Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-12-24
JOHN MCCULLOUGH.
Episodes in the Life of the Dis.
tinguished Tragedian.
St. Louis spectstor.l


Just outside Of the white and bus
city of Londonderry, Ireland no,
known on the charts Of the magnifcen
steamship companies as MoviIle-
John Mccullough, the actor, was Dor
just forty-four years ago, His fathe
was a thrifty farmer, a tenant Of 81
Harvey Bruce, the greatest landlor
in all that region. His farmhous
was the largest, and whitest and bes
within half a league of Londonderry
One of Johns earliest recollection
was the great wlfite house, the prid
OF the neighborhood. His next wa
the death OF his mother, an even
which took place when he was quite
child. The elder Mccullough, good
hearted, rollicking man, beloved BY al
his neighbors, fell into loose way
after his heartstone was broken, ant
prosperity soon deserted him. Tht
inevitable came, as it nearly Away
does in Ireland-the day OF distFain
aud eviction. The landlord had
warm side for the unfortunate farmer
but he performed a landlords sterr
duty. With his eyes moist at tn,
recollection of his childish anguish
John tells Of the day when the bailif
came and took away his favorit,
horses, his pony, and even his dogs
That was the season Of desplation-
the era Of boyish despair, Soon afteI
the father died, and the youth wa
passed over TO the care Of an uncle.
At the age Of sixteen the untutorec
lad had heard OF the grand, free land
across the sea He had heard op
pressed Irishmen tell, perhaps, of Z
distant country where all men enjoyed
an equal chance, and where every day
brought forth new promise. He hao
longing to go there and try his for.
tunes, and one day his uncle bought
him passage, tied up his scanty ef-
fects in bundle, and sci him aboard
a vessel bound for New York. He
landed in New York utterly unknown
and frieudless. He had no relative,
in the New World; he did not ever
know the name of single inhabitanl
Of the continent. Then and there he
began the struggle for existence
Through menial ways he drifted tc
Philadelphia, and while wheeling Goa
at the gas works or working in a chail
factory, a fancy for the theater erept
iuto his soul. The boy who had left
Ireland without knowing that Shaks.
peare had lived or written, was seized
with desire to be an actor. 1t is moi
worth while to speak here Of the pa.
tient industry and the studious, sus,
tanned efforts which lifted him from q
"supernumerary" to the tutelage o.
Monarch Of the American stage.
and eventually left him at the head O
the English speaking interpreters o
the classic drama.
Last summer Mr.. Mccullough wen
to London to crafty the ambition
perhaps, that had long filed his bosom
Ito play in the worlds metropolis. in
the city which Graded our poets and
which framed our drama. Quietly
and unostatiously be began his en-
gagement at historic Drury Lane even
as the unknown genius, Edward Kean,
'leaped upon the Kemble- haunted
stage" AS one of the London writers
put it, he took down from a dusty
shelf where Macready had left it, q
majestic, classic figure-the Roman
Fsther-and breathed new life into it.
His success was emphatic and pro-
nounced. The morning after his first
appearance, while London was reading
Of his success, letter was brought to
his chambers bearing an illuminated
crest. 1t was from Sir Henry Harvey
Bruce, Of Downhill county, Ireland.
Lieutenont of County Londonderry,
the old landlord of the McCulloughs.
The writer said that he remembered a
son of his old tenant, Mccullough,
who had gone to America at an early
age. He had been struck
by the name of an American
actor on the boards at Drury
Lane Theater, and he was anxious to
know whether the emigrant boy and
the tragedian were one and the same
person. He asked permission to call
1t was granted, and next day Sir Har.
vey Bruce presented himself-a hale,
rosy man of seventy, looking like a
bustling burgher OF forty FIVE. Itonly
required few minutes to identify the
actor with the boy, as a son of the Lon
donderry tenant, who had often stood
beside the roadway aud doffed his cap
as Sir Harvey and Lady Bruce rolled
by in their carriage, young, happy.
rich, powerful. The old gentlemen
was delighted. He extended an invi-
tation to the actor to come and dine
with him at his home in Portland
Square, He went. Doors we're opened
to the man Of genius which would
have been closed to millionaire from
the New World. At that dinner
there were lords and viseounts, and
ladies whose plumes had waved at the
Queens levees, and the actor was the
honored guest.
After his London engagement Mr..
Mccullough went over to Ireland to
visit the scenes of his childhood. The
Bruces received him at the doors of
their castle, and the bellies of London
derry must have welcomed him with
sweet music when he drove through
the ancient streets. The white farm
house. which had borne itself SO
majestically in his youthful eyes, had
shrunk to humble dimensions; hedges
seemed smaller and roadways 6sf-
rover, but there were hearts there to
welcome him, that had only grown
broader and tenderer with the lapse
of years. The fame of the actor had
preceded him. and as he drove about
from village to village with Lady
Bruce, there were crowds To
receive him, and white-haired men
to claim relationship aud remind
him of episodes in his boyhood DAYS.
In telling the story Of his visit, Mr..
Mccullough says: Both Sir Harvey
Bruce aud his kind wife begged me 10
buy the old farm on which | was born.
and settle among them; but / told them
that would not give up my life and
my friends in America for all of Ire.
land. Then, with pride aud emotion
be added "God bless this land of
grand possibilities, where honest effort