Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1922 the Allardt Advertising Co. changed its name to the Hoyland-Lemle Co. with business offices located at 417 S. Clinton St. in Chicago. 417 S. Clinton was the same location as the Sosman & Landis studio. The new company was named after Charles L. Hoyland and William Lemle. Hoyland had worked for the Allardt brothers in a variety of capacities for well over a decade.
Charles Leroy Hoyland was born on Sept. 24, 1885, in Illinois. He was the only child of James Andrew Hoyland (1861-1918) and Carrie Major (1866-1931). The two were married in Sangamon, Illinois in 1883. Charles arrived only two years later. By 1900, the small family was living in Springfield, Illinois. Carrie’s sister and servant lived with the Hoylands. At this point, his father was working as a recorder for an insurance company. The next ten years were like a roller coaster, both on the personal and business front. Charles’s father left both Springfield and his mother, remarrying by 1910. In the meantime, however, Charles switched professions, leaving the manufacturing and entered the theater industry.
In 1904, Chas. L. Hoyland was working as a manufacturing firm. His first appearance in the paper in associated with a want ad. He placed an advertisement in the “Herald and Review” of Decatur, Illinois, announcing, “WANTED – Capable young man as district manager for manufacturing for manufacturing concern. Apply to Chas. L. Hoyland, room 51. St. Nicholas hotel, between 9 and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday” (page 7). That year, he also became a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security, Springfield Council. They met in the Redman’s Hall on 5th and Monroe and upon initiation, Hoyland was listed as a bookkeeper.
This was his last profession before transitioning to theater the next year. He soon began working at the Chatterton Opera House in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. Local jeweler, George W Chatterton, invested in the Chatterton Opera House and turned the management of the venue over to his son. Chatterton became a central Illinois theater developer, became known as “the opera house man of Springfield” (The Champaign Daily, 3 Feb. 1906, page 5). For the many theaters that started up, shut down, and changed hands, Hoyland has picked a good one. He was in the right place, at the right time, and met all of the right people.
In Springfield, Hoyland was hired to work in the box-office at Chatterson’s flagship theater. On January 28 of that year, the “Herald and Review” reported, “Manager George W. Chatterton of the Chatterton Opera House, Springfield, Ill., has decided to dispose of his jewelry store that he may devote his entire time to his rapidly increasing theatrical interests. His large stock of jewelry is being sold and Manager Chatterton will hereafter be found either in the box office of the Chatterton or in his private office on the second floor. George Hickock, treasurer, and C. L Hoyland, assistant, will have charge of the box-office” (page 19). Here is a link to one history about the venue: https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=2456
Hoyland quickly moved from box office assistant into management. For the next few years moved from one theatrical endeavor to another. By 1907, he was working in Wayne, Michigan. There, he married his first wife Frances. On June 21, 1907, Hoyland married Frances H. Thompson, and older woman. Marriage records listed the groom as a resident of Los Angles, currently working as a clerk. The bride was a resident of Moline, Illinois and five years his senior, having been born in 1881. Frances’ maiden name was Putnam, suggesting there may be a previous marriage.
In 1910, the US Federal Census reported the couple living now in Danville, Illinois. At the time, they were living with four lodgers, one of whom was theatre musician named Roy A. Morrison. It is during this time that Hoyland becomes associated with the Allardt Bros. and their theaters.
Hoyland’s personal life was also tumultuous at this time too. His father left his mother and remarried in Palmyra, Missouri. On Nov. 2, 1910, the Marion County Herald announced a marriage license was granted to J. A. Hoyland of Springfield, Ill. And Helen E. Schwebel of Utica, Ill. (page 4). He would live another eight years, passing away in 1918. For his first wife, he died in 1910, and upon his leaving, listed herself as a widow. By 1912, she was living with their only son in Superior, Wisconsin. Both were listed in the city directory for Superior, living at 1003 Ogden Ave. Hoyland was listed in the Superior Directory as the proprietor for the Broadway Theater Hotel. In 1911, the Allardts acquired another theatre in Superior Wisconsin. That year, the firm opened several new theaters, including a the Orpheum in Munster, Indiana and another in Fort William, Ontario (The Times, Munster, Indiana, 26 Dec 1911, page 5). Their motion pictures expert, Joseph Dokes, was constantly busy installing machines in new Allardt houses throughout the region.
Between 1910 and 1913, the Allardt circuit increased exponentially, growing from one theater in Terre Haute, Indiana to twenty-four theatre throughout the Midwest and Canada; a circuit was composed of both vaudeville and legitimate theaters. On Feb. 23, 1912, the “Virginia Enterprise” in Minnesota reported, “The Allardt circuit will, with the opening of the new house here, be divided into two circuits, the southern and the northern. All the theaters north of Chicago will be in the northern division. The acts that will appear here will be routed not only though the Allardt houses but into several of those owned by close allies of the big firm. It is planned to open every act in the Northern division of the circuit at the Lyric. From here the shows will proceed to Fort William and then back to Superior, St. Paul and Minneapolis and south to the southern points on the big wheel” (page 4).
Already in 1910, Hoyland was working at the Allardt’s Lyric Theatre in South Bend, Indiana. His connection with the brothers was cemented when he was the Allardt’s guest at the theatrical Mechanic Association. On Jan. 9, 1911, “The South Bend Tribune” reported that Hoyland was initiated into the Theatrical Mechanical Association, South Bend Lodge, No. 120, the guest of Messrs. C. J. and Louis F. Allardt of the Orpheum. Hoyland cotinued with the Allardt Bros. and by 1913 was managing their New Orpheum Theatre in Racine, Wisconsin by 1913. He began working for the right people at the perfect time. Ultimately, his success during this period paralleled that of his employer.
On Dec. 21, 1913, the “Inter Ocean” included an article on the Allardt Bros., reporting, “ The firm was founded by three brothers with H. J. (senior partner of the firm) and L. F. Allardt in Chicago and C. J. Allardt directing affairs in South Bend, Indiana. The firm diversified, investing in Boyle Woolfolks, Inc. (producer of musical comedy tabloids), Robert Sherman (dramatic tabloid producer), the Alamo Film company, and the Alladart Advertising company. At the time Allardt Advertising Co. featured advertising curtains and was considered of the biggest firms in vaudeville.” Hoyland was already associated with the Allardt Advertising Co. managing the Chicago firm by 1913. On Feb. 1, 1914, the “Inter Ocean” mentioned Charles L. Hoyland as the head of the Allardt Advertising Company, and treasurer of Allardt Bros. The Allardt Advertising Co. continued to expand, filing incorporation articles in Milwaukee in 1916. On Dec. 30, 1916, the “Wisconsin State Journal” reported, “Foreign corporations licensed to do business in Wisconsin are: Allardt Advertising Co., of Chicago, Illinois. The firm was still expanding branch offices five years later, just before the named changed to Hoyland-Lemle Co.”
He was still working as an advertising agent after the onset of WWI. In 1918, Hoyland’s WWI draft registration card listed his working at the Allardt Advertising Co., located in 316 Westminster Building. The record also listed his residence as 922 Sunnyside Ave. His physical appearance was described as tall with a medium build, brown hair and dark brown eyes.
As with other studios, the firm struggled with collecting payment. On September 16, 1921, the “Alton Evening Telegraph” included an advertisement for a collector. The advertisement stated, “Party whose present occupation will permit him to act as collector for a Chicago concern. Only a very small part of time required. Accounts are payable quarterly and will aggregate about $500.00 each quarter. 5 per cent commission. Good references or bond necessary. Address Allardt Advertising company, Inc. 417 S. Clinton street, Chicago, or call Mr. Kentnick at Illini Hotel” (page 13). This may have been one of the reasons that the Allardt Bros. divested themselves of the advertising company in 1922 the firm became the Hoyland-Lemle Co. Before the name-change, the official address for the Allardt Advertising Co. was listed as 417 S. Clinton St – the same address as the Sosman & Landis studio. When the Hoyland-Lemle Co. opened, they also listed 417 S. Clinton St. at their address. By 1923, their offices moved to 6751 Sheridan Rd. Moses & Megan would also use this address while waiting to purchase the Sosman & Landis name.
1922 was a year of change for Hoyland, he not only started a new company, but also remarried. On May 17, 1922, Charles L. Hoyland married Anna E Kentnick (also spelled Kentnich). Kentnick was the daughter of Allardt employee, William J. Kentnick. She was very much a sign of the times, independent, and employed as a stenographer in a law office. In many ways, Anna was the polar opposite of his first wife, as well as two decades younger. The next decades, however, was full of surprises, both good and bad. Money became an issue, the company struggling to collect debts in a country struggling after a recession. They were constantly in court, trying to collection final payments from clients.
The Hoyland-Lemle Company lasted less than five years. The last mention of Hoyland-Lemle in newspapers was associated with a lawsuit against the Strong Motor Co. in Florida during the spring of 1927 (Tampa Times, 16 April 1927, page 19). That year, the firm closed and Hoyland left to establish the new Charles L. Hoyland Co. Lemle also founded William Lemle, Inc. and became associated with the National Theatre Supply Co. Early in 1927, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Another rumor that the National Theatre Supply Co. will take over our old Studio. Lemle is interested and wants me to come with him.” By the summer of 1928, Moses wrote, “I have agreed to join Lemle at our old Studio, which will pay me from $8,000 to $10,000 a year.”
To be continued…
