Edward Askew Sothern the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. Sothern's role was Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. At first, he was reluctant to accept the role; it was so small and unimportant that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms to his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of Asa Trenchard in the play. Jefferson supposedly responded with the famous line: "There are no small parts, only small actors." On 15 October 1858, "Our American Cousin" premiered in New York.
Abraham Lincoln McCrimmon Abraham Lincoln McCrimmon Abraham Lincoln McCrimmon (1865 – April 16, 1935) was a Canadian academic and Chancellor of McMaster University. Born on a farm near Delhi in Norfolk County, Ontario, McCrimmon graduated from the University of Toronto in 1890. In 1892, he started teaching at Woodstock College and five years later became its principal. From 1903 to 1904, he studied at the University of Chicago. In 1906, he was appointed a professor at McMaster University. From 1911 to 1922, he was the Chancellor of McMaster. A Baptist, he was president of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec for three