Part 463: Patrick J. Toomey of Noxon & Toomey
In 1896, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch featured Patrick J. Toomey, including a brief biography and illustration. The article reported, “Patrick J. Toomey was born in Limerick, Ireland in 1854 and came to St. Louis with his parents as an infant. He received his education at the Christian Brothers’ College and in the public schools. His first employment was in the retail grocery trade. After a few years he found this work uncongenial and apprenticed himself to scenic art under Mr. Thomas C. Noxon at Deagle’s Varieties. With his tutor, four years later, he formed the partnership of Noxon & Toomey, continuing in the same line ever since. In connection with Mr. Noxon, Mr. Toomey has been the scenic artist at the Olympic Theater and Grand Opera House for over twenty years. In 1886, he married Miss May Vogt, a daughter of Dr. Wm. Vogt of Iowa City, Iowa” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2 April, 1896). The couple’s only child was named Noxon Toomey, who grew up to become a doctor.
I was curious about the venue where Toomey apprenticed himself to Noxon – Deagle’s Variety Theater. George Deagle’s Varieties Theater introduced musical comedy to St. Louis with “The Black Crook” in 1867 and briefly took the lead as one of St. Louis’ five theaters at that time. Various documents placed the location of the venue at Sixth Street near Locust. Little is known of Deagle’s Varieties Theater, and there are only a handful of advertisements for shows from 1876. Interestingly, an article from 1882 mentions that Deagle managed the only variety and spectacular house in pre-Civil War St Louis “then located where the present Grand Opera House now stands” (St. Louis Post-Dispatchm 20 March 1882, page 5). It appears that Deagle managed the St. Louis Opera House from 1865 until 1872, when he set his sites on another venue. In 1872 he rented the Olympic Theatre of St. Louis for a production of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
The Buffalo Courier reported that George Deagle (1822-1908) was “the oldest theatrical manager in the country, who many years ago owned the Deagle Varieties Theater” (Buffalo Courier 14 Oct. 1900, page 17). Deagle later managed the People’s Theatre in Chicago too.
As an interesting side note, his granddaughter Ann Murdock took to the stage in 1908 at the age of 17, making her debut in “The Offenders.” She noted that her grandfather, George Deagle, was the manager of Deagles Varieties in St. Louis fifty years ago (New York Times 29 Oct. 1908, page 9), placing the establishment’s origin in the 1850s. Ann Murdock’s mother, Terese Deagle was also an actress, and one of the first leading women employed by Charles Frohman. Her father was a manager for many years at the American Theatrical Exchange (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch 12 June 1921, page 3). I became fascinated with this theatre family, but back to Toomey.
In 1922, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch placed Toomey’s birthdate in 1851 and reported that Toomey was “considered one of the pioneer scenic painters of St. Louis” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 13 March 1922, page 14). Toomey was best known, however, for his creation of the first floats for the Veiled Prophet’s parade and continued this sort of work for 25 years, only giving it up shortly before his death. Toomey was famed as an “electrical float builder” known also for his work at the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans and the Milwaukee Carnival (Wichita Daily Eagle, 13 July 1900, page 6). He did most of the scene painting for the old theatres in St. Louis, including Pope’s the Olympic and the Century. At one time, he also painted for the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York City.
To be continued…
