Abstract
Since at least the eighteenth century, the name "Paradise" has been associated with a picturesque country tract located three miles east from downtown Newport in the township of Middletown, Rhode Island. The east side of Paradise near the Sakonnet (then spelled Seaconnet) River was slowly converted from farmland into an exclusive residential community lining Indian Avenue. One of the early denizens of Indian Avenue was Edwin Booth (1833-1893), the foremost tragic actor of his day. Edwin had the dubious distinction of being an older brother of John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Between 1879 and 1882, Edwin transformed nearly ten acres on Indian Avenue into one of the most elaborate summer estates in the Newport area.
Recommended Citation
Yarnall, James L.
(1997)
"Edwin Booth's Life in Paradise,"
Newport History: Journal of the Newport Historical Society: Vol. 68:
Iss.
236, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/newporthistory/vol68/iss236/2
