Featured Young Actress Info - ?

Hello,

I purchased a large lot of photos recently and found this lovely one in it.

I am adding it to my personal album of actors / actresses and was hoping
to discover a bit more info about the group she was in.

They sound sorta "famous" yet I can't find anything through my general searching!

Any help would be appreciated!
Warm Regards,
Scantic

 

I'm not sure it gives helpful info, but this piece does seem to be about the same Corinne...

https://books.google.com/books?id=yyY_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA330&lpg=PA330&dq="prima+donna+soubrette"+"corinne"&source=bl&ots=0GV-Wjk-1o&sig=TYIXg4hwqw5sjf1eJSll9UnQFP8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIy6q38L-LxgIVg1eSCh1nPQ_i#v=onepage&q="prima donna soubrette" "corinne"&f=false

 

Apparently there's some info here, too, but I don't have a subscription to see the content...

http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/44339390/

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=a...nepage&q="corinne" diminutive diamond&f=false

 

Don't know if this is the same Corinne...

http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18960207.2.136#

"Merrie Makers" seems to sometimes be referred to as "Merry Makers" so using the alternative helped in the search.

 

It seems to be, Pat.

 

So if she started out in the 1887 (which I gathered from reading the links) time frame at 13, this must be one of the earliest cards for her. Interesting that she was still very popular in the 1896 article (when I'm guessing she would have been in her early 20's.)

Quite a nice find, Scantic!

 

My initial reaction when I looked at the card was how young she looks.

 

Well, I struck pay dirt on fultonhistory. Seems that in 1882 there was a controversy about her between the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and her "mother" Jennie Kimball (who also promoted the act.) Jennie provided a history of Corinne, saying she was born in 1872 and had been appearing on the stage since she was 3 and half!

I hope this scan will be readable because the original print was pretty small. From the Batavia, NY Morning Call.

 

My goodness. The article following that says that the NRA of Great Britain has plans to "shoot the American team." How violent of them.

 

Sharp eyes, Bev!

 

I cracked up at "shoot the American team"!

 

Here's another clipping this time from the New York Mirror 1883. A whole third of the page devoted to Corinne and Her New Merrie Makers.



Notice at the bottom a Thomas Flaherty is listed as Business Manager. In the 1880 Census Boston MA, Flaherty is listed as Agent for Pianos, Jennie (maiden name Kimball) Flaherty is "keeping house," Corinne is listed as Thomas's daughter but with the surname Kimball and Jennie's mother Susan Kimball is living with them. But in the 1870 Census, Jennie (not yet married to Thomas) is an actress and she and her mother are living in a large household of unrelated people headed by Thomas Flaherty (Piano Forte Dealer.) Quite a change in such a short time.

 

Great research, Bakers! Having all of the names and information leads to more sources. Using the name Kimball, I found the following brief bio of Corinne. The information about her starting on the stage uses a later date. It says 1881. I think they are wrong about that, according to what you've posted. And apparently Jennie Kimball left her a large inheritance and Corinne retired in 1896. And this link also indicates that Corinne died in 1937.

http://broadway.cas.sc.edu/content/corinne-kimball

This 1912 book says that Jennie Kimball also had a stage career before Corinne was born (as the 1870 census indicates).
https://books.google.com/books?id=hnIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA780&lpg=PA780&dq=corinne+kimball&source=bl&ots=xzTgBmR373&sig=01ZezOppwUic7fNWWYcQq30NlfI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEsQ6AEwDGoVChMIyM6NlMmMxgIViguSCh1eRgA1#v=onepage&q=corinne kimball&f=false

This "Kimball Family News" issue describes Jennie's funeral:

https://books.google.com/books?id=NCpWAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=corinne+kimball&source=bl&ots=dU1n4JrsHH&sig=Y2TdmOyzvl55sUN2XF-Lkxjthyo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBTgKahUKEwj9rtqMyozGAhUJUJIKHSHbAAo#v=onepage&q=corinne kimball&f=false

I think the woman who runs the Cabinet Card Gallery site provides a lot of interesting research information. There is a lot about Corinne here, including details about a court case and other controversy:

https://cabinetcardgallery.wordpress.com/tag/jennie-kimball/

New York Times article about Jennie's death:
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940CE6DA123EE333A25757C2A9659C94679ED7CF

 

What a collection, Fig!

I have to laugh about all the different details given about Jennie in particular - I thought it strange that in the 1880 Census she gave her birthplace as Louisiana (and her age as 22!) and the birthplaces of both of Corinne's parents as Louisiana as well, although Corinne's was given as Massachusetts. Her mother have her own birthplace as Maine. Thomas Flaherty said he was born in Ireland.

But back in the 1870 census, Jennie gave her birthplace as Massachusetts (and her age as 24), her mother (at least consistent) as Maine and Flaherty said he was born in New York.

That speculation on Corinne being adopted wouldn't surprise me to be true, although back then it might have been a convenient cover-up explanation for the "shame" of an out of wedlock birth.

I couldn't find either Jennie or her mother before 1870 or Corinne after another 1896 article about a visit to San Francisco. I'll try later with these new possible details.

 

Wow Thank you so much for all of your help! Can't wait to read through all of this amazing information! You ladies and gents are absolutely awesome! I honestly only found one article in all my searches of her, so this has been a great help!

She is going into my actors/actresses album and I'll make sure to include all of this wonderful info!

 

They were, and maybe are, still mad about their last butt kicking in 1812.

 

Re inconsistent census data... I've seen that in some of my family's past census info.

I've wondered if it's sometimes due to faulty memory or incomplete information on the part of the household member who answered the questions. Plus from what I can tell, it used to be common for people to board at other people's houses, so the person being interviewed might not even have been a family member.

 

Wow Thank you all again for the info! So insightful!

This must have been a very early photo of her!

 

Pat P is correct. When the census taker came to the door, they would put down what the person at home told them. The same type of inconsistencies appear in my ancestors records and I know the correct information. Also, many of both mine and my husband's ancestors lived in or ran boarding houses during that era. Today, they would probably be considered apartment buildings with supers.