Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Bowers, Elizabeth Crocker

BOWERS, Elizabeth Crocker, actress, b. in Stamford, Conn., 12 March, 1830; d. in Washington, D. C., 6 Nov., 1895. She was the daughter of an Episcopal clergyman, and when sixteen years old she appeared in the character of Amanthis at the Park theatre, New York. On 4 March, 1847, she married David P. Bowers, an actor on the same stage. A week later she appeared in the Walnut street theatre, Philadelphia, as Donna Victoria in “A Bold Stroke for a Husband.” Afterward she became very popular at the Arch street theatre in the same city, and remained there until her husband's death in June, 1857. In December of that year, after a period of retirement from the stage, she leased the Walnut street theatre and retained its management until 1859. She then leased the Philadelphia academy of music for a short dramatic season. Soon after this she married Dr. Brown, of Baltimore, who died in 1867, and in September, 1861, she went to England and made her appearance at Sadler's Wells theatre, London, as Julia, in “The Hunchback.” She soon became a favorite with the English, and played as Geraldine d'Arcy, in “Woman,” at the Lyceum theatre. In 1863 she returned to this country and acted at the Winter Garden, New York. After a few years she retired from the stage, and lived quietly in the neighborhood of Philadelphia until October, 1886, when she organized a new dramatic company, and visited the principal cities of the United States, playing many of her old and favorite characters.