Elizabeth Johnson Ward Doremus (May 22, 1853 – April 15, 1934), known professionally as Mrs. C. A. Doremus, was an American playwright.
Early life
Elizabeth Johnson Ward was born in
Newport, Kentucky, the daughter of George Washington Ward and Josephine Beauharnais Harris Ward. Her father and
his brother owned plantations in Mississippi before the
American Civil War.[1] Her great-grandfather was
James Taylor V (1769–1848), banker and founder of Newport, a cousin of President
James Madison.[2][3]
Career
Doremus wrote plays,[4] including Larks (1886),[5]A Boy Hero (1887), The Charbonniere, A Chinese Puzzle, Compressed Gunpowder, Dorothy, Fernande, Fleurette, Pranks, Real Life or Andy,[6]A Fair Bohemian (1888),[7]The Circus Rider (1888, starring
Rosina Vokes),[8][9]Mrs. Pendleton's Four-in-Hand (1893, based on a story by
Gertrude Atherton), The Fortunes of the King (1904),[10][11]By Right of the Sword (1905), and The Duchess of Devonshire (1906, written for Canadian actress
Roselle Knott).[12]
She also co-wrote The Sleeping Beauty (1878) with Mrs.
Burton Harrison,[7]A Wild Idea (1888) with
Elisabeth Marbury,[13][14]A Full Hand (1894) with M. F. Stone, The Wheel of Time with T. R. Edwards, The Day Dream with E. R. Steiner,[6]Mock Trial for Breach of Promise, with H. E. Manchester,[15]Miss Devil-May-Care (1916),[16]One of the Boys (1920)[17] and A Castle in Spain (1935)[18] with Leonidas Westervelt, and The Chain (1920) with Julia S. Trask.[17]
Elizabeth Johnson Ward married chemist
Charles Avery Doremus in 1880, in
Washington, D.C.[22] They had a daughter, Katherine (1889–1956),[23] and two sons who died in infancy.[24] Charles died in 1925; Elizabeth Doremus died after a stroke in 1934, aged 80 years, in New York City.[1][10]