Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
Jess D. Bonner (1879-1914) worked as a scenic artist for Sosman & Landis, c. 1902-1906. I initially stumbled across his name when looking for information about scenic artist Howard Tuttle. In 1907, Bonner was assisted by Howard’s son, with Maurice Tuttle.
On December 8, 1907, the “Los Angeles Herald” published an article entitled, “Jess D. Bonner and His Work.” After describing Bonner’s scenic contributions for the production of “Cleopatra” and “Sign of the Cross,” the article mentioned his early training in Indianapolis and work for Sosman & Landis. At the time, Bonner was 28 yrs. old.
Here is the article in its entirety, as it provides a wonderful glimpse into backstage life and Bonner and his directing a storm scene for ‘Cleopatra.”
“Did you ever witness a storm in the tropics – a storm that carries before it, punctuating its approach with vivid flashes of lightning through inky blackness and foretelling destruction by an incessant cannonading in the overcast heavens? If you have you will. Appreciate the difficulties of reproducing such a phenomena upon the stage and yet, if you saw the Ferris production of ‘Cleopatra’ at the Auditorium a few weeks ago, you will realize that the task had been accomplished.
“There was a storm, the most realistic and terrible of its kind ever placed upon a Los Angeles stage. From in front of the curtain the effect was tremendous. The storm king, majestic in his wrath, arose at command of the Egyptian queen to destroy the Roman fleet. Darkness fell. A tempest arose. Lightning flashed athwart the horizon, and the crash of thunder was deafening. Great palms swayed to and fro and fell crashing to the stage before the fury of the onslaught. Storm clouds raced madly across the sky. It was nature in hostile mood, a wonderful picture of terribly destructive and unleashed power.
King of the Storm.
“Back of the scenes a young man, short and heavily set, stood calmly regarding his work. This was his storm. He had made it, and his hand was on the lever of its control. He seemed unconcerned in the midst of the tumult. He didn’t even laugh, and certainly the scene was ridiculous enough to compel laughter from the ordinary observer.
“Over to the left of the stage was a wagon piled high with boulders. Its wheels were elliptical, and when conveyance was dragged across the floor a heavy rumble of thunder resulted. High up in the wings was the thunder boy with still more boulders, which, on signal, he dumped into an irregular wooden chute with many turnings. These rocks hurtling stageward in their narrow confines thundered realistically until they struck. At the bottom, a heavy metal sheet put there for that purpose. This was the crash that seemed so fearsome from the auditorium.
“So much thunder. Back of the horizon line stood a stagehand. Jovelike in his control of the clouds. He revolved a painted glass disk at the end of a tin cylinder, back of which was a strong light. The scene, a transparency, caught up the clouds, which then scudded across the sky as though driven by a mighty wind.
How Lightning is Made.
“Still another mechanic controlled the lightning, produced by a similar contrivance, the glass being smoked and black, and irregular lines scratched across its surface by a pin point. This provided the flash outlined against the heavens, while the glare came from two carbons, manipulated by hand and which lighted up the entire stage when brought into contact.
The storm rose to a sublime height of fury, then the curtain fell and the audience broke into enthusiastic applause. Once, twice, three times, the great velvet was raised and lowered. The lights sprang up and in an instant the storm disappeared, the scene was struck and a new one erected in its place.
“Great, Jess, great!” called Dick Ferris approvingly, and Jess D. Bonner smiled and went about his further business. It had been merely an incident in his week’s work.
“Bonner is a young man. He looks scarcely more than a boy and readily confesses that his youthful appearance in the past has militated against his profitable employment, managers being afraid to trust so young a man with the important duties which fall to an artist in his position.
A Master Scene Painter.
“Jess Bonner is a master scene painter. He has painted and designed scenes used in Ferris productions. Every newspaper in town has commented upon the beauty of the work. Every patron of the playhouse has marveled at the lavishness of the productions. Yet few of them ever have heard of Bonner, and probably not one in ten thousand would recognize him on the street. He is the busiest man around the Auditorium. Sedley Brown, stage director, has his troubles and is fairly busy himself, but Bonner, when he is engaged upon a big production, does most of his sleeping paint brush in hand. Last week he built, “Sign of the Cross,” which will be the biggest thing yet placed on the Auditorium stage. There are fourteen scenes in this four-act play, and Mr. Bonner was called upon to turn them out in eleven days’ time. He has one assistant regularly employed – Maurice Tuttle – and a paint boy to help him.
30,000 Square Feet of Canvas.
“For ‘The Sign of the Cross’ production there was a total of 30,000 square feet of canvas to be covered and the task was too great. Consequently, Arthur Hurtt was called upon to assist and Mr. Hurtt painted four drops, which will be shown for the first time tomorrow night. These drops contain about 1500 square feet of canvas each, leaving some 24,000 feet to be painted by Mr. Bonner and his assistant. This includes still other drops, two interiors, one of them a prison scene and the other an apartment in Nero’s palace; a forest scene, wings, borders and so forth. Bonner completed the work late last night. Then he went home with the avowed intention of sleeping through the ensuing twenty-four hours without interruption.
“Jess Bonner began his work as a scene painter at Indianapolis under the direction of Walter Clark Bellows at the Grand Opera House. That was eight years ago. Since then he has been employed in numerous studios and by several different stock organizations. He painted all the scenery for Dick Ferris’ production of ‘The Sleepy King,’ an ill-starred musical affair which Mr. Ferris put out several seasons ago and which proved a failure, though it was produced on a lavish scale and was presented by an all-star cast of musical comedians, headed by Walter Jones.
Was in San Francisco.
“For a year and a half Mr. Bonner was with the Grand and Tivoli opera houses in San Francisco, his employment there being terminated by the great fire. In Chicago he was with the Bush Temple stock Company. In Chicago also he was employed during several summers at the Sosman & Landis scenic studios, the largest in America, and the other night happening to drop in at the Mason Opera house, he saw a scene which he had painted in that employ, not knowing where it was to go or what use was to be made of it.
Mr. Bonner’s work, however, is far beyond that of a mere scene painter. He makes all his own designs. Thus, he must ‘be up’ in all styles of architecture, in all periods of ornamentation; and he must guard constantly against the instruction of the incongruous and the anachronistic. This has made him a student and he is today one of the best-informed men on a wide range of subjects in his profession.
For “The Great Ruby” he painted a scene in the clouds, nothing of earth being visible. For ‘Under the Sea’ he painted a submarine scene. So, as he himself says, his studies are not confined to earth alone, but to the heavens and the waters as well. His is a comprehensive art and he is master in its execution, as well as a master in lighting effects and in all the details of stage mechanics.”
Seven years later, Bonner passed away in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the time of his passing, Bonner was working as a scenic artist for the Twin City Scenic Co. His obituary was published in the “Indianapolis Star” on November 12, 1914 and the notice stated, “The body of Jesse D. Bonner, formerly of Indianapolis, who died Nov. 7 at Minneapolis, has been brought here for burial. He was born in Indianapolis thirty-five years ago. He was a scenic artist and had been identified with studios in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. He is survived by a widow, a sister, Mrs. Jesse B. Johnston of San Francisco, and a brother Robert O. Bonner of Indianapolis. The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon at the home of Mr. Bonner’s brother, 201 North Nee Jersey street. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery” (page 14).
Jesse Dun Bonner was born in Evansville, Indiana, in 1879. He was the son of James B. Bonner (1835-1893) and Deborah Anna Houghland Bonner (1842-1912). His parents were married in Warrick County in 1870, celebrating the birth of four children: Estella, Ida, Robert, and Jesse. When their father passed away in 1893, the “Booneville Enquirer” reported that Mr. Bonner was born in Booneville, Indiana, July 2, 1835 and married Miss Deborah Houghland on Jan. 9, 1868. The Bonners moved to Evansville in 1880, where they continued to reside. The article described that Mr. Bonner “was taken from his work by cancer which formed in his side, which first made an appearance last May. In spite of the best medical attention, it would not yield to treatment, and caused his death. Four children are left with his wife to mourn his loss – Mrs. Owen Lloyd of Indianapolis, Robert, Ida and Jesse at home (4 May 1893, page 4). At the time of his father’s death, Jesse was thirteen years old.
His mother’s obituary in 1912 added a little more information about the Bonner’s early life in Evansville and Indianapolis. On August 20, 1912, the “Indianapolis News” reported, “Mrs. Bonner had never fully recovered from an operation she underwent a year and a half ago. She was born in Boonville, Indiana, in 1842, and lived in Evansville for some time before she came to this city in 1898. After coming to Indianapolis, she lived at the home of her son Robert O. Bonner, in the Clarina apartments. She is survived by two sons, Robert O. Bonner of this city and Jess D. Bonner of Minneapolis, Minn., a daughter, Mrs. Estelle B. Johnston of Los Angeles, Cali., and a brother Oscar B. Houghland, of Evansville. Mrs. Bonner was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church and was actively associated with the church work” (page 4).
Indiana directories provided a trail of breadcrumbs for Jesse’s early work as an ornamental painter and scenic artist. In 1897, he was listed as a decorator in 1897, living with his mother, brother and sister in Evansville. In 1898, he and his sister Ida moved to Indianapolis where they lived together at 1207 N. Illinois. Ida was listed as a music teacher and Jesse as an artist. By 1899, Jesse was living by himself and listed as a fresco artist, boarding at 915. N. Illinois. It must have been around this time that Bonner assisted Walter Clark Bellows at the Grand Opera House. Bonner was listed in the Indianapolis Directory until the 1901, finally boarding at No. 9 in accommodations known as “the Ballard.” By 1902, Bonner had moved to Chicago, Illinois. This is likely when Bonner first worked for Sosman & Landis.
A 1909 article about Bonner and his scenic art mentioned that he worked on the original productions of “The Wizard of Oz and “Arizona.” (Indianapolis News, 24 Nov. 1909, page 5). I have written about these productions in in past posts, as Walter W. Burridge designed the scenery and painted some of the setting for the premiere at the Chicago Opera House. Other scenic artists who worked in the production included Fred Gibson, Herbert Martin and artists from the Daniels Scenic Co. This means that Bonner was one of the assistants in Chicago in 1902. This same year, Jesse D. Bonner was listed under “Marriage Licenses” in the Chicago Tribune.” August 28, 1902, the “Chicago Tribune” listed a marriage license was granted to Jess D. Bonner and Ruby H. Dean, ages 22 and 20. Ruby Hunt Dean was also living in Indianapolis with her mother in 1900, likely when she first met Jesse. The marriage did not last, however, and on July 30, 1909 she married her second husband, Walter K. Lincoln (1876-1930). Lincoln was a lawyer, and they remain together until his passing in 1930. Ruby never remarried lived until 1973. She is buried in Tucson, Arizona.
By 1904, Bonner was living in Minneapolis and listed as a stagehand at the Lyceum Theatre in the City Directory, He was rooming at 1502 Nicollet Ave. By 1906, Bonner was a scenic artist at the Tivoli Theatre in San Francisco. After the earthquake and fire, his relatives searched for him in the newspapers. On May 1, 1906, the “San Francisco Call” published a notice for Bonner: “ANYONE knowing whereabouts of Jesse D. Bonner, scenic artist, late of Tivoli, send word to Governor’s office, Sacramento” (page 6).
By 1909, Bonner was again working as a scenic artist in Minneapolis but completed a project in Indianapolis. On Nov. 24, 1909, the “Indianapolis News” reported, “The palace and garden drop curtains of the new Colonial Theatre were painted by Jess D. Bonner, of Minneapolis, who began his work in connection with the old Grand stock company, of this city. After leaving here he studied in the scenic studio of Sosman & Landis, Chicago. He painted scenery for theaters in Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other places, and worked on the original production of ‘The Wizard of Oz,” and ‘Arizona.’ The central idea for the garden drop curtain of the Colonial theater was taken from the drawing for a program cover made by Mr. Williams, cartoonist of the Indianapolis News. Mr. Bonner is yet under thirty years of age” (page 5).
In 1909, Jesse D. Bonner was listed as an artist in the Minneapolis Directory, working for the Twin City Scenic Co. and living in flat 1, 60 N. 12th St. In 1910, Jesse D. Bonner was listed as a scenic artist in the Minneapolis City Directory, living at flat 1, 68 N. 12th. In 1911, he was again listed in the directory, now living at flat 5, 1695 Hennepin Ave. In 1913, he was working for the Twin City Scenic Co. and rooming at 2819 Nicollet Ave.
Jess Bonner’s gravestone at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana.
When Bonner died in 1914, his obituary noted a widow, but did not list a name. At the time of his passing, Jesses was married to Frances. The 1915 Minneapolis city directory listed Frances E. as the widow of Jesse D. Bonner, boarding as 900 22nd Ave NE. This is the same location listed for Jesse D. Bonner in 1914. Interestingly, their last home together was only four blocks away from where my husband and I purchased our first home and lived from 1995 to 2003.
To be continued…
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