Adah Isaacs Menken: Illustrated Biography (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Adah Isaacs Menken: Illustrated BiographyJames mccord, a young Irishman, who, thinking he might better himself in a new country, severed his connection with the wardrobe dealer, crossed the Atlantic, and settled as a general merchant in Louisiana, in a village then called Chartrain, the Milneburg of to-day, a few miles north of New Orleans. Here he married a Creole, and by her had a son (who died when a baby) and two daughters; the elder girl, born on June 15th, 1835, was christened Dolores Adios. Two years later, James mccord died of fever. Not long afterwards, the widow married Josiah Campbell, a Surgeon in the United States army. He took considerable interest in the education of the two girls, and soon realised that the elder was exceptionally gifted. Dolores was of a studious turn of mind, a philomath, and with facility learned English and Spanish. (french was used in everyday conversation.) She was fond of Latin, and when she was twelve she trans lated the Iliad into French. On Dr. Campbell's death these literary pursuits had to be abandoned, for he had spent his earnings on giving his stepdaughter a sound education. Happily, a planter in Cuba came forward to help the family until the girls were of an age to earn their own living. Their start was in the ballet at the Opera House, New Orleans.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.