To this couple, in the city of Philadelphia, was born the JOSEPH JEFFERSON of to-day, on the 20th of February, 1829.

This boy was literally brought up on the stage, as he made his first appearance upon the boards in a combat scene at the Park Theater in New York, when he was but three years old.  He soon after went with his parents to the West.  Olive Logan says of him, at this period of his life, “While they were both still children, he and my sister Eliza used to sing little comic duets together on the stage of various western towns.”

He received as good a common-school education as the rapid manner in which he was moved about from place to place would permit, and was carefully trained in the profession of an actor, to which he was destined by his parents, and to which he was drawn by the bent of his genius.  He appeared in public frequently during his boyhood, but his first appearance as a man was at Chanfrau’s National Theater, in 1849.  He met with fair success, and from that time devoted himself entirely and carefully to his profession.  He began at the bottom of the ladder of fame, and gradually worked his way up to his present high position.  Playing engagements in various minor theaters of the United States, he at length secured a position as low comedian at Niblo’s Garden in New York, where he won golden opinions from the critical audiences of the metropolis.  In 1857, he closed a most successful engagement as low comedian at the theater in Richmond, Virginia, and with that engagement ended his career as a stock actor.  He had by careful and patient study rendered himself capable of assuming the highest place in his profession, and these studies, joined to his native genius, had made him famous throughout the country as the best low comedian of the day.

Feeling that he had now a right to the honors of a “star” in his profession, and urged by the public to assume the position to which his genius entitled him, he began a series of engagements throughout the Union, in which he more than fulfilled the expectations of his friends.  He was received with delight wherever he went, and at once became the most popular of American comedians.

About a year or two later, he left the United States and made a voyage to Australia, through which country he traveled, playing at the principal towns.  He was extremely successful.  His genial, sunny character won him hosts of friends among the people of that far-off land, and his great genius as an actor made him as famous there as he had been in his own country.  Australia was then a sort of theatrical El Dorado.  The prices paid for admission to the theaters were very high, and the sums offered to distinguished stars in order to attract them thither were immense.  Mr. Jefferson reaped a fair share of this golden harvest, and at the close of his Australian engagements found himself the possessor of a handsome sum.  It was this which formed the basis of his large fortune; for, unlike his father, he is a man of excellent business capacity, and understands how to care for the rewards of his labors, so that they shall be a certain protection to him in his old age, and an assistance to those whom he shall leave behind him.