Biography

Jean Margaret Davenport was a famous actress who started performing at the age of seven in England. She first traveled to the United States in 1838 and played starring roles in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, and New Orleans. She toured Europe in Italy and France in 1842 and also received an education from private tutors while she performed. She came back to the United States in 1849 with the intention to stay for good, but had to return to England in 1852 after her father died. She return to the US in 1853 and lived there permanently, although she did go back to England to visit a few times. In 1860 she married transcontinental explorer and poet Frederick Lander in California. Her husband joined the Union Army and died from complications of pneumonia in 1862. After Frederick's death, Jean joined the Union Army efforts as a nurse, until the conclusion of the war. She returned to acting in 1865 until she retired to Washington, DC, in 1877.