# The Biographical Dictionary of America/Abbott, Emma

​ABBOTT, Emma, singer, was born in Chicago, Ill., Dec. 9, 1850. Her father, Seth Abbott, was a musician, and did all in his power to cultivate the child's voice, which displayed remarkable sweetness and strength at a very early age. Emma was eight years of age when, she made her first appearance on the stage, singing at a concert given in her father's office in Peoria, Ill. At the age of eleven she was told by William B. Bradbury and Parepa Rosa, who chanced to hear her sing, that she had fame and fortune in her voice, and she determined that it should have proper cultivation. In 1867 she introduced herself to Clara Louise Kellogg at the close of a concert given in Toledo, Ohio. Miss Kellogg heard her sing and gave her letters to friends in New York, also personally interceding for her with Errani. By the voluntary contributions of her listeners at parlor concerts Miss Abbott accumulated enough money to buy a suitable wardrobe and pay her board for a short time in New York city, one of her audience, a railroad manager, furnishing her with a round-trip pass. She soon obtained a position as soprano in Dr. Chapin's church, and by this means won the interest and friendship of such men as Horace Greeley, Matt Carpenter, Henry Ward Beecher, S. V. White, Robert G. Ingersoll, and George C. Lake. These and other friends raised a fund of nearly $10,000 to send her to Europe, and after studying a few months at Milan, she went to Paris, studying under Marchesi and Wartel in vocalization, and Charles Fletcher in dramatic acting. At a musicale given by the pupils of Marchesi, the Baroness Rothschild chanced to be present, and was so charmed with Miss Abbott's voice that she presented her with a check for two thousand francs, and a week later with a diamond necklace. On one occasion Madame Patti chanced to sing in Paris, and Miss Abbott with difficulty obtained an audience with her, and induced the great singer to hear her voice. Patti was so delighted with her singing that she presented Miss Abbott with a pair of exquisite diamond ear-rings and with a letter to the impressario Mapleson, who afterwards engaged her to sing under his management. Her debut was made as Marie in "The Daughter of the Regiment," and was a tremendous success. In 1875 she was married to Eugene Wetherell. Her five years' contract with Mapleson was cancelled at the end of two years, because of her refusal to appear in "Traviata," which she considered immoral, and she returned to America in 1877. In 1878 the Abbott English opera company was organized, with Mr. Wetherell as assistant manager. She travelled throughout the country, singing to crowded houses and enthusiastic audiences, and presenting mostly light operas, her favorites being, "The Daughter of the Regiment," ​"Paul and Virginia," "Chimes of Normandy, "and "Martha." Her operas were noted for the costly, tasteful, and historically correct costumes. Miss Abbott was warm-hearted and philanthropic in the extreme. None knew the extent of her private charities, and a biographer said of her, "Every city in the United States which has, during her years of financial prosperity, been afflicted by famine, fire, flood or pestilence, has occasion to thank Emma Abbott for generous contributions in the hour of need." In 1889 her husband died, and the magnificent monument costing $90,000 which she erected over his grave, was unfinished at the time of her death. Several legacies were left by her, among them gifts to Mr. Talmage's Tabernacle, and Plymouth church, Brooklyn, and the Madison avenue Baptist church, New York city. The last two used the money to remodel the organs, on which were placed memorial tablets to the donor. Her death occurred Jan. 5, 1891.