Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
Ed Loitz was first hired at Sosman & Landis in 1883. He was a scenic artist who became a loyal assistant and friend to Thomas G. Moses. They worked together for over four decades. Whether Moses was employed at Sosman & Landis, or working on his own, Loitz was there to help. In a sense, he was Moses’ “right-hand man.” For most projects, Loitz traveled one step ahead of Moses, preparing the jobsite for the master artist’s arrival, and then assisting on site with painting and all other tasks.
Loitz worked with Moses at theaters Moses all over the country, including the New California Theatre in Sacramento (1889), the Tacoma Theatre in Washington (1889-1890), the Marquam Theatre in Portland, Oregon (1889), the Auditorium Theatre in Spokane Falls, Washington (1889), the Corvallis Opera House in Corvallis, Oregon (1889), the Broadway Theatre in Denver, Colorado (1890), the Grand Opera House in Ogden, Utah (1890), the Lyceum Theatre in Duluth, Minnesota (1890); the Alvin Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1891), the John C Fisher Opera House in San Diego, California (1891), Gilmore’s Court Square Theatre in Springfield, Massachusetts (1891), and the Yo Semite Theatre in Stockton, California (1892).
Edward F. Loitz was born on July 28, 1864 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were William Loitz and Christina Sutor Loitz, both from Łódź. The city of Łódź was annexed by Prussia in the second partition of Poland, so some census reports list their birthplace of the Loitz’s as simply Prussia. William was born in 1861 and emigrated to the Unites States in 1861. By 1870, he worked as a laborer in a distillery, living with his father-in-law Daniel Sutor. I am still on the process of tracking down the specifics of the Loitz family, as there were so many children and possibly a second marriage. However, in 1880, the remaining Loitz children at the home of William Loitz were August (15 yrs.) Bertha (7 yrs.), Charles (9yrs. ), Emma (3 yrs. ), Theresa (15 yrs.,). They were still living with William’s Father-in-law Daniel Sutor. In 1880, Edward was likely working and living outside of the home, apprenticed somewhere. By 1900 William was living with his daughters Bertha (27) and Emma (23); the same two that would be mentioned in Edward Loitz’s obituary. Edward also had an older brother, Arthur, who died April 16, 1906.
As far as Edward Loitz’s education and training before Sosman & Landis, little is known. However, he did attend public school until 8th grade. So, he began working at Sosman & Landis between the ages of 18 and 19 in 1883, and immediately began traveling with Moses as his assistant. In 1895 Loitz married for the first time started his own family. He certainly did not settle down, nor did his marriage impede on his extensive business travel with Moses. Loitz married Mary C. Weinrich (1873-1869) in Chicago in 1895 and his first child was born the next year. Weinrich emigrated from Germany with her family between 1880 and 1882, becoming a naturalized citizen by 1897, after the birth of her first two children. The couple celebrated the birth of three children total: Arthur R. (b. May 1896) and Virginia (b. July 1898) Frederick Francis (b. Sept. 1906). The youngest was born in Mount Vernon, New York, as the Loitz family followed the Moses family to live in Mount Vernon, New York, when Moses established the Moses & Hamilton scenic studio in New York City. Loitz had followed Moses to a few other cities before New York, including Cincinnati.
In 1897 Moses wrote, “Early fall found Mr. Landis and Mr. Hunt camped on my trail; offering me the Pike Theatre Stock Company work at Cincinnati for the season. They agreed to send down enough drops from the studio to complete my contract. I accepted $75.00 per week and went, taking McGreer and Loitz from Chicago.” This was all part of the Sosman, Landis & Hunt Theatrical management firm in the 1890s. That season, Moses, Loitz and [Fred] McGreer also traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, for a few projects, including Das Deutsche Haus, a venue later christened the Athenæum. The trio also delivered stock scenery to the English Theatre (Indianapolis, Indiana), the Grand Opera House (Columbus, Ohio) and the Valentine Theatre (Toledo, Ohio). After completing these three projects, Moses wrote, “I think we did some good work.” Moses and Loitz also painted scenes for David Belasco’s “The Charity Ball,” as well as other stage settings used at the Pike Theatre, including “The Wife,” “Capt. Swift,” “Shenandoah,” “The Banker’s Daughter,” “Lottery of Love,” “Charlie’s Aunt,” “The Amazon,” “Trilby,” “Held by the Enemy,” and quite a few more shows for Pike’s in Cincinnati. Moses recorded that it was a very successful season overall, writing, “The different newspapers gave our work splendid notice every week.”
After their work for the Pike Theatre Stock Company, Moses and Loitz headed west. In 1899 they painted scenery for the John C. Fisher Opera House. On August 27, 1899, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, “Thomas G. Moses of New York and a staff of well-known artists have been at work for the past few weeks painting scenery for the tour.” By 1900, Moses and Will F. Hamilton had partnered to open Moses & Hamilton in New York. Their studio was located at Proctor’s 125th Street Theater. Moses’ wrote, “I took the Stock Company’s work in September. We had some heavy shows, “Around the World in Eighty Days,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hazel Kirke,” “Prodigal Daughter,” forty shows in all. I had to make ground plans and models. I found I had my hands full.” It was at this point that he enlarged the scenic art staff at Moses & Hamilton. Of his employees, Moses wrote, “We depended on Al Roberts to get the stock work done. Otto Armbruster was with us and he was a very valuable man. He and Loitz worked at 125th Street most of the time. As we closed the year’s work, we found that we had done very well, and I didn’t regret going East; but we did miss our Oak Park home, and the Harrison Street house was a constant source of worry for us.” It was around this time that both Ella Moses and Mary Loitz packed up their households and children, relocating to New York. The Loitz family remained in the east for some time. It was not until 1920, that the US Census listed them again as residing in Chicago.
Interestingly, it was only Frederick Loitz who moved out of the Loitz home, got married and raised a family. His WWII draft registration card described Frederick as 5’-11”, 198 lbs., with brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. His elder siblings, Arthur and Virginia never left their parents, each living at home and holding full-time positions. Arthur transitioned from an accountant to an income tax collector while Virginia went into secretarial work, eventually ending up as a private secretary at a life insurance company. After returning to Chicago, Frederick began working for the Chicago Motor Coach Company and married Alice A. Krueger. In 1920, Mrs. Edward Loitz also became a lifetime member at the Art Institute of Chicago (Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1920, page 38).
Moses trusted Loitz enough that often when Moses left to secure contracts, Loitz was left in charge of the studio. When Sosman & Landis closed, Loitz remained with Moses and became part of the studio staff for the second iteration of Sosman & Moses. Moses & Loitz also painted scenery for the Binghamton Scottish Rite.
On October 17, 1923, Binghamton’s “Press and Sun-Bulletin” featured Moses and his work. The article was entitled “Vies with Nature in Realms of Beauty,” “Products of the brush of Mr. Moses and his assistant, Mr. Loitz, are not entirely new to Binghamton. Mr. Moses painted the landscapes and architectural exteriors for the State hospital theater and Mr. Loitz did the interiors.” In October 1923, the “Press and Sun-Bulletin” reported, “Mr. Moses is assisted by Edward Loitz, who has traveled from coast to coast with Mr. Moses working on many contracts” (17 October 1923, page 3). By 1923, the pair had been working together for forty years together. Their respective ages were 67 and 58. Loitz passed away seven years after Moses.
On Nov. 14, 1940, the “Chicago Tribune” published his obituary:
“LOITZ – Edward F Loitz, late of 1450 Grace Street, beloved husband of Mary C., nee Weinrich; fond father of Arthur R., Virginia E., and Frederick F., dear brother of Bertha and Emma. Member of Scenic Artist’s association. Funeral Saturday, 1:30 p.m., at chapel. 3807 Lincoln avenue, Burial Acacia Park Cemetery” (page 31).
The grave of Ed Loitz at Acacia Park Cemetery in Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois.
To be continued…
