John Augustus Stone (December 15, 1801 – June 1, 1834) was an American actor, dramatist, and playwright, best known as the author of Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags.
Biography
Stone appeared on the New York stage beginning in 1822. He wrote Metamora, as a vehicle for Edwin Forrest, who offered as a prize $500 () and half of the proceeds from the third night. William Cullen Bryant headed a committee which chose Stone's play as the best of 14 submitted.
Stone suffered periods of insanity and he committed suicide by jumping into the Schuylkill River. He was buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Philadelphia. His grave at Machpelah was marked by a monument erected by Forrest.
- Restoration, or the Diamond Cross, 1824 Chatham Garden Theater in New-York.
- Tancred, or the Siege of Antioch 1827
- La Roque; a Regicide Charleston
- Fauntleroy; or, the Fatal Forgery Charleston
- Touretoun
- Banker of Rouen
- Tancred, King of Sicily March 16, 1831
- The Demoniac, or the Prophet's Bride April 12, 1831
- The Ancient Briton, March 27, 1833
- The Knight of the Golden Fleece, or The Yankee in Spain, 1834
Of these, the most notable is Knight of the Golden Fleece, featuring famous Yankee actor George Handel Hill as a fish out of water in romanticized Spain. Unfortunately, the script was never printed and does not survive. In 1842 John Quincy Adams took his granddaughter Maria Louisa Adams (1828-1859) to see Knight of the Golden Fleece which he considered to be "dead shot", i.e. highly accurate, precise, or unerring.
Legacy
His very popular 1829 play Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags had a stage run over 60 years. This play inspired four new Midwestern towns to adopt the name Metamora: Metamora, Ohio, in the 1830s, Metamora Township, Michigan, in 1838 after the 1836–1837 Toledo War caused the removal of Metamora from Michigan Territory to Ohio, Metamora, Indiana, also in 1838, and Metamora, Illinois, in 1845.