Laura Keene
Soon after British born actress Laura Keene started her twenty-year career, she also became a theater manager in Baltimore, becoming the first female American actor-manager. Famous for playing the lead part in the play, Our American Cousin, which was famously attended by President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, DC. That evening, at Ford's Theater, Laura not only witnessed the aftermath of the assassination, but also claimed to visit the mortally wounded President in his box, and comfort him, getting his blood on her dress.
Born: July 20, 1826
Birthname: Mary Frances Moss
Also Known As: Laura Keene (Stage Name), Laura K. Lutz (Married Name)
Birthplace: Winchester, England
Father: Tomas Moss
Mother: Jane King Moss 1796-1872
(Buried: Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York)
1st Husband: British Army Officer - Henry Wellington Taylor ?-1860
Married: 1844
2nd Husband: John S. Lutz 1813-1869
(Buried: Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, DC)
Married: 1860
Children:
Emma Taylor Rawson 1844-1882
(Buried: Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York)
Clara Marie Stella Taylor 1848–1876
(Buried: Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York)
Antebellum History:1844: Mary marries Henry Taylor, reportedly the nephew and godson of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Henry is discharged from the army, and opens his own tavern
1850: Henry Taylor is arrested for a crime that has been lost to history. He is convicted, and was reportedly sent from England to Australia on a prison ship
With two children and no money, Moss took up a career as an actress at the suggestion of her Aunt, British actress Elizabeth Yates
Because it was socially unacceptable, she needed to hide the fact that she was working, with two children at home, and no husband, so she changed her name to "Laura Keene"
1851: Keene made her professional debut as Pauline in The Lady of Lyons in London, England in October
1852: Keene meets James William Wallack, and agrees to serve as the leading lady at his successful theater in New York City
Laura Keene, circa 1863
1852: Keene immigrates to the United States.
1852-1853: In September, Keene performs at Wallack's Theater in New York City in a production of The Will playing the part of Albino Mandeville, she performs at the theater for over a year, gaining great popularity.
Keene meets John Lutz and together they begin working on theater management so she can have greater control over her career
1853-1854: Keene leaves New York and Wallack's Theater without warning, and leases the Charles Street Theater, in Baltimore, where she acts as a manager, a director, and a performer, making her the first female actor-manager in America
1854: Hired by actress Catherine Norton Sinclair, she begins to do touring performances in California playing opposite Edwin Booth. Keene and Booth begin dating.
1854-1855: Keene travels to Australia to do additional touring performances with Edwin Booth. She attempts to find her husband Henry to get a divorce while in Australia; she either can't find him, or he refuses to sign the papers, depending on the source you read.
Booth's drunken behavior in Australia put an end to their relationship and their tour.
1855: Keene returns to California, with successful performances at theaters, but new laws in the state ban performances on Sunday, limiting her profits. She looks to return to New York City...
1856: With the help of investors, she built her own new theater in New York City, the Laura Keene's Theatre, it opens on November 18, 1856
1858: Our American Cousin debuts in Laura Keene's Theater
Civil War History:
1863: Due to poor health, Keene is forced to give up managing her theater, and is limited to what she can do on stage.
Blood stained cuff claimed to belong to Laura Keene
On display at the National Museum of American History in NYC
by
1865: On the night of April 14, Keene's company, which primarily included John Dyott and Harry Hawk, were performing Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.. In attendance that night were President Abraham Lincoln and his wife First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
1865: Actor John Wilkes Booth, brother of Edwin Booth, fatally shoots President Lincoln while he's watching the play from the presidential box; Booth then flees the theatre. Amid the confusion, Keene makes her way to the presidential box where Lincoln lies dying and cradles the mortally wounded President's head in her lap. President Lincoln's fatal head wound bleeds on her dress, staining her dress, and cuff.
Dr. Charles Leale, the doctor who pronounced Lincoln's wound to be fatal, is claimed to recall that within 5 minutes or so of the shooting: "Laura Keene appealed to me to allow her to hold the president's head. I granted the request, and she sat on the floor of the box and held his head in her lap."
1865: On April 17, Keene and her crew are arrested at the train station in Harrisburg, en-route to Cincinnati, Ohio. They are released after being interviewed by the Military about the affair at Ford's Theater. Rumor has it that they may have been a suspect in the assassination, just as most everyone else in the theater was. It's also rumored she may have been heading to Harrisburg to switch trains and head for Canada, running to avoid the authorities.
Postbellum History:
1865-1866: Keene gets into a legal fight with Edwin Booth and his brother-in-law John Sleeper Clarke, over who has the rights to Our American Cousin, the court sides with Booth
Laura ships blood stained dress back to it's designer in Chicago, with the instructions that he can dispose of the dress in whatever way he saw fit.
1869: In September, she became the operating manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until March of 1870
1872: Laura's sells Our American Cousin to actor E. A. Southern for $2,690.00
1873: While touring in a small northern Pennsylvania town on July 4th, Keene has a massive hemorrhage on the stage, it becomes her final performance.
Died: November 4, 1873
Age at Death: 47 Years Old
Place of Death: Montclair, New Jersey
Cause of Death: Tuberculosis / Consumption
Original Burial Place: Catholic Cemetery, Montclair, New Jersey
Reinterred: Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York on April 20, 1876
"Her hair and dress were in disorder, and not only was her gown soaked
with Lincoln's blood, but her hands, even her cheeks
where her fingers had strayed were bedaubed with the sorry stains." {2}
(from the recollections of Seaton Munroe, a Washington, D.C. attorney)
Mary Frances Moss (1826–1873)
a.k.a. Laura Keene
On the night on April 14th, there swirls controversy as to whether Laura Keene was or was not in the Presidential box that night tenderly cradling the wounded President's head as his blood spilled out upon her hands and gown - - or was she the ultimate actress giving a performance worthy of an Academy Award?
After the shooting from the stage Laura was heard to calm the audience when she said:
"For God's sake, have presence of mind and keep your places, and all will be well." {1}
Laura Keene would describe her arrival differently:
"entered the President's box. He looked as if he had only fallen, but upon closer scrutiny, . . . the picture became distorted . . . under his great head, seeping slowly across the floor in a crimson pool, came his life's blood."
[With Mrs. Mary Lincoln sobbing uncontrollably] , Keene asked the doctor if she could hold the President until he could be moved. She lifted the President's head onto her lap and bathed it with water," {1}
Both of these statements were contradicted by the wife of the stage manager. She claimed that Laura Keene would have never gotten to the President's box as the panic and mass of people made surging through the crowd "simply impossible".
But Was She There?
The first physician to touch Abraham Lincoln that evening was Dr. Charles Leale and it was without a doubt that his quick actions in those first few minutes at least prolonged the President's life. He provided a statement that Laura Keene was in the box and that he personally gave her permission to hold Mr. Lincoln's head in her lap.
On April 15, 1865 - The New York Herald Printed The Following Account
"Prominent among those mentioned in connection with the incidents of the late tragical death of our worthy President is the name of Miss Laura Keene, the actress. In order to place her right in the history the following facts will suffice: Miss Keene was behind the scenes at the precise time of the shooting, waiting to come on the stage. She was near the place theatrically known as the tormentor. She was on the northern side of the theatre, while the President's box was on the southern side. Miss Keene's position was near the prompter's desk; but as that official was absent calling some of the actors she placed herself near the point where she could more readily enter upon her part. She was at the time expecting to see the ingress of Mr. Spear, whose part was at hand, and prepared herself to break his fall as he entered in a drunken scene; but instead of receiving Mr. Spear, Mr. Booth pushed his way suddenly through the side scene, striking Miss Keene on the hand with his own, in which he held a dagger. She for a second looked at him and saw it was another person from the one she expected, and instantaneously she heard the cry that the President was shot. The cry was spontaneous among the audience, and many of them were making for the stage.
She then knew something was occurring, as women were screaming, men hallooing and children crying, as if a fire panic had taken place. Miss Keene went to the front of the stage, and, addressing the bewildered audience, said: 'For God's sake, have presence of mind and keep your places, and all will be well.'
Notwithstanding this appeal the audience were boisterous, and while all seemed willing to detect the perpetrator of the great crime, but one made a move to this end. Scarcely had the perpetrator of the crime jumped from the President's box to the stage, than he was followed by Mr. Stewart, one of the auditors. As Mr. Booth crossed the stage he met and struck at the carpenter with the dagger he held, and instantaneously made his exit to the rear of the theatre, where his horse was in readiness, and thence made his escape. Miss Keene, after momentarily arresting the panic and consternation in the audience. heard the cry of Miss Harris, saying. 'Miss Keene. bring some water! ' Miss Keene responded to the call, made her way. which was rather circuitous, through the dress circle to the President's box. and got there a few moments after the occurrence. There she saw Mrs. Lincoln, in the agony of a devoted wife, uttering the most piteous cries. Miss Keene attempted to pacify her. at the same time offering the good offices in her power: but she was convinced from her observation that human help was in vain. Miss Keene remained with the President until he was taken from the theatre." {4}
A fellow actress, Mrs. Eldridge, who was a member of the stock company at Wood's Theatre in Cincinnati wrote the following to an author working on a book about Laura Keene:
"I was never a member of Miss Keene's company… consequently I knew but very little about her. I met her first in April, 1865, the week after the assassination of the lamented Lincoln, when she came to play an engagement at Wood's Theatre, Cincinnati, where I was a member of the stock company. She then told me the entire story of the assassination, and how she went into the box at Ford's Theatre, Washington, and held the head of the murdered president. She also gave me a piece of the dress she wore at the time. I cannot now find the scrap, as it is more than thirty years since that sad event took place." {6}
Now granted there was utter confusion in the box that night and Mary Lincoln was understandably emotional and was comforted by Clara Harris. Would another lady in the box be remembered? There was no eyewitness account from others immediately reporting the presence of Laura Keene, only Laura's words herself, as told to the "New York Herald".
A Famous Blood-Stained Dress
At the time of the shooting, Laura was attired in a multi-colored floral pattern silk costume. According to accounts, she did not throw away the blood-stained dress but preserved the blood and brain matter that had oozed out from the stricken president. It soon became an object of curiosity. If she was in the box and held Lincoln's head, it was told the blood stain on her dress is what alerted others that Lincoln had been shot in the head and not the chest.
It was also reported that when Laura Keene made her next acting experience in Cincinnati, she hung the blood stained gown for the public to observe however it turned out the theater goers were appalled at the sight and it was quickly put away. {6}
Laura Keene held on to her blood-stained costume. There were stories that she would occasionally wear the garment at social gatherings so her guests could view the famous dress. Eventually she entrusted the dress to her daughter.
There are reportedly five swatches that have survived through the years with one piece of the garment at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. There was a piece of the dress at the Abraham Lincoln's Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The most unusual sighting was the "New Bedford Whaling Museum" when it stated:
"Without doubt, the most poignant is a relic. It is a small piece of silk fabric that bears witness to one of the most infamous incidents in American history. The fabric's delicate floral design is marred by dried blood stains belonging to President Abraham Lincoln. The swatch is from the dress worn by actress Laura Keene, the British stage actress who played a leading role in Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., which was attended by President Lincoln on the evening of his assassination." {7}
* * *
Did she cradle President Lincoln's head that night in the theater box like she claimed?
OR
was she an actress that played the best role of her life?
* * *
In Memoriam to Laura Keene
by Col. T. Allston Brown
New York, November 8, 1873 {4}
"She's dead! and may she sweetly sleep
Within the silent grave,
Where willow-trees around her weep,
And dews her cold house lave;
And history, with her golden pen,
May she record her name,
Whilst memory wreath's a diadem
Of honor and of fame."
Did she cradle President Lincoln's head that night in the theater box like she claimed?
OR
was she an actress that played the best role of her life?
* * *
In Memoriam to Laura Keene
by Col. T. Allston Brown
New York, November 8, 1873 {4}
"She's dead! and may she sweetly sleep
Within the silent grave,
Where willow-trees around her weep,
And dews her cold house lave;
And history, with her golden pen,
May she record her name,
Whilst memory wreath's a diadem
Of honor and of fame."
Some More Interesting Tidbits
1. The play began at around 8:00 p.m. - the theater was overflowing and had a 1700 seating capacity.
2. At around 8:30 p.m. the play came to a stop as the band played to "Hail to the Chief" to announce and honor President Lincoln and his party.
3. At the time of his arrival Laura Keene was on the stage.
4. The evening of the 14th of April was the conclusion of the stage production of "Our American Cousin" and theater owner John Ford had promised Laura Keene that on that night she would receive all box office proceeds from the evening. Once it was known that the Lincoln's would be in attendance it was a full house and Keene would enjoy a profitable evening.
5. There are some reports that Clara Harris was only heard screaming: "The president is shot!" and in some instances it is added: "Stop that Man".
6. The only blood that appears to be documented in the presidential box is that of Henry Rathbone when he sustained a slash from Booth's dagger and suffered a wound stretching from left arm from elbow to shoulder.
Sources
Photo:
On Left: Newspaper Clipping of a Legal Case, The New York Sun, November 22, 1859, Page 2, LOC Collection
On the Right: Newspaper Advertisement, The New York Herald, April 2, 1862, Page 12, LOC Collection
On the Left: The Ford Theatre Playbill, Friday evening April 14, 1865, Our American Cousin. Washington, D. C.
L. Polkinhorn & son, printers. 1865, LOC Collection
On the Right: A statement made by Keene after the Lincoln Assassination, The Clearfield Republican,
of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1865, Page 1, LOC Collection
On Left: Newspaper Advertisement, The New York Herald, February 24, 1871, Page 2, LOC Collection
On Right: Newspaper Obituary, The New York Herald, November 07, 1873, Page 9, LOC Collection
The Architecture of Ford’s Theatre & Laura Keene
For the purpose of determining whether it was possible for Laura Keene to move through a crowded theatre on the night of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and get to the State Box, act…
civilwar.gratzpa.org
- Creahan, John. The Life of Laura Keene: Actress, Artist, Manager and Scholar, Together with Some Interesting Reminiscences of Her Daughters, Philadelphia: 1897. (Google Book)
- Henneke, Ben Graf. Laura Keene: A Biography, Tulsa: Council Oak Books, 1990.
citation information
The following information is provided for citations.
Article Title: | Biographies of the Civil War, Laura Keene |
Authors: | ★ @DBF (Biography & Initial Research) ★ Mike Kendra @CivilWarTalk (Profile, Layout, Obituary, Additional Research, Further Reading) |
Website Name: | CivilWarTalk.com |
URL: | https://civilwartalk.com/threads/keene-laura.178024/ |
Publisher: | CivilWarTalk, LLC |
Original Published Date: | October 2, 2020 |
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