Mae St. John Bramhall (née, Laws; after adoption, St. John; after marriage, St. John Bramhall; c. 1861 – February 1897) was a 19th-century American actress and versatile writer who contributed to many magazines and newspapers.[1] Her mother is Cornelia Laws St. John, a poet and songwriter.[1]
Mae St. John Bramhall | |
|---|---|
 Mae St. John Bramhall | |
| Born | Mae Laws c. 1861 Richmond, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | February 1897 Fordham, Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | actress, writer |
| Alma mater | St. Mary's School, Reddington, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genre | poetry |
| Notable works | Japanese Jingles The Wee Ones of Japan |
| Spouse | Anson Dudley Bramhall (m. 1889) |
| Relatives | Cornelia Laws St. John (mother) |
Early life and education
editBorn Mae Laws, she was the second daughter of Joseph and Cornelia (Williams) Laws. Mae was born c. 1861,[2] in Richmond, Indiana,[1][3][a] and resided there until almost of adult age, when the family removed to Chicago, Illinois.[1]
She received her education in the public schools of Richmond and Chicago, with a short period at St. Mary's School at Reddington, Ohio.[1]
Before starting her theater career, she was regarded as the most beautiful woman in Chicago society.[3]
Career
editBramhall was performing in comic opera in the 1880s.[5]
In 1889,[1][b] she married Anson Dudley Bramhall, of New York City, and the following two years were spent in Japan. There, she wrote and published her first book, Japanese Jingles,[3] which she dedicated to her uncle and aunt, Dr. and Mrs. James F. Hibberd. Charles Scribner & Sons had the exclusive sale of these books in America, which sale they deemed phenomenal.[1] She also wrote letters for several prominent American newspapers during her stay in Japan.[5] When financial reverses came, her husband failed in business, and separation followed.[6]
While a resident of El Paso, Texas, Bramhall visited the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.[4] By 1894, she was a resident of New York City and was writing sketches of baby life in Japan for Harper's Bazaar .[1] She expanded them into a volume which the Harpers brought out with illustrations by Charles Dater Weldon (1844-1935).[7] Entitled, The Wee Ones of Japan, it described the Japanese child from babyhood to their school days, including their dress, their ways, their play and study, and the customs which surround them.[3] She also published Around the World at Leisure Letters.[4]
Death and legacy
editFor the last two years of her life, Bramhall was a recluse and her friends and former admirers heard but little of her.[6] She suffered before her death, which occurred February 5 or 7, 1897,[c] age 36,[2] at the Home for Incurables, Fordham, Bronx, New York.[5] A number of unpublished manuscripts were the only legacy she left to her adopted son, Dudley Bramhall, of Chappaqua, New York.[5]
"The Japanese Good Morning"
editA fall to the knees,
A turn to the toes,
A spread of the hands,
And a dip of the nose.
It takes all these just to say "Good-day"
In Chrysanthemum-land so far away.
—"The Japanese Good Morning", by Mae St. John Bramhall, in the January 1897, St. Nicholas Magazine.[8]
Selected works
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Fox 1912, p. 386.
- ^ a b c Fox 1912, p. 387.
- ^ a b c d e Sargent, John Frederick (1896). Supplement to Reading for the Young: A Classified and Annotated Catalog with Alphabetical Author-index and Subject-index to the Complete Work (Public domain ed.). A.L.A. Publishing Section. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
- ^ a b c Prescott, Augusta (June 7, 1893). "Americo-Japanese Poetess". The Algona Upper Des Moines. p. 3. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Lovers of the comic opera". The Indianapolis Journal. February 28, 1897. p. 10. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Personal". Boston Post. February 22, 1897. p. 4. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Mae St. John Bramhall". Democrat and Chronicle. February 11, 1894. p. 7. Retrieved November 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Educational Publishing Company (1897). Primary Education (Public domain ed.). Educational Publishing Company. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
- ^ a b Jagusch, Sybille (June 18, 2021). Japan and American Children's Books: A Journey. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-1-9788-2263-4. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
Attribution
edit
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Fox, Henry Clay (1912). Memoirs of Wayne County and the City of Richmond, Indiana: From the Earliest Historical Times Down to the Present, Including a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families in Wayne County. Vol. 1 (Public domain ed.). Western Historical Association.
