John Augustus Stone was an American dramatist and playwright.
Biography
Stone was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1801.
For actor Edwin Forrest he wrote Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags, which was produced in 1829. The play told the life of King Philip. Stone also wrote The Ancient Briton, Fauntleroy, La Roque, The Demoniac, and Tancred.
Stone suffered periods of insanity and, on May 28 or May 29, 1834, he committed suicide by jumping into the Schuylkill River.[1] He was buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Philadelphia. That cemetery was closed in 1895 and the bodies moved to a part of Mount Moriah Cemetery called Graceland, which was later abandoned. His grave at Machpelah was marked by a monument erected by Forrest.[1] The inscription reads: "Erected to the memory of the author of 'Metamora' by his friend, Edwin Forrest". Some sources cite Forrest's success with Stone's plays and his paltry remuneration as causing his suicide.
References
- ^ a b Ehrlich, Eugene and Gorton Carruth. The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982: 205. ISBN 0195031865
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