Hermione in The Distrest Mother

and the Shakespearean characters of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and

Katherine in Katherine and Petruchio (The Taming of the Shrew). To help

examine the acting style of Mary Ann Duff, these roles and the criticism

they received will be discussed.

The role of Mathilde in The Bohemian Mother was Mrs. Duff's most

prolific portrayal, with fifty-two presentations. Although this role was premiered late in her career, on April 22, 1829, it was such an

immediate success that it was added to her repertory and performed with more regularity than any of her other roles.

There is nothing written in reference to the plot of The Bohemian

Mother, also known as Presumptive Evidence. From reviews of the play, however, the character of Mathilde can be drawn to some degree. As per­ formed by Mrs. Duff, Mathilde was an emotionally wrought woman embroiled in conflict over the fate of her child. Adams lists the subtitle of the play as Infanticide, and perhaps that is the conflict that faces the main charac t er.

86 87

Mrs. Duff’s portrayal of Mathilde is described in the following

review from the Boston Traveller:

The part of Mathilde is peculiarly adapted to the fine, sympathetic powers of Mrs. Duff...Its effect upon the audience is striking. They are by degrees attracted to what is passing before them, and insensibly become spellbound...2

She continued to perform Mathilde during her career, with her last performance in the part in January, 1834.

One of the most interesting roles of the nineteenth century was that of Mrs. Haller in August Von Kotzebue's The Stranger. The play, translated by Benjamin Thompson in 1798 for Mrs. Siddons, and then re­ written by William Dunlap later that same year, featured Mrs. Duff in 3 the role of Mrs. Haller forty-six times during her career. The Stranger was one of the most popular social-problem plays of its time, dealing with the sufferings of a repentant wife (Mrs. Haller) who lives on the

Wintersen estate. A stranger arrives in the area, and, after he saves a Wintersen child from drowning, he and Mrs. Haller meet. It is then disclosed that Mrs. Haller is the wife of The Stranger, and was lured away from her husband by a villain. She has been punishing herself for the misdeed ever since, and now asks her husband's forgiveness, but not to be taken back. As they part, their small son appears, reunites the 4 two, and the curtain falls.

Dunlap's script of The Stranger has never been published, for it was a composite of several translations by many authors including

Thompson and Richard Sheridan. However, his story has been pieced to­ gether from reviews of the productions, Dunlap's memoirs, and the 88

scripts written by Thompson and Kotzebue himself. In Theatre, Drama

and Audience in Goethe's Germany, W. H. Bruford commented on The

Stranger:

The plot is a tissue of improbabilities, but it is all subtly contrived to bring together the misanthropic stranger and the charming woman with a mysterious past when the audience, but none of the people in contact with them, know who they both are and what their relationship has been. The tension is skillfully worked up to this meeting at the end of the fourth act, in a scene without words, when one swoons and the other runs away. The fifth act brings in the inevitable children to ensure a happy ending.6

The role of Mrs. Haller was suited to the histrionic talents of

Mrs. Duff, who "almost always appeared in roles with which the audience sympathized."? Her ability to perform these parts was described by

Garff Wilson as being able to vary "pathetic appeal with lightning

flashes of scorn and indignation" when portraying Mrs. Haller or any 8 other role that called for the extreme emotions of maternal grief.

In History of the Providence Stage, George Willard talked about one of

her performances as Mrs. Haller:

She was once performing the part of Mrs. Haller, and so deeply was she imbued with the emotions of the repentant wife, that in the last scene, where the interest culminates, she swooned out right, fell upon the stage, and was not able to recover until assistance came to her relief.9

Mrs. Duff premiered this role on August 5, 1822, and it continued

to be her most popular personation. It was this character of Mrs.

Haller that was included in her repertoire during her last professional years, and was one of the most in-demand performances of her career.^ 89

Perhaps Mrs. Duff’s most demanding role was that of Jane Shore,

in the play by Nicholas Rowe. The title character had become the

mistress of King Edward IV, after deserting her husband, and "through­

out the play she lived in virtuous penitence over her former sins."

When she meets with a cruel death at the end, it gives the story "a

perfectly moral resolution calculated to discourage female unehastity."

The theme, coupled with melodramatic overtones, presented the problem

of "female chastity connected with the desire to arouse pity in an audience."H Mary Caroline Crawford added:

This work contains many moving passages, even when read with the eye of today, and in its last act, in which the fair Jane is shown wandering from door to door, a starving victim of Gloster's black revenge, must have provided magnificent opportunities for the powers of a gifted actress.12

One such gifted actress was Mary Ann Duff, whose "delineation of 13 the misguided Shore has never been surpassed by a Siddons or O’Neill. ft

A review in the Evening Post of November 23, 1826, stated:

This lady makes her first appearance this evening as Jane Shore at the Bowery . Theatre. It is one of those characters in which Miss O’Neill shone with peculiar lustre. Mrs. Duff approaches if not fully equals that lady in this.-*-^

Ireland also commented on her performance as Jane Shore:

Mrs. Duff's Jane Shore was enthusiastically received. It was pronounced to be one of the greatest efforts of human genius, and one critic almost imagined that Mrs. Siddons herself stood before him...The closing scenes had touches which went directly to the heart. We shall long remember the faded face, the melancholy sweetness, the imploring up-turned eye, when asking aid from the cold hand of 90

charity and spurned from the door where once she found a ready welcome. There was dumb eloquence in her grief which mocked all clamorous sorrow.15

Jane Shore was the character that Mrs. Duff chose to open many

of her engagements with, thereby enticing her audiences with this

most popular and powerful portrayal.

She played the part thirty-six times during her career, and, like

Mrs. Haller, Jane Shore became part of the repertory in Mrs. Duff's

later life. The New York Mirror made the following comments about her

characterization of Rowe's tragic heroine:

Mrs. Duff('s) work is finished at every point...Who that has seen Mrs. Duff in the part of Jane Shore, for example, will not perceive the aptness of the remark? In every line, in every word, she is true to the author, and departs not in a single instance from his delineation; yet the character as given by her is one of far greater dignity than Rowe had the ability to draw.16

Also in the repertory of Mrs. Duff was the part of Belvidera in

Thomas Otway's Venice Preserved. Written in 1681, the play was based upon some historical accounts, but the character of Belvidera was created by the author for his idol, Mrs. Barry, who performed in the premiere with Betterton. The story deals with a "conspiracy against the liberties of Venice" and the "struggle against the encroachment of the Crown upon the liberties of the people."17 In Plays of the Restora tion and the Eighteenth Century, MacMillan and Jones stated:

The true greatness of Venice Preserved... lies...in the many romantic beauties of the verse. Although it has been remarked that the conspiritors accomplish little, their plotting affords a mysterious back- 91

ground to the tender loves of Jaffelr and his Belvidera, and to the no less tender friendship of Jaffeir and Pierre. The personages of the leading characters are presented with great vividness and art...the roles of Jaffeir, Pierre and Belvidera attracted the greatest tragic actors of the epoch and of subsequent times.18

Mrs. Duff first played the part of Belvidera in May of 1821, and repeated the role thirty-six times during her career. In The Wallet of Time, William Winter stated that "her madness in Belvidera was 19 accounted perfection." In most of her early performances of Venice

Preserved, Mrs. Duff played opposite John Duff as Jaffeir, but.in later years, he played the lesser role of Pierre. His wife earned continued success as the troubled Belvidera, and Ireland quoted a review of her performance in the role:

Mrs. Duff's representation of Belvidera was a chaste picture of conflicting passion. Filial piety swayed the bolder claims of the husband, but the cruel sentence which deprived her child of a father, robbed its mother of her reason; and never sure was madness more touchingly portrayed. This lady has the rare merit of not hunting after passages for a momentary gratification. The course of the story is traced in the quiet progress of events up to the very distraction of her soul under unmerited wrongs, which at last ceases to conflict with her insuperable difficulties.20

Belvidera remained in Mrs. Duff's repertory, and was last performed on 21 November 16, 1835, at the Franklin Theatre in New York City.

In May, 1823, Mrs. Duff added the character of Calanthe to her repertoire. The role, from Damon and Pythias by John Banim and based on the "old play of fraternal love," premiered in America in 1821, and 92 was popular with both actors and audiences alike. Mrs. Duff played

Calanthe frequently, usually opposite Cooper or Forrest. The American made the following remarks about a performance of the play at the Park

Theatre in New York City, starring Mrs. Duff and Thomas Abthorpe Cooper

I cannot help saying of Mrs. Duff that her representation of Calanthe last evening was the most spirited and natural performance I ever witnessed. I say natural, where words distill from the lips without affectation or mouthing and where "the action suits the words." I have seen women whose performances I have tried to like, but Mrs. Duff makes her way to the heart as if nature rather than art stimulated her feelings and filled her soul.23

The New York Mirror echoed the words of the American in its praise for the Calanthe of Mrs. Duff and stated:

...the beautiful Calanthe lived and breathed in the person of Mrs. Duff... She has a good figure, a very graceful action, a soft clear voice,-and so hand­ some a face withal that she must always be received with pleasure by a New York audience. She is certainly an actress of the highest class.2^

Mrs. Duff's Calanthe, called "tender and touching" by Ireland, was personated forty times, and was included in her last performances in 25 April, 1839, with Edwin Forrest.

Another addition to Mrs. Duff's repertory came in early 1824, in the character of Madame Clermont from Adrian and Orilla. The play, written by William Dimond, tells the story of Matilda (Madame Clermont) who is seduced by Prince Altenburg who then refuses to marry her. She abducts his son Adrian and passes him off as her own. Years later,

Altenburg plans to marry Orilla, Adrian's love. Matilda confesses 93

everything to Altenburg, Adrian marries Orilla and Altenburg promises 26 to marry Matilda.

The part of Matilda, usually referred to as Madame Clermont, al­

though "out of the line of legitimate tragedy," has been called Mrs.

Duff’s finest characterization. Ireland wrote, "It won the commendation of Kean, who conceded it to be the best sustained delineation of 27 maternal affection he had ever witnessed." He also quoted a review of her Madame Clermont that said, "In the character of Madame Clermont last Friday evening, she produced a wonderful effect upon the house... 28 her talents (were) universally acknowledged."

Madame Clermont, like Mrs. Haller, was a role in which Mrs. Duff could project maternal wisdom and affection. The Boston Gazette of

October 22, 1827, described her performance:

...we saw her for the first time in Madame Clermont, and since her wonderful effort in Hermione we have seen nothing to equal it. In the last scene she seemed to throw off her identity, and looked and moved as a supernatural being; her face assumed a east altogether Siddonian, and her hurried and pathetic tones penetrated us with an involuntary shudder.29

Mrs. Duff played Madame Clermont thirty times between 1824 and

1839, and it was this character that prompted the Boston Traveller of

October 23, 1827, to declare that she "so completely embodies the properties with which an author invests the character that her repre- 30 sentations are unerringly true to nature."

Although performed only twenty-six times during her career, Mrs.

Beverley from The Gamester was a role of Mrs. Duff’s that was highly praised. The Gamester was written by Edward Moore in 1756, and was a 94

"moral-lesson drama" dealing with the evils of gambling. David

Grimsted described the plot as follows:

Moore...warned against gambling by showing the fate of an essentially good man who was led to destruction by his weakness and by a treacherous friend who had designs on his wife. After cheating the hero of all his money, the villain had him framed for a murder. In the end, the culprit was exposed and an uncle died leaving the impoverished family his money, but these events occurred after the hero had taken a fatal dose of poison.31

The wife, Mrs. Beverley, "suffers from an excess of goodness" and, although she knows her husband has gambled away their possessions and 32 their home, she refuses to leave him, and supports him to the end.

In this role, Mrs. Duff was able to employ her histrionic abilities to their fullest. The Evening Post reviewed her performance and commented

Mrs. Duff's Mrs. Beverley is a wonderful effort, and was so acknowledged by the house, for hardly an eye denied the tribute of a tear. There is not a beauty in the dialogue of this most affecting tragedy that was not distinctly marked by this accomplished actress. Her jewels were destined to adorn a wanton, but when Stukely proferred love his baseness was revealed, and with one withering look she blasted all the expectations of the villain. How her perfect love and unsullied honor sustained her to the last, how her noble and virtuous nature would still dwell on the happiness that awaited them in days to come, no pen can describe. Her husband expired; she shrieked and dropped upon his lifeless corpse.' For a moment all was still; but the next this admirable actress received as proud a tribute as was ever given to dramatic excellence. The impression made by this representation exceeded anything we ever witnessed.33

In Mrs. Duff, Joseph Ireland agreed with the critics when he 95

remarked:

...in Mrs. Beverley all womanly tenderness, love, confidence, sorrow, and despair were expressed with so much sympathy and pathos that it took its place among the very highest creations of histrionic art. .

The character's tenderness and sympathy towards those around her

was typified by Mrs. Duff's personal attributes, as a review in the

Boston Gazette stated:

...she has a charm which never fails to please with our fair countrywomen,- the charm of a virtuous life. She is known to be the kind, careful, and pious mother of a numerous family, and it is said by those who are best acquainted with her, that if the public awaken her professional ambition, the endearments of her family have all her heart.35

These aspects of Mrs. Duff's personality came across in the part of

Mrs. Beverley, as evidenced in the following comment by a critic quoted

by Ireland:

At times she displayed an exquisite variety of warmth and feeling and pathos that wholly subdued the audience. This lady has the admirable faculty of entwining herself with our warmest sympathies; she appeals to our hearts rather than our judgement...Mrs. Duff's performances touched the feelings with a power so irresistable, that nature always acknowledged their truth by the unrestrained offering of sobs and tears.36

In The Distrest Mother by Ambrose Phillips, Mrs. Duff found the

character that was her most successful on stage: Hermione. The play,

an adaptation of Racine's Andromache, tells of Pyrrhus and his love

for Andromache. He is affianced to Hermione, but forces Andromache to marry him by threatening to kill her child if she does not consent. 96

She agrees, planning to kill herself after the ceremony. Orestes is

told of the deed by Hermione, who promises to marry him if he will kill

Pyrrhus. He kills him, and Hermione, instead of marrying Orestes,

kills herself over the body of her lost love Pyrrhus, as Orestes loses ■<- 37 his sanity.

Hermione, though performed only eighteen times during Mrs. Duff's career, nevertheless was her most well-received role. It was in this part that Kean, as Orestes in an 1821 performance, requested Mrs. Duff to tone down her portrayal lest he be robbed of his due share of the applause. This was also the role that was a turning point in Mrs. Duff's career, when, in 1821 with Kean, she displayed talents heretofore unseen by the public, and the Boston Gazette commented:

We confess ourselves unable to do justice to this lady's merit, especially as it has been developed in her last few performances...never have we witnessed such a display of histrionic talent as in the representation of Hermione by Mrs. Duff...There was the melting and the freezing glance, the quivering lip, the front of defiance, the trembling frame,- all that could express tender or exulting love, pride or scorn, stifled rage and bursting fury, revenge, indecision, and remorseful grief.3&

She continued to perform Hermione throughout her career, and many critics of the time considered her acting efforts in that part to be her finest.

Of Mrs. Duff's Shakespearean roles, two stand out above all the others: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Katherine in Katherine and

Petruchio (Taming of the Shrew). As listed in Lewis Strang's Players and Plays of the Last Quarter Century under the heading of "Juliets of 97 a Century," Mrs. Duff played the role twenty-four times since her debut as Juliet in Boston in 1810. It continued to be among her most popular portrayals, and the New York Mirror reviewed her performance:

It was certainly one of the most tender and fascinating performances yet seen on this stage...Whether we listened to her syren tones, or gazed on the -ingenuousness of her deportment, her pure and unsuspecting simplicity, all was transport. But the transition...after the news of Romeo’s banishment, evinced the superiority of her genius...a daring picture of...the distraction of a young girl...39

The part of Juliet seemed to display a versatility of acting rarely demonstrated by other actresses in the role. In Mrs. Duff,

Ireland quoted the critic "Jacques" from the United States Gazette who wrote:

The naivete she displayed in coaxing the old Nurse was admirable; we were not aware that she could assume so much playfulness. The heroic spirit of the luckless maiden was developed with fidelity in the scene with Friar Laurence; but when about to swallow the draught she astonished us by those emanations of genius she sometimes exhibits - as powerful as they are original...Whoever has seen Mrs. Duff when roused to frenzy, rage, or despair, may conceive her manner in this part, but we cannot describe it properly; no description can reach reality. One would have supposed the ghost of Tybalt was really before her; her look, the wildness of her appearance, and her arms thrown out as if to interpose a barrier between Romeo and his purpose, while she drank and potent liquid,- all impressed the spectator with the idea she had drawn of his figure in thin air.

In addition to her success as Juliet, Mrs. Duff also played the 98

character of Katherine the Shrew. This role was significant in Mrs.

Duff's career, for it was her only successful comic Shakespearean

character. Ireland stated:

...she played Katherine in "The Taming of the Shrew," which proved to be her most popular assumption in comedy, from the fact probably that little gayety or joyousness is required in its embodiment. She could exhibit scorn, anger, and con­ tempt with power, and deliver a sarcasm with the most cutting poignancy, as well as assume the opposite characteristics of lowly humility which the part requires; and she was frequently called on for its repetition.41

Ireland indicated that Mrs. Duff did not possess much mirth or

humor in her personal life, and therefore chose roles that suited her

personality more closely, such as Hermione and Mathilde. Mrs. Duff

repeated Katherine fourteen times during her career, and the part

became her most popular comic portrayal.

In addition to the previously mentioned characters, Mrs. Duff also

portrayed several less successful but still popular roles. These in­

cluded Elvira from Pizarro, Isabella, Florinda from The Apostate and

the Shakespearean character of Lady Macbeth from Macbeth.

The character of Elvira is from Sheridan's translation of Kotzebue's

Pizarro, which proved to be more popular than The Stranger. The story is about Pizarro and the love of Rolla for Cora, who is married to another man (Alonzo). Cora's son is taken hostage by Pizarro, as is

Alonzo. Rolla attempts to rescue them and kill Pizarro with the help of the ruler's mistress, Elvira. Rolla spares Pizarro's life to show him "what it means to be magnanimous," and escapes with Alonzo and Cora's son. Pizarro follows Rolla and is killed; Cora, Alonzo and their child 99 42 are reunited; and Rolla dies of wounds inflicted during the escape.

During her career, Mrs. Duff performed both Elvira and Cora, the

former thirty-nine times and the latter twenty-five, but it was in the

role of Elvira that she received the highest praise. She played Cora

from 1818 until 1825, when, for unknown reasons, she switched to the

other role, eventually playing Elvira to her daughter Mary's Cora

several times. According to Ireland, Elvira was a role "in which she

seemed to evince extraordinary power, her last scene being pronounced „43 as sublime.

Mrs. Duff continued to perform the role, and it was the next to

last character performed in April, 1839, at her farewell appearance in

New Orleans.

The final performance of her career was as Isabella in Isabella,

or The Fatal Marriage by Thomas Southerne. The play tells of the marriage of Biron and Isabella, and the "innocent adultery" committed by the heroine when she marries Villeroy seven years after the supposed death of Biron in the war. He returns, is killed by his younger brother Carlos who accuses Villeroy of the deed, and the grief-stricken 44 Isabella commits suicide.

In May, 1823, Mrs. Duff added Isabella to her repertoire, and

Ireland remarked:

In Isabella she most pathetically portrayed the sorrows and madness of deceived and suffering innocence, and displayed powers which perhaps more than in any other character entitled her to be called the first actress of the day. It became acknowledged as her finest and most admired performance in legitimate tragedy, and has not been equalled in merit by any other subsequent performer. 100

Mrs. Duff played Isabella as one of her engagements in London in 1828,

and Bell's Weekly Messenger said:

There was a graceful ease in her deportment, a proper conception of the author, and an impassioned manner in the delivery of the text, which appeared to make considerable impression on the audience...46

The Boston Gazette reviewed an American performance of Isabella and

added:

This lady's performance of Isabella was throughout the most finished and effective representation which we have witnessed of the character. Her chief power undoubtedly lies in the pathetic, to which indeed every lineament of her speaking face seems to be attuned. Nothing could exceed the exquisite pathos of her manner in giving the ring to Villeroy, of her subdued frenzy and death scene in the play.47

Mrs. Duff played the role thirty-three times during her career, and, as her "finest and most admired performance," it was a fitting role with which to end her career upon the legitimate stage.

As Florinda in Richard Sheil's The Apostate, Mrs. Duff played the role of a woman who must marry a man she does not love, Pescara, in order to save the life of the man she wants but cannot wed, Hemeya, a

Moor. Hemeya is imprisoned by Pescara, but is rescued by another Moor,

Malec. Pescara is killed in the fight, and Florinda takes poison and 48 dies. Broken-hearted, Hemeya then kills himself.

Mrs. Duff frequently played the part, and her name soon became associated with Florinda. Ireland said the following:

Florinda also proved to be one of her strong parts, and made so powerful an impression on the public mind that it was rare there­ after to find an actress willing to attempt it... 101

her name alone is now remembered in connection with it.49

Mrs. Duff acted Florinda thirty-one times, playing the part for

the last time on May 30, 1838.

Though not as popular as her other Shakespearean roles, as Lady

Macbeth, "Mrs. Duff for many years stood peerless and alone. Horace

Greeley proclaimed her the finest Lady Macbeth that he had ever seen, and doubted that it would ever be equalled. The New York Albion agreed with Greeley and stated:

Her powers in delineating passion, particularly with her expression of countenance, is apparent to all; this was very obvious in her Lady Macbeth... though the effect in the last scene was much deteriorated by the awkwardness of those at the door as she was retiring backwards through the scene, mute with agony and remorse.51

Lady Macbeth was performed twenty times during Mrs. Duff's career, opposite such tragedians as Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, Edmund Kean, John 52 Duff, and, in April of 1839, for the last time, Edwin Forrest.

The roles that have been discussed in this chapter were the most important and most in demand of those in Mrs. Duff's repertoire.

Several additional parts, such as Adelgitha, Eugenia in The Foundling of the Forest, Cordelia in King Lear, Ophelia in Hamlet, Desdemona in

Othello and Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, although performed with as much frequency as some of the other roles, and as well-received, were not as popular with the audiences that preferred Mrs. Duff in more melo­ dramatic parts. As previously stated, Mrs. Duff played roles with which the audience could sympathize, and roles that were related to her personal feelings, such as parts with maternal overtones. The characters mentioned 102

above, although emotional and melodramatic at times, were not as

sympathetic and heart-tugging as Hermione, Mathilde, Mrs. Haller or

Madame Clermont, which were rich in the tear evoking emotions of

maternal love, and echoed Mrs. Duff’s own role as the devoted mother

of seven children. Parts that called for the dutiful and ever-loving

spouse such as Mrs. Beverley, paralleled her devotion to John Duff,

through years of sickness and monetary strife.

Repentance was also a strong theme in the roles that Mrs. Duff played, and her strict religious beliefs realized that the doers of evil, whether intentional (Mrs. Hall and Jane Shore) or unintentional (Isabella),

can still repent and be forgiven for their sins.

Mrs. Duff also excelled in the portrayal of emotionally over­ wrought women, as evident in all the roles discussed. Mrs. Haller, in her "Misanthropy and Repentance" is emotionally overcome when asking for her husband's forgiveness, and in the eventual reunion with her family. Jane Shore is drawn into a frenzy in the last act while reach­ ing out for help from anyone who might save her. Calanthe mourns the death of Pythias, as Hermione mourns Pyrrhus.

Juliet, Hermione, Belvidera, Isabella and Florinda are so blinded by grief that they are driven to suicide when faced with the deaths of their loved ones. Those driven by passion and emotional upheaval, Lady

Macbeth and Elvira, characterize the evil deeds of women scorned by their men and made to feel inferior, or inadequate.

Only the role of Katherine seems to depart from the emotionalism of the previous characters, but the Shrew, in her own way, is a volatile woman with little humor, determined to have her own way. 103

Seven Determining Factors

In order to further discuss the acting style of Mary Ann Duff,

some criteria for evaluating the style of the period must first be

established. In A History of American Acting, Garff Wilson offers the

following explanation of style:

Before the styles of acting evolved by the notable players of the American stage can be understood and before their careers and achievements can be evaluated, it is necessary to consider two basic questions: What is style in acting? and What are the factors or influences which determine an actors style? Style in acting...means the individual characteristics of appearance, voice, movement, and tempera­ ment which distinguish one actor from another; it is the distinctive mode of presentation used by an actor in the performance of a role. This distinctive mode or style is the result of at least seven determining factors, all of which must be recognized in evaluating style.33

The first of these seven factors of Wilson's is "the player's physical endowments," which includes face, figure and voice. The

"mental and spiritual attributes of an actor" make up the second factor.

Imagination, temperament and intelligence all are examined within the framework of this factor.

The third and fourth factors relate to the period: the "manners and customs of the period in which a player lives" are influential in the style of the actor in areas of etiquette and behavior; the "aesthetic ideals of a period" influence the actor in his acceptance of the tradi­ tions of the theatre.

An extremely important factor, the "force of training, example and experience" has influenced many actors by providing them with living 104

examples from whom they can derive inspiration. Wilson explains

several styles of acting: neo-classicism, "realistic romanticism" and

classicism. Mrs. Duff, according to Wilson, is of the Classical school

of acting.

The "repertory of the period" is the sixth factor in determining

style. The types of plays performed as well as the characters in those

plays wielded a powerful influence over the style of the actor in the

particular role.

The final factor is the "physical environment in which he performs...

the playhouse and the setting in which the play is produced.” The

structure of the theatres of the time and the technological aspects of 54 production help to determine the style of the performance.

An examination of these determining factors will aid in the under­

standing and evaluation of the acting style of Mary Ann Duff, the

American Siddons.

Garff Wilson places Mrs. Duff among those actors and actresses of

the Classical school. These artists, which, in addition to Mrs. Duff,

include Charlotte Cushman, Fanny Janauschek, Helena Modjeska, Edwin

Booth and James Murdoch, were close to the European traditions in theatre. They studied in stock companies, absorbed much from their fellow performers, and amassed a rather large repertory, ranging from farce and low comedy to Shakespeare. They were extremely versatile, and were masters of their art, with trained vocal and physical techniques.33

Lael Woodbury, however, included Mrs. Duff as part of the Romantic school of acting, along with Cooper and Kean. While Mrs. Duff might have been influenced by both schools of acting, she tended to create a (

105

style Inherently her own, as Charles Durang indicated in his History

of the Philadelphia Stage from 1749 to 1855:

Mrs. Duff’s acting was truly the poetry of nature, or rather she was a child of nature. She was no artiste — as so deemed by the critics. She learned the words of her author, conceived the nature of the character, and then, from her own intuitive judgement and impulses, illustrated and when thus aroused and free, with talent and genius before her, she ever came off victorious, and made lasting impressions.56

Mrs. Duff had the training of the Classic school, and the benefit

of working with those actors of the Romantic school; absorbing and re­

interpreting her experiences, and creating a style uniquely her own.

In examining the first factor, the "physical endowments of the

actor," the following has been stated about the attributes of Mrs. Duff:

She possessed a person of more than medium height, and of the most perfect symmetry,- not so commanding, perhaps, as that of Mrs. Siddons, but far more available, in her maturer years, for the youthful heroines of the drama, and far more graceful and pleasing to the eye than Miss Cushman ever possessed. Her face, called beautiful in her girlhood, throughout life was irradiated by eyes of the darkest hue and most speaking intelligence. The varying expression of her features has never been surpassed; while her voice was as soft and musical, in its quiet tones, as (we are told) was that of Mrs. Cibber,- wild and plaintive in its ejaculations of distraction and despair, yet resonant and thrilling in its forceful utterances.57

The voice of Mrs. Duff, said to range "from the clarion call of

frantic passion to the softest accents of maternal love," was one of 58 her most important physical endowments. Described as "full and mellow," "plaintively tender," and "thrillingly expressive," her voice 106

was able to evoke pity and understanding from her audiences, who

usually sympathized with whatever character she was portraying.

In the early part of her career, however, Mrs. Duff was cited for

lack of enthusiasm both mentally and physically. Lael Woodbury, in

his dissertation on nineteenth century acting, stated:

Apparently Mrs. Duff's voice was mild and unemotional during the early part of her career. She was popular because of her modesty and virtue, but her voice was so unimpressive at that time that if she managed to give her lines an extra emphasis, the actors were pleasantly surprised. "Mrs. Duff is improving," they would whisper, "she is mustering vigor."59

As her career progressed, her vocal abilities improved to the

point of being called "powerful and harmonious" with "modulated tones 60 of tenderness and pathos." These changes in her vocal ability came

at two different times during her career, once in 1817, when forced to t improve her acting ability as her husband's career began to falter, and

again in 1821, after her performances with Edmund Kean. The latter

experience changed her career in many ways, and Mrs. Duff began to take

her profession more seriously, learning to emphasize those talents and

physical assets that would enhance her career. Since, by 1821, John

Duff's chronic gout was preventing him from performing on a regular basis,

Mrs. Duff found it necessary to improve her standing in the acting profession in order to secure a future for herself and her family. She

improved greatly by using her vocal qualities to convey the emotions of the character she was portraying, and was -praised by many critics for her ability to bring her audiences to tears. 107

Wilson has stated that Mrs. Duff’s physical appeal and her

personal charm were her two principal assets, and more so than her

voice, her face and eyes seemed to be the greatest and most valuable

of these assets. Noted for an "unusual lustre," her eye was said to 61 be "the finest since the time of Mrs. Siddons." Indeed, Mrs. Duff's

entire physical being was reflected in her performances, and it was

frequently transformed by the emotional involvement she had with each

role, as Woodbury commented:

Mrs. Duff made no great effort to preserve her beauty through emotional scenes; she seemed to subordinate all elements of her acting to what she felt were the demands of the script. When she was required to depict intense emotion, her hair became disordered, and her eyes became wild, her lips livid, and her features pale.62

Mrs. Duff used these assets to their fullest, weaving them into the characters she played, learning "to project strong emotion and to stir her audiences by the controlled intensity of her feelings." The

Boston Traveller echoed these words and said:

In the soul-subduing qualities of her voice, so touching in its pathos and awakening in its energy, Nature has been most liberal to her. The outline of her head and face is classic, and her eyes are brilliant and powerful. She never fails to carry her audience along with her.63

The Boston Gazette praised her "speaking face," and the Emerald her "beauty the most intellectual" and the National Advocate wrote that

"her figure is commanding, her face handsome, and expressive, with a 64 good keen, and rapidly moving eye." Mrs. Duff was able to use these physical endowments to touch her audiences' hearts and innermost feelings, 108

usually evoking unrestrained sobs. "Bathed in tears," stated Lewis 65 Strang, "she was absolutely irresistable."

The "mental and spiritual attributes" of the actor make up the

second factor. One of Mrs. Duff's better mental and spiritual assets

was her power of concentration. As the person who eventually became

responsible for the support and care of her large family, Mrs. Duff was

determined to become a success on the stage, and thereby be in a position

to provide for her children. Since her husband was suffering from

chronic gout and rheumatism, she was forced to study her craft and to become as proficient in it as possible. Her powers of concentration helped her in this task, for she was able to immerse herself in the character she was portraying. The New York Mirror stated:

From beginning to end, from her first entrance to her final exit, you see before you only the character she is personating. The unity of her conception - the oneness is remarkable. No temptation can induce her to break it...She seems to have a separate existence, during the continuance of the play, and to have lost all knowledge of, and even all power of seeing, the realities around her...If a noise occur in the gallery Mrs. Duff exhibits no conscious­ ness of it as many very naturally do, thus permitting the player to be seen through the regal robe of sacerdotal habit.66

Mrs. Duff also had the ability to include her audience in this concentration of characterization, involving them in the emotions of the character, drawing sympathy and pity from them, as Lael Woodbury wrote:

She seemed to weave a magic spell over them, making them experience, with her, the emotions of the role, and she often induced them to weep during her performance 109

...Yet she seemed to be completely unaware of the presence of the audience.

Although Mrs. Duff possessed these great powers of concentration,

James Murdoch, who acted with her on several occasions, stated that she

was "a woman of great amiability of disposition and exceedingly nervous 68 temperament." Wilson maintained that "an actor with a nervous, high­

strung temperament may develop a tense, explosive style of performing,"

and in 1827, Mrs. Duff did just that, as this review in the New York

Mirror said, "Mrs. Duff pours out one unceasing blaze during the whole 69 time she occupies the stage." Ireland mentioned that, even though

Mrs. Duff was praised for her skill in conveying a vast range of

emotions, she was censured "for transitions said to be too abrupt" and

a failure on her part to reach a happy medium between extreme emotions.

In Players and Plays of the Last Quarter Century, Lewis Strang

stated that he felt her "power was probably magnetic rather than mental,

and her acting intuitive rather than definitely artistic." He attributed

her success to a personal quality in her acting, but doubted the force

and conviction of her tragic portrayals. Strang also said that when her

magnetic charm lost its potency, there was nothing left for Mrs. Duff to

give to her audiences. "Mental brilliancy being absent," remarked Strang,

"the essentially physical allurements that were the basic elements of her

work could no longer banish ingrained monotony."7^

However, her mental powers, and the concentration she exhibited in

her performances, created a believability for her audiences. Her style

seemed to change from the emotional outbursts of her early career to the more refined portrayals of her later career, as discussed earlier in this 110

chapter. Although Strang felt that, In her later years, her mental

abilities had diminished, they were evident enough during the main part

of her career to establish Mrs. Duff as a highly respected performer.

In The Wallet of Time, William Winter summed up Mrs. Duff’s personal

attributes:

Mrs. Duff seems to have been lovely more than beautiful; strong in the affectionate, melting charms of woman­ hood rather than in resolute, commanding, brilliant intellect; a person fitted to embody the heroines that entice and enthrall by their irresistable tenderness and grace; magical with the glamour of romance; sacred in the majesty of grief; fascinating in tears, and never so entirely triumphant as when overwhelmed with misery.7^

The third factor to be discussed is "the manners and customs of the period" in which the player lived. The customs and attitudes of the early nineteenth century, in relation to actors and the theatre in general, was sometimes contradictory. In The City and the Theatre,

Mary C. Henderson stated that the "pulpit" denounced the theatre and looked upon actors as "little better than rogues and prostitutes," while most of the patrons of the theatre were themselves pillars of the 72 community and their "respective churches."

Although men like Thomas Abthorpe Cooper and William Dunlap could marry into well-to-do New York families and were respected members of society, an actress of the day was more likely to marry another actor rather than a gentleman of the upper classes. If she were to marry a man not in the theatre, it would be expected that she leave the profession. During Mrs. Duff's marriage to John Duff, they, as actors, worked together; but, years later, when she remarried to Joel Seaver, Ill

she did choose to leave the stage and retire to private life.

As an actress, Mrs. Duff was known to be of "the old school,"

according to actor James Murdoch. He stated that she tended to speak

in the "conventional style peculiar to the past century," using

"deliberate and measured tones." Her speech was praised as was her

carriage, and Ireland commented on one of her Boston engagements:

. She was...pronounced without a rival in the country, and her perfect enunciation, propriety of action, and simple dignity of manner were recommended to the ladies of the city, as standards of excellence worthy of their closest study.24

Mrs. Duff's personal life also made her a respected woman of the theatre. Her ability to transport the maternal affection that she held for her family into her characters such as Hermione or Mathilde, indicated to her audiences that she was indeed a gentle and loving mother whose actions should be emulated.

Another aspect of the "manners and customs" is the role of the audience. The theatre itself divided the audience into sections: the pit, reserved for the lower classes who were "easy to ridicule for their lack of elegance or education;" the boxes, whose privacy and prestige were accorded to the ladies of society who frequented the theatre along with their escorts; and the third tier, which was reserved for "unescorted gentlewomen with lodgings to let," who were segregated from the decent women of the city, and who also paid the highest admission price.?3

The theatres themselves were divided much like the pit, boxes and gallery. In New York especially, this line of distinction associated the Park Theatre with the upper classes, the Bowery with the middle classes and the Chatham with the lower classes. 112

The audiences were enthusiastic and loud and tended to enjoy

the idea of seeing and being seen, at times to the annoyance of the

actors. They talked constantly, and frequently interrupted soliloquies

and tender moments on stage, as David Grimsted indicated:

The theatre, as well as playhouse, was a social club where people went to be seen, to talk together, and to indulge in other nondramatic pleasures...the management of the Bowery Theatre had the back of boxes painted "of the apple-blossom colour, as being most favorable to display the ladies to advantage." Other social pleasures were more dis­ turbing to those interested in the play. One critic had to threaten public exposure to make one man in the audience stop singing along with the performers. Perhaps hardest on the actors were "the downright snorings with which the pit is frequently made voluble." Because audiences made so much noise early in a performance, one critic claimed that all dramatists realized they had "to indite a sufficiency of trash to last for half an hour" before getting their plays really underway.76

The audiences expected to be entertained, and were more concerned with their own indulgences than the performance before them. In Domestic

Manners of the Americans, Mrs. Trollope talked of the New York theatre in the early 1830’s:

The Park Theatre is the only one • licensed by fashion, but the Bowery is infinitely superior in beauty...but it is not the fashion. The Chatham is so utterly condemned by bon ton, that it requires some courage to decide upon going there. ...(at the Chatham) I observed in the front row of a dress box a lady performing the most maternal office possible; several genlemen without their coats, and a general air of contempt for the decencies of life, 113

certainly more than usually revolting. ...we saw the Park Theatre to ad­ vantage, for it was filled with well- dressed company; but still we say many "yet unrazored lips" polluted with the grim tinge of the hateful tobacco, and heard, without ceasing, the spitting, which of course is its consequence.77

These audience habits had their effect ort the actors, who were

often given to louder tones and more brilliant gestures in order to

compete with the performances on the other side of the stage. On

occasion, the members of the audience became over-involved with the performance on stage, as David Grimsted explained:

Occasionally members of the audience interrupted a play, not out of indifference to what was happening on stage, but because they became so moved by a story that they mistook it for reality. Many tales of such audience response were circulated - about a sailor's jumping on stage to give aid and money to the dying Jane Shore, of a Worcester woman's pleading with the gamester to stop his criminal behavior, of a Baltimore man's objecting to an assault on Coriolanus because "three on one" was not a fair fight, or of a New Orleans boatman's suggestion to Othello, grieving over the loss of the hankerchief, "Why don't you blow your nose with your fingers and let the play go on."73

The audiences also controlled much of the theatrical entertainment by patronizing the stars and particular plays they preferred. With the benefit system employed by the theatre managers, as mentioned previously, the public could also ensure the success or failure of most of the actors and their presentations.

These "manners and customs of the period" are closely related to the fourth factor, the "aesthetic ideals of the period." During the nineteenth century, melodrama became the popular theatrical form, and 114 the themes of this form echoed those of the people. Developing themes for what Grimsted called "an enlightened and democratic age," became the main task of the playwrights. They began to select more American concepts, eliminating the "theatrical foppery of passionate kings, pouting Queens, rakish Princes and flirting Princesses... lamenting 79 misfortunes in which the bulk of mankind are in no way concerned."

They turned instead to the themes that would interest the common man: virtue rewarded, love overcoming all obstacles, appeal to nature and intuition as virtues of the common man, absolution for the truly repentant sinner, and punishment for the doers of evil. The issue of morality was high on the list of melodramatic themes, and the characters never possessed good and bad traits, but decidedly, one or the other.

This was held to extremes, for a person was either totally virtuous, or totally vile, either completely guilty,.or completely innocent. In a time when morals were strictly regulated, and the punishment of sin enforced, the melodramatic form represented the views of the people, in terms they could easily understand, as Grimsted emphasized:

Its conventions were false, its language stilted and commonplace, its characters stereotypes, and its morality and theology gross simplifications. Yet its appeal was great, and understandable. It took the lives of common people seriously and paid much respect to their superior purity and wisdom. It elevated them often into , the aristocracy, always into a world, charged with action, excitement and a sense of wonder. It gave audiences a chance to empathize in a direct way, to laugh and to cry, and it held up ideals and promised rewards, particularly that of the paradise of the happy home based on female purity, that were available to all. And its moral parable struggled to reconcile social fears 115

and life’s awesomeness with the period’s confidence in absolute moral standards, man’s upward progress, and a benevolent providence that insured the triumph of the pure.80 .

There were also other developments in theatre at that time.

During the time that Mrs. Duff was performing, the United States was

undergoing many changes. With the election of Andrew Jackson to the

Presidency in 1828, came the rise of faith in the common man and

America’s pride in her own achievements. There was much territorial

expansion, and with that came a rise in the population, growth of cities

and emergence of industry. Transportation improved, and prosperity en­

abled the general public to spend its leisure time enjoying the enter­

tainment of the theatre.

With this rise and growth of the nation, came a development that greatly affected the theatre: the appearance of the theatre critic.

The critic spoke for the public when he expressed his opinions on particular productions and performances, thus influencing many play- 81 goers. Another development was the emergence of the native American actor and actress. One such actress was Mary Ann Duff, who, although born in London, was considered an "American" performer.

A third development resulting from the aesthetics of the time was the elimination of conventionalized tone and gesture in delivery, during a performance. Also becoming a thing of the past was the acceptance of role interpretation that was handed down from actor to actor. The dignified and noble presentations of the Kemble’s were replaced by "a new period of tempestuous, passionate acting" as Wilson explained:

The stateliness and elevation of the Kemble school gave way to fiery outbursts of emotion 116

and dazzling displays of vocal pyrotechnics. Scenes in which the emotional intensity was low or the action was listlessly performed were alternated with tremendous, impassioned climaxes.82

With the rise of faith in the common man, these characteristics

in acting were acceptable as part of the common American touch possessed

by actors such as Kean, Booth, Forrest and Mrs. Duff. Ireland quoted

one review of Mrs. Duff's performance of Tullia in Brutus, that

exemplified this style:

When the dialogue assumes the loftiness of rage, disdain, and madness she bursts forth with tremendous energy...In the scene in Rhea's Temple she carried tragic horror to its highest pitch. Her paleness, the wildness of her eyes, the lividness of her lips, the disorder of her hair, and the shrieking accents that seemed to burst from her very soul...83

Such displays of histrionics were common in her performances, which were called "electric" and "frenzied," causing her audiences to become

"stiffened with horror," often sufficiently enough to "make the blood freeze."8^

Mrs. Duff could make the transition from these frenzied histrionics to the tender and pathetic tones of a Juliet or a Mrs. Beverley, but the acceptance of this more common style of acting of the Kean school was definitely a result of the aesthetics of the period.

The "force of training, example and experience" is an important, if not the most important, determinant of style. Mrs. Duff, as previously stated, was of the Kean school of acting, but, prior to her work with the celebrated actor, her only formal training was in ballet. The know­ ledge she acquired was done so through observation and some practical 117

experience. In 1821, Mrs. Duff worked with Edmund Kean, who, according

to Durang, gave her the inspiration for her acting style. In Backstage

With Actors, Helen Ormsbee stated:

In this season of 1820-21...Kean left an influence on American actors with whom he played...During his first engagement in Boston he was supported by Mrs. Duff, leading woman of the local company. She was an excellent actress then; but after she worked with Kean she was a great actress.85

The National Advocate of September 9, 1823, agreed with Ormsbee

and added:

...from the rapidity of her gestures, and the quickness of her motions, we should infer that she had been a student in the Kean school, a study which divests a female of much stiffness and tragedy stateliness, and gives an air of ease, and imposing effect to her best scenes.86

This view of Mrs. Duff as a disciple of Kean’s was echoed by Brander

Matthews, who, in Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the United

States, included her in the volume entitled "Kean and His Contemporaries."

Although Kean greatly influenced Mrs. Duff’s acting style, several writers, such as Durang and Ireland, maintained that she acted merely by instinct and good taste, and copied her style from no one. She simply followed her instinctive emotions, and did not conform to any 87 "established rules of art." But the fact that Kean was instrumental in influencing her style is undoubtedly true, as Ireland stated:

She was always thought to possess first­ rate powers, but these not properly schooled; and until the time Kean came... her reputation had nothing extraordinary in it. She was beautiful and lovely before, but at that time she burst upon 118

the public in the most astonishing manner...after which every character she acted underwent a change for the better... Stimulated perhaps by Kean's magnetic influence, she studied closely; and, throwing her whole soul into the characters she undertook and into which for the time she seemed transfused, she made those brilliant efforts which re­ sulted in complete success and forced the acknowledgement of her superiority to all who had preceded her.88

Mrs. Duff closely followed the style of those she worked with the

most, Kean, Booth, and Forrest, adopting their methods and manners

"which seemed the most effective," proving the importance of training 89 and example as a determinant of style in acting.

One of the most powerful factors in shaping the style of American

acting is the "repertory of the period." The majority of the nineteenth

century repertory that was performed by Mrs. Duff came from Shakespeare,

and the plays of Otway, Sheridan and Rowe. The remainder of her repertory

came from American dramatists such as John Howard Payne and William

Dunlap (with the Kotzebue translations), and lesser known, but more

prolific writers such as M. G. Lewis, William Dimond, Richard Sheil, * Thomas Morton and Mrs. Elizabeth Inchbald.

According to Wilson, the appearance and acceptance of melodrama

was a "blight that perverted American dramaturgy." Developed in France

in the late eighteenth century, the form came into full view in the

United States during the nineteenth century with the plays of Kotzebue

as translated by William Dunlap. The concept of melodrama is to present

an over-simplified view of life and morality, with an equally simplified outlook of right and wrong. There are villains and there are heros, and once the character is in one category, he must remain there; the good are 119

rewarded and saved, and the evil, punished and exposed. These plays

are highly charged with emotion and contrivances, with the eventual

clash between good and evil at the end. The appeal of these plays was

widespread, as Garff Wilson explained:

There were understandable reasons why playgoers reacted as they did. Not only did they accept and enjoy the simplified view of life and morality on which melo­ drama is based, they also were responsive to conditions of their time which strengthened the appeal of the genre... The tastes of the average citizen also encouraged the development of melodrama... For better or worse, the average man enjoys escaping into the never-never land of surprises and sensations; he enjoys stock characters, the unbeatable hero and the dauntless heroine, whom he can understand easily; he enjoys uncomplicated emotions; and he especially enjoys the comfort of a simple morality which always rewards the good and punishes the bad.90

With this love of melodrama was an appreciation of the actors and actresses who performed in the plays. When not playing Lady Macbeth or Cordelia, Mrs. Duff frequently performed in melodramas, and the part of Mrs. Haller, which was one of her most successful roles, was from The Stranger by August Von Kotzebue, one of the most successful

European writers of the melodrama. Several of her other roles such as

Mary in Barker's Superstition, Elvira and Cora in Kotzebue's Pizarro,

Nameokee in Stone's Metamora, Agatha Fribourg in Kotzebue's Lover's Vows, and Adela in Noah's She Would Be A Soldier, or The Battle of Chippewa, in addition to many of the roles mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, although highly melodramatic, were extremely well received by the public. Wilson commented on this:

The roles which Mrs. Duff acted most 120

successfully and with the greatest popular appeal were those portraying grief, sacrifice, and noble suffering... Mrs. Duff's success as a generator of tears related her to a long line of actresses who have excelled in this ability.91

The highly emotional melodramatic characters performed by Mrs.

Duff were some of her most popular personations. She possessed a

versatility that was greatly respected by both her peers and her public,

performing Shakespeare as well as Sheridan, Goldsmith as well as

Kotzebue. Her histrionic talent lent itself to the popular repertory of the period, which, in turn, was a powerful influence on her style of acting.

The final factor involved in the determination of the style of the actor is the "physical environment in which he performs;" the theatres and the settings which affected the performances of the nineteenth century. Mrs. Duff performed in ten cities during her career, and of these ten, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans were considered major centers of theatrical activity. Each of these major cities and their theatres, which are representative of the period, will be discussed in order to examine this seventh factor.

In 1810, John and Mary Ann Duff arrived in Boston to appear at the

Federal Street Theatre. Then under the management of Snelling Powell and James A. Dickson, the Federal Street was the first legal playhouse in Boston. Built in 1794, the theatre was burned down in 1798 and rebuilt later that same year. When Snelling Powell, then an actor in the company, took control of the theatre in 1802, he became the first successful manager of a theatre in Boston. By the time the Duffs 121

Mrs. Duff and J.W. Wallack in a scene from Adelgitha. 122

arrived there to perform, the company was one of the finest in New

England, performing in Providence during the summer months, and in

Boston from October to June. The theatre remained under Powell until

his death in 1821, when the management was turned over to Kilner and

Clarke, who eventually relinquished it to Richard Russell in 1830.

In addition to the Federal Street Theatre, the Tremont Theatre,

which opened in 1827, was the only other successful house in Boston.

The two theatres competed for the same actors and audiences, and both

suffered from a lack of funds and patronage. They eventually merged,

and the two theatres managed to thrive. The Federal Street Theatre

burned down in 1852, and the Tremont, which became the more popular of

the two, was converted into a church in 1843. Nine years later, in 92 1852, the renamed Tremont Temple, also burned down.

Of the theatres in Philadelphia, Mrs. Duff performed in three, the

Chestnut Street, the Walnut Street and the Arch Street. The first of

these, the Chestnut Street, initially built in 1794, was the first

theatre in the United States to convert to gas lighting for the stage,

in 1816. Originally owned by Alexander Reinagle and Thomas Wignell, the

management was under the guidance of William Warren and William B. Wood.

When Wignell died, his widow, the former Mrs. Merry, assumed ownership,

and many years later, Warren married her and became the owner himself.

Wood bought Reinagle's interests when the owner died, and he and Warren became co-owners as well as co-managers. They remained partners for nineteen years, until Wood became the manager of the new Arch Street

Theatre. The second playhouse, the Walnut Street Theatre, opened in

1809. With the opening of the Arch Street Theatre in 1828, with Wood 123

as manager, came the same competition and vying for actors that almost

destroyed the theatres in Boston. All three went bankrupt, and Warren 93 and Wood retired as managers and returned to acting. The Chestnut

Street Theatre went under the management of Lamb and Coyle, and

eventually closed in 1856.

When Mrs. Duff performed in New’York, she played at six different

theatres from her debut in 1823 to her final New York appearance in

1835. Those theatres were the Park, the Chatham Garden, the Lafayette,

the Bowery, the Richmond Hill and the Franklin.

The Park, opened in 1798 under Hallam and Hodgkinson, was the

first outstanding theatre in the United States. The two managers

quarrelled greatly, and eventually, the third manager, William Dunlap,

took over the theatre alone. Thomas Abthorpe Cooper managed the Park

a year later, but it was not until Stephen Price gained control in 1808,

that the Park prospered. The theatre burned down in 1820, and was

rebuilt in 1821, and "embarked on a period of prosperity which lasted

until the death of Price in 1840." The Park began to fail after that, 94 and was totally destroyed by fire in 1848.

In 1822, the Chatham Garden Theatre was opened, managed by Barriere.

In 1826, after the death of Barriere, the theatre was taken over by

Henry Wallack, who managed it until 1830, when Blanchard converted the

theatre into a showplace for equestrian events and straight drama. It closed in 1832, after the management of Hamblin, and became a Presbyterian . -i 95 chapel.

The Lafayette Theatre opened in 1825, but trouble with competition among the Lafayette, Chatham Garden and the Park, forced it to close 124

shortly thereafter. It was reopened in 1827, under the management of

Henry Wallack, and that effort also failed. The theatre was finally 96 destroyed by fire in 1829, and was not rebuilt.

The fourth of the theatres to be discussed is the Bowery which

was opened in 1826 under Gilfert and Barrett. The theatre burned down

in 1828 and was reopened later that year. In 1829, Hamblin took over

as manager, and remained there for twenty years. The Bowery was the

first theatre in New York to have continuous run productions, as opposed

to the different bills of fare at the Park. The Bowery burned down in

1836, and again in 1838. It was rebuilt in 1839 and remained in operation

until 1845, when it was once again destroyed by fire. The theatre 97 continued to operate through the Civil War, and finally closed in 1878.

In 1831, the Richmond Hill Theatre opened under the management of

Richard Russell, with Mrs. Duff as the main attraction. In 1832, an

outbreak of the plague, which killed a company member, forced the theatre

to close. When it reopened, it was to house a season of opera before

returning to the drama. The Richard Hill continued to operate until 98 1848, and then disappeared from the annals of theatre history.

The last of the six theatres, the Franklin, opened in 1835, and

presented mostly melodrama and farce. Mrs. Duff appeared there at the

end of her career, in 1835, when the theatre was under the management of

William Dinneford. It remained open until 1842, when it became a 99 minstrel house.

The two theatres that Mrs. Duff played in New Orleans were the Camp

Street and the St. Charles. The Camp Street opened in January, 1824, and was the finest playhouse in the South. The theatre, also known as the 125

American, was renovated in 1828 by manager-owner James Caldwell.

Caldwell retired as manager in 1833, and turned the theatre over to

Richard Russell and James Rowe, who continued to operate it until

Russell's death in 1838. Caldwell, who still retained ownership of

the Camp, regained control and re-opened the theatre as a ballroom. It

eventually closed in 1840, and was converted into a Merchant's Exchange,

and finally burned down in 1842.188

The St. Charles Theatre was opened in 1835, also by Caldwell. He

preferred to present only legitimate drama and grand opera in this

theatre, and, though it fared poorly, it still stayed open. In 1841,

however, due to the competition of Ludlow and Smith, Caldwell was forced

to sell his theatre to the New Orleans Gas Light and Banking Company,

thus ending his monopoly of the English-speaking theatre in New Orleans.

During the early part of Mrs. Duff's career, she appeared in

theatres that were lit by candles or oil lamps. In 1816, theatres began

to use gas lighting, but until then, the actors were forced to perform

in houses that were dimly lit, and Wilson discussed the effects of this

on the actors.

When the footlights consisted of half a dozen or more oil lamps, the point where their rays converged was properly known as the focus. Here all important passages of the piece had to be delivered, since elsewhere a player was not clearly visible. It was not possible, of course, to develop naturalistic acting under the circumstances.!^2

Most of the actors' actions had to be broad and exaggerated, so that the

audience could see them. The acoustics were usually poor, and the

actors were forced to project more powerfully to be heard.

As the lighting improved, so did the naturalness of the performances. 126

The Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia was the first theatre to

install gas lighting, and in 1816, the brighter atmosphere had a

profound effect on acting style. With the face being better illuminated,

the actors could present a more realistic form of emotion, without the

overly dramatic gestures that were previously used. The stage itself

was lit more brightly, and this meant that the scenery, consisting of

wings and drops, had to become more natural. Since the audience could

see more clearly, the scenery had to be more convincing to preserve the 103 illusion of the theatre.

The Camp Street Theatre (also called the American) introduced gas

lighting in 1824, and the Chatham Garden in New York followed suit that

same year. The Chatham Garden was lit by gas-jets, the mechanics of which Wilson explained:

...pipes with jets stretched across the front of the stage as footlights; hanging above the stage were additional gas pipes or battens which paralleled the footlights and were masked by the painted canvas borders. Also there were stands of pipe called gas-wings or ladders located in the wings and masked by the scenery. Each of these installations was connected to a central gas "table" by a separate pipe and each was controlled by a separate "stop" or "cock." The table was operated by the prompter or stage manager, who followed the action of the production and increased or dimmed the intensity of the lights as the action demanded. ^4

With this new equipment, the actor no longer had to rely on his voice and his action to set the mood for the play. The lighting effects could alter the color of the set, change the mood, and could illuminate the actor sufficiently enough to be seen without standing in a fixed position on the stage. The theatre was employing technical aids to 127

help the actor make his performance more natural and realistic in

the eyes of the audience.

In 1826, the Lafayette and the Bowery in New York were also lit

by gas. The Bowery, however, did not use the same gas-jets as the

Chatham, but rather gas with flames enclosed in glass shades. The

Camp Street Theatre in New Orleans went one step further, and lit their

theatre, both the interior and exterior, with gas, including footlights

and a nine-foot, cut-glass chandelier.^3

The lighting changes that occurred during the career of Mrs. Duff

might have been one of the reasons that her acting style changed from

her earlier performances in Boston to her triumphs in New York and New

Orleans. Since Mrs. Duff’s physical attributes were her greatest asset,

the fact that her figure was made more visible by the advent of gas

lighting, could have been a factor in the improvement of her acting ability, acceptance of her by her peers and her increased popularity with the public.

The size of the theatres in the early nineteenth century varied, but they were usually rather large. The seating capacities ranged from

1,000 at the Camp Street to 2,000 at the Chestnut Street, 2,500 at the Park and 3,000 at the Bowery. The actors in these theatres performed without the aid of modern voice amplification, and their speaking style became rather forced.

Several of the theatres'had an apron on the stage that enabled the actor to have closer communication with the audience, thus attempting to try to eliminate the necessity of forced vocal style. The Chestnut

Street Theatre had just such an apron, and it projected twelve to fifteen 128

feet from the proscenium arch and past the first section of boxes.

The Park Theatre in New York also had an apron, and the effect on both

actor and audience is described as follows:

The unconscious effect of this nearness to the audience upon the actor was considerable...the actor was in close physical contact with his audience and could stir them as a political orator stirs a crowd.106

With this closeness, Mrs. Duff and her contemporaries could project

anger, love, hate and any other emotion without having to shout in order

to be heard. When the apron that thrusted the actor closer to his

audience was combined with the new gas lighting, it created a whole new

atmosphere in the nineteenth century theatre and a new concept in the

style of acting.

The seven factors that influenced style had a profound effect on nineteenth century actors, and Mrs. Duff was no exception. Her physical and mental endowments of "body and voice, mind and spirit" when combined with the training and experience she received, helped to create a style of acting of the Classical school. Similar to Kean, Forrest and Booth, this style was peculiarly her own, and helped to earn her the title of the "American Siddons." 129

NOTES ON CHAPTER IV

Davenport Adams, A Dictionary of the Drama (New York: Burt Franklin, 1904), Vol. I, p. 180. ^Boston Traveller, April 23, 1829.

3 Ireland, Mrs. Duff, p. 153. A Barnard Hewitt, Theatre U.S.A. : 1668-1951 (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1959), p. 53. 3Quinn, pp. 90-91.

6 W. H. Bruford, Drama and Audience in Goethe's Germany (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1950), p. 263. ?Lael J. Woodbury, Styles of Acting in Serious Drama on the Nineteenth Century American Stage (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Illinois, 1954), p. 42. g Wilson, "Forgotten Queen of the American Stage: Mary Ann Duff," p. 14. ^Willard, p. 78.

^Ireland, p. 34.

^Grimsted, pp. 129-130.

12 Crawford, p. 8.

^Ireland, p. 94.

14 Evening Post, November 23, 1826. ^Ireland, p. 97.

1 6 New York Mirror, May 5, 1827.

l?Dougald MacMillan and Howard Mumford Jones, eds. Plays of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century (New York: Henry Holt, 1931), p. 214. 18 MacMillan and Jones, p. 214. 19 Winter, p. 68. ^Ireland, p. 63.

210dell, Vol. Ill, p. 76. 130

22Hornblow, Vol. I, p. 312.

23 New York American, September 7, 1823. 24 New York Mirror, September 7, 1823. 23Ireland, p. 51.

^Adams, pp. 18-19.

27Ireland, p. 42.

70 Ireland, pp. 44-45. 29 Boston Gazette, October 22, 1827. 30 Boston Traveller, October 23, 1827. 31 Grimsted, p. 133. 32 Grimsted, p. 134. 33Evening Post, November 25, 1826.

34Ireland, p. 39.

33Ireland, p. 45.

^Ireland, p. 53.

37 Bernard Sobel, The New Theatre Handbook and Digest of Plays (New York: Crown Publishers, 1959), p. 26.

do Boston Gazette, March 26, 1821. 39 New York Mirror, August 28, 1824 40T -, , Ireland, pp . 52-53. ^Ireland, p. 34. 42Sobel, p. 542.

43Ireland, p. 78. 44 Adams, pp. 497-498. 43Ireland, p. 36. ^Ireland, p. 88. 131

47 Boston Gazette, October 25, 1827. 48 Adams, pp. 66-67. 49 Ireland, p. 36. 50 Ireland, p. 39. 51. New York Albion, September 13, 1823. 52 Kendall, p. 194. 53 Wilson, A History of American Acting, p. 6. 54 Wilson, Acting, pp. 6-13. 55, Wilson, Acting, p. 41. 56 Durang, Vol. I, p. 110. 57 Ireland, pp. 1-2. 58 Winter, p. 69. 59 Woodbury, pp. 34-35. 60 Ireland, p. 21. 61 Ireland, p. 89. 62. Woodbury, p. 40. 63 Boston Traveller, October 23, 1827. 64 Boston Gazette, October 25, 1827; Emerald, Summer, 1824, National Advocate, September 9, 1823. 65 Strang, Vol. I, p. 194. 66. New York Mirror, May 5, 1827. 67 Woodbury, p. 40. 68 Ireland, p. 112. 69 New York Mirror, May 5, 1827. 70 Strang, pp. 194-195. 71 Winter, p. 68. 132 72 Mary C. Henderson, The City and The Theatre: New York Play­ houses from Bowling Green to Times Square (New Jersey: James T. White, 1973), p. 48. 73 Murdoch, p. 269. ^Ireland, p. 117.

?3Grimsted, pp. 54-56.

76 Grimsted, pp. 59-60. ??Frances Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans, ed., Donald Smalley (New York, 1960), pp. 339-340. 78 Grimsted, p. 60. 79 Grimsted, p. 205. 80 Grimsted, p. 248. 81 Garff Wilson, Three Hundred Years of American Drama and Theatre, pp. 56-58. 82 Wilson, Acting, p. 10. ^^Ireland, p. 51.

84 New York Mirror, August 21, 1824. 85 "Helen Ormsbee, Backstage With Actors (Freeport: Books for Libraries Press, 1970), p. 123. 86 National Advocate, September 9, 1823. 87 Woodbury, p. 34. ^Ireland, pp. 44-45.

89 Wilson, Acting, p. 11. 90 Wilson, Three Hundred Years of American Drama and Theatre, pp. 104-107. 91 Wilson, Acting, p. 47. 92 Hughes, pp. 155-158. 93 Wilson, Three Hundred Years of American Drama-and Theatre, p. 64. 133

94 Phyllis Hartnoll, The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre (London: Oxford University Press, 1972), p. 404.

Hartnoll, P- 93. 96 Hartnoll, PP . 293-294. 97 Hartnoll, PP . 65-66. 98 Hartnoll, P- 455. 99 Odell, Vol. Ill, p. 90 188James H. Dormon, Theatre in the Ante-Bellum South 1851-1861 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1967), pp. 176-178.

181Dormon, pp. 186-191.

183Wilson, Acting, p. 12.

103 Wilson, Three Hundred Years of American Drama and Theatre, p. 58.

184Wilson, Three Hundred Years of American Drama and Theatre, p. 72.

105 on Dormon, p. 82. 188Esther Cloudman Dunn, Shakespeare in America (New York: MacMillan, 1939), pp. 152-153. CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The career of Mary Ann Duff spanned twenty-nine years and earned

her the title of the "American Siddons." Based on the information

presented in the past four chapters, several conclusions can be drawn

pertaining to both Mrs. Duff and her career.

Although her professional years were brief, ending while she was

still comparatively young, they were, nonetheless, significant, for

Mrs. Duff was one of the earliest examples of the actresses of the

Classic school. Although Lael Woodbury links Mrs. Duff with the

Romantic school of actors, both Garff Wilson and Lawrence Hutton in­

clude Mrs. Duff in the Classic school. Her acting style, which borrowed much from Booth and Kean, was neither completely Romantic nor completely

Classic, but rather a combination of the two, resulting in a style uniquely her own. For the purposes of classification, however, Mrs.

Duff’s style resembled that of the Classic actresses and actors, who:

...did not merely project their own personalities into their parts but sought to transform their personalities enough to project the illusion of separate characters...they generally experienced a feeling of identity with the dramatic character and felt the emotions of the role - without, however, losing... control of body and voice.

According to the "Seven Determining Factors" of Wilson’s, which have been discussed in the previous chapter, Mrs. Duff's greatest attributes were her physical endowments and her emotional make-up.

These attributes enabled her to totally immerse herself in her characterizations, and she greatly identified with many of her roles.

134 135

Joseph Norton Ireland talked of a Boston woman who stated that Mrs.

Duff must have truly suffered in her personal life in order to project

such sorrow on the stage; but, unlike Booth or Forrest who projected

themselves into their characters, Mrs. Duff identified with hers,

losing herself in each role, becoming absorbed with only the character

and the play in which she was performing. This ability to create a

believable, sympathetic and sometimes agonizing character made Mrs.

Duff a respected and admired actress, establishing her as an outstanding

and in-demand leading lady.

Mrs. Duff also had the ability to stir her audiences and involve

them with whatever character she played. She excelled in parts that

required extreme emotionalism, specifically choosing those characters

with which the audience could sympathize. With her excellent physical

endowments of voice and figure and her personal charm as her greatest

assets, she was able to touch her audiences' hearts and innermost feelings,

usually evoking tears. She was most successful in her portrayals of

women who demonstrated maternal affection, were repentant for their

past indiscretions or were blinded by grief and driven by passion. The

extreme emotional tone of these roles was heightened by her ability to

generate tears, and when performing as Mrs. Haller, Hermione or Mathilde,

characters willing to sacrifice all for the good of those they loved,

Mrs. Duff was at an emotional peak. As Jane Shore, Calanthe or Florinda,

she achieved such a high level of frenzy, that, in later years, many actresses were reluctant to attempt the parts for fear of failing to live up to Mrs. Duff's portrayals.

The majority of her most successful roles were in melodrama, which 136

dominated the current theatrical milieu during the early nineteenth

century. Mrs. Duff possessed an intensity in her acting that made

her ideal for the melodrama, but unfortunately, prevented her from

performing in comedies with any great success. Her only well-received

comedic role was that of Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, a

character that required more emotionalism than humor. This aptitude

for the melodrama had a great influence on the success and popularity

of Mrs. Duff. She succeeded in performing these melodramatic parts

and so electrified her audiences with her portrayals, that she was

declared superior to many of the actresses who were her contemporaries,

and many actresses that preceeded her such as Mrs. Siddons and Miss

O'Neill. She was outstanding in a limited number of roles, which were

quite similar in their structure and intensity of emotionalism.

Mrs. Duff was influenced by those with whom she worked, such as

Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, Junius Brutus Booth and Edwin Forrest, but it

was clearly Edmund Kean who exerted the greatest influence on her,

causing a positive change in her acting style that resulted in increased

popularity. Kean, according to Mary Caroline Crawford in The Romance

of the American Theatre, was "declared a school by himself, a school 2 whose spirit was vividness, poignancy and intensity." Mrs. Duff,

influenced by the Romantic acting of Booth, who was a "legitimate

representative of the Garrick-Kemble-Siddons dramatic traditions," and

Thomas Cooper, also a Kemble disciple, performed with Kean in 1821 in

Boston, and seemed to undergo a change in style, from the low-key,

lifeless performances she had been giving, to performances that matched 3 Kean's in intensity and power. Like Kean, Mrs. Duff drew upon the 137

Romantic traditions and the Classic concepts of stock acting, amassing

large repertories, and developing trained vocal and physical techni- 4 ques; but, also like Kean, she incorporated these concepts with her

own interpretations to create a style of her own. Mrs. Duff learned

from those with whom she worked, and made great progress in improving

her acting ability in the process. Both Crawford and Lawrence Hutton

include Mrs. Duff in "Kean and his Contemporaries," clearly linking her

with the tragedian who had such a profound effect on her career.

During her career, Mrs. Duff was forced to improve her acting, for

when her husband became ill and could work only occasionally, it became

apparent that she would have to be the sole support of her family. She

was forced to improve her standing in the profession, and, under the

influence of Kean, she raised her stature from a supporting actress to

that of leading lady. The same concentration that was given to her

characterizations was applied to her self-improvement, resulting in her

rise in popularity during the middle of her career.

During this time, Mrs. Duff was compared to Mrs. Siddons, eventually

earning the title of the "American Siddons." The first mention of a

comparison with Mrs. Siddons was made by the New York Mirror of June 24,

1826, which talked of Mrs. Duff's relationship with her contemporaries

in terms of Mrs. Siddons relationship with her contemporaries; both women were considered to be superior to those actresses who performed during their respective periods. The comparisons made between the two actresses included mention of their similar repertories, the two having both played Mrs. Haller, Jane Shore, Lady Randolph, Isabella, Belvidera and Lady Macbeth. Further comparison was made in relation to their 138

physical similarities. Although they did not resemble each other,

Mrs. Duff was said to have possessed the finest eye since Mrs. Siddons,

and at times her face took on a "Siddonian" look, prompting her audiences

and critics to "almost imagine Mrs. Siddons" standing before them.3

The majority of the comparison maintained that the roles Mrs. Duff

performed were usually the finest since the time of Mrs. Siddons,

occasionally surpassing the great actress in roles such as Juliet and

Ophelia.

Mrs. Duff was as well-respected by her fellow actors as by her

public and her critics. Kean, Booth, Cooper, Forrest and Conway all

praised her talents and her gracious manner, proclaiming her to be the

finest leading lady of their experience. Booth proclaimed her "the

greatest actress in the world" remarking that she was "without equal g either in Europe or America," and Horace Greeley pronounced her Lady Macbeth the finest ever performed in New York City.? The greatest

praise came from Edmund Kean, who, at various times, stated that she

was superior "to any actress on the British stage," and that her

portrayal of Madame Clermont was "the most finished performance" he ever

had witnessed. Kean praised Mrs. Duff's cooperation with her fellow

actors, and in spite of their shared applause in 1821 during a performance of The Distrest Mother, he felt that she was the finest leading lady he g had appeared with in America. Her fellow actors also noted her amiability and even disposition, and respected her moral views and pious

life.

In matters personal, Mrs. Duff was above reproach. As a dutiful wife and mother of seven children, several of whom followed their mother 139

Into the theatrical profession, she was admired and often emulated, by

the women of the period; her dress, carriage and manners were studied.

Her religious beliefs were respected by her peers and added to her

achievements as an actress.

Despite the respect and popularity surrounding Mrs. Duff during

her career, she has been virtually forgotten by the majority of modern

theatre historians. Since theatrical criticism of the time is quite

scarce, notices and reviews of her acting are difficult to find, re­

sulting in less information available on Mrs. Duff. One of the main

reasons that she is overlooked is the fact that she left no known

memoirs. With her conversion to Methodism in 1850, Mrs. Duff renounced

her affiliation with the theatre, and even declined to mention her

previous career to both her nieces 'and her son-in-law with whom she

spent the last years of her life. Any attempt at writing her memoirs

would have brought attention to her, and, in those years, she sought

only to be free to pursue her religious beliefs. With the same commit­ ment she gave to her acting, she embraced the tenets of Methodism; and

devoted her time to helping others.

Another reason that Mrs. Duff has been forgotten was the abrupt­ ness of her retirement. Since this occurred at an early age, forty-five, and since she still performed occasionally, her audiences assumed that they could see her at any time. Her final performances were probably not intended to be farewell appearances, and her public, assuming that she would one day return to the theatre, failed to take advantage of the performances that were destined to be her last. As the years progressed, her name and position in the theatre were forgotten, and 140

only Joseph Norton Ireland chose to tell the story of her life, re­

minding theatregoers that Mary Ann Duff, not Charlotte Cushman, was

the first great actress of the American stage.

Although she was acknowledged as one of the finest actresses of

her day, Mrs. Duff was not given the "star" status that she deserved

during her career. This neglect resulted in her failure to secure

engagements at the better theatres in New York, and she was relegated to

playing in the lesser Metropolitan houses and on the provincial stages

of Boston and Philadelphia. This neglect was not due to lack of talent,

but several circumstances that surrounded Mrs. Duff’s life.

One of the main reasons for her failure to achieve "star" status

during the early part of her career was her reliance on her husband

in the management of her career. Mrs. Duff was content to remain in

the background and let John Duff bask in the glory of the theatrical profession. He was eager to make the contacts that would advance both their careers, but his wife was not. She shied away from the social obligations that accompanied members of the acting profession, and was not fully aware of the importance of influential friends and patrons of the art. She never entertained the wealthier members of society, and was happy to remain at home and to care for her children when she was not performing. She relied on her talents alone to secure her future as an actress, and, as a result, the members of New York’s fashionable society did .not frequent her performances, nor lend her the necessary support to insure her future. After the death of her husband, she was forced to appear in smaller theatres for less money in order to support her large family. She played melodrama during those later years, and 141

this too lessened her stature.

Another reason for her neglect was Mrs. Duff's "excessive

amiability and compliability of disposition," which led to this acceptance 9 of smaller salaries and roles unworthy of her talents. She was

vulnerable, distressed and easily swayed, as exemplified by her

"marriage" to Charles Young, and many of the managers with whom she

worked in her later years, although aware of her talent and her position

in the theatre, nevertheless took advantage of her financial straits,

and offered her roles that were not commensurate with her abilities.

With no one to manage her affairs, and the theatre as her only means

of support, she entered into a series of engagements that removed her

from the better houses and from her audiences. In addition, due to the

size ofher family, it was necessary for her to reside in one place for

long periods of time, which professionally resulted in over-exposure in one city.

Perhaps the most significant reason for her failure to achieve the status of many of her peers was that her early career began in Boston and Philadelphia rather than in New York. The New York audiences pre­ ferred to discover their own "stars" and, had Mrs. Duff arrived on the

Metropolitan stage from a Europen success rather than from the glory of the "provincial" stages of the two cities, she might have been accepted by New York and secured a regular engagement at the Park or the Bowery.

Instead, she performed at the Chatham Garden, the Franklin and the

Richmond Hill, lesser houses that were sometimes located far from the center of New York. Although Mrs. Duff was well respected and well received, her talents were not fully appreciated or rewarded, nor was 142

she given the engagements that either a wealthy patronage or the

stamp of foreign approval might have afforded her.

Therefore, it can be said that the neglect of Mrs. Duff was due

to five major reasons: her lack of managerial ability, her excessive amiability, her failure to make the necessary social contacts that would have furthered her career, her establishment as an actress on stages other than in New York, and, most importantly, the fact that she left no memoirs of her life and career to preserve her memory for succeeding generations.

It is the opinion of the author that Mary Ann Duff has been unjustly neglected and forgotten in the annals of American theatre history.

Since this neglect was based on judgmental errors on Mrs. Duff's part rather than a lack of talent and ability, she deserves her proper place in history as one of the foremost actresses of her day, and as an admirable representative of the classic school of actors. Her early retirement and her last years in obscurity have not erased the fact that Mary Ann Duff was respected and proclaimed the greatest tragic actress of her time; an actress who rightfully earned the title of the

"American Siddons." 143

NOTES ON CHAPTER V

^Wilson, A History of American Acting, p. 42.

2 Crawford, p. 132. 3 Crawford, p. 171. A Wilson, p. 41. 3New York Mirror, April 7, 1827.

£ Strang, p. 191. ^Greeley, p. 203. g Evening Post, March 5, 1827. 9 Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff, p. 137. BIBLIOGRAPHY 144

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Hill, Frank Pierce, (ed.). American Plays, Printed 1714-1830: A Biblio graphical Record. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1934. 146

Hodge, Francis. Yankee Theatre: The Image of America on Stage, 1825­ 1850. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964.

Hoole, W. Stanley. The Ante-Bellum Charleston Theatre. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1946.

Hornblow, Arthur. A History of the Theatre in America from its Beginnings to the Present Time. Philadelphia: .J. B. Lippincott, 1919, Voi. I.

Hughes, Glenn. A History of the American Theatre: 1700-1950. New York Samuel French, 1951.

Hutton, Lawrence. Curiosities of the American Stage. London: James R. Osgood, 1891.

______. Plays and Players. New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1875.

Ireland, Joseph Norton. Mrs. Duff. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1882.

______. Notices of Mrs. Duff. Unpublished Manuscript. New York: Columbia University Rare Book Collection, Brander Matthews Dramatic Library, 1880, 2 vols.

______. Records of the New York Stage, 1750-1860. New York: T. H. Morrell, 1866, 2 vols.

James, Reese D. Old Drury of Philadelphia: A History of the Philadelph Stage 1800-1835. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1932.

Janvier, Thomas A. In Old New York. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1894. .

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MacMillan, Dougald and Howard Mumford Jones, (ed.). Plays of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century. New York: Henry Holt, 1931.

Ludlow, Noah M. Dramatic Life As I Found It. St. Louis: G. I. Jones, 1880.

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______. Twenty-Six Years of the Life of an Actor and Manager. New York: Burgess, Stringer, 1847.

Willard, George 0. History of the Providence Stage, 1762-1891. Providence: The Rhode Island News Company, 1891.

Wilson, Arthur Herman. A History of the Philadelphia Theatre 1835-1855. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1935. 149

Wilson, Garff. A History of American Acting. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1966.

______. "Forgotten Queen of the American Stage: Mary Ann Duff," Educational Theatre Journal (March, 1955), pp. 11-15.

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Winter, William. Other Days - Being Chronicles and Memories of the Stage. Freeport: Books for Libraries Press, 1970.

• Shadows of the Stage. New York: Macmillan, 1892.

______. The Wallet of Time. New York: Moffat-Yard, 1913, 2 vols.

Wood, William B. Personal Recollections of the Stage. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1855.

Woodbury, Lael J. Styles of Acting in Serious Drama on the Nineteenth Century American Stage. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Illinois, 1954.

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Newspaper Articles

Boston Centinel

March 25, 1821

Boston Gazette

December, 1810 February 25, 1821 March 25, 1821 March 26, 1821 September 18, 1824 October 22, 1827 October 25, 1827

Boston Polyanthos

March, 1812 150

Boston Traveller

October 23, 1827 April 23, 1829

Columbian Centinel

March 31, 1819

Emerald

August, 1824

National Advocate

September 9, 1823

New Orleans Picayune

February 9, 1838

New York Albion

August 30, 1823 September 6, 1823 September 13, 1823 September 27, 1823 February 10, 1827 March 13, 1827 March 24, 1827

New York American

September 7, 1823

New York Evening Post

September 20, 1826 November 23, 1826 November 25, 1826 March 5, 1827

New York Mirror

September 7, 1823 August 21, 1824 August 28, 1824 June 10, 1826 June 24, 1826 March 17, 1827 April 7, 1827 May 5, 1827 December 17, 1831 151

Philadelphia Aurora

March, 1813

Philadelphia Gazette

October 29, 1835

Times - London

March 3, 1828 March 4, 1828 April 14, 1828 April 15, 1828

Times - New York

"Where Actors are Buried," New York Times (August 30, 1874), p. 3. APPENDICES 152

APPENDIX I

CHRONOLOGY OF MRS. DUFF'S CAREER

Dates City Theatre

November, 1810- Boston Federal Street Theatre May, 1812 (Providence tour July-Sept.)

May 20, 1812- Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre June 30, 1817 (Warren and Wood - also toured Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Alexandria, Virginia)

September, 1817- Boston Federal Street Theatre August, 1822 (Powell and Dickson - John R. Duff as manager) (Providence tour July-Sept.)

April, 1823- Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre September, 1823 (Baltimore in May, 1823)

September 5, 1823- New York City Park Theatre September 24, 1823

October, 1823- Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre May, 1824

June, 1824- New York City Chatham Garden Theatre August, 1824

September, 1824 Boston Federal Street Theatre

October-December, 1824 Baltimore

December, 1824- Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre April, 1825

May, 1825 New York City Chatham Garden Theatre

June, 1825- Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre April, 1826 (Toured to Baltimore)

May, 1825- New York City Chatham Garden Theatre October, 1827 (May-July) Lafayette Theatre (July-September) Bowery Theatre (November-July) Park Theatre (September-October, 1827) 153

Dates City Theatre

October-December, 1827 Boston Federal Street Theatre

December 4, 1827- London, England Drury Lane May 20, 1828 Brighton Theatre

May, 1828 Boston Federal Street Theatre (Toured to Salem, Mass.)

June-July, 1828 New York City Chatham Garden Theatre Park Theatre (Last appearance at both these theatres)

August, 1828 Providence

October, 1828 Boston Federal Street Theatre Tremont Theatre

December, 1828 Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre

January, 1829- Boston Federal Street Theatre April, 1830 Tremont Theatre

May, 1830 Baltimore

June, 1830 Philadelphia Walnut Street Theatre

July-September, 1830 Boston Tremont Theatre

October, 1830 Baltimore Holiday Street Theatre

November, 1830 Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre

December, 1830- Charleston, March, 1831 South Carolina

Apr11-June, 1831 Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre

June-July, 1831 New York City Bowery Theatre

September-October, 1831 Philadelphia Arch Street Theatre

November, 1831- New York City Richmond Hill Theatre April, 1832

May-June, 1832 Boston Federal Street Theatre

July-August, 1832 Philadelphia

September-October, 1832 Cincinnati, Ohio 154

Dates City Theatre

November, 1832- New Orleans American Theatre March, 1833

June-July, 1833 New York City Richmond Hill Theatre (Last appearance at this theatre)

January, 1834 Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre

February, 1834 Baltimore Front Street Theatre

March, 1834 Pittsburgh

April, 1834 Washington, D.C.

July, 1834 Philadelphia Arch Street Theatre (In performances with her daughter, Mary Duff)

August, 1834 Baltimore

November, 1834 Pittsburgh

December, 1834 Baltimore

January-April, 1835 Philadelphia Walnut Street Theatre

April, 1835 Baltimore

June, 1835 Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre Walnut Street Theatre (Last appearances at these theatres)

September-November, 1835 New York City Franklin Theatre (Last New York appearance)

December, 1835 Philadelphia Arch Street Theatre (Last Philadelphia appearanc

January, 1836 Washington, D.C. (Last D.C. appearance)

October, 1836 St. Louis The Old Salthouse

April-June, 1837 New Orleans American Theatre St. Charles Theatre

March-May, 1838 New Orleans Camp Street Theatre American Theatre

April, 1839 New Orleans St. Charles Theatre 155

APPENDIX II

SHAKESPEAREAN ROLES PORTRAYED BY MARY ANN DUFF

Flay Character(s) American Debut

As You Like It Rosalind April 11, 1822

Coriolanus Volumnia

Hamlet Ophelia Queen Gertrude January 24, 1830

Henry IV Lady Percy

Henry VIII Queen Katherine

Julius Caesar Portia

King John Lady Constance

King Lear Cordelia

Macbeth Lady Macbeth September 5, 1823

Merchant of Venice Portia April 8, 1829

Othello Desdemona August 7, 1811 Emilia May, 1832

Richard II Queen Isabel December 4, 1829

Richard III Lady Anne Queen Elizabeth May 25, 1821

Romeo and Juliet Juliet December 31, 1810

Taming of the Shrew Katherine August 7, 1822 (Katherine and Petruchio)

Tempest Miranda 156

APPENDIX III

NON-SHAKESPEAREAN ROLES PORTRAYED BY MRS. DUFF

Play Author Character(s) American Debut

Abaellino Zschokke Rosamanda (Dunlap, trans.)

Adelgitha M. G. Lewis Adelgitha March 7,, 1827

Adeline Howard Payne Adeline

Adelmorn, the M. G. Lewis Innogen Outlaw

Adrian and William Dimond Madame Clermont Spring, 1824 Orilla Orilla

Aethiop, The William Dimond Cephania Orasmyn

Alexander the George Wallis Statira Great Roxana

Aladdin Aladdin Princess Badralbadour

Altorf Fanny Wright Rosine April, 1830

Ambrose Douglas Jerrold Lucy Fairlove 1829 Gwinnett

Apostate, The Richard Sheil Florinda Spring, 1823

Bellamira Richard Sheil Bellamira October, 1826

Belle's Lady Frances Stratagem Touchwood

Bertram R. C. Maturin Imog ine

Black Beard Almeida

Blind Boy, The Edmond

Blue Beard Irene

Bohemian Maddocks Mathilde April 22 , 1829 Mother, The 157

Play Author Character(s) American Debut

Bride of William Dimond Zulieka Abydos, The

Bride of J. W. Calcraft Lucy Ashton May 10, 1830 Lanunermoor, The

Brier Cliff George P. Morris Crazy Bet June 15, 1826

Brutus John Howard Payne Tullia Tarquinia

Busy Body, Miranda The

Castle Spectre, M. G. Lewis Angela 1812 The

Clandestine Fanny Marriage

Clari Howard Payne Clari (Opera)

Cinderella Rossini Cinderella (Ballet)

Columbus Thomas Morton Cora Nelti

Cradle of Cooper Crazy Nab June, 1832 Liberty

Damon and John Banim Calanthe Pythias

Deaf and Dumb Julio

Distrest Ambrose Phillips Hermione Mother, The

Douglas John Home Lady Randolph February, 1821

Drummer, The Joseph Addison Lady Trueman

Duenna, The Sheridan Louisa (Opera)

East Indian, M. G. Lewis Zorayda November 18, 1830 The

Ella Rosenberg Ella Rosenberg 158

Play Author Character(s) American Debut

Evadne Richard Sheil Evadne

Everyone Has Mrs. Inchbald Lady Elinor March 10, 1830 His Fault Irwin

Exile, The Frederick Reynolds Alexina Empress Elizabeth

Falls of Clyde George Soane Ellen Enfield

Farmer's Wife, Dibdin Mrs. Cornflower (Opera) The

Fate of a Amelia St. June, 1831 Gamester Germain

Flying Dutch­ E. Fitzball Rockalda man, The

Forty Thieves Morgiana

Foundling of William Dimond Eugenia (Unknown May 11, 1821 the Forest (Moore) Female) Geraldine

Frightened to W. C. Oulton Emily Death

Gambler's Fate Thompson Julia

Gamester, The Edward Moore Mrs. Beverley

George Barnwell Maria

Gladiator, The Senoma

Golden Farmer, Benj. Webster Elizabeth April, ;1835 The

Guy Mannering Sir Walter Scott Meg Merrilies May, 1823 Lucy Bertram

Heart of Mid- T. J. Dibdin Jeanie Deans Lothian, The

Honeymoon, The Tobin Juliana August, 1818 Zamora

House of Aspen Scott Isabella 159

Play Author Character(s) American Debut

Inkeeper's Mary Daughter, The

Isabella, or Thomas Southerne Isabella the Fatal Marriage

Ivanhoe Rebecca

Jane Shore Nicholas Rowe Jane Shore August 12, 1811

Julian Miss M. R. Mitford Annabel April, 1830

Knight of Thomas Morton Lady Ellen Snowdon Douglas

Know Your Own Murphy Lady Jane Mind

Kenilworth Queen Elizabeth

Lady of the Dibdin Lady Ellen Douglas Lake

Laugh When Frederick Reynolds Emily You Can Mrs. Mortimer

Lover’s Vows Kotzebue (Dunlap, Agatha Fribourg translator)

Lyenshee Lovel Lyenshee Lovel (Lyieushee Lovell)

Magpie and the Annette Maid (Maid and the Magpie)

Mary Stuart Schiller Mary Stuart December 13, 1829

Mazeppa John Howard Payne Elizabeth

Melmoth the Immalee June, 1831 Wanderer

Metamora John A. Stone Nahmeokee February 15, 1830

Miantonimoh Narramattah 160

Play Author Character(s) American Debut

Mountaineers, Zorayda The Floranthe

Oscar and Malvina (Pantomime) Malvina

Pizarro Kotzebue (Dunlap, Cora 1813 translator) Elvira 1825

Point of Bertha Honour, The

Review, The Grace Gaylove

Rivals, The Richard Sheridan Julia

Robbers, The Schiller Amelia

Robber’s Wife, Rose Redland November 30, 1831 The

Rochester Countess Lovelaugh

Rob Roy Helen Mcgregor (Opera)

School for Sheridan Maria Scandal

Secrets Worth Thomas Morton Rose Sidney Knowing Mrs. Greville

Sergeant's Wife Lissette

She Stoops to Goldsmith Miss Hardcastle Conquer

She Would Be M. M. Noah Adela A Soldier

Simpson and Mrs. Bromley April 4, 1835 Co. (to Mary Duff's Mrs. Simpson)

Stranger, The Kotzebue (Dunlap, Mrs. Haller August 5, 1822 translator)

Superstition James N. Barker Mary March 12, 1824 161

Play Author Character(s) American Debut

Therese, or Howard Payne Therese March 13, 1822 The Orphan Victoire of Geneva

Town and Thomas Morton Rosalie Somers Country Mrs. Greville

Tancred and Sigismonda Sigismonda

Ugolino Olympia

Vampire, or Lady Margaret Bride of the Isles

Venice Thomas Otway Belvidera May 24, 1821 Preserved

Victorine Victorine

Virginius Virginia

Warlock of the Countess Adela Glenn, The

Way to Keep Murphy Widow Belmore Him, The

Wept of Wish- Narrah Mattah Ton-Wish, The

Wild Oats Lady Amaranth

Will Watch Mary January 30, 1832

Wives as They Mrs. Inchbald Lady Priory Were

West Indian, Louisa Dudley The Charlotte Rusport

William Tell Emma

Zembucca Pocock Amazaide 162 . . ’■ • -''.A i

. ' APPENDIX IV - »■ •

COURT TRANSCRIPT

Notices of Mrs. Duff 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170

APPENDIX V

CORRESPONDENCE FROM JOSEPH NORTON IRELAND

From Joseph Norton Ireland, Notices of Mrs. Duff. Unpublished manu­ script, Columbia University Rare Books Collection, Brander Matthews Theatre Library, New York, 1870, pp. 125-136.

.... In reply I received more than 80 letters but _2 of which contained positive information of her death which occurred in New York in 1857, the knowledge being communicated to Mr. James Rees of Philadelphia, and myself (in 1874) under an injunction of secrecy, which Mr. R. saw proper to disregard by publishing a highly sensational article in the Philadelphia Sunday Mercury of August 9, 1874. Mr. Rees was personally a stranger to me, but knowing that he was an old admirer of Mrs. Duff, and greatly interested in theatrical affairs, one of my letters of inquiry was addressed to him (in 1874). He replied that "she must be living - she could not have passed away without his know­ ledge."

Her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Duff of Pass Christian, Mississippi, wrote me that Mrs. Seaver was undoubtedly dead, but when or where she died she did not know.

Her son, Thomas T. Duff of Quincy, Illinois, wrote that he first heard of his mother's death in 1864, and supposed that she died in some country town in Pennsylvania - probably Frankfort, but he had never been able to ascertain with certainty. He forged me to pursue the investigation if possible and inform him if any effort resulted satis­ factorily. He gave me the name of two ladies resident in New York - (his nieces) who he thought could tell me all about the matter - but had refused to answer his letters. This assertion the ladies have since denied, but maintain that they had given every required information to their uncle, Thomas Duff.

From - or through them I learned that their mother (Mrs. Seaver's daughter) was residing in New York with a second husband (their step­ father) in 1854, when their grandmother, Mrs. Seaver, unaccompanied by her husband, reached their house and took up her residence with them and remained there until her death, which occurred of hemorrhages according to the date given by them August 31, 1857 - according to the record in Greenwood Cemetery September 5, 1857, in the receiving vault of which she was laid September 6. Their stepfather had never known of Mrs. Seaver's once having been an actress and it appeared to be the desire of the family to keep such knowledge from him. These young ladies state that Mr. Seaver never visited his wife while she remained with them. He is known to have died in New York about a year afterward.

The mother of these young ladies - originally Matilda Duff, (the youngest daughter of Mrs. Seaver) died about six months after Mrs. Seaver and the two now lie in one grave - on the so-called Hill of Graves in 171

Greenwood - at the head of which a stone bears the single inscription:

"Mother and Grandmother"

There would seem to be some mysterious cause for the silence and secrecy observed at the time of Mrs. Duff-Seaver's death, and during the latter years of .her life, which will probably never be unravelled.

Letters Received From:

Mrs. Duff1*s Eldest Grand-daughter:

Accept from my sister and myself our gratitude for the expressions of regard for our grandmother, whom we knew only as an earnest Christian who for many years devoted her life to acts of charity and goodness.

A great sufferer herself from an inward cancer - of which she died - made her pitiful for others’ sorrows, and to us she was almost an angel in whom we could see no fault. The life of which you write seems, and was, a separate existence of which we scarcely knew.

William Warren - Boston, September 11, 1873:

I regret to say that I can give you no information relative to Mrs. Duff - I well remember her loveliness as a woman, and her great talent as an actress - Her final fate, I never knew.

James Rees - Philadelphia, December 8, 1873:

I believe Mrs. Duff is still living a religious recluse in Hew Orleans. She could not have died without my being advised of the fact.

When last there, I neglected to look up my old friend, the once Siddons of the American stage.

Thurlow Weed - December 23, 1873:

I recollect Mrs. Duff very well in the balmy days of her theatrical career - but it was only as Mrs. Duff that I remember her - I had forgotten that she married.

Honorable John E>. Rice of Chicago - March, 1874:

Mrs. Seaver, once the wife of John Duff, and in 1830, the best tragic actress in America, died and left no sign. My own opinion is that she died many years ago in New Orleans - that for some years previous 172

to death, she became a religious enthusiast - had no association with theatres or players and so passed out of sight and mind among those of her former profession.

James Lawson (Poet and formerly editor), March, 1874:

I am sorry I cannot give you any information about Mrs. Duff - I remember her well - a fine actress.

Henry Isherwood - March 20, 1874:

I regret not being able to give you a satisfactory answer relative to Mrs. Duff. How few old actors remain. I for one never expect to look upon her like again.

John Gilbert (of Wallack1s):

I believe she still lives. The last accounts of her was that she was very religious, and in Philadelphia, distributing tracts.

Thomas Duff - April, 1874:

I can only now reiterate my former opinion that my mother died some years ago in some suburban town in the neighborhood of either New York or Philadelphia and was buried as Mrs. J. G. Seaver, and for some reason I cannot devine, the persons who knew her do not seem willing to communicate either as to hers, or Mr. Seaver’s death.

Mr. Rees - April 23, 1874:

You seem to be approaching the dawn of light that is to shine on the living - or the tomb of the late - Mrs. Duff. That a woman so well known - the acknowledged best actress on the American stage during the glorious days of "Old Drury" should disappear from the world so strangely is indeed surprising.

The social position of Mr. and Mrs. Duff was fully equal to the Woods and the Warrens of that day (1824), the lady far superior to any­ one I ever saw play here or elsewhere. Her Hermione, in The Distressed Mother, was one of the gems of true art we see but once in a century. Her Lady Macbeth was not equal to that of Mrs. W. B. Wood (of Philadelphia) but in all other characters, she surpassed that lady.

Mr. Duffee of Philadelphia:

I attended Mrs. Duff on 11th Street (Locust) in 1840. Her mind was 173

perfect. I looked upon her as one of the most interesting and gifted women I ever met with.

Benjamin W. Seaver of Albany, New York - 1874:

My brother Joel G. Seaver died April 28, 1858, in the city of New York. His wife, Mrs. Mary Duff Seaver, was living in New Orleans at the time of his death, and may be living yet, as I have never heard of her death.

Mr. Senior - Undertaker, New York:

Mary Seaver died 5th September, 1857, buried from the residence of Mr. ______36 9th Street, New York. She also died at that number. Physicians name I cannot ascertain.

Thomas Duff - August, 1874:

My mother always was a Catholic in faith. She joined the Methodist Church at Mr. Seaver’s request - and having once joined, became a good and zealous member thereof, but could not ever have been less a Catho­ lic except in outward observances. She was always and everywhere a good woman, as wife and mother most kind and affectionate.

Mrs. Durang - December, 1875:

Mr. Duff was a polished intelligent gentleman, and much sought for by society, from which Mrs. Duff strank. Philadelphia is not in general noted for its hospitality but it suited her. All admired her, yet she seemed to be to them a costly jewel which cast its radiance around too dazzling to approach. They beheld her as a model for mothers as well as a superior enchanting actress.

Mrs. Duff’s apostacy from Catholicism was, I believe, through Methodistical influence when she was in Frankfort after the marriage with Mr. Young. Her troubles weakened her mind and one trouble after another drove her to commit the two follies under the head of marriages.