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Mary Ann Jensen
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This presentation is intended to take you on an anecdotal descent of the Drew-Barrymore family tree. The illustrations and information are for the most part from sources found in the William Seymour Theatre Collection at Princeton University Library, and indeed most of what you will see and hear over the next several minutes can be found in Mr. Seymour's own memorabilia. The information upon which the family tree has been compiled comes largely from the family's Bible, which records entries beginning with the birth of Louisa Lane (later Mrs. John Drew) in 1820, and ending with the birth of Jessica Ann Devereaux in 1962. The Bible is to be found in the Theatre Collection of The Free Library of Philadelphia, and was made available to me through the Librarian-in-Charge of that collection, Mrs. Geraldine Duclow, to whom I am especially indebted.
It is of import and interest that I speak first of that Bible, and provide some statistics about its entries. The Bible descended through the family to John Devereaux, and in 1973 was purchased for The Free Library of Philadelphia through the auspices of The William Penn Foundation. It is a large volume, at least six inches thick, with no date of publication provided. It is leatherbound, with the name ''Eliza Kinlock'' stamped in gold on the cover.
On the appropriate pages, headed ''Births,'' ''Marriages,'' ''Deaths,'' and ''Miscellaneous,'' thirteen births are recorded -- from Louisa Lane to John Blyth [Barrymore] in 1882. Five marriages
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are entered, from Louisa Lane's to Henry Hunt in 1836 to the Georgiana Drew/Herbert Blyth wedding in 1876. Fourteen deaths are recorded, from that of the infant Rosilie [sic] Kinlock in 1831 to Ethel Barrymore's in 1959. On the pages headed ''Miscellaneous,'' there are the following additional statistics: twelve marriages, twelve births, two deaths, and one adoption. These range from the recorded adoption of Sidney White Drew in 1863 to, again, the birth of Jessica Ann Devereaux in 1962. The entries appear to have been written in at least four hands over the years.
As to the family tree which I have compiled, there have been two intentional omissions of persons from various branches for want of space. I will fill them in as we...