Representative women of New England/Evelyn G. Sutherland

by Mary H. Graves

EVELYN GREENLEAF SUTHERLAND, writer, playwright, and critic, the only daughter of James Baker, formerly a prominent wholesale merchant of Boston, and his wife, Rachel Arnold Greenleaf, was born and bred in Boston, as were her paternal ancestors for three or four generations. Her mother, who died in 1896, was a daughter of Spencer and Pamela (Adams) Greenleaf, of Wiscasset, Me.

Mrs. Sutherland is descended on both sides from fighting stock, and inherits many interesting traditions. Her mother's [aternal ancestry she traces to Captain Edmund Greenleaf, who came from England and settled at Newbury in 1635, the line being: Edmund,¹ Stephen,^{2 3 4} Samuel,⁵ Benjamin,⁶ Spencer.⁷ Edmund Greenleaf marched against the Indians in 1637. From that time to the death in 1857 of her grandfather, Spencer Greenleaf who served in the War of 1812, there was but one break in the military service of the family. Captain Stephen² Greenleaf, son of Captain Edmund,¹ was one of the purchasers of Nan tucket island in 1659. He married in 1651 Elizabeth, daughter of Tristram Coffin, then of Newburj', Mass., afterward the chief magistrate, also one of the owners of Nantucket. Stephen^ Greenleaf was drowned while engaged in the honorable discharge of his military duty in the expedition against Port Royal in December, 1690. His son, Stei)hen,' known as the "great Indian fighter," was engaged in King Philip's War, and in the contest with the French and Indians in 1690 he conmianded a company at Wells, Me. Mrs. Sutherland's great-grand- father, Benjamin® Greenleaf, was a soldier in the Revolution.

Several of these progenitors were seafarers, and were well known in New England as master ship-builders. It is recorded that the original Greenleafs in England, ancestors of Edmund, were Huguenots (name in French Feuillevert), who had fled from France to escape religious persecution.

There is a tradition that one of the family, many generations back, while in France, married a Spanish Romany girl, or Gitana, and that the Gipsy blood now and then appears in her descendants. To this inheritance Mrs. Sutherland whimsically attributes her love of Bohemia and the freedom of outdoor life.

Noteworthy also is the part which the colonial Bakers took in the cause of liberty. Captain Joseph Baker, a surveyor, shared in the famous Lovewell fight in New Hampshire. His wife Hannah was the only daughter of the noted Captain John Lovewell, who was killed in the battle of Pigwacket, May 8, 1725. Mrs. Baker received a share in the lands awarded to the survivors and heirs of those engaged in the fight, and settled with her husband on this land, where the Baker homestead now stands, in the tow^n of Pembroke, N.H. Their son, Joseph Baker, Jr., was a soldier in the Revolution, and was on the Committee of Safety for the town of Bow, N.H.

As shown by family records and remembrances, supplementing the genealogy in the Essex Antiquariany, vol. ii., Mrs. Sutherland's maternal grandmother, Pamela Adams Greenleaf, was a daughter of Nathan Adams and his wife, Johanna Batchelder, and a descendant in the sixth generation of Robert Adams and his wife Eleanor, early settlers of Newbury, Mass. From Robert* the line continued through his son Abraham,^ who married Mary Pettingell; Abraham,' and his wife Anne, daughter of William and Anne (Sewall) Longfellow and niece of Judge Sewall ; and Henry^ and his first wife, Sarah Emery, who were the parents of Nathan* Adams, of Newbury, Mass., and Wiscasset, Me.

James Baker, of Boston, was a devoted anti-slavery Worker and a warm personal friend of Theodore Parker. He died when his daughter Evelyn was only three years of age. Her edu- cation was carefully looked after by her mother, her earliest training being received in the public schools. She was later placed in the quaint little "dame" school of Miss Rebecca Lincoln on Pinckney Street, where the old house is still standing. She next attended Miss Caroline Johnson's celebrated school on Ashburton Place, completing her education by two years' study in Geneva, Switzerland. She showed literary tastes w^hen but a child, by writing little rhymes and tales; and at the age of fifteen she was awarded a prize for an essay on "What is a Gentleman?" by Our Young Folks, now known as St. Nicholas. Since then her writings, verse or prose, have been much before the public, appearing in Puck, Life, the Cosmopolitan, and other magazines. In 1894, under the name of Dorothy Lundt, a nom de plume which she used for twenty years, she won one of the prizes offered by McClure’s Magazine by an army tale, "Diccon's Dog." Through this little product of her pen has come a happy experience. A noted novelist, at a reception shortly after the publication of the story, spoke of it in highest praise, not knowing that she was addressing the author herself. A confession followed, and the friendship thus begun between the two women has been lasting.

For many years Mrs. Sutherland was a writer on the staff of the Boston Transcript, from the autumn of 1887 contributing to its columns both book review^s and dramatic criticisms. Her success in the latter line is well know^n. She heartily attributes all credit for what she has accompIished in dramatic criticism to her training under Mr. Francis Jenks, for many years the dramatic editor of the Transcript. In her first assignment under Mr. Jenks he gave her a lesson which served as a basis for all her future work in that line. He asked, "Do you know what the word critic means?" Somewhat confused, she answered, "Perhaps not in the sense you mean." "Go to the dictionary and find out," he said. She found the original Greek word meant one who discerns. Mr. Jenks said, tersely, "Always bear that in mind, and don't confuse the discerner with the fault-finder." Under his teaching her abilities developed, and in 1889 and 1890, while Mr. William Apthorp was in Europe, she wrote most of the first-night criticisms for the Transcript. During her connection with the Transcript she conducted a very interesting column called "Library and Foyer," signed "Dorothy Lundt." It was original and clever, and was much appreciated by Transcript readers. Her work on this paper continued uninterruptedly for seven years, when, in 1894, she suffered from acute nervous prostration, and for eleven months lived out of the city and retired from active life. Upon her return she was greatly shocked to learn of the recent sudden death of her beloved "Father in Journalism," Mr. Jenks.

For a number of years Mrs. Sutherland was dramatic editor of the Boston Commonwealth, and since her return to active work, in 1896, has contributed to many newspapers, being dramatic critic of the Daily Journal for several years. Most of her time, however, has been occupied with another line of work, that of short story and play writing. One of her first plays presented was given performance at the Hollis Street Theatre in October, 1895, by Charles Frohman's Empire Theatre Company. It was a one-act Southern play, entitled "Mars'r Van," and was written in collaboration with Mrs. Emma Sheritlan Fry. It afterward ran for four weeks at the Empire Theatre, New York, and was also successfully given throughout the West. "Rohan the Silent" was written for Alexander Salvini, and was accepted by him, to be used in connection with "The Fool's Revenge," which it was his intention to include in his repertoire for the season of 1896 and 1897. It was produced by him at a trial performance at the Tremont Theatre, Boston, May 28, 1896, and it is a notable fact that Rohan was the last role ever created by this actor of great promise. "Fort Frayne," her next attempt, an emotional drama in four acts, was written in collaboration with Mrs. Fry and General Charles King. Its possibilities as a novel appealed to General King, and, with Mrs. Sutherland's consent, he worked the plot into one of his fascinating stories. It met with a large sale, reaching its fifth edition. The play itself, on account of Mrs. Sutherland's illness, was not completed until 1895, and soon afterward was produced in both the East and the West. Its first presentation was in the fall of 1895 at the Schiller Theatre, Chicago, where it had a four weeks' run. In 1897 and 1898 six one-act dramas bj' Mrs. Sutherland were put on the stage, the initial performance of each being in Boston. The first of these, " Po White Trash," was produced by Henrj' Woodruff (for whom the role of Drent Dury was written) at a special matinee at the Bijou Theatre, Boston, and later at the Lyceum Theatre, New York. It was also given in the season of 1898 and 1899 by the Frawley company in the West. The other dramas are "In Far Bohemia," "A Comedie Royal," "A Bit of Instruction," and "At the Barricade." These, with three plays which have not been produced, were published in book form in 1900. They deal with varying phases of life, and some have won marked popularity and favor. In 1900, collaborating with Mr. Booth Tarkington, she helped to dramatize the latter's novel, "Monsieur Beaucaire," which was brought out by Richard Mansfield in October, 1901, and enjoyed long and exceedingly successful seasons in America and England.

Many of Mrs. Sutherland's writings have tlealt with army life, and she has many friends in both the army and the navy. She has silent much time "in garrison." At one time when some especially dear friends were stationed at Fort Warren, she had a den fitted up for herself in one of the old casemates which was used as a prison dming the Civil War.

In s])ite of her busy life she has found time for social affiliations, and her home on Commonwealth Avenue is a literary and artistic centre. She was a charter member of the New England's Woman's Press Club, anil has for ten years held some office on the Executive Board. She also belongs to the Authors' Club, the Pentagon Club, and the Professional Woman's League. Her pajier on "The Making of a Critic," which has been given several times in Boston before prominent clubs, was also given at the Congress of Women's Clubs at the World's Fair.

In 1879 she became the wife of Dr. John P. Sutherland, her friend from childhood, the marriage taking place immediately after his graduation from the Medical School of Boston University. After several months' travel in Europe, Dr. Sutherland began the practice of his profession, while she continued her literary work. In 1888 her husband became a member of the faculty of the Medical School of Boston University, and since then he has been actively connectecl with that institution, succeeding Dr. I. Tisdale Talbot as Dean of the Medical School in 1899. Dr. Sutherland is one of the leading physicians of Boston, and is an ex-president of the Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society. For fourteen years he edited the New England Medical Gazette.

By birth and education, and as wife of the Dean of Boston University Medical School, Mrs. Sutherland holds a distinct and individual position in Boston, while her work as playwright and critic takes her often, and very congenially, over the borders of Bohemia. She counts some of her warmest friends among the leaders in the dramatic world. A'here she sees talent, she is always eager to recognize and foster it. Her Sunday evenings are the property of her "boys," not only of Boston University, but of Harvard and Tech also. At her home they find on Sunday nights a "picnic supper," a warm welcome, and an "open parliament," whose leader is often the honored and beloved Dean.

Dr. and Mrs. Sutherland have two summer residences, one at Nantucket, home of Mrs. Sutherland's kinsfolk two centuries ago, and one, "Clanshome," at Marlow, N.H., between which homes, when not in Dr. Sutherland's native Scotland, she and her husband divide their summer days.