Part 494: Thomas G. Moses and “An American Woman,” 1905
In 1905, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “My first production for the year was ‘An American Woman.’ For the First Act I had an illuminated drop supposed to be up north in the pine forests. The sky was one of the grandest sunsets I ever saw, purely accidental as far as I was concerned. It was the lights, but of course I took the credit, as long as they insisted that they lights were my suggestion.” “An American Woman” was a poetic drama in four acts written by Charles Eugene Banks for Miss Amber Lawlord. Lawlord starred in the leading role as Helen Chadbourne.
The “Sioux City Journal” commented on Moses’ scenic contributions: “The unusual stage settings were important adjuncts in many of the stage pictures, for it must be confessed it was the beauty of these pictures and also the music of some of the lines , rather than the dramatic merit of the play, which made the evening a pleasure to the altogether too small audience present” (17 Jan. 1905, page 6).
The Daily Times (Davenport, Iowa, 12 Jan. 1905, page 6) described the play in its entirety:
“The opening scene, laid at the residence of Senator Whittleson in the pine woods of the upper peninsula of Michigan, introduces the gigantic business deal in which the senator hopes to make millions from the forest lands. The Indian, ‘Eagle Wing,” delivers a powerful plea for the life of the trees, in which he is seconded by Helen Chadbourne, the niece of the senator, who wins over her lover, John Thorne, to the cause. The secret attachment between the Baron von Auerbach and her aunt, discovered by Helen, causes he to sacrifice herself in the climax to save the honor of her family name. The second act, laid in the Chadburne home in Chicago develops the plot of the baron to ruin the newly formed syndicate, and his attempts to gain possession of valuable papers, from Mrs. Whittleson are frustrated by the heroine. Helen Chabourne’s actions, misunderstood by her lover, have caused a separation between them and in her sacrifice to save her aunt is the theme of the romance. In the studio of Baron von Auerbach, shown in Act III, the strongest and best action in the play is developed. Mrs. Whittleson’s attempt to elope with the baron, taking her husband’s entire fortune in stocks with her, is checkmated by Helen who makes her see the error of her ways. The baron is caught in a cleverly laid net and the fourth act is only a rounding out of the happiness that the close of the third assures.”
In many areas, the play was panned; the actors criticized the playwright, as well as each another for the terrible reviews. The tipping point for the production, however, was at the Willis Wood theatre in Kansas City when people in the audience audibly made fun of the play and of the star during the performance. Lawford struck back, blaming the author and her manager, The “Leavenworth Times” quoted Lawford in their article, “Miss Amber Lawford Finds She Can’t Act” (Leavenworth, Kansas, 2 Feb 1905, page 8). She was quoted as saying, “I know my play, ‘An American Woman’ is rotten. It was written by an amateur, Mr. Banks, a delightful old character, who howls if a line is changed without his consent. I designed the scenery and settings. My faith in Banks has ruined me. My company does not know how nearly I am to collapse and the public thinks I am an amateur and do not understand. The time will come when they will know me differently.” In Miss Lawlord’s interview with the paper, she said, “I don’t try to hide my identity. I am the widow of William Fairchild Morgan, who was accidentally killed while hunting in the Adirondack mountains four years ago, and have two children. My husband’s father was one of the richest men Kentucky has ever known and he bequeathed to my husband an immense fortune. I was married when I was 16 year old and I had an income of $100,000 a year until the death of my husband. I have traveled all over the world. I have had an ambition to go on the stage ever since I was a girl in the Roman Catholic convent at Notre Dame. That is where I was educated. I studied for the stage in Paris and devoted seven years to the hardest sort of work under the direction of masters of stagecraft. I joined Wilton Lackaye’s company to get experience. I took a minor part during the New York production, and was playing second leads before the end of the engagement. I played twelve weeks in Chicago with Mr. Lackaye…I still have money and property. Why I have a home at 7 East Thirty-third street in New York that has $100,000 worth of furniture. Do you know where 7 East Thirty-third street is? It is right on Fifth avenue and within a stone’s throw of the Waldorf-Astoria. Do you wonder that a woman of my experience, of my social standing, wealth, education and refinement whould resent these insults?…They say I am beautiful. But is it a crime to be beautiful? Cannot a woman be beautiful and still be something else? Is a woman cursed and hissed and ridiculed because she is beautiful?…The dresses I wear are the same that I wore a year ago at the horse show in New York, and they were favorably commented on in the society columns of the papers. But I will win yet, I am closing here and will have a play in a few weeks called “My Wife’s Husband.” It is a comedy. I will win of it tales the last drop of my life blood. I will be a star.”
In 1908, Lawford married Samuel Willets, “son of a millionaire, master of hounds for the Meadow Brook Club, owner of the great jumper Heatherbloom, and member of six leading New York clubs” (The Pittsburgh Press, 21 June 1908, page 5). He was considered “one of the most desirable catches in the matrimonial market” at the time, coming from “one of the old aristocratic Long Island families.” The same article described that the new Mrs. Samuel Willets was “born in Frankfort, Ky., in 1880, the daughter of J. Henry Lorillard, a planter, alleged to be distantly related to the Lorillards of New York. A strain of Spanish blood flows in her veins. Her mother died when she was two years old and her father sent her to Notre Dame convent, where she was educated, remaining until she was 13, at which time her father died. A year and a half later she became the child-bride of William Fairchild Morgan, a wealthy resident of New Orleans. Their married life was happy. Morgan died in 1900, leaving his fortune in trust for their two children. She shortly afterward went on the stage.”
Her life may have been the best plot for a play.
To be continued…
