Edwina Booth Grossman Explained

Birth Name:Edwina Booth
Birth Date:9 December 1861
Notable Works:Edwin Booth: Recollections by His Daughter, Edwina Booth Grossman, and Letters to Her and to His Friends (1894)
Children:2
Relatives:

Edwina Booth Grossman (December 9, 1861 – December 26, 1938) was an American writer and the daughter of Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth. In 1894, she published the book Edwin Booth: Recollections by His Daughter, Edwina Booth Grossman, and Letters to Her and to His Friends in an effort to protect her father's legacy after the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln by Grossman's uncle, John Wilkes Booth.

Early life and education

Grossman was born Edwina Booth on December 9, 1861.[1] [2] Members of the prominent Booth family, Grossman's parents, Edwin Booth and Mary Devlin Booth, were well-known Shakespearian actors.[3] Grossman's paternal grandfather was Junius Brutus Booth and John Wilkes Booth was her paternal uncle. Mary Devlin Booth died in 1863, when Grossman was two years old. Edwin Booth married actress Mary McVicker in 1869.[4]

Career

In 1894, Grossman published a book about her father, Edwin Booth, reportedly concerned that his legacy as an actor would be marred by his brother's assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The volume was titled Edwin Booth: Recollections by His Daughter, Edwina Booth Grossman, and Letters to Her and to His Friends.[5] As the title suggests, the book describes Grossman's memories of her father and contains edited transcripts of letters written by him.

Private life

On May 16, 1885, Edwina Booth married banker Ignatius R. Grossman (sometimes spelled "Crossman").[6] [7] The couple had two children, Clarence Edwin Booth Grossman, who became an artist, and Mildred Booth Grossman. Grossman's granddaughter, Edwina Booth Waterbury, eventually married actor Richard H. Cutting.

Grossman was reportedly at her father's side at the time of his death in June 1893.[8]

Edwina Booth Grossman died on December 26, 1938.

References

  1. Web site: Edwina Booth, 1885 (Hills no. 31.3.6) Catalogue entry Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné . May 24, 2023 . www.eastmanjohnson.org.
  2. Web site: Booth, Mary Devlin, 1840-1863 - Social Networks and Archival Context . May 24, 2023 . snaccooperative.org.
  3. Web site: archives.nypl.org -- Booth-Grossman family papers . May 24, 2023 . archives.nypl.org.
  4. Web site: September 11, 2014 . The Edwin Booth Family Collection . May 24, 2023 . CSUN University Library . en.
  5. Book: Booth . Edwin . Edwin Booth: Recollections by His Daughter, Edwina Booth Grossmann, and Letters to Her and to His Friends . Grossman . Edwina Booth . 1894 . Century . en.
  6. News: May 17, 1885 . MARRIAGE OF EDWINA BOOTH. . en-US . The New York Times . May 24, 2023 . 0362-4331.
  7. Web site: Person Information Seward Family Digital Archive . May 24, 2023 . sewardproject.org.
  8. News: Bleyer . Jennifer . February 11, 2007 . A Finale, Frozen in Time . en-US . The New York Times . May 24, 2023 . 0362-4331.