TO THE MEMORY OF

BELLE ACHER

BORN IN EASTERN PA SEPT 5. 1858

DIED IN WARREN PA SEPT 19.1900

BY HER BRILLIANT ACCOMPLISHMENT

AND RARE-GRACES OF MIND AND PERSON

SHE GAVE DISTINCTION

TO THE HISTORIC ARTS.

TO THE NAME OF BELLE ARCHER

THE MASTER LEANING REACHED A HAND AND

WHISPERED IT IS FINISHED

W. CLARKE NOBLE SCULPTOR

In the Easton Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania, is a large 6-foot-tall granite monolith with a bronze insert with an inscription to and a bas-relief sculpture of actress Belle Archer.  Belle Archer started her acting career under the name of Belle Mackenzie on the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. stages.  Her first role was in the play “The Mighty Dollar.”  In 1880, Belle married fellow actor, Herbert Marshall Archer, and changed her name.  They soon began to play opposite of each other in a play titled, “The Highest Bidder”. Though her marriage failed in 1889, Belle’s career took off and for the next ten years she appeared in stage productions of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “Hazel Kirke,” “The Foresters”, “The Three Musketeers”, and “Lord Chumley” among others.

On September 16^th, 1900, Belle Archer took a bad fall on the train station platform in Jamestown, New York.  Though it was thought she was recovering, she died the following Wednesday, September 19^th.  Her funeral was held in the Episcopal Church in Easton.  She was buried in the Easton Cemetery.

The monument marking her grave includes a bronze plaque sculped by Maine-born artist William Clarke Noble (February 10, 1858 – May 10, 1938).  The medallion portrait is said to be a reproduction of her favorite.  Her beauty is best described by The Easton Daily Express, September 21, 1900, that noted “her beautiful face and form and the grace and ease of her carriage captivated her audiences wherever she appeared.”  The portrait, sculpted by Noble, captured her notable beauty. 

Noble’s many works can be found at the Gettysburg Battlefield, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Newport, Rhode Island,; Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia; New York City; Doane Park, Newark, New Jersey; the Maine Statehouse; as well as many other places throughout the country.