r 
 
 r^i
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 SAMUEL W. PIERCY, 
 
 Ijorn fiugust ^, 1^4.9. 
 (pied January 9, 1&8S. 

 
 This collection of Letters and Extracts from the Press is printed and 
 
 presented to the relatives and friends of tlie late Samuel W. Piercy, as a 
 
 slight tribute of attection, from 
 
 HIS MOTHER 
 
 • t " '.
 
 
 NTF\ODUCTOE\Y 
 
 N 
 
 OTE. 
 
 ) 
 
 The life of Samuel W. Piercy was pure and beautiful, and when he was 
 called away no one had aught but good to say of him. He was ambitious and 
 en successful, but wholly unseltish. He was a noble son, an aflectionate husband. 
 
 ,„ a true friend. His character was a rare combination of mental and moral 
 
 -• excellencies, and, had death spared him for a few years longer, he would have 
 
 fiC reached the goal of his ambition — one of the foremost positions in his pro- 
 
 og fession. Our late friend was born in New York, reared in California, and 
 
 3 trained in the dramatic school of America. His success and his sorrows are 
 
 -)B told with touching earnestness in this memorial, which, in its humble way. 
 
 3^ reflects the opinion of the Press and the people. 
 
 ** AN APPRECIATIVE FRIEND. 
 
 293228
 
 ]- 
 
 vETTERS AND 
 
 Extracts. 
 
 y 
 
 LAST HOURS OF THE POPULAR YOUNG ACTOR. 
 
 [ Sau Francisco Daily Report, January 9, 1882.] 
 
 The following dispatch was received in this city, yesterday, 
 by Miss A. Martel, niece of the late Samuel W. Piercy: 
 
 Boston (Mass.), January 9th — 1 :35 p. m. 
 Miss A. Martel, 420 Ellis street: — Everything was clone that could be. 
 He was conscious to the last. Full particulars in mail. We have just come 
 fi'om his funeral. Love and sympathy. 
 
 J. A. L. WHITTIER. 
 
 Another dispatch gives the following particulars of Mr. 
 Piercy 's illness and death : 
 
 " His death occurred at 2 o'clock, a. m., yesterda}'. The dis- 
 ease of. which he died was confluent smallpox. When told that 
 death was near, Piercy said he was not afraid to die, but longed 
 for the presence of his mother, who is in San Francisco, and 
 wanted her telegraphed for at once. He suffered terriblj' 
 during his last hours. He was conscious to the last, and gave 
 directions as to the disposition of his effects, and left a very 
 tender message to relatives and friends. A ring his wife had 
 placed there he refused to have removed, though the finger 
 swelled so that it was extremely painful. The ring he 
 requested to be buried with him. His last words were: ' Tell 
 my dear mother I was not afraid to die, and that my last 
 thoughts were of her and my darling little child.' A commit- 
 tee from the Boston Lodge of the Order of Elks, in conjunc- 
 tion with Messrs. Byram and Tyler, of the Park Theater, 
 representing the New York Lodge, took charge of the remains
 
 6 
 
 immediately after deAth, and they were placed in a; handsome 
 casket, and this afternoon were interred in the Elks' Rest, 
 Cedar Grove Cemetery. Under the State law applying to such 
 cases, a public funeral or religious service over the body is 
 prohibited, and it cannot be removed from its present resting- 
 place for one year. On Sunday next, memorial services, 
 under the direction of the Elks, will be held in the Lodge 
 rooms. Beautiful floral tributes were sent to the grave by the 
 management of the Park Theater, Mr. Keene, the tragedian, 
 Mr. and Mrs. William R. Hayden, Mr. and Mrs. J. A. L. 
 Whittier, the ushers at the Park, and the Boston Lodge of 
 Elks." 
 
 A FEELING TRIBUTE TO THE LATE ACTOR. 
 
 [San Francisco Daily Eeport Jan. 14th.] 
 
 The dark curtain has rolled down on the last act of the 
 drama of life for Samuel W. Piercy; and behind its folds he 
 has fallen into a dreamless sleep that kisses down his eyelids 
 still. He is no longer an actor in those scenes of real and 
 dramatic life in which he was wont to shine. He has done 
 with this world — its certain miseries, its transient delights, 
 its cruel losses, its bitterly doubtful gains. Stricken down 
 by a deadly disease, away from home and friends, and while 
 yet in love with life, he passed to silence and pathetic dust. 
 It is difficult to speak impartially of the dead. Post-mortem 
 expressions are colored, more or less, with a tender touch, 
 and therefore cannot at all times be accepted as a just esti- 
 mate of either talent or character. Yet the earthly career of 
 Samuel Piercy was so conspicuously free from all that was 
 base and small, that the closest scrutiny into his life reveals 
 nothing but good. 
 
 Samuel W. Piercy was born on the 8th day of August, 
 1849, and during the month of December of the same year 
 arrived in San Francisco with his parents. Having passed
 
 through his infantile career without any precocious sign or 
 mark of significance, he was, at a suitable age, placed in 
 Riucon School, and later attended Dr. Huddard's Academy — 
 then a popular institution of leai'ning in this city. Subse- 
 quently, he continued and completed his scholastic studies at 
 San Jose, whither his parents had moved in 1860. The cur- 
 riculum of study having been concluded, and be released 
 from his somewhat narrow sphere of action, the school-room, 
 young Piercy, ever quick of mind and possessed of an 
 exceptionally energetic nature, soon turned his thoughts to 
 the sterner and more active concerns of life. Even at this 
 early period of life Sam, as he was familiarly termed, evinced 
 the greatest fondness for the drama; and ambition in this 
 direction had already lifted the window and entered the 
 chamber of the gifted boy's soul. However, dreams of this 
 nature were not to be immediately realized, and, after the 
 usual delays consequent upon the graduation of a young man, 
 Sam was finally induced to enter upon the study of the law, 
 and to that end applied for and secured a position in the office 
 of one who was destined to turn the whole current of young 
 Piercy's life — Gen. W. H. L. Barnes. He entered upon the 
 discharge of his duties with that diligence, patience and 
 industry characteristic of the man in all his undertakings — 
 for it was a marked trait, throughout his entire life, to con- 
 scientiously perform whatever was set before him or imposed 
 upon him. He remained in the office of General Barnes until 
 the year 1870. On the 4th day of July of that year, and 
 during the exercises commemorative of our national existence, 
 an incident occurred that, so far as the law was concerned, 
 turned his thoughts awry and finally determined him to 
 embrace the calling of an actor. It so happened that Mr. 
 Piercy had been selected as the reader of the Declaration of 
 Independence for the day mentioned, while his friend and 
 law instructor. General Barnes, was the Orator of the Day. 
 The power, style and effect of the reading so impressed" Gen- 
 eral Barnes tha' he at once advised Mr. Piercy to adopt the 
 stage — a bit of friendly advice the propriety of which has 
 never been doubted and the wisdom of which was subseduently
 
 8 
 
 verified. Mr. Pierey thereupon abandoned all idea of longer 
 pursuing that jealous mistress, the law, and soon began 
 studiously devoting himself to close study and preparation 
 for the final adoption of his newly-chosen though long-loved 
 art; and in November of the same year he was, through the 
 interposition of his friend, Genaral Barnes, permitted to 
 make his formal debut, as an actor, on the stage of the Cal- 
 ifornia Theatre. The play was Othello, with Mr. Pierey as 
 " lago," supported by John McCullough as " Othello," and 
 the other members of the then incomparably capable company 
 of that theatre. Even at thi^, the earliest period in his 
 professional career, the peculiar fitness of Mr. Pierey for the 
 stage was instantly recognized by John McCullough, who 
 gratuitously pronounced his efl:brt "one of the finest first 
 performances he had ever witnessed." As a coincidence, it 
 may be mentioned that it was while playing " lago " two short 
 seasons since, in Cincinnati, that Mr. Pierey first attracted 
 the serious attention of Edwin Booth. And, surely, few 
 have entered the world of dramatic art moi*e eminently' 
 qualified for the faithful discharge of its onerous duties than 
 Sam Pierey. Not only did he bring to bear upon all his 
 efforts, native genius and acquired abilities, but, in addition 
 thereto, he seemed to have been born with a strong ambition 
 and gifted with an intellect sufficiently vigorous to parry 
 worldly assaults, view life as a philosopher, and so sustain 
 himself in his efforts as to realize his ideal. His figure was 
 graceful and his voice clear and melodious, not wholly unlike 
 the voice of the late lamented Edwin Adams. There was 
 noticeable, too, a dignity and elegance in his demeanor and 
 a fascinating address, quite pronounced enough to make him 
 entirely acceptable in whatever part he assumed. Above all, 
 however, in the garden of his life there bloomed, blossomed 
 and still lived on the brightest and most beautiful flower of 
 youth — Enthusiasm, Having made his debut, the real struggle 
 for public recognition and popular success now began, and 
 with it all those accomjDaniments so well known and too often 
 met with by aspirants for histrionic fame. Not desiring, or 
 unable, to secure a metropolitan engagement, Mr. Pierey
 
 9 
 
 rather than remain idle, proceeded to make a professional 
 tour through California, Oregon and British Columbia. It 
 was at this time and during this trip that Mr. Piercy partly 
 learned the rudiments of his calling, and first began to realize 
 that genuine success is the child of Patience and Experiment, 
 and that to creditably attain the summit of his ambition there 
 was no royal highway. The country tour over, Mr. Piercy 
 returned to San Francisco, where he played, with m^re or 
 less success, at Shields' OjDera House (now Emerson's) and at 
 the Bush Street Theatre (then the Alhambra). In October, 
 1874, he bade a temporary farewell to the scenes of his 
 earliest theatric exploits, and proceeded East, making his 
 first appearance in Chicago, at the Academy of Music, where 
 he remained one season as leading man and playing principal 
 support to the principal performers of the day. During the 
 next season he traveled with McKee Rankin throughout the 
 West, playing " Pierre " and the " Chevalier " in the romantic 
 melo-drama, The Two Orphans. The following season Mr. 
 Piercy was retained as leading man at the Arch Street Theatre, 
 Philadelphia, and later played an engagement in the same 
 capacity at the Museum of the same city. It was while play- 
 ing in the last named city that Mr. Piercy attracted the 
 favorable attention of Bartley Campbell, the dramatist, Mr. 
 Campbell desired to produce his then recently written 
 American play, Van, the Virginian, in England, and was 
 looking about for a suitable representative for the leading and 
 title role. Strolling into the theatre one evening he saw Mr. 
 Piercy act, and was so struck with the young man's efforts 
 that he at once opened negotiations with him with the view 
 of securing his services for the proposed English production 
 of his piece. The j)reliminaries having been satisfactorily 
 settled and the contract signed, Mr. Piercy sailed for England 
 with Mr. Campbell, and shortly thereafter made his appear- 
 ance on the London stage in the play above mentioned. 
 Although the play failed to achieve the great success 
 anticipated, yet Mr. Piercy 's artistic worth and excellence 
 were most cordially recognized. His position in the dramatic 
 world was now both secure and high. Notwithstanding his
 
 10 
 
 almost sudden elevation, be still maintained a modest and 
 dignified demeanor, rarely speaking of himself or his efforts 
 unless direct reference thereto left him no alternative. Of a 
 decidedly studious and somewhat severe temperament, Mr. 
 Piercy had few intimate friends, although a host of acquain- 
 tances; for he believed that true happiness and certain content 
 were to be found in the worth and choice of friends rather 
 than in quantity. Kis London engagement having terminated, 
 he returned to the United States, and was soon engaged as 
 leading man in Cincinnati, where he supported, with credit 
 to himself and immense satisfaction to public and manager 
 alike, such stage luminaries as Edwia Booth and Mary .Ander- 
 son. Niblo's Theater, New York, was the scene of his next 
 professional venture, playing " Lagadere " in The Duke's 
 Motto for more than sixty consecutive nights. During this 
 engagement he also played " Badger" in Boucicault's Streets 
 of Nexo York, with marked success. Mr. Piercy then returned 
 to San Francisco under engagement to Thomas Maguire, and 
 was to have opened in Diplomacy. Legal complications having 
 arisen with reference to the play, he substituted therefor Craig- 
 a-Dhoid, a romantic Irish drama. Later he played a short 
 engagement at the Grand Opera House. On the 29th day of 
 August, 1879. Mr. Piercy and Miss Julia, eldest daughter of 
 William T. Dunphy, Esq., were married. This uniou, to- 
 gether with his then bright and promising professional future, 
 seemed to till his cup of haj^piness well-nigh to overflowing, 
 and he looked forward, as well he might, to years of domestic 
 joy and artistic usefulness. But, just in this, the happiest, 
 sunniest hour of all the voyage, the dark and lowering clouds 
 were begiuning to gather, and soon the vessel was to be dashed 
 against the unseen rock and the angry billows were to roar 
 around the sunken ship. Mr. Piercy, having concluded his 
 professional labors here, started for the East shortly succeed- 
 ing his marriage, taking with him a carefully selected company 
 of players for the jiurpose of producing a play recently pur- 
 chased by him, entitled The Legion of Honor, and which had 
 been a short time before placed on the stage of the Baldwin 
 Theater. Arriving in the East, Mr. Piercy entered upon a
 
 II 
 
 series of engagements in the play mentioned; and wliile so 
 engaged, his wife was stricken with a most malignant fever, 
 in Philadelphia. Mr. Piercy immediately released himself 
 from all professional work, and hastened to and remained by 
 the bedside of his sick wife. The sufferer was subjected to 
 the most careful treatment and received the best medical at- 
 tention, but in vain. Against the stubborn sickness, love and 
 science fell palsied and helpless. Day after day, the invalid's 
 condition became more alarming, the exceptional severity of 
 the Eastern climate — to which she was wholly unaccustomed — 
 inten&ifying her already dangerous condition; and soon, like 
 some lily droopicg, she bowed her head and died: This sad 
 event occurred on the 27th day of May, 1881, and almost 
 before she had ceased to be a bride. Mr. Piercy, in comjiany 
 with his only child, a lovely girl, returned to this city with the 
 remains of his loved and lost wife, where she was buried. Mr. 
 Piercy was inconsolable over the untimely death of his wife, 
 and only those intimately acquainted with him know the 
 anguish and grief suffered by this heart-broken man. His 
 married life began with a smile and ended with a sigh. Con- 
 stant brooding over the loss of his wife had materially impaired 
 his physical energies, and, for some time after, he was wholly 
 unable to perform any kind of work. However, time and the 
 kind ministrations of home and friends resulted in a partial 
 recuperation; and Mr. Piercy, in about two months, returned 
 to the East. He was immediately engaged to support the 
 leading actor, and one of the foremost gentlemen of the 
 American stage — Edwin Booth— who entertained for Mr. 
 Piercy, both as man and actor, the most exalted opinion. 
 His recent triumphs, in New York and elsewhere, as leading 
 man in the Booth company of players, are too fresh to require 
 comment. At the time of his death Mr. Piercy was 33 years 
 of age, and the youngest leading man on the American stage. 
 Splendid in past performance and rich in promise, Samuel 
 W. Piercy, ere he had attained on life's ladder the round 
 that marked the highest point, and when about to reap the 
 rich reward of ripe experience and a laudable ambition,
 
 12 
 
 became tired, and loosing bis hold, sought rest in death's 
 slumber. 
 
 Eealizing that the supreme moment was not far distant, 
 that soon for him the debt of nature must be paid, his 
 thoughts ever and anon turned to his loved and loving 
 mother and his little motherless child; and, ere he went "to 
 sleep with the angels, to those about him said: "Tell my 
 dear mother I was not afraid to die, and that my last thoughts 
 were of her and my darling little child." Though the spark 
 of life has flown, yet can we speak with a saddened pleasure 
 of him who sleeps in purity and honor. The memory of his 
 virtues will fill our hearts with love and peace, and we will 
 train white roses to bloom upon his grave. Your death, 
 dutiful son, devoted friend, "affectionate husband and father, 
 will serve as a reminder of your virtue; and thus, like Pelides' 
 charmed spear, 'twill cure the wound it makes. 
 
 "God accept him; Christ receive him." 
 
 B. T. 
 
 OBITUARY. 
 
 [San Francisco Daily Call, Jan. 10th.] 
 
 Mr. Samuel W. Piercy, whose death in Boston is noted, 
 was born August 8, 1849, and arrived in San Francisco 
 December 26th of the same year. He was essentially a Cali- 
 fornian, haviug arrived here when but three months old, and 
 after passing through the Rincon Grammar School and 
 graduating from Dr. R. Townsend Huddard's Academy, 
 determined to enter the legal profession. On the 4th of July, 
 1870, he was the reader of the Declaration of Independence, 
 and by the advice of Gen. W. H. L. Barnes, the Orator of 
 the Day, he adopted the dramatic profession, to which after- 
 wards he studiously devoted himself. In November, 1870, he 
 made his debut at the California Theatre as " lago," and 
 John McCuUough pronounced it one of the finest first per- 
 formances he had ever witnessed. He then made the tour of
 
 13 
 
 California, Oregon and British Columbia. Returning to 
 San Francisco, he played at Shield's Opera House and after- 
 ward at the Bu&h Street Theatre. In October, 1874, he went 
 East, and successively appeared in Chicago, Philadelphia, 
 New York, Cincinnati and various minor places, returning to 
 San Francisco in 1878, where he played short engagements at 
 the Baldwin and Grand Opera House, tinisbing the season in 
 Oregon with great eclat. Returning to San Francisco, he 
 api^eared in the Passion Play, and thereafter, on August 29, 
 1879, he married Miss Julia Dunphy, daughter of William 
 Dunphy, by whom he leaves one child. His wife's death is 
 yet fresh in the public mind. Mr. Piercy's recent triumphs, 
 playing second to Edwin Booth, who had become his sponsor, 
 are too well known to require comment. The fact that the 
 leading actor and gentleman of the American stage enter- 
 tained so exalted an opinion of Mr. Piercy, speaks volumes 
 in his favor. With the poet we may say: 
 
 His life was gentle; and the elements 
 
 So mixed him, that Nature might stand up 
 
 And say to all the world, "This was a man." 
 
 Ring down the curtain! The spark of life has flown from 
 one of the noblest, kindest and most gentle creatures that 
 ever lived! Good sou, aifectionate husband and father, 
 faithful friend, we can only say farewell! May Heaven's 
 blessing await you! 
 
 DEATH OF SAMUEL W. PIERCY. 
 
 [San Francisco Daily Alta California, .Tan. 10th.] 
 
 New York, Jan. 8. — Samuel W. Piercy, the well known 
 actor, died in Boston at 2 o'clock this morning, after an ill- 
 ness of about two weeks. 
 
 Mr. Piercy was born in the city of New York, August 8th, 
 184:9, and arrived in this city December 26th in the same year 
 with his parents, who still reside here. He always considered 
 himself a Californian, and his earlier recollections were of 
 this city. He first attended the old Rincon Hill Public
 
 14 
 
 School, and when his parents removed to San Jose he and 1 is 
 brother were left as pupils of Dr. Huddard's College. Here 
 he remained three or four yef^rs, when he rejoined his parents 
 at San Jose and finished his school days in the San Jose 
 Institute. In 1866 his parents returned to this city and 
 young Piercy decided to study for the Bar. Later he was 
 advised to adopt the stage as his profession, which advice was 
 acted upon, and he at once became a close student of Thespian 
 lore. In November, 1870, he made his debut at the California 
 Theatre in the character of "lago," and so earnest and 
 thorough had been his application that his success was 
 assured. From this initial introduction on the theatrical 
 boards Piercy 's rise was rapid. After a tour of the Pacific 
 Coast States, he returned to this city and appeared in many 
 of the city theatres with steadily increasing success. He 
 started East in 1874, appearing first at the Academy of Mubic 
 in Chicago. The following four seasons were occupied with 
 earnest work as leading stock actor in many of the principal 
 Eastern theatres, in addition to which he made a trip to 
 Europe with Bartley Campbell. He returned to this Coast in 
 the beginning of 1879, and married Miss Dunphy. a highly 
 accomplished lady of this city, but his domestic happiness 
 was destined to be brief, as, while in Philadelphia not two 
 years afterward, Mrs. Piercy died from typhoid fever, leaving 
 a child scarcely a year old. The blow was a severe one to 
 Mr. Piercy and from which he never fully rallied, though he 
 resumed his profession at the opening of the present season 
 by accepting an engagement with Edwin Booth as his leading 
 support, in which he gained added laurels to his fame. Mr. 
 Piercy .was the youngest leading man in his profession, and 
 but for his untimely death would undoubtedly have made a 
 shining mark among the great leaders of the dramatic art. 
 Personally, he vNas a man of fine appearance, of winning 
 manners, and a universal favorite with all who knew him, and 
 his death will be deeply deplored, not only by his friends on 
 the Pd3ific Coast, but also in every place where he performed 
 and among hosts of personal friends. He leaves a mother, 
 father and several brothers to mourn his loss.
 
 15 
 
 A TRIBUTE FROM THE EDWIN BOOTH COMPANY. 
 
 [Eastern Paper.] 
 
 At a meeting of the members of Edwin Booth's Dramatic 
 
 Company, held at the Penn-avenue Theatre, Pittsburg, Penn., 
 
 the following resolutions, expressive of the deep loss the 
 
 profession has sustained in the death of Samuel W. Piercy, 
 
 were adopted, and a copy was forwarded to his mother in 
 
 San Francisco. 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Samuel W. Piercy we have lost a cherished 
 companion, a sincere friend, a true man and a beloved brother. That the 
 profession has lost one of its most ijromising votaries, an earnest studen-t and 
 a brilliant ornament. That in all the relations of life we ever found in him 
 qualities that endeared him to every heart as an associate almost without fault. 
 That as words cannot express our sorrow we unite in the heart-felt prayer that 
 his mother and his child, whose grief we share, may be spared in this, the 
 hour of their affliction, by the all-wise Providence that took him eo suddenly 
 from our midst. That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to his mother 
 in San Francisco, in token of our sympathy: 
 
 BELLA PATEMAN, JOHN DAILEY, 
 
 LOUIS ELDRIDGE, HENRY BRISTOL, 
 
 EVA GARRICK, NEWTON C HIS WELL. 
 
 ADELAIDE H. CALVERT, D. C. ANDERSON, 
 
 ADELAIDE C. CALVERT, N. PATEMAN, 
 
 EDWIN CLEARY, BARTON HILL, 
 
 L. H. EVERITT, M. HENRY FLOHE, 
 
 EDWIN BOOTH. WTLLET CARPENTER, 
 
 F. G. HEHBNER, GEO. ALLEN, 
 
 W. A. WHITECAR, N. E. MILLER, 
 
 MASON MITCHELL, MAZE EDWARDS. 
 FRED. G. ROSS, 
 
 HIS MESSAGE OF SYMPATHY. 
 
 [San Francisco News Letter, Jan. 1-ith.] 
 The introduction to Pleasure's Wand this week must 
 necessarily be a sad one, because, before going the round of 
 our local amusements and criticizing the performances at the 
 diiferent theatres, there stands out in bold relief the great 
 event of the week — the death of Samuel W. Piercy. He was 
 so essentially a Califoruian, and so especially a friend of the
 
 16 
 
 author of this department since 1873, that not to linger in 
 dumb thought over his memory were an impossibility, while 
 to write of him is a pleasure full of pain. His short life was 
 full of activity — brilliant and decisive — a mixture of triumph 
 and disappointment, of the acme of joy and the zero of woe. 
 His bride, Miss Julia Dunphy, was taken from his arm by 
 typhoid fever, at a time when he had every reason to hope 
 for many long years of her companionship and love, and he 
 was left alone with his baby, and with no other hope of 
 beating down the trouble of his life except by constant and 
 unremitting hard work. He was so devoted to the wife 
 whom he lost for a little while, and whom he has now 
 rejoined, that he brought her from the East here before their 
 baby was born, so during that anxious time she might 
 have her mother and sisters near her, and he sacrificed pro- 
 fessional engagements, within his reach East, so that he 
 might fulfill what he conceived to be his duty to his wife. 
 He was by nature most persevering and energetic, strict 
 towards himself and very tender to others. At the time of 
 his death he had not reached the fruition of the tree of his 
 ambition, and he had still much to learn in his profession. 
 Had he lived to the 8th of August next he would have been 
 thirty-three years of age, for his birth dates from the month 
 of the year 1849 of which our oldest pioneers are most proud. 
 His history and life have been given to the world by the 
 wires, and there is no need to go over them here. Perhaps 
 the last words he uttered on earth are the key to his whole 
 soul: " Tell my dear mother I was not afraid to die and that 
 my last thoughts were of her and my darling little child." 
 O, reader, can you picture anything more utterly unselfish? 
 Can you imagine a purer soul than this, racked with pain and 
 dying of that dread disease, small-pox, yet forgetful of itself 
 and in its last moments trying to assuage the grief of those 
 nearest and dearest to it by a message of sympathy? Samuel 
 W. Piercy has played his last drama here on earth and those 
 of us who knew him and loved him may all say sincerely: 
 Suscipiat le Christus qui vovavit le et in sinum Ahrahae arigeli 
 (Jfclucant te.
 
 A LETTER FROM EDWIN BOOTH, 
 
 Pittsburg, Jan. 12, 1882. 
 
 Mrs. Piercy: — Dear Madam: — I beg to offer you some 
 token of my sympathy in your affliction. I should have done 
 so wben the news of your dear son's death first reached me, 
 but I have not been master of my time these many weeks 
 and even now I am obliged to be very brief. My acquaintance 
 with your son was very slight, but it was very agreeable, and 
 I felt much interest in him professionally. His death was a 
 severe shock to us all, who confidently expected him to 
 resume his place in the company before many weeks had 
 passed. You have the full sympathy of all his comrades, 
 who report nothing but good of him. Not knowing your 
 circumstances I venture to send in lieu of words the 
 accompanying amount ($1,000) which I hope will be of service 
 to the dear mother and daughter of my lamented comcade. 
 With kindest regards I am 
 
 Respectfully Yours, 
 
 EDWIN BOOTH. 
 Abbey's Park Theatre, New York. 
 
 To THE Benf.volknt Ordek of Elks, to Mr. and Mrs. J. A. L. Whittier, 
 TO Me. Edwin Booth, and the mauy, many others who were kind and 
 appreciative friends of my son, I tender a mother's gratitude. 
 
 MARY A. PIERCY. 
 
 293228
 
 '»'> 000 49^6 7*'"'
 
 »-v io "n''^" - t,h' 
 
 PIJ 
 
 2287 
 P61P6 
 
 AT 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 lAERARY