wignell's

Updated: May 3, 2025

At the foot of the playbills were always the words, 'Vivat Respublica. Washington often visited this theater, being particularly gratified by Wignell's performance of Darby, in the 'Poor Soldier. "It was in the theater in John street that the now national air of 'Hail Columbia, then called the 'President's March, was first played.

Benson John Lossing - Life and Times of Washington, Volume 2: Revised, Enlarged, and Enriched