Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
Joseph Wikoff was a stage carpenter associated with Sosman & Landis in 1890. That year his work for the firm included building stages and scenery for opera houses in Ogden, Utah, Spokane, Washington and Dubuque, Iowa. By 1895 he died from complications after falling forty feet to the stage floor at the Lyceum Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee; the paint bridge collapsed in Dec. 1894. Of the horrific incident, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “The bridge broke and poor Wikoff was so badly hurt that he died a few weeks after the accident.” At the time, Wikoff was working for Moses, and not Sosman & Landis, although he was likely still associated with the Chicago-based firm in 1894.
Very little is known of Wikoff beyond a couple newspaper articles, a few city directory listings and two census reports. The earliest mention of Wikoff as a stage carpenter is in the 1889 Kansas City Directory. He was previously listed as a carpenter in Kansas City between 1886-1888. Sosman & Landis established a regional office in Kansas City by 1884 that was managed by Lemuel L. Graham, who also ran his own scenic studio in the city. In 1887, Claude L. Hagen was listed as the western machinist for the firm, but also worked for Graham. It is possible that Wikoff worked with Hagen at either the Gillis Opera House, Warder Opera House or any of the Kansas stages constructed by Hagen in the 1880s.
The first article that I have located about Wikoff’s work for Sosman & Landis is from the spring of 1890. He was part of a crew that delivered stage machinery and scenery for the Grand Opera House in Spokane, Washington. The Sosman & Landis crew in Spokane consisted of Thomas G. Moses, Howard Tuttle, Edward Loitz and Joe Wikoff. Moses arrived on site March 29, 1890 and wrote, “The theatre was also very cold. We managed to get over the work. The first week we ate in a tent, in which they had stoves. It was very long, possibly one hundred feet, including the kitchen… We finished our work on April 16th. Tuttle and I went East. Leaving Loitz to finish the asbestos, which was not in our contract, and Loitz took it as an extra. I arrived home April 20th. “
The project consisted of twenty sets of scenery with all of the exterior drops measuring 28’h x 40’w. As the stage carpenter for the project, Wikoff arrived before the scenic artists and stayed after the painting was completed to finish the installation. Surprisingly, his work was detailed in the “Spokane Falls Review” on April 3, 1890 (page 4). An article about the new stage reported, “The building of the framework for the scenery, putting in the grid-iron fly rails, paint frames and bridges, star, vampire and Hamlet traps, two sectional bridges, rain box, wood crash and thunder runs is all being done by Joseph Wikoff, of Chicago, and he is a master of his business, having had many years of experience in the leading theaters of the east. The framework of the interiors is so built that it is much heavier at the bottom so that they may be easily handled. The work on the traps, etc., is very intricate, and the utmost care is taken so that they will run smoothly and not catch, as an accident of that kind would spoil a whole act. We feel assured that when the stage is completed, we will have one of the finest in the country. The stage it 39 feet deep and 65 feet to the rigging. The opening is 33×33 feet, and from wall to wall the distance is 61 feet. Mr. Wikoff expects to have the work completed by middle May.”
The next new stage credited to Wikoff was for the Grand Opera House in Dubuque, Iowa. On August 15, 1890, the “Dubuque Daily Herald” reported, “The stage is supplied with a fine line of scenery from Sosman & Landis, of Chicago, and was put in under the superintendency of their stage machinist Joseph Wikoff…The stage is 66 ½ feet wide inside, wall to wall; 60 feet to rigging loft; 35 feet curtain opening; 36 feet in depth; 23 ½ feet under fly galleries…Over 28,000 feet of rope were used to hang these scenes and there are thirty complete sets for special scenery brought by traveling troupes” (page 1).
The next stage constructed by Wikoff was for the Opera House in Ogden, Utah. Again, Wikoff worked with Moses and Loitz. Of the project, Moses wrote, “I worked at the studio until November 4th, and then was off again for Denver [Broadway Theatre] to complete my contract. Loitz went to Ogden, Utah, to start that contract. Joe Wikoff came on from Chicago and went with Loitz. We worked every night and hustled it through December 31st.”
And then Wikoff disappears from both Moses memoirs and newspaper article until 1894 when paint bridge collapses at the Lyceum Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee. The Lyceum Theatre was not a Sosman & Landis project, but one independently contracted by Moses. This suggests that Moses continued to sporadically work with Wikoff between 1890 and 1894. Keep in mind, that Sosman & Landis staff were encouraged to supplement their income with outside work, as long as it did not compete directly with the firm. Moses did not always follow this directive and was occasionally at odds with his employer. Of the Lyceum Theatre project, Moses wrote, “The firm wanted this badly, but the architect insisted on my work.” When Moses secured contracts independent of the firm, he continued to utilize the Sosman & Landis staff. Therefore, it is likely that Wikoff was still working for the firm in Chicago.
Of the 1894 Memphis project, Moses wrote, “The job proved to be a “Jonah.” The bridge broke and poor Wikoff was so badly hurt that he died a few weeks after the accident. Some of the other boys were hurt, but all recovered.” The accident made headlines across the country, as seven men who were working on the paint bridge plunged forty feet to the stage floor. Newspaper listed the injured: “Al Morris, scenic artist, from Chicago, arm broken; Charles Wallace, scenic artist, from Des Moines, Ia., head gashed and arm broke; Joseph Wikoff, stage carpenter, Chicago, cut on head and ankle sprained; John Vorhees, scenic painter, Chicago, severely bruised; A. E. Well, colored, Memphis, arm broken and ankle sprained; John Wiley, colored, Memphis, leg broke.” Newspaper article also reported, “The victims of the accident were removed at once in an ambulance to St. Joseph’s hospital. The collapse of the scaffold was due to defective timber and framework.” My guess is that Wikoff either died at St. Joseph’s or at his temporary residence in Memphis. Regardless, I have yet to locate a death certificate or grave for Wikoff. It is doubtful that his remains left Memphis. He was unmarried with his only relations living near Paducah, Kentucky.
It was his Paducah relations employed counsel to file suit against the New Lyceum Theatre claiming, “the deceased was injured and killed by accident said to have occurred during the erection of a part of said building, that said counsel Col George Gautt, have requested petition to qualify as administrator of deceased estate, that said suit might be brought.” The Memphis Probate court appointed Lee Thorton as administrator of Wikoff’s estate in March 1895. He remained in that capacity until being discharged on July 1, 1901, after the case was lost and nothing was recovered for damages.
Although Wikoff’s relatives from Paducah remained unnamed, it helped uncover a little more information about Joseph’s early life in Paducah. Census reports suggest that Wikoff was adopted and raised by William R. Wikoff and Mary D. King Wikoff. Joseph’s adoptive parents were born in Pennsylvania (William R. Wikoff) and Tennessee (Mary D. King), whereas census reports list Joseph’s birth parents as being born in Wales (father) and Kentucky (mother). Furthermore, his adoptive parents were married in 1864 (Lyon’s, Kentucky) three years after Joseph was born. I highly doubt that Joseph’s biological father from Wales shared the last name of Wikoff. “Wikoff” was likely taken when he was adopted by William and Mary Wikoff sometime after their marriage in 1864. That being said, Joseph was raised by a carpenter and apprenticed as a carpenter. William R. Wikoff had worked as a carpenter since the age of 18 yrs. old when he was growing up in Pennsylvania.
The first census report that lists Joseph living with William and Mary is in 1870. That year Joseph was nine years old and the couple had been married for six years. All three were living in Paducah, Kansas. At the time, his adoptive father was listed as a carpenter. William Wikoff was also listed as a carpenter in the Paducah city directory in 1869. The 1880 census listed 19-yrs.-old Joseph Wikoff as a carpenter’s apprentice, but sill living with William and Mary Wikoff in Paducah, Kentucky. By 1886, Joseph had Wikoff had worked his way from Paducah to Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1886, Joseph Wikoff was listed as stage carpenter in the Kansas City Directory. It remains uncertain as to Wikoff’s employment between 1881 and 1885, or where else he worked during this time. Much of the difficulty is the constant misspelling of Wikoff in historic records and city directories. Even newspaper accounts surrounding the collapse of the paint bridge at the Lyceum theatre misspelled his name, with variations ranging from Wikpupt to Wikuft. However, Wikoff was the correct spelling used on paperwork filed with the Memphis probate court, as well as the memoirs of Thomas G. Moses. Furthermore, Wikoff was the spelling for articles listing his work for Sosman & Landis.
When Joseph died after the paint bridge collapse, I believe that it was his adoptive parents hired Lee Thorton to act on their son’s behalf in Memphis. Sadly, Mary passed away in 1898. By 1899, William became ill and never seems to have recovered. He eventually passed away in 1904.
To be continued…
