Part 720: A Trip to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, 1909
Thomas G. Moses visited Oconomowoc (coo-no-mo-wauk), Wisconsin, after visiting Ellenville, New York, during 1909. Moses wrote, “On my return I took a trip to Oconomowoc to see Mr. Kohl about some work. I enjoyed the trip for I had the pleasure of seeing not only his fine home but several others that were palaces. A beautiful place to live.”
Moses was referring to theatrical manager Charles E. Kohl (1855-1910). Kohl was a partner of the firm Kohl & Castle Amusement Co., with offices in the Majestic theatre buiding in Chicago. The firm was identified with the Western Vaudeville Managers’ association in the Orpheum Circuit, controlling the Haymarket Theatre, Chicago opera house, Majestic and Olympic theaters in Chicago, as well as operating a chain of vaudeville houses throughout the Midwest.
Like many wealthy Chicagoans, the Kohls owned a lake home. In 1892, C. E. Kohl and his wife Caroline Lewis Kohl (1863-1950) built “Brier Cottage,” their 45-room summer home at Lac La Belle. It was situated between the Schufeldt and Dupee estates. Lac La Belle, a body of water that covers approximately 1154 acres, with a maximum depth of 45 feet. Of their residence, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “Charles E. Kohl, who, although unassuming to a degree, is the most influential personage in American vaudeville, has one of the show places in Lac La Belle, Oconomowoc, a place which twenty years of liberal expenditure and hard work have developed from the virgin forest into an ideal summer home” (June 13, 1909, page 22).
The region around Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, was originally inhabited by Potawatomi people, descendents of Woodland Indians known as the mound builders. The name Oconomowoc described “falling waters” in the area.
European immigrants settled the area during late 1820s and 1830s, and by 1837, New York native Charles Sheldon staked a homestead claim on the eastern shore of Fowler Lake. Soon afterwards, H.W. Blanchard did the same on the other side of the lake. Oconomowoc was not incorporated as a town, until 1844. Soon, Watertown Plank Road connected Oconomowoc to the nearby towns of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Pewaukee, and Watertown.
By 1853 the town had grown to include 250 residents with ten stores, three hotels, a gristmill, a sawmill and a school house. The first passenger train arrived from Milwaukee in 1854, becoming a stop on the Milwaukee and Watertown Railroad Company’s Milwaukee & Mississippi line. The population of Oconomowoc grew so rapidly that the town incorporated as a city in 1865. By the 1870s, Oconomowoc became known as a summer resort for wealthy Midwestern families, such as the Kohls. These seasonal residents began constructing lake homes throughout the area, escaping from larger metropolitan for short respites throughout the year.
By the early twentieth century, seasonal residences were owned by P. A. Valentine, George A Seaverns, W. Vernon Booth, Garrad Wiston, P. D. De Coster, A. J. Earling, Lawrence Fitch, as well as C. E. Kohl. In addition to enjoying the summer at their lake homes, many returned to the area to celebrate the Christmas and New Year’s holidays too (Chicago Tribune, 24 Dec. 1909, page 9).
1909 was a dramatic year for the Kohl family when Moses visited Ocononomowoc. The couple had been married for twenty-four years and had raised four children – Charles, John P., Caroline and Dorothy (Inter Ocean, 28 June 1909, page 5). Although no strangers to challenges of raising a family, they were surprised by a June event. Their youngest son, John P., secretly married the vaudeville actress Vinie Daly in Philadelphia.
Daly’s birth name was Elvira Delehanty. She was the daughter of well-known actress Lizzie Daly and had been on stage since she was 20 months old. She performed in theaters throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, many venues controlled by Kohl’s father (Chicago Tribune, 11 Sept, 1909, page 5).
John P.’s adventure began on June 23, 1909, when he left his Oconomowoc residence and headed east on a train to Philadelphia. After Daly’s matinee performance at Keith’s Theatre, the couple obtained a marriage license and were married by 7:30pm that evening. According to the newspapers, it was a very brief marriage. Only three months later, the marriage was annulled, as John P. was a minor and did not have his parents’ consent at the time (Chicago Tribune, Sept 11, 1909, page 5). The younger Kohl was 20 years old, with a bride five years his senior. The court case for annulment was covered by newspapers across the country. The “Harrisburg Star-Independent” reported, “After the older Mr. Kohl had testified his son’s lack of experience and poor judgement young Kohl told the court how he happened to marry the actrress.
‘I met her in Chicago while she was filling an engagement,’ testified Kohl. ‘Vinie asked me to marry her and not to tell my parents until I was of age.’
‘Did she ask you many times to marry her’ asked Attorney Levi Manner, who represented the vaudeville man. ‘Oh, yes, on many occassions, but I always refused until the last time,’ he replied.
Young Kohl then told of running away from Oconomowoc, Wis., where he had been spending the summer, and on meeting the actress at Keith’s theatre in Philadelphia, and of the subsequent marriage.
‘After we were married,’ he said, ‘we returned at once to the theatre where she played her part. I waited for her, and after the show I told me bride I was sorry for what I had done. I left her and took that first train back to Chicago and told my mother all about it.’
I have to wonder if this was the watered-down story for the court to ensure an annulment.
Sadly, the 45-room summer home no longer exists, as it was torn down in 1935. A combination of Caroline Kohl’s deteriorating health and the Great Depression were the major contributing factors at the time. In 2016, however, a lovely photo of the original home was listed online with some history tidbits for Geocaching. Here is the link: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC6NJY8_oaht-1624-kohl-family?guid=8dbfe302-ac55-4e60-ab10-f2402127ce77.
To be continued…
