[3] She was brought to America in 1873, probably with her mother, May, and sisters, Catherine and Constance, with veteran British actor Thomas C. King to perform on the New York stage.

[2] Her Broadway debut came on the 11 September 1873, at the New Lyceum Theatre on 14th Street and 6th Ave., playing Esmeralda opposite King's Quasimodo in Notre Dame, a failed dramatic adaption of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Upon her return she gained popularity appearing in big cities and small as Beatrice in La Belle Russe an adaptation of a story by May Agnes Fleming,[9] Martha Moulton in Forget-Me-Not by Herman Merivale,[10] the Countess Clothilde in Clothilde, an adaption of a play by Victorien Sardou,[11] the Countess Zieka in Diplomacy by Victorien Sardou and as Muriel in The Sporting Duchess by Sir Augustus Harris, Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton.

[2][12] Jeffreys Lewis’ career began to wane in the late 1880s as she continued to play roles that audiences deemed inappropriate for someone approaching middle age.

[14][15] Their son, Harry Mainhall Jr., who inherited his mother's cleft chin, would go on to be a Hollywood actor and writer active in the early years of the silent era.