The Penn's Grove record., 1896-03-06
ZOE JEFFERSON At THE SOUTH.
Experiences of the Great Actor In
Charleston Forty Years Ago.


Experiences of the Great Actor In
Charleston Forty Years Ago.
Joseph Jefferson passed through At
ianta on Thursday on his way to
louisiana for a pleasure trip, and a
of course. captured by the reporters
flor the Constitution. In the course
of Mr.. Jefferson's talk he gave a little
sketch of his southern experiences in
the f1fties.
81 always like to come to Atlanta"
ne said. "You know one of my chill
|dren was born in Georgia. That was
before your time, my boy. Yes, that
was back In the fifties, before the war.
You see, Johnny Ellsler and myself
were down this way playing, barn
storming it was, and were not hay-
ing much luck. We had been with a
stock company at Charleston, and
when 1t closed down we struck out on
Jour own line. We tried Savannah,
Macon and Augusta in Georgia.
(painted some of the scenery and John
looked after the front Of the house and
did a turn or two on the stage. We
did not find 1t a profitable venture and
went back to Savannah. While there
we got In correspondence with Sir
William Don, an English baronet who
had come over to this country with
excellent letters and a desire to play.
To tell the truth, Sir William was not
a remarkable player, except at the ia
bles. His money went In gaming. He
came to Savannah from Charleston.
II met him one day walking up Bull
street, and although l had never seen
him / felt that 1t was Don. After he
passed l turned to watch him, and l
found that he had turned to watch me.
We then approached and | inquired II
he were not Sir William Don. He re-
piled that his name was Don, and ask
ed whether l were Jefferson or Els
[Ier. We made an arrangement with
him and sent over for his baggage,
which the hotel had held for his bill.
"Don had been in a poker game on
the ship coming down and was finan-
cialIy embarrassed during his stay in
Charleston. Ellsler and l played Sir
William at the old Savannah theater,
and such a brilliant audience 1 had
never before seen. Indeed, I have
never seen one since which impressed
me more than that one did. The reason
probably was that the receipts at the
box office we're great beyond anything
In our experience. The ladies in the
audience that night wore the old rose
cut diamonds which sparkled, and to
|Ellsler and me they seemed to be as
big as apples. The grand danes were
out, and the ~aristocratic old gentle
men, in their stiff neckwear, nodded
In lordly fashion from box to box. Yes,
sir, that audience was a picture, and
the receipts put Ellsler, Don and my
self on our financial feet. We played
Sir William two or three engagements
In Savannah, and with great success,
for he presented his letters Of intro
duction, and all the grand people of
the city sought him and went to see
him play. That was the first real big
success which we had ever met"
The John Ellsler referred to by MI.
Jefferson is the father Of Efle Ellsler.
He is still alive and acting, or was, up
to a year or two ago, out on the road,
with his daughter. Mr.. Jefferson was
accompanied by one of his sons and
some grandchildren and ladies. They
were going down to his plantation in
Louisiana, where the comedian Will
enjoy a few weeks hunting and ash
ing. He was travelling in a compart-
'ment car and was ticketed through
from New York to New orleans.-At
Ilanta Constitution.