Author: Breck, Charles
Biography:
BRECK, Charles (c 1782-1821: ancestry.com)
He was born in Boston MA about 1782, a son of Samuel and Margaret (Thomas) Breck and younger brother of Samuel Breck (b 1771). His father was a prosperous merchant and banker, and the children were well educated. Charles had two comedies produced in New York and later published, The Fox Chase (in prose, performed 1805) and The Trust (1808). The family moved to Philadelphia PA about 1808, shortly before the death of the father (7 May 1809). Charles later lived for a time in Europe and died, unmarried, at Amsterdam on 7 May 1821. The press at the time reported his death as the outcome of "a nervous bilious fever" that carried him off in five days. Literature Online (LION) gives another, more romantic version, involving the death of his Italian fiancée followed by suicide, but confirmation is wanting. (ancestry.com 29 July 2025; Literature Online 29 June 2025; findmypast.com 29 July 2025; National Gazette and Literary Register [Philadelphia] 5 July 1821) HJ