Justus D. Barnes Peggotty in "David Copperfield", the earliest known film adaption of the 1850 novel by Charles Dickens. He also played supporting roles in "Nicholas Nickleby" (1912), "Aurora Floyd" (1912), and "A Dog of Flanders" (1914). In 1917, he was released from the Thanhouser Company due to the company's financial issues. Barnes made his final onscreen appearance for the Edison Studio in "Cy Whittaker's Ward", in 1917. After retiring from acting, Barnes moved to Weedsport, New York where he worked as a milkman. He later owned a cigar store. Barnes died on February 6, 1946 in Weedsport at the age of 83.
Mary Hogarth author who studied Dickens, believed that Dickens wanted to "give the story a different ending." Hogarth is also seen as the inspiration for Little Nell in "The Old Curiosity Shop". Nell had many traits that Dickens associated to Howarth, including describing Nell as "young, beautiful and good", and Nell also dies suddenly in the book. Other characters believed to have been inspired by Mary include Kate Nickleby, the 17-year-old sister of the hero of the novel "Nicholas Nickleby"; Agnes Wickfield, the heroine in "David Copperfield" (her character was a mixture of both Mary and Georgina, another of Dickens' sister-in-laws); Ruth