Asia Frigga Booth Clarke (November 19, 1835 – May 16, 1888) was a 19th-century American writer.

Early years

Asia Frigga Booth was the eighth in the family of ten children born to

Junius Brutus Booth Junius Brutus Booth (1 May 1796 – 30 November 1852) was an English stage actor. He was the father of actor John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. His other children included Edwin Booth, the foremost tragedian of ...

and his wife Mary Ann Holmes. Her famous brothers were

Junius Brutus Booth Jr. Junius Brutus Booth Jr. (December 22, 1821 – September 17, 1883) was an American actor and theatre manager. As a member of the illustrious Booth family of actors, Junius Brutus Booth Jr. was overshadowed by his father Junius Brutus Booth, Juniu ...

, Edwin Thomas Booth, and

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...

. Asia was named for the continent where her father thought the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

had been located.

Career

On April 28, 1859, Booth married

John Sleeper Clarke John Sleeper Clarke (September 3, 1833 – September 24, 1899) was a 19th-century American comedian and actor. Life He was born in Baltimore, Maryland to George W. Sleeper and Georgianna Sleeper (née Clarke), and was educated for the law. In hi ...

at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The couple had eight children, two of whom, Creston (1865–1910) and Wilfred (1867–1945), became actors. Wilfred would later marry actress

Victory Bateman Victory Bateman (April 6, 1865 in Philadelphia – March 2, 1926 in Los Angeles) was an American silent film actress. Her father, Thomas Creese, and her mother, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Creese, were both actors. On stage, Ms. Bateman appeared in the ...

. Because the

assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play ''Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the hea ...

in 1865 was committed by her brother, John Wilkes Booth, she and her husband emigrated to England, where they stayed until the end of their lives. Asia became a poet and writer, and through her work some insight was gained into the lives of the Booths, particularly John Wilkes. ''The Unlocked Book: John Wilkes Booth, a Sister's Memoir'' was written in 1874, but she kept its existence secret, fearing it would upset her husband. He had been imprisoned and forced to testify at the Lincoln assassination co-conspirators' trials, because of his family connection. The memoir was published in 1938 by

G. P. Putnam's Sons G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam and J ...

, when her heirs felt the public would be receptive. It was re-edited and republished in 1996 as ''John Wilkes Booth: A Sister's Memoir''. Her other family memoirs, which she was able to publish during her lifetime, focused on the acting careers of her father and her brother Edwin Booth. The first, titled ''Booth memorials: Passages, incidents, and anecdotes in the life of Junius Brutus Booth (the Elder) by His Daughter,'' was published in December 1865, within a year of Lincoln's assassination. Asia Booth Clarke is buried in the family plot at

Greenmount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as man ...

in Baltimore. Her brother, John Wilkes Booth, is also buried in the family plot.

Selected works

*''The Unlocked Book: John Wilkes Booth, a Sister's Memoir''. 1938. * * *

References

External links

The Booth Collection, University of North Carolina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Asia 1835 births 1888 deaths American expatriates in England 19th-century American memoirists American women memoirists American essayists American people of English descent People from Bel Air, Maryland Writers from Bournemouth

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

American women essayists Burials at Green Mount Cemetery 19th-century American women writers 19th-century essayists

Early years

Career

Selected works

See also

References

External links