Beatrice Chanler

Beatrice Minerva Ashley Chanler (born Minnie W. Collins; May 7, 1880 – June 19, 1946), also known as Minnie Ashley, was an American stage actress, artist, and author. She was active in charity and philanthropy during World War I and World War II. Early life and stage career Beatrice Chanler was born Minnie W. Collins on May 7, 1881 to Eliza Collins and an unknown father, according to the novelist Stephanie Dray. "At first, I believed that I was going to be telling a story about a blue-blooded do-gooder born in Charlottesville, Virginia. Instead, I found the story of an illegitimate daughter of Irish immigrants who lived a difficult childhood in Boston. And suddenly, the story became much more meaningful," Dray told the New York Post. The Post says that Ashley was born as "Minnie Collins" in Boston to an Irish-American widow named Eliza Collins. When Minnie was a toddler, her mother moved in with George Ashley, and she took his surname. The birth record of Minnie W. Collins on May 7, 1880, to Eliza Collins in Dartmouth, Massachusetts is consistent with this story. George Ashley died shortly after Minnie's 8th birthday, on May 11, 1888, in Boston. Ashley likely adopted the middle name of Minerva for George Ashley's aunt, Minerva Crapo Lindley, who died around the time that George Ashley and Eliza Collins began living together. She appeared in Broadway and London stage productions as Minnie Ashley from 1893 until 1902. She launched her acting career in 1893 (at the age of 12) as a member of the chorus in 1492 Up to Date by R. A. Barnet, produced on Broadway by Edward E. Rice. She then served as understudy for Edna Wallace Hopper in John Philip Sousa's operetta El Capitan (1896) starring DeWolf Hopper. The following summer she married William Sheldon, an actor, and was separated from him within a few months.