Elizabeth Johnson Ward Doremus

Elizabeth Johnson Ward Doremus (May 22, 1853 – April 15, 1934), known professionally as Mrs. C. A. Doremus, was an American playwright.

Elizabeth Johnson Ward Doremus
Elizabeth Johnson Ward Doremus, from an 1895 publication.
Born
Elizabeth Johnson Ward

May 24, 1853
Newport, Kentucky
DiedApril 15, 1934
New York City
Other namesMrs. C. A. Doremus
OccupationPlaywright
Spouse(s)Charles Avery Doremus
RelativesRobert Ogden Doremus (father-in-law)
James Taylor V (great-grandfather)

Early life

Elizabeth Johnson Ward was born in Newport, Kentucky, the daughter of George Washington Ward and Josephine Beauharnais Harris Ward. Her father and his brother owned plantations in Mississippi before the American Civil War.[1] Her great-grandfather was James Taylor V (1769-1848), banker and founder of Newport, a cousin of President James Madison.[2][3]

Career

Doremus wrote plays,[4] including Larks (1886),[5] A Boy Hero (1887), The Charbonniere, A Chinese Puzzle, Compressed Gunpowder, Dorothy, Fernande, Fleurette, Pranks, Real Life or Andy,[6] A Fair Bohemian (1888),[7] The Circus Rider (1888, starring Rosina Vokes),[8][9] Mrs. Pendleton's Four-in-Hand (1893, based on a story by Gertrude Atherton), The Fortunes of the King (1904),[10][11] By Right of the Sword (1905), and The Duchess of Devonshire (1906, written for Canadian actress Roselle Knott).[12]

She also co-wrote The Sleeping Beauty (1878) with Mrs. Burton Harrison,[7] A Wild Idea (1888) with Elisabeth Marbury,[13][14] A Full Hand (1894) with M. F. Stone, The Wheel of Time with T. R. Edwards, The Day Dream with E. R. Steiner,[6] Mock Trial for Breach of Promise, with H. E. Manchester,[15] Miss Devil-May-Care (1916),[16] One of the Boys (1920)[17] and A Castle in Spain (1935)[18] with Leonidas Westervelt, and The Chain (1920) with Julia S. Trask.[17]

Doremus managed society amateur theatrical performances in Elberon, New Jersey.[19] She was a charter member of the Daughters of the American Revolution,[3] and served on the Executive Committee of the Professional Women's League of New York.[20][21]

Personal life

Elizabeth Johnson Ward married chemist Charles Avery Doremus in 1880, in Washington, D.C.[22] They had a daughter, Katherine (1889-1956),[23] and two sons who died in infancy.[24] Charles died in 1925; Elizabeth Doremus died after a stroke in 1934, aged 80 years, in New York City.[1][10]

References
  1. Tenkotte, Paul A.; Claypool, James C. (2014-10-17). The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8131-5996-6.
  2. "General James Taylor Family Papers". Northern Kentucky University. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  3. Daughters of the American Revolution (1895). Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Harrisburg Publishing Company. pp. 104–105.
  4. Kritzer, Amelia Howe (1995). Plays by Early American Women, 1775-1850. University of Michigan Press. pp. 387–388. ISBN 978-0-472-06598-1.
  5. "Mrs. Doremus's Play". The Theatre. 1: 142. April 19, 1886.
  6. Adams, William Davenport (1904). A dictionary of the drama: a guide to the plays, playwrights, players, and playhouses of the United Kingdom and America, from the earliest times to the present. vol. 1. A-G. Chatto & Windus. pp. 196, 415, 555.
  7. "Women Playmakers of Today". The Peterson Magazine. 106: 967–968. September 1895.
  8. "Amusements.; Miss Rosina Vokes". The New York Times. 1889-05-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  9. Magnus, Julian (April 20, 1888). "Music and Drama". Epoch. 3: 213–214.
  10. "Elizabeth Ward Doremus, 'Circus Rider' Author, Dies". Chicago Tribune. 1934-04-17. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Among the Theatres". The Buffalo Times. 1905-02-05. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "The Duchess of Devonshire by Mrs. Charles A. Doremus". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  13. "Dabblers in Drama". Chicago Tribune. 1894-06-25. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1918). Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916 ... U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 2578.
  15. Doremus, Elizabeth Johnson Ward. Mock trial for breach of promise. New York,: T.H. French.
  16. Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1916). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series. p. 1000.
  17. Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Pamphlets, leaflets, contributions to newspapers or periodicals, etc.; lectures, sermons, addresses for oral delivery; dramatic compositions; maps; motion pictures. Part 1, group 2. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1920. pp. 64, 874.
  18. Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and Motion Pictures. New Series. 1936. p. 285.
  19. "Chat with the Amateurs". The Theatre. 4: 373–374. September 1888.
  20. "The Professional Women's League of New York". The Peterson Magazine. 106: 63. January 1895.
  21. Olla (February 28, 1894). "People and Things". Kate Field's Washington. 9: 143.
  22. Genealogies of Virginia Families. Tylers Quarterly Historical and Geneological Magazine. 1981. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-8063-0947-7.
  23. "MRS. PARK BENJAMIN SUES FOR DIVORCE; Brings Action in Westchester, Alleging Indiscretions With Unknown Woman". The New York Times. 1923-06-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  24. Nelson, William (1897). Genealogy of the Doremus Family in America: Descendants of Cornelis Doremus, from Breskens and Middelburg, in Holland, who Emigrated to America about 1685-6, and Settled at Acquackanonk (now Paterson), New Jersey. Press Print. pp. 164–165.
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