Date: Fri 30-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Emma-Janvier-history

Full Text:

More Details Of The Life Of Emma Janvier

BY JAN HOWARD

Some of the mystery surrounding Emma Janvier, first raised in a Bee article

October 16, is being resolved. The musical comedy actress lived in Newtown

during the early part of this century.

Emma Janvier's grave in Newtown Village Cemetery is marked only by a plaque

erected in her memory by the players of the "Poppy" company. The marker, which

gives her occupation, name and date of death, offers few other clues about the

woman the plaque honors. However, it tells enough to have piqued the interest

of The Newtown Bee , Town Historian Daniel Cruson, and staff members of the

C.H. Booth Library.

The facts about Emma Janvier's life that were gleaned from town land records

and old issues of The Newtown Bee were outlined in a story in the October 16

Bee. Since then, some of the questions raised during the research about her

life, and death, have been answered.

A call to the Yale Drama Library last week garnered new information about Emma

Janvier, who was known to Newtowners of the early part of this century as Emma

Spicer Smith, the wife of Mortimer Smith.

In the previous article, it was stated her survivors at the time of her death

in 1924 at the age of 37 included two married daughters. As it turns out, the

two women mentioned in her obituary notice were her sisters, not her

daughters, so Emma was not married prior to her marriage to Mr Smith.

The following obituary, received from the Yale Drama Library, appeared in

Variety on September 10, 1924:

"Mrs Emma S. Smith (Emma Janvier), one of the best known character women on

the American musical comedy stage, died August 31 in a sanatorium near Boston

following a lingering illness which necessitated her leaving her last

engagement in `Poppy.'

"Mrs Smith is survived by twin sons, 14, and another son, 13 years old. Two

sisters, Mrs Pellie S. Clark, of Heath, Mass., and Mrs Thomas Abbott of

Canton, Ohio also survive.

"Emma Janvier's first stage appearance was with Herbert Kelcey and Effie

Shannon in `The Moth and the Flame.' She appeared with Richard Carle in

`Spring Chicken,' with George M. Cohan in `Fifty Miles From Boston' and `The

Grass Widow' and was also with `Two Little Girls in Blue.' `Poppy' was her

last piece, except for intermittent appearances."

One of the mysteries in the Emma Janvier story was the identity of the "fellow

players of the `Poppy' company." From the Variety obituary, it is now known

that the plaque in Newtown Village Cemetery was erected by fellow cast members

of her final play.

Some questions still remain unanswered, however, such as what happened to

Mortimer Smith's first wife and son, and how, when and where Mr Smith met Emma

Janvier. Also, what happened to their three minor sons who were in her custody

when she died in 1924? She and Mr Smith were divorced in 1918. The boys were

only 14 and 13 in 1924. Did her sisters take responsibility for them? Or did

they go with Mr Smith who died less than a year after his former wife?

Mystery still surrounds the life, and death, of Emma Janvier, known to

Newtowners as Emma Smith. Perhaps someone here knows the answers to the

questions that remain.