Henry Mader Pitt, American actor

[queencorgi1]

T. W. Robertson's plays were much admired not only for their plots, but also for their realistic stage effects. An example from Wikipedia -- note the snow blowing in through the door as the man enters at the left --

[oldohiohome]

some loose ends of yarn you can start pulling at:


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wife acting in Philadelphia at time his of death
https://aadl.org/node/152631
from
Ann Arbor Argus, March 11, 1898
Day
11
Month
March
Year
1898
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

New York, March 8. - Henry Mader Pitt, a well-known actor with a long career on the stagre of England and América, committed suicide by drinking' carbolic acid at a boarding house ocoupied by theatrical people. He became despondent because he was unemployed. Fannie Addison Pitt, his wife, is in Philadelphia playing in "A Bachelor's Romance" with Sol Smith Russell.

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death mentioned in an account of E.J. Phillips, who had to fill in for his wife in Philadelphia


Philadelphia April 1897  August 1904-
Recalled from Retirement 1898 Feb 
I was called very unexpectedly to play a part at the Broad St. Theatre -- and everything had to be given up to that. A week ago Sunday Mr. and Mrs. [Willie] Seymour called to see me -- he being here with Mr. Sol Smith Russell  who was playing a two weeks engagement at the Broad St. Theatre.  We had a pleasant chat -- and he left about 6 PM and I did not suppose I should see him again.  -- but as I was washing the supper dishes on Monday he came in a cab -- to ask me to go with him to the theatre to play "Clementina" in A Bachelor's Romance in place of Mrs. Fanny Addison Pitt whose husband Mr. Henry Mader Pitt  had died at 3 PM that day in New York and she would have to go on to New York to attend the funeral -- so I took a couple of gowns and went. …  Not having acted for a year and two and a half years since I studied the part -- you can imagine I had to "hustle" but everyone said I was very good and the management was very much pleased and thanked me very much

This seems to have been EJ Phillips last performance.

The NY Times report of Mr. Pitt's death was headlined AN OLD ACTOR'S SUICIDE.  Henry Mader Pitt, after a long career on the stage takes carbolic acid.  Was Once Very Successful
He Had Played in Many Well-Known Parts, but at Last Managers Considered Him Unreliable on Account of His Habits. Mr. Pitt did not leave a suicide note, and had been living in a boardinghouse patronized by theatrical people, with his 21 year old son, while his wife was playing the play in Philadelphia.  Mr. Pitt was found groaning in bed, a revolver on a chair beside the bed and an empty glass which had contained carbolic acid nearby.  However by all reports he had seemed quite cheerful that morning. 
 
https://www.maryglenchitty.com/bookoutline.html

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NY Times Obit March 8, 1898
would be worth paying for. could include a pretty good history of his life

https://www.nytimes.com/sitemap/1898/03/08/

somewhere I saw a link to a page where you could purchase a reprint of the article, but I can't find it now.

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at https://www.umass.edu/AdelphiTheatreCalendar/pict.htm
Dibdin, Charles Isaac Mungo (1768-1833): Dramatist, composer, writer, theatre proprietor

Dibdin, Charles Isaac Mungo (1768-1833): He was the illegitimate son of Charles Dibdin and Harriet Pitt.  He was also known as Charles Dibdin, the younger.  In 1808, he became manager of Sadlers’ Wells but lost his fortune when a false fire alarm caused a stampede and eighteen people died.

    Image (< 0.1 MB)
    Image and Source (0.9 MB)
    First Performance: Mar 29, 1819

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dibdin_the_younger.  Mar 29, 1819.)


there is a reference to Fanny on that page also.

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New Theatre Royal and Opera House, Cork enthusiastic reception of Mr. H.M. Pitt's "Two Roses" Company. In consequence of the immenre [sic, immense] success of "Forgiven" it will be by general desire on Wednesday and Thursday evening:
Wednesday, 5th January, 1876, second grand fashionable night under the distinguished patronage, of his worshipful the Mayor of Cork, George Penrose, Esq., the celebrated comedy, entitled "Forgiven" by James Albery new scenery by Mr. Richard Thorne...Friday, 7th January, 1876 benefit of Miss Fanny Addison under the distinguished patronage of Major Dent & officers of 7th Dragoon Guards on which occasion the splendid band of the regiment will perform selections on the stage, under the direction of Mr. C Peale. production for the first time in Cork of the celebrated comedy "Two Thorns" by James Albery...
[Theatre Royal and Opera House, Cork].

https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000766603

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wikipedia article about Henry Hamilton

Hamilton formed the Pitt-Hamilton comedy drama company with Henry Mader Pitt, which toured the North of England for two years.[6]

fn [6] Pascoe, Charles Eyre The Dramatic List: A Record of the Performances of Living Actors and Actresses of the British Stage, D. Bogue (1880), p. 164

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hamilton_(playwright)

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Fanny's performances on Broadway
I'm not sure it is a complete list
https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/fanny-addison-pitt-56260


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here is the link to the NY Times obit. everything on their site is behind a paywall, even the archives. look for "buy reprints"
https://www.nytimes.com/1898/03/08/archives/an-old-actors-suicide-henry-mader-pitt-after-a-long-career-on-the.html

[queencorgi1]

Thank you SO MUCH (now get some sleep!)

[oldohiohome]

I was curious if they were buried together. They are not.
Fannie Addison Pitt
*** death: January 7, 1937 at her residence, 4849 Parkside Ave, Philadelphia
female, white, widowed, name of husband not known
b December 2, 1842, Birmingham, England
retired actress
of acute myocarditis
parents not known
informant: Mrs Louise Gehri of 4849 Parkside Drive
   so her landlady, maid, neighbor, etc., not a family member. Her name was written in later. It's not necessarily Louise's signature. could it have been "Gehrig"? I've heard of that name but not Gehri
Burial West Laurel Hill, Philadelphia
   so not with Henry

https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/5164/records/3666285

She died at the Edwin Forrest Home (for retired actors)
and it looks like the grave went with the home somehow. The headstone says "Guests of Edwin Forrest"
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43021536/fannie-addison-pitt
https://processandpreserve.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/a-home-for-retired-actors/

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Then when I found where she died, I wondered how long she had been there.
She wasn't there in 1917/18.
WWI Draft Registration
for son William Addison Pit
his address: 1633 Boylston, Seattle, King County, Washington
occupation: stage director, Wilkie(?) Players, corner of Westlake and Pine, Seattle
next of kin: mother Fanny A Pitt, c/o Wilkie Players, etc
no date on ancestry's image. but I think there were two sides to these forms.

so she wasn't in the Edwin Forrest Home c. 1917/18

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and her and the 3 children in 1900, in case you don't have it
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSK9-8XV?lang=en

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If you order Henry Pitt's death certificate it should tell you the address he died at. You can search censuses by address at stevemorse.org. The 1900 census might tell you what kind of place it was. One of the obits said he died at a boarding house. So he couldn't have been very prosperous at the time.

His case reminds me of my mother's aunt's ex-husband. They were both in show business in the late 1800s. He left her and died c 1930 or so in a boarding house as well. And his new wife and child were living elsewhere at the time. Occupational hazard, maybe.

Edit: but see next post.

[oldohiohome]

Googling "Henry Maeder Pitt" found different results from "Henry Mader Pitt".
** autographed letter, undated
signed his middle name with two "E's" not one
https://www.abebooks.com/signed/AUTOGRAPH-LETTER-SIGNED-Actor-HENRY-MAEDER/30838698577/bd

these people actually hold the letter and are selling it also through abebooks
https://www.bluemountainbooks.com/product/181515/AUTOGRAPH-LETTER-SIGNED-by-Actor-HENRY-MAEDER-PITT-a-member-of-the-Augustin-Daly-Company-who-was-active-in-England-and-America

description
- A one-and-a-half page letter consisting of over 35 words penned on 4-7/8 inch high by 4 inch wide creamy white paper. Responding to Miss Thompson's request, the actor Henry Maeder Pitt is enclosing his autograph and mentions that he is also enclosing "a letter of Charles Keen's and one by H.J. Byron the playwrite" [neither of which are here present]. Signed in full "Henry Maeder Pitt" on the attached integral leaf. There is a small piece out from the bottom corner of the second leaf. Glue and paper remnants at the corners of the blank verso of the second page would indicate that the letter was once mounted in an album. Very good.

The 19th century actor Henry Maeder Pitt was born in Albany, New York in 1850. He was active in England and America and joined the Augustin Daly Company in 1882. His death in NYC from poison on March 7, 1898 was believed to be a suicide.

** Folger Shakespeare Library Collections
wrote 6 letters to Augustin Daly, from NY and Philadelphia, undated 1881 to 1883
their whole Augustin Daly papers
https://findingaids.folger.edu/repositories/2/top_containers/3330?&page=3
*** specific reference to the letters from Henry Pitt
https://findingaids.folger.edu/archival_objects/letters_to_augustin_daly_442

** University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries
McGown collection of theatrical photographs, 1880-1929
Pitt, Henry Maeder, 7.10.1898
https://sclfind.libs.uga.edu/catalog/ms2313_aspace_ref5034_tgm

** Daytonian in Manhattan, "The Solomon Strauss House - 221 West 38th Street"
a theatrical boarding house, where he was living when he died. It refers to "his wife, actress Margaret Pitt" but then later calls her Miss Pitt. So it must have been his daughter.

https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-solomon-strauss-house-221-west-38th.html


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note the 1900 census says daughter Margaret was an actress. (Her two siblings were actors.) It also indicates that Henry M Pitt was born in New York State. and the youngest child is named Charles Edwin Debdin Pitt, so another reference to the Debdins.

[oldohiohome]

more articles
Googling "Henry Maeder Pitt" found different results from "Henry Mader Pitt".
** autographed letter, undated
signed his middle name with two "E's" not one
https://www.abebooks.com/signed/AUTOGRAPH-LETTER-SIGNED-Actor-HENRY-MAEDER/30838698577/bd

these people actually hold the letter and are selling it also through abebooks
https://www.bluemountainbooks.com/product/181515/AUTOGRAPH-LETTER-SIGNED-by-Actor-HENRY-MAEDER-PITT-a-member-of-the-Augustin-Daly-Company-who-was-active-in-England-and-America

description
- A one-and-a-half page letter consisting of over 35 words penned on 4-7/8 inch high by 4 inch wide creamy white paper. Responding to Miss Thompson's request, the actor Henry Maeder Pitt is enclosing his autograph and mentions that he is also enclosing "a letter of Charles Keen's and one by H.J. Byron the playwrite" [neither of which are here present]. Signed in full "Henry Maeder Pitt" on the attached integral leaf. There is a small piece out from the bottom corner of the second leaf. Glue and paper remnants at the corners of the blank verso of the second page would indicate that the letter was once mounted in an album. Very good.

The 19th century actor Henry Maeder Pitt was born in Albany, New York in 1850. He was active in England and America and joined the Augustin Daly Company in 1882. His death in NYC from poison on March 7, 1898 was believed to be a suicide.

** Folger Shakespeare Library Collections
wrote 6 letters to Augustin Daly, from NY and Philadelphia, undated 1881 to 1883
their whole Augustin Daly papers
https://findingaids.folger.edu/repositories/2/top_containers/3330?&page=3
*** specific reference to the letters from Henry Pitt
https://findingaids.folger.edu/archival_objects/letters_to_augustin_daly_442

** University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries
McGown collection of theatrical photographs, 1880-1929
Pitt, Henry Maeder, 7.10.1898
https://sclfind.libs.uga.edu/catalog/ms2313_aspace_ref5034_tgm

** Daytonian in Manhattan, "The Solomon Strauss House - 221 West 38th Street"
a theatrical boarding house, where he was living when he died. It refers to "his wife, actress Margaret Pitt" but then later calls her Miss Pitt. So it must have been his daughter.

https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-solomon-strauss-house-221-west-38th.html


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note the 1900 census for Fannie says daughter Margaret was an actress. (Her two siblings were actors.) It also indicates that Henry M Pitt was born in New York State. and the youngest child is named Charles Edwin Debdin Pitt, so another reference to the Debdins.

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* 1900 Census for 221 West 38th, Manhattan
ED 307, NARA roll T623_1095
FHL roll 1241095
It was a boarding house for actors and actresses all right. So was 223 next door. and the mother and daughter at 217 were actresses also. I didn't browse the previous or following images.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-67B1-L8?cc=1325221&wc=9B77-16G%3A1030551901%2C1035804001%2C1035962301&lang=en&i=1

[oldohiohome]

1883-4 NYC City Directory
is this him?
Henry M Pitt, manager, 1289 B'way
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZH6-18XB?lang=en

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1881 Census, Hendon, Middlesex, England
Margaret Carlotta Pitt and Charles Pitt are visitors, age 2 and 1, in the household of Alfred Russell, a brick layer, and his wife Elizabeth
ED 2, Piece 1366, Folio 46, Page 1

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I haven't found a trace of Henry Maeder Pitt in the US before 1883. The undated letters to A. Daly, and the City Directory above, if that is him, are both 1883-1884.

[queencorgi1]

You've done so much, it's amazing! Many, many thanks.
As you say, it looks as though the Pitt family was not untypical of many others -- trying to make it in showbusiness is tough and always has been, even if you have some useful connections. Fanny's father determinedly promoted both his daughters, repeatedly giving them major roles.
You may be interested to know that their brother Claude was clearly a very different kind of person. He joined the Inland Revenue in 1866 and stayed there for the rest of his working life!
However, his son Guy did go on the stage, albeit with limited success.

[oldohiohome]

You've done so much, it's amazing! Many, many thanks.

Thanks. This "missed his calling" writer and researcher is enjoying every minute.

I haven't found a trace of Henry Maeder Pitt in the US before 1883. The undated letters to A. Daly, and the City Directory above, if that is him, are both 1883-1884.

Maybe because he wasn't there. This looks like his father, died 1866 and buried in Yorkshire, but working backward is a project for another day.

Charles Dibdin Pitt (1819 - 21 February 1866)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/220620853/charles-dibdin-pitt