Charlotte Mignon Crabtree 001

A photo of Charlotte Mignon Crabtree (1847-1924) stage actress Little Lotta Crabtree 'The Nation's Darling' was born in New York City to parents John Ashworth Crabtree (1825-1894) and Mary Ann Livesey (1821-1905). Raised in the gold mining hills of San Francisco she learned to sing, dance and play the banjo with some help from the actress, Lola Montez (1821-1861). From the mining camps to the stage she became the highest paid actress of her time, but also one of the most generous. She was responsible for many philanthropic gestures and left an estate of some four million dollars in a charitable trust. She never married and died in Boston, Massachusetts 1924.