Clara (Binns) Havel (1869 - 1906)

Born Jul 1869 in Leeds, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Wife of George Washington Lederer — married 25 Oct 1888 (to Jan 1890) in Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States

Wife of Jacob (Rosenwick) Havel — married 23 Nov 1891 in New York City, New York, United States

Died Feb 1906 at age 36 in New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

Clara Chester was born Clara Binns in July 1869, in Leeds, England. She had come to America as a dancer with Herrmann's Transatlantique Vaudevilles and appeared as one of four girls in an act called the London Gaiety Dancers, under the stage name Daisy Linton.

In November 1888, she began living with her theatrical manager, George W. Lederer. Although the couple never officially married, they did present themselves as husband a wife. A year later, George eloped with another woman. Clara sued him on a charge of bigamy, claiming that their common law marriage was legally binding. The scandal made headlines across the country. Clara was apparently in poor health throughout the grueling ordeal and in January 1890, she dropped the charges and returned to England, claiming that it was the new Mrs. Lederer's father - a powerful lawyer - who had put her up to the whole scheme.^[1]

Clara returned to America after just a few weeks and quickly returned to the stage in New York City.

On 23 Nov 1891 she married actor Jacob Rosenwick who performed under the stage name, Thomas O'Brien.^[2] Clara soon changed her name to Clara Havel - perhaps to escape the notoriety of her past - and together the couple formed the comedic due of O'Brien & Havel. Billed as "America's Most Versatile Artists," their long-running act, known as The Newsboy's Courtship, was a slapstick comedy known about a clumsy office boy who falls in love with a Cockney maid.

In 1900, the couple was residing at 2154 84th Street in Brooklyn, New York, along with their two children, Anton (age 4) and Lillian (age 2). A third child, Morton Benson, would be born later that year. Also residing with the family was a young servant girl from Hungary named Julian Kurtz (age 17), who had just arrived in America the previous year. In 1905, the family was residing at 169 E. 69th Street in Manhattan, along with Jacob's parents.^[3]

Clara became ill around 1904, but continued performing with her husband as late as December 1905. She died at a New York City sanitarium, in February 1906, leaving Jacob a widower with three young children. She was 35 years old.

Sources

1. ↑ Lederer Elopes, A Former Wilkes-Barrean's Sensational Escapade, Arrested for Bigamy, Dollar Weekly News (Wilkes-Barre, PA), 2 Nov 1889, p 3.
2. ↑ Clara Chester Married. The Sun (New York, NY), 24 Nov 1891, p. 7.
3. ↑ 1900 US Federal Census, Ancestry.com (database online with images), New York, Kings County, Brooklyn Ward, ED 560, sheet 27A, dwelling 423, family 486, household of Jacob R. Rosenwick [image 53].