John Augustus Stone (December 15, 1801 – June 1, 1834) was an American actor, dramatist, and playwright, best known as the author of ''

Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags ''Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags'' is a play written in 1829 by John Augustus Stone. It was first performed December 15, 1829, at the Park Theater in New York City, starring Edwin Forrest. History On November 28, 1828, a contest was p ...

''.

Biography

He appeared on the New York stage beginning in 1822. He wrote ''Metamora'', as a vehicle for

Edwin Forrest Edwin Forrest (March 9, 1806December 12, 1872) was a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849. Early life Forrest was born i ...

, who offered as a prize $500 and half of the proceeds from the third night.

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

headed a committee which chose Stone's play as the best of 14 submitted. The play, first produced in 1829, told the life of King Philip. He married Mrs. Amelia Greene Legge, an actress. She later married Nathaniel Harrington Bannister. Stone suffered periods of

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

and he committed suicide by jumping into the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

.Ehrlich, Eugene and Gorton Carruth. ''The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to the United States''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982: 205. He was buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Philadelphia. That cemetery was closed in 1895 and the bodies moved to North Mount Moriah Cemetery (AKA Graceland)in Yeadon PA, which is not affiliated with the nearby Mount Moriah Cemetery, which was later abandoned. His grave at Machpelah was marked by a monument erected by Forrest. 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.

Works

In addition to ''Metamora'', Stone wrote a number of other plays: *''Montrano, or Who's the Traitor'', 1822 Philadelphia *''Restoration, or the Diamond Cross'', 1824 Chatham Garden Theater in New-York. *''Tancred, or the Siege of Antioch'' 1827 *''La Roque; a Regicide'' Charleston *''Fauntleroy; or, the Fatal Forgery'' Charleston *''Touretoun'' *''Banker of Rouen'' *''Tancred, King of Sicily'' March 16, 1831 *''The Demoniac, or the Prophet's Bride'' April 12, 1831 *''The Ancient Briton'', March 27, 1833 *''The Knight of the Golden Fleece, or The Yankee in Spain'', 1834''The Knickerbocker''
Volume 4, Peabody & Co., 1834 None of them enjoyed ''Metamora's'' success.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, John Augustus 1801 births 1834 deaths People from Concord, Massachusetts Suicides by drowning in the United States Suicides in Philadelphia 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American male actors Burials in Pennsylvania 1830s suicides