the owners of Fordham Manor, in Westchester county, N. Y. Lord John Archer received the letters patent on the estate in November, 1671. He was a descendant of Fulbert L'Archer, one of the companions of William the Conquerer. The manor was mortgaged in 1686 to Cornelius Van Steinwyck, a New York merchant, and he left it by will to the Dutch Church of New York. On her mother's side the families have been Episcopalians since the establishment of the Episcopal Church in England; on her father's side they have belonged to the same church for over one-hundred years. Mrs Coyrière's real name is Mrs. Carlos Pardo. She has been twice married. Her husband, Professor Carlos Pardo, is a writer on pedagogy. Both are members of the American Association of Science, and Mrs. Pardo, who has kept her business name, E. Miriam Coyrière, is interested in all the reform movements of the time. She is a member of the National Educational Association, of the Woman's Health Association and of other organizations. She inherits literary talent from her mother, who was both poet and artist. Her father, who was wealthy at the time of his marriage, was a talented and highly educated man, and he turned his attainments to account when his fortune was swept away. He was a fine linguist and an author. Mrs. Coyrière belongs to a family of six children. Her first marriage was unfortunate. Her husband failed, and her parents died and left three young sons to her and her sister's care. She soon set about the work of earning a livelihood for herself and her young charges. Aided by Peter Cooper, she became a teacher, after a course of study in Cooper Institute. To add to her labor, her first husband became an invalid from paralysis. Her only son died in infancy. After teaching for a time, she learned the school furniture business. In 1880 she opened a teachers' agency, that has earned a world-wide reputation. She worked diligently to build it up and has succeeded. She supplies teachers for every grade of educational institution, from colleges down to district schools, and her patrons are in every State of the Union and in Canada, in Central America, Mexico and South America, and she has supplied teachers for European institutions. Her school furniture business has been a part of her work ever since she started in business for herself. In 1S84 she displayed furniture and school apparatus at the International Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she won a diploma. Mrs. Coyrière has no living children, but her home life is exceptionally happy. She became the wife of Prof. Carlos Pardo in 1884, and their home is a center of intellectual activity.
LOTTA CRABTREE.
CRABTREE, Miss Lotta, actor, born in New York City, 7th November, 1847. Her father was a bookseller in Nassau street, New York, for many years. In 1851 he went to California, where he engaged in gold-mining. His wife and daughter followed him in 1854. They lived in a little log-house in the mining town, La Porte. Mr. Crabtree was only moderately successful in his search for gold. Lotta showed in childhood the talents which have made her famous. Her first appearance on the stage was in 1855, in an amateur performance in La Porte, in which she appeared as a singer. When she was seven years old, she took lessons in dancing, and she appeared as a singer and dancer in amateur entertainments, and she created a furore among the miners. At the end of one of the performances she was called before the curtain, and a shower of silver dollars and half-dollars greeted her. That event led her to become an actor, and shortly afterward she and her mother started on a tour of California. The bright little star everywhere won encouragement and reputation. She played the part of Gertrude, in the "Loan of a Lover," in Petaluma, in 1858. Her starring tour was made in 1860, and the troupe in which she and her mother played reaped a fortune. Lotta received countless presents, ranging from silver dollars and twenty-dollar gold-pieces up to sets of jewelry and diamond-studded watches. In her early tours she traveled in a suit of boy's clothes, for convenience in making horseback journeys among the mountains. In 1864 Lotta made her début in New York City, in a spectacular play in Niblo's Garden. She made her first great success in "Little Nell and the Marchioness." She at once took a distinct and high rank as a star in eccentric comedy, and her singing, dancing and drollery, in plays written especially for her, made her one of the leading theatrical stars for years. Her rôles include the "Marchioness," "Topsy," "Sam Willoughby," "Musette," "Bob," "Firefly," "Zip," "Nitouche" and "The Little Detective." Of the last-named play, Lotta says: "I have played it season after season and year after year, until I am really ashamed to show my face in it upon the stage again. That play has always been a great hit, and it has brought me no end of money. We paid just twenty-five cents for it, the cost of the book from which it was adapted to me, and we have made thousands upon thousands out of it." Lotta has played successful engagements in England. She has always been accompanied by her mother, who has successfully managed her financial affairs. Lotta's earnings have been large, and her investments represent about a million dollars. During 1891 and 1892 she did not play, but it is not her intention to retire from the stage yet. Besides her dramatic talent, she possesses a decided talent for art. She has been a student and hard worker, and her example has been powerful in winning public respect for the stage and for actors.
