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 Keister Abraham Lincoln Keister Abraham Lincoln Keister (September 10, 1852 – May 26, 1917) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Abraham L. Keister was born in Upper Tyrone Township, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, in 1874. He studied law, was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio in 1878 and commenced practice in Columbus, Ohio. He moved to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1882, and engaged in the manufacture of coke. He organized the First National Bank of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, in 1889 and served continuously as its president for