In 1911, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I have not been as active on my picture work this year as I was last – too much hard work. No vacation this year, and I miss that very much, as a month means a good deal to both Mama and I.” Moses went on an annual sketching trip every year, often accompanied by his wife and their children. Unfortunately, 1911 was a busy time at Sosman & Landis, with Masonic projects pouring in, as well a variety of other projects beyond their standard opera house and theatre work.
Since the beginning of Sosman & Landis, Moses was on the road for months at a time. Even during the first decade of the twentieth century, much scenery was still painted on site. The practice continued as studio space was limited and any theater could be transformed into a temporary paint studio. Staying in one place for any significant length of time was an anomaly for Moses, even after 1904 when he became the vice-president and a Sosman & Landis stockholder.
When Moses was not finishing projects on site, meeting with clients, supervising installations, or securing new contracts for upcoming work; travel was a necessity. If railways gave out “frequent flyer” miles at the time, Moses would have been set at the platinum level
Although Moses did not enjoy a vacation during 1911, there were plenty other reasons to rejoice that year.
On February 8, 1911, Moses wrote, “Mamie surprised us both by informing us that she and Wm. Hanover were married in Wheaton, Illinois, on February 8th, 1911. We are becoming accustomed to these surprises.” “Mamie,” born Mary Titcomb Moses in 1881, was the second eldest of the couple’s children, with William “Pitt” being the eldest (b. 1879). In 1911, Pitt was still residing in New Jersey, successfully working with his Uncle Frank.
The next month, Lillian Ella Moses Salzmann (b. 1886), had a baby. Of the event, Moses wrote, “Lillian presented her husband with a bouncing son, Thomas George, in New York, March 9th. Mama went to New York to be with Lillian for a week or so.” The couple would go on to have four more children (Marjorie, William, Gertrude and Betty).
Of their youngest child, Rupert Thomas Moses returned from California on March 2, 1911. The previous year he left Chicago to seek employment there. Of this departure, Moses wrote, “Rupert went to California to work for Shearer, but he was not put on. He went to work for the irrigating company. They treated him better.” At the time, Rupert was 22 years old. He would later enter the theatrical trade with his father, traveling across country and completing various Sosman & Landis projects. Rupert was also an artists and the two would even spend time sketching at the Palette & Chisel club’s Fox Lake camp.
By the fall of 1911 the Moses family began to expand again. In November Moses wrote, “Miss Ula McNeill of Ames, Iowa, Rupert’s best girl, paid us a short visit…She appeared to be a very amiable young woman and we enjoyed meeting her.” The two would be married by 1914 and raised three girls (Evelyn, Doris and Marilyn). As an undergraduate, I met Doris at her farm while accompanying Lance Brockman on a research trip during the early 1990s. After our visit to her farm, we corresponded for a time. Doris described her talented grandfather and her memories of Moses. In 2016, I began corresponding with both of Marilyn’s sons, getting a new sense of Moses’ personality.
Rupert’s family would stay close to Tom and Ella, even living in their Oak Park home, when they went away to Oakland, California. Upon their return, Rupert and his family stayed with other family members in Ames, Iowa. After the stock market crash, however, Rupert’s family permanently resided in the Oak Park home with Tom and Ella. Of this transition, Marilyn wrote, “We weren’t used to having anyone else in the house and neither were my grandparents.” In a full house, the granddaughters would recall being warned against bothering their grandpa when he was painting. Granddaughter Marilyn recalled, “Grandfather had a studio on the third floor of his house. He spent most of his time up there painting.” She continued, “Grandmother tried to ‘protect’ Grandfather from his grandchildren or maybe it was his working time, which was important. I didn’t realize the reasons behind the rules. I would go up to the studio to watch. It was quite exciting to see the sets develop. Grandfather taught me how to make furniture out of cardboard and put me to work. I made tables, chairs and lounges.”
Marilyn described evening in the Moses home later in lofe, “In home life, dinner was always a party with a lot of conversation about all things going on in everyone’s lives. Conversations would trigger reminiscences and Grandfather would be off on one of his tales of the past.” Moses’ stories even helped the grandchildren out with their homework too. After dinner, the three granddaughters were expected to complete any homework assigned that day. Of her grandfather’s nightly dinner conversation, Marilyn wrote, “He was a good source for material for English compositions. We would take the gist of his stories and develop them in an embellished creation. His life was exciting between his travels and the people he met and associates in connection with his work. Being a stage set designer he met actors and actresses and opera singers. Some we met not through his work but through social contacts and fraternal organizations.”
Each evening ended with Marilyn fetching an apple from the basement cellar for her grandfather to munch on during a game of cards. After he finished his apple, Moses would go to his room and write in his journal.
To be continued…
