Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 April 1905 — “JOE” JEFFERSON DEAD. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

“JOE” JEFFERSON DEAD.

Aged Impersonator of Rip Van Winkle Passes Away. Joseph Jefferson died at West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday night. The end was expected, as the patient had been sinking for several days. His wife and two of his sons, Charles B* and Frank Jefferson, Mrs. Nellie Symons, his nurse, Miss Mabel Bingham, Dr. R. B. Potter, and his faithful old servant, Carl Kettler, were at the bedside when he died. His daughter Josephine and two of his sons, Thomas and Joseph, were In New York. Mr. Jefferson about four weeks ago visited Grover Cleveland at Hobe Sound, where he caught cold, accompanied by acute Indigestion, and, upon his return to Palm Beach, was forced to take to his bed. He was up after a

few days, but afterwards he was seized with a relapse and gradually sank until death came. Mr. Jefferson had not been in the best of health for several months. For the latter forty, at least, of the seventy-six years allotted to Joseph Jefferson he was conceded absolute supremacy on the American stage. Public, press and players alike hailed him as chief of American actors after the passing of his rival, Booth. “The Dean of the American Stage,” was a common title given him and he was often called the “Grand Old Man of the Stage.” His fame will rest on his character of Rip Van Winkle, but His private life was the very opposite of that of the twenty-year sleeper. Bob Acres, in “The Rivals,” was the famous and favorite character of the comedian’s late years. Also he won great eminence as “Caleb Plummer” and “Mr. Golightly,” and “The Cricket on the Hearth” was one of his greatest late successes. Joseph Jefferson was the friend of the great men of his time. He knew the stage of the century like a book. “It is a coincidence that my grandfather congratulated President Jefferson on this spot,” lie said to President Roosevelt, when received with honor at the White House recently. Jefferson’s youth seemed perpetual, despite his strenuous life. His greatest joy was children and he had many favorite grandchildren.

JOSEPH JEFFERSON.