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.
Maquette and scenery for CARMEN. Artifacts from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
C. L. Hagen was the western machinist for Sosman & Landis during the late 1880s. At the time, he was in his mid-20s and a rising start in the technical theater world. By the time he was forty-eight years old, Hagen was internationally recognized as a brilliant stage architect, master mechanic, and technical director. Hagen represents the caliber of technicians working at Sosman & Landis during the late nineteenth century. Although newspaper articles and public records occasionally list the alternative spelling of “Hagan,” I am solely using “Hagen,” as that was the spelling that was repeatedly listed on his patents.
Claude L. Hagen pictured in 1898
On Feb. 2, 1911, the “Daily Times in Philadelphia” included a lengthy article about Hagen’s technical contributions to the theatre, entitled “Hagen, Leading Wonder Worker of the Stage” (page 2). After listing all of Hagen’s accomplishments, the article reported, “With such a theatrical record it would seem as if Mr. Hagen must have been literally born on the stage. Instead, he was a native of Chicago and spent his boyhood in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Kansas City. Hagen settled in Kansas City by 1879 and designed several stages for Kansas City.” The article continued, “…arriving in the Missouri burg in 1879, when, to use his own words, the town ‘was practically a brickyard.’ But he entered the theatrical business there and erected several theaters for capitalists during his stay. Then he began his wanderings, which have carried him all over the United States and into foreign countries as well.” Hagen’s portrait was attached to the article, an article that was repeatedly published in newspapers across the country.
Hagen’s portrait in the newspaper did not convey his physical size, as he was a very tall man. When Hagen applied for a passport in 1902, his physical appearance was described in detail, listing his height as 6’-2”, extremely tall for the time. His application also noted, dark brown hair, grey eyes, high forehead, round chin and a medium complexion. When Hagen applied for a passport, he was traveling with the “Ben Hur” company as their master machinist. It was his design for the famous chariot race on stage that partially propelled him to stardom. On March 23, 1902, the “Boston Globe” reported, “Claude Hagen, who has invented more mechanical effects for use on stage than all the other men of his class in this country, and who is responsible for most of the machinery and electrical apparatus used in the production of “Ben Hur,” is now in London supervising the work prior to the presentation of Klaw & Erlanger’s magnificent spectacle at the Drury-Lane theatre” (page 34). In 1911 the newspapers would recall Hagen’s London’s reception seeing his “Ben Hur” chariot race at Drury Lane Theatre: “it scored an immediate success. So great was the enthusiasm that Mr. Hagen was given the singular honor of being the only man in his line of business during the house’s 140 years of history who had been forced to appear before the curtain in response to the demands of the audience to personally show their approval of the wonderful mechanism that spelled success for the Lew Wallace dramatization” (Daily Times, Philadelphia, 2 Feb 1911, page 2).
The life and career of Hagen career could easily fill a book. It is incredibly hard to briefly summarize his mechanical contributions, but I will make the attempt and try to convey the greatness of man who first made a name for himself in Kansas City.
Little is known about Hagen’s early life before his arrival to Kansas City in 1879. A 1940 census lists that this highest level of education was 8th grade. None of his early theatrical training is known before 1882. There is only the brief mention of his growing up in Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Kansas City, leaving a poor trail of breadcrumbs. I have yet to locate the names of his parents, although he twice listed the birthplace of his father as England and the birthplace of his mother as Michigan. What I do know is that Claude Lavrain Hagen was born in Chicago on Jan. 1, 1863. I discovered his middle name of “Lavrain” in a later patent.
By the age of sixteen years old, he was living in Kansas City, Missouri. It is really in Kansas that the first information about Hagen surfaces in newspapers. At the age of twenty, Hagen was responsible for the stage at the Gillis Opera House in Kansas City. He had already toured with the Hanlon Bros. the previous season. On September 3, 1883, the “Kansas City Star” announced the opening of the Gillis Opera House (page 1). Hagen was credited with the stage machinery. The article reported, “As stage carpenter, Mr. Claude Hagen, one of the most expert in his profession in the country, has been engaged. He has been employed in the best theaters in the country for years and last year he traveled with the Hanlons who required the most complicated stage machinery. He superintended the setting of the Gillis stage, and it is said that what he don’t know about the stage isn’t worth knowing. Mr. Lem Graham is the scenic artist and known who see the scenery exhibited at the Gillis will for a moment doubt his ability.”
1882-1883, the season that Hagen purportedly worked as a stage carpenter for the Hanlons, was the year that the Hanlon Bros. toured with their wildly popular, “Le Voyage en Suisse.” “Le Voyage en Suisse” was a three-act pantomime jam packed full of scenic “tricks” and illusions. Newspapers raved about one particular effect from the second act – the train scene. On Jan. 30, 1882, the “Baltimore Sun” reported, “The second act is the European compartment car, and the fun is fast and furious. The Hanlons impersonate servants, custom-house inspectors and gentlemen. The car is a wonderful piece of mechanism; it is seen in motion, and the scenic effect is perfect, and every detail is closely worked as when it passes through a tunnel. The explosion, and complete destruction of the car, at the end of the act was greeted with tremendous applause. The curtain was raised; then the Hanlons, were called before it, and last the stage manager, and again the Hanlons had to answer the call before the audience would be satisfied.” Hagen’s work as a stage carpenter with “Le Voyage en Suisse” explains his early training that contributed to his abilities to design the Ben-Hur chariot race almost two decades later.
Hagen continued to travel with various touring productions in the early 1880s, yet continued to remain associated with the Gillis Opera House. On Jan. 15. 1884, the “Kansas City Times” reported, “Mr. Claude Hagen, stage machinist, of the Gillis Opera House, returned home Sunday morning after having spent four weeks with the “Romany Rye” combination” (page 2). “Romany Rye” was a melodrama and well-known for its mechanical effects and advertised as “unequaled in stage setting” (“Kansas City Star, 27 October 1884, page 2). The show was billed as a “Grand Spectacular Melodrama” with scenic displays that included a Gypsy encampment, Craigsnest by moonlight, the Hampton Race-course and the wreck of the Saratoga (Baltimore Sun, 1 April 1884, page 1). It was the “Wreck of the Saratoga” that made headlines in newspapers across the country. The scene was “admirably presented and evoked hearty and deserved applause” (Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 3 Jan. 1884, page 4).
In 1884 and 1885 Hagen remained associated with the Gillis Opera House as stage machinist for the venue. On March 1, 1885, the “Kansas City Times” included an advertisement for “Monte Cristo!” at the Gillis Opera House (page 12). The bottom of the ad stated, “It is a conceded fact that no other stage in the west is a well-adapted to the production of spectacular pieces like MONTE CRISTO as the Gillis, and it is further a matter of record that the stage crew of the Gillis, under the control of Mr. C. L. Hagen, is unexcelled in the west.” Hagen’s work at the Gillis was so popular that he was publicly recognized for his scenic contributions. On January 27, 1885, the “Kansas City Times” announced, “Mr. Claude L. Hagen, master machinist of the Gillis, was last evening presented by the attaches of the Gillis with a very beautiful gold medal” (page 8). Other accounts note that the gold medal was actually a gold watch.
It was about this time that Hagen’s work was noticed by Sosman & Landis in Chicago. On August 24, 1885, the “Kansas City Star” reported, Claude L. Hagen, master machinist at the Gillis Opera House, left Saturday for Marion Dakota to fit up an opera house” (page 2). It is highly likely that this is when Sosman & Landis began to subcontract Hagen before bringing him on staff. By 1887, Hagen was listed as the western machinist for the firm. He built the stage and installed Sosman & Landis scenery at the Bonham Opera House in Clay City, Kansas. On April 16, 1887, the “Evening Times” in Clay Center, Kansas, reported on the progress of the new Bonham Opera House. The article reported, “The stage machinist at the Bonham Opera House finished his labors this morning, and that grand amusement temple is now ready to throw open its portals to the public. An introduction to C. L. Hagen, the machinist, enables THE TIMES scribe to give the principal features of the stage, at present the point of interest to the public. It is provided with five large entrances, and four sets of grooves with a capacity of nine scenes each. The grooves are the latest pattern, skeleton and double-jointed, The latter feature enables companies traveling with their own scenery to adjust the same to this stage in case it should be in a larger scale than the scenery of the house. The ’gridiron’ is forty-eight feet above the stage floor, and the ‘pocket’ terminates sixty feet above the stage floor, thus enabling the drop curtains to go up bodily. There are two of these drops, on an act curtain, with a fine Antwerp scene, and the other an advertising curtain. They are both gotten up in the very highest style of the art, painted on Russian linen, and hung with counterweights. The house scenery consists of ten complete sets, 18 by 26 feet as follows: Fancy Centre Door, Palace Arch, Two-door Chamber, Kitchen, Prison, Street, Landscape, Rocky Pass, Ocean Horizon, and a Garden. Also, a Set Cottage, Bridge Masking, Balustrade, Statues and vases, Set Waters, Fore-grounde, etc. The scenes are fifteen with flat shives [sic.]. The ‘grand drapery’ is arranged with tabs and sections, and can be enlarged to match with the most extensive scenery traveling. The scenery was painted by Sosman & Landis, of Chicago. The same firm fitted the Gillis Opera House, Kansas City, and the Grand Opera House at Topeka. Mr. Hagen is their western machinist, and also does the same work for L. L. Graham of Kansas City. He is clever at his profession, if we may judge by the smoothness which characterizes his work in Clay Center.”
On April 21, 1887, “The Times”of Clay Center reported again, “The scenery was painted by Sosman & Landis, of Chicago. The same firm that fitted the Gillis Opera House, Kansas City, and the Grand at Topeka. Mr. Hagen is their western machinist, and also does the same work for L. L. Graham of Kansas City.” Lemuel L. Graham operated his own scenic studio in Kansas City, but also represented Sosman & Landis on many projects, working as a western agent for the firm. Graham’s studio was a western affiliate to Sosman & Landis in the same way that New York Studios was an eastern affiliative to the firm. In 1887 Graham represented Sosman and Landis for work on the Opera House in Winfield, Kansas.
By 1888 the Kansas City Directory listed Hagen as the stage manager at the Warder Grand Opera House. Hagen’s work at the Warder Grand Opera House and life in Kansas City, however, came to an end that year when bigger and better opportunities presented themselves. It was shortly after working at the Warder Granbd Opera House with Booth and Barrett on “Julius Caesar” that Hagen moved to Philadelphia, He briefly became the master machinist at the Broad Street Theatre. The Booth and Barret production was one of his last productions at the venue. On September 11, 1888, the “Kansas City Times” reported, “The effect of last night’s production was very much enhanced by three beautiful and elaborate stage settings, all of which are stock scenery of the Warder Grand designed by Mr. Claude L. Hagen. The senate scene was especially striking, including the full depth of the stage – fifty-seven feet. The tent scene was also beautiful and realistic.” On Dec, 29, 1888, the “Kansas City Star” announced, “Mr. Claude Hagen, for many years master machinist of local opera houses, will leave on Monday night for Philadelphia to accept a position in the Broad Street Theatre” (page 1). Interestingly, in 1889 Kansas City Directory listed Hagen as “moved to Chicago.” On August 11, 1889, the “Kansas City Times” reported, “Claude L. Hagen, who was superintendent of construction for the Warder Grand Opera House and stage manager under J. L. Buford’s management will go to Chicago in a few weeks to assist in preparations for Lawrence Barrett’s production of “Ganelon” early in September. Mr. Hagen will travel with the Barrett company during the season” (page 10).
By 1891, Hagen was living in New York, listed in the city directory as a machinist and working at 1215 Broadway. At the time, he was residing at 245 W. 25th and working with a variety of scenic artists, including former Sosman & Landis employee, John H. Young. On Jan. 11, 1891, the Pittsburgh Dispatch” included an advertisement of Planquette’s New Opera Comique, “Paul Jones’” (page 14). Hagen was credited with the stage mechanism, and Young the scenic art. The two continued to work together in this capacity for the next four years. On July 28, 1895, Young and Hagen were credited with the scenery for “Fortuna,” a new “spectacular operatic extravaganza” (page 18). The article cited, “John H. Young and Claude Hagen” of the 5th Ave. Theatre.”
Between 1891 and 1895, Hagen’s reputation for innovation and mechanical precision continued to increase, with his work becoming nationally recognized and contracted by Klaw & Erlanger. He also began filing patents for his stage inventions. On June 11, 1895, Claude L. Hagen patented the toggle shoe. He placed advertisements in the premiere issue of “Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide” (1896). His advertisements stated, “My invention relates to an improved Shoe for the frame of stage scenery, and has for its object to provide simple, inexpensive and efficient means for securely fastening and rigidly bracing together the different portions of the frames in such manner as to avoid weakening any part of the frames’ to provide said Shoes with means for the attachment of the braces employed for holding the frames in an upright position; and finally, to so construct the Shoe that rails having rounded edges may be employed whereby liability of the canvas being cut or the paint abraded is avoided.” Other patents filed by Hagen include: Construction of Theatre, patented on Sept. 17, 1895, No. 546,528 (filed 1895); Theatrical Appliance, patented on July 17, 1900, No. 653,997, (filed 1900); Aerial Centrifugal Way, patented on Sept. 8, 1903, No. 738,434, (filed 1903); Observation-Train, patented on March 28, 1905, No. 786,117, (filed 1904); and Attachment for Stage Scenery Braces, patented on Dec. 29, 1908, No. 907,996, to name a few.
By 1896, Hagen’s advertisements stated that he was a “master machinist” offering “High grade modern construction,” adding “Those intending to have Scenery made will find it in their interest, and are cordially invited, to visit my shop where an inspection of work in course of construction, together with my facilities for handling high grade work, will demonstrate the superiority of my methods over others’. I use only the best materials, and with my exceptional facility for handling the same. I am able to furnish the highest class work at reasonable prices. All estimates included the use of my patents and appliances. All work undertaken guaranteed to be perfect and practical.” Hagen’s office was in the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City, with Hagen’s shop and studio adjoining the theater. Ernest Albert was listed as the “Lessee of Paint Frames.”Past projects cited by Hagen as references in 1896 included: Fannie Davenport’s “Gismonda;” Augustin Daly’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona;” Julia Marlowe Taber’s “Henry IV,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “Romonia;” Nat Goodwin’s “Ambition;” Wm. H. Creane’s “Pacific Mail,” “His Wife’s Father,” and “Governor of Kentucky;” Richard Mansfield’s “King of Peru;” J. C. Duff’s “Leonardo;” H. C. Miller’s “Shore Acres” and “Human Hearts;” Klaw & Erlanger’s “Patriots” and “Jack and the Beanstalk;” Kirk Lashelle’s “Wizard of the Nile;” Prof. Herman’s “Artist’s Dream” and “Noah’s Ark;” E. E. Rice’s “1492;” Edward Vroom’s “For the Crown;” Joe Jefferson’s “The Rivals” and “Rip Van Winkle;” Prof. Kilyani’s “Panoramic Pictures” model; Francis Wilson’s “Half a King” and all of the productions for the American Theatrical Syndicate.
On August 13, 1895, Hagen was listed as the President for the National Association of Theater Stage Employes in the “Washington Times.” The article reported, A special meeting of Local, No. 22, National Association of Theater Stage Employes, was held at their headquarters , No. 1316 E. street last evening to hear the report of Mr. J. B. Fenton, the delegate to the national convention, T. S.E., which met in Boston on July 8. The following national officers were chosen: President, C. L. Hagen, New York; vice-president J. Kelley, Cincinnati; treasurer, P. Maloney, Boston; general secretary , J. Hines, New York; national executive committee, J. Kelly, Cincinnati; T. Murray, Philadelphia; B. J. Ryan, New York; and J. B. Fenton, Washington, D. C. A resolution inviting all non-union men of the craft to join was unanimously adopted. The resolution set forth that as the N.A.T.S.E. was organized for the protection of stage employes, we believe it to be our duty to publicly invite our efforts to better our condition, and by so doing you will help to further the aims and objects of organized labor” (page 4).
Although Hagen’s reputation continued to grow, it was his work for New York’s Grand Opera House that brought him contact with another stage carpenter named P. J. McDonald. In 1895, Hagen was credited with building the scenery for the “Patriots” at the Grand Opera House on Broad and Montgomery Ave. In 1899 Hagen partnered with P. J. McDonald, and was listed as, “C. L. Hagen, formerly at the 5th Avenue Theatre.” McDonald remained associated with the Grand Opera House throughout their business venture. The two soon established the scenic concern of “McDonald & Hagen, Contractors and Builders of Scenery.” Their shop and office were located at 536, 538, 540 and 542 West 26th Street in New York, between 10th and 11th Avenues. McDonald & Hagen advertisements listed: “Scenic productions Masonic and Mystic Shrine Paraphernalia; Scenery for Theatres, Balls and Private Theatricals; Mechanical Effects; Pageants and Celebrations; Tricks and Illusions; and Scrimed Profile and all Supplies for the Trade. The two separated by 1902 and McDonald again advertised independently as “P. J. McDonald, Scenery and Stage Construction, Mechanical Effects and Intricate Devices.” McDonald’s shop was again listed at the Grand Opera House, 320 West 24th Street, New York. The separation may have been the cause of Hagen’s quick rise to stardom between 1898 and 1900.
Hagen designed and built the stage for the Klaw-Erlanger Co.’s Crescent Theatre in New Orleans. On Feb. 3, 1898, the “Times Picayune” reported, “Mr. Claude Hagen, the famous builder of theatrical stages, and whose work is found in the newest and best theatres of the north, answered a telegraphic summons to come to New Orleans to confer with Sully, Burton and Stone, architects and builders, and to plan the stages for the two new theaters that Klaw & Erlanger are building in this city. This inquires such commodious and perfect stages with all modern appliances and improvements, as New Orleans has never seen. Mr. Hagen will arrive from New York to-day” (page 8). For the opening of the Crescent Theatre that fall Hagen was featured in an article. On Sept. 25, 1898, the “Times-Picayune” reported “The stage itself was designed by Claude Hagen, the famous expert and stage builder, who came here for that purpose,” including a portrait of Hagen (page 19). His career began to sore, especially as opportunities increased with Klaw & Erlanger.
On September 29, 1900, Hagen was internationally recognized and featured in “The Era” (London, England, page 14). He was featured in an article entitled “American Stage Effects” that described Hagen’s stage machinery for “Ben Hur.” The article described scenic effects that were invented by “Mr. Claude L. Hagen, of the firm of M’Donald and Hagen, New York city, who is also the master mechanist of the production.”
On a personal note, Hagen was also married by 1900, his wife included in a Federal Census Report that year. This is the earliest census that I have been able to locate for Hagen, who was thirty-seven-years-old. Annie, later listed as “Anna,” continued to be listed as his wife until the 1930, when Hagen was listed as a widower. The 1920 census noted that Annie was an actress. Coincidentally, there was an Anna Hagen who passed away in Manhattan on Jan. 3, 1924, however, there were many Ann/Anna/Annie Hagens living in New York during the early 19th century. The only information that I have really gleaned about Annie, is that she was born in Pennsylvania and her parents were from Germany. Other than some brief mentions of charitable work in New York, little is known of Mrs. C. L. Hagen.
On March 23, 1902, the “Boston Globe” reported, “Claude Hagen, who has invented more mechanical effects for use on stage than all the other men of his class in this country, and who is responsible for most of the machinery and electrical apparatus used in the production of “Ben Hur” is now in London supervising the work prior to the presentation of Klaw & Erlanger’s magnificent spectacle at the Drury-Lane theatre” (page 34). Hagen’s success with “Ben Hur,” in addition to his work for Klaw & Erlanger, prompted him to secure other entertainment projects, such as various attractions on Coney Island. One of Hagen’s earliest designs the bicycle loop-the-loop at Luna Park (Brooklyn Citizen, 16 Aug. 1903, page 10). Unfortunately, is relationship with Frederick Thompson soon soured. In 1904, he sued Thompson & Dundy for breaking a five-year contract. The article reported, In Thompson & Dundy’s defense Hagen refused to obey orders and had performed services for another amusement manager.” Regardless of the defense, Hagan won the case and received a nominal verdict of $100.
The newspapers absolutely loved Hagen and repeatedly published his accomplishments across the country. Hagen’s name made news in even the smallest western towns. On Sept. 17, 1905, the “Butte Miner” reported, “Eight years ago the attention of Klaw & Erlanger was drawn to General Lew Wallace’s interesting novel ‘Ben -Hur,” and negotiations started toward dramatizing it. Gen Wallace was like the man from Missouri, ‘he had to be shown;’ that is, he would not agree to his work being dramatized unless the chariot race could be realistically presented as his description in the book. It is here the creative American machinist showed his capacity, for Klaw & Erlanger commissioned everyone of prominence in this country to furnish practical working models of this big scene, and the prize was won by Claude Hagen. It cost thousands of dollars experimenting, but a rich reward has been reaped, for in the six years that ‘Ben-Hur’ has been before the public, a profit of over $2,00,000 has been earned” (page 12). That article was continually republished over the years until the profits were listed as $4,000,000.
In 1907, Hagen was associated with another popular attraction – “Fighting the Flames, or The Fireman’s Christmas Eve.” On Oct. 20, 1907, the “San Francisco Call” described Hagen’s show as “the first silent fire story on record, whose sole purpose is to lead up to the actual incidents of a real fire, will receive its first production at the Chutes theater this afternoon” (page 26). The article continued, “It was built and invented by Claude L. Hagen, who also contrived the effects for the chariot scene of ‘Ben Hur,’ and was produced by him originally at Euston Palace, London, in 1903 and subsequently Proctor’s Twenty-third street theater, New York city and at Coney Island where it enjoyed extraordinarily ling run.”
On Jun 7, 1908, the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” included an article on Coney Island, that credited Hagen in the section entitled “Changes in Waterfront, Bowery and Surf Avenue” (page 21). The article reported, “Among the larger individual attractions on Surf Avenue are Hagen’s Fire Show and Herbert A. Bradwell’s ‘Deluge.” The fire show, otherwise known as the ‘Fireman’s Christmas Eve,’ is nearly opposite the Culver railroad terminal. In this show is portrayed a pathetic Christmas story, which according to its author, Claude L. Hagen, is woven around the fire department of New York City and was suggested by Christmas Even incidents on the East Side which came under his personal observation. The story is a thrilling one and told by means of real characters, mechanical, electrical and scenic devices and trained horses, introducing the run to a fire with the same mechanical devices that were used in the chariot race of ‘Ben Hur,’ and which was invented by Mr. Hagen. The fire engine is a real one and the burning building with its attendant excitement and rescues is given all appearance of reality.
Hagen produced similar attractions for other venues. One was entitled “Fire Fighters on Ship and Shore” for the Ohio Valley Exposition in 1910, where he was listed as Construction Superintendent for the Expo (Cincinnati Enquirer, 4 Sept 1910, page 37). Other newspapers listed Hagen as “the amusement director” for the Exposition (Cincinnati Inquirer, 12 April 1910, page 8). It was not always fair-weather sailing for Hagen. Big projects involve even bigger monetary risks.
On April 3, 1908, the “Boston Globe” listed Hagen in the section entitled, “Business Troubles,” reporting, “Claude L. Hagen, theatrical engineer, 173 S. Botolph St, is a voluntary petitioner in bankruptcy. He owes $4879 to four unsecured creditors, the principal of whom is Mrs. Madeline Barber, New York City, $3694 for money advanced and open account. The assets are estimated at $6500, of which $5400 is represented in debts due on an open account and $110 in promissory notes” (page 13). He seems to have recovered, but shortly after the incident assumes a new title role, replacing master mechanic with technical director in listing and newspaper articles.
On Dec. 5, 1909, the “New York Tribune” featured Hagen in a full-page article entitled, “Generous Scenic Resources of the New Theatre” (page 57). The new stagehouse, designed and built by Hagen, included a massive revolving stage, 200-feet wide cyclorama, and 125 lines hung from a huge gridiron. The article explained that the New Theatre’s cyclorama was the largest of its kind in the world and that the three sets curtains, grading from bright red to dark plum, and weighing respectively 2,000, 1,500, and 1,00 pounds were “the only ones of the kind in the country.” The article reported, “Further inquiry about the manufacture, manipulation, storage, etc., of the scenery at The New Theatre leads one into meeting Claude L. Hagen, the technical director, who is in many ways a most remarkable man. Mr. Hagen is an engineer who has devoted the greater portion of his life to the physical side of the production of plays. He is the inventor of most devices to use on the stage at The New Theatre. Mr. Hagen gave to the Tribune’s representative facts about the scenery which could not be obtained from any other source.” Mr. Hagen said, “The staging of a play at the New Theatre is a different proposition from what it is elsewhere in this country because we have a ‘drehbuhne,’ or revolving stage. Most of our plays are staged on the drehbuhne, and all we have to do is revolve the stage to present the next act. That is the reason the intervals between the acts are so short…The stage is sixty-four feet in diameter, and it completes a revolution in a minute.”
I am also including Hagen’s comment on fireproofing scenery, as it is so rare that the adverse effects to the scenery are even mentioned. In the same article, Hagen stated, “The effect of fireproofing on scenery? That is one of the worst things we have to contend with. It destroys the color and the texture of cloth. It has such an effect on Italian blue, for example, that we cannot use the color. It causes the braids to drop off of our curtains. It has caused our great cyclorama to fade from tints and shades of blue into almost white. It causes the stitches to rot of where the strips of cloth are sewed together. But everything has to be fireproofed, so there you are.”
His contribution to the New Theatre was publicly acknowledged on multiple occasions. When J. P. Morgan delivered the principal address for the New Theatre’s dedication, he thanked three people: the “faithful administrator” H. C. Ingalls; “able engineer” Owen Brainerd; and Claude L. Hagen who was “ingenious in stage construction” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 7 Nov 1909, page 6).
His work at the New Theatre resulted in a patent for improvements in theatrical stages. On Dec. 12, 1912, a patent of Hagen’s was published in “Moving Picture News” (Vol VI, No. 25, page 22):
“Patent No. 1,045,398 issued to Claude L. Hagen , of New York City, is for improvements in theatrical stages, the object of the invention being, not only to construct a stage which as a whole may be rotated , but to provide one of a number of sections , which may be united on the plane of the stage floor and rotated, or individual sections or groups thereof may be lowered , moved forward or backward on the plane of the stage floor or below it, one section taking the place of another as desired . The sections may follow each other into position like the sections of an endless conveyer , yet they are free to rotate on the stage floor and to change relative positions . In short, the object is to provide a sectional rotatable stage wherein any section may be moved into any part of the rotatable whole . By this means a scene may be set on each one of the four quarters of the stage, or on any other division, and the stage rotated to present the new scene to the audience a moment or two after lowering the curtain and the stagehands may remove the rear scene and reset the same during the act which is going on the front section. The vertically movable rectangular stage sections may be lowered on their cradles to provide “ sinks. ” Or before the play two scenes may be set. After the first scene is acted and curtain lowered, the stage is rotated to present the second scene to the audience. During the playing of the second scene the rear section may be lowered with the first scene thereon, the scenery removed, and a new scene set, and so, the possible combinations being numerous.”
Hagen’s celebrity status diminished by the WWI. I have to wonder if his engineering genius was contracted by the US government. Such was the case with many theatre professionals who found themselves involved in military projects as part of their patriotic duty during wartime. Whether it was camouflaging ships or illustrating bomber equipment, scenic artist and stage mechanics began second careers that often lasted after wars ended. Hagen’s skills would have been an asset.
Regardless of wartime projects, Hagen continued to be listed as a technical director in census reports from 1915 and 1920, but his name almost disappears from the newspapers. By 1925, he is simply listed as a stage carpenter> Keep in mind that this listing is solely dependent on who was providing information to census takers. The 1930 Census lists Hagen as an engineer in the theatre profession, and by 1940, he is living alone at the Hotel Flanders in New York City. In 1941 files for Social Security and slowly fades from the scene.
Hagen died on March 17, 1945 in Islip, New York. His wife Annie predeceased him by 1940. On March 18, 1945, the “Daily News” reported, “HAGEN- Claude L. Officers and Members, you are requested to attend the funeral of your late brother Claude L. Hagen, from the Austin Gordon Funeral Chapel, 7 Columbus Ave, on Monday, March 19, 1945 at 2 P.M. Fraternally yours, Joseph Dwyer, president; John C. McDowell, secretary.” (page 81). Dwyer and McDowell represented the Theatrical Protective Union No. 1.
Hagen’s legacy continued in the theatre work of others, his many students made names for themselves over the years, but always remembered Hagen. In 1903, a lighting engineer named Mr. Sohlberg credited Hagen with his early training. Solhberg was mentioned in an article entitled, “New Theatre Invention. Kansas City Man perfects and automatic spotlight” (Barre Daily Times, Vermont, 2 May 1903, page 3). I am including this article in its entirety for the sake of the subject, as well as the mention of Hagen at the end. It seems an appropriate way to end this article.
“A device for operating lights in theaters from stage has just been invented by Edward W. Sohlberg, stage manager of the Orpheum, in Kansas City, who has applied for a patent on it, says the Kansas City Star. The ‘spot’ light is strong white light which is used upon dancers and others when the rest of the house and the stage are in darkness. Heretofore it has been necessary to have a man in the balcony to operate it. This resulted in the blocking of the view of a number of people in the audience and caused the rays of strong light to strike others in the face. By Mr. Solberg’s invention, the light is fastened on the front of the balcony below the vision of the audience and above the heads of those in the parquet. It is handled by the same man who controls the other lights and switches on the stage, and it follows the dancer’s movement about the stage automatically. It is the first of its kind, and no other opera house in the United State has one. Mr. Sohlberg used it recently for the first time during the engagement of Louise Montrose and Florence Bindley, the girls with the diamond dress. It was in use every night and gave satisfaction. In connection with the ‘spot’ light is a color wheel which contains seven different colors, each of which just covers the ‘spot’ light. This wheel is on a ball bearing axle and is controlled by the same man, who simply presses the button, and the wheel revolves to the desired color. The colors are put in the wheel in the order in which they are to be used, and the need of slides and a ‘boomerang’ is done away with. Mr. Solhberg is a Kansas Cityan and received his mechanical training under Claude L. Hagen, one of the best-known men in the mechanical world.”
Charles S. King was a stage carpenter, master mechanic and scenic artist at Sosman & Landis in the 1870s and 1880s.
There were quite a few individuals named Charles S. King in the nineteenth century, and this was an especially difficult search; a quest one that has lasted for a few years now. Charles S. King was the name given to farmers, railroad engineers, politicians, and even authors. Much of the information that I have tracked down about this evasive individual was based on newspaper reports relating to theatre construction between 1881 and 1889. That being said, in every historical search there are basic unknowns, complicating even the simplest study. These complications are compounded by individuals who start their lives as orphans or illegitimate children. Factoring in possibilities of bigamy, legal name changes, natural disasters, or illnesses that wipe out entire families, creates additional layers of difficulty. And then there is basic human error, the entering of incorrect information and the misspelling of names. In so many ways, I am surprised that I can track down even one Sosman & Landis employee, let alone dozens of them. However, scenic artists and stage mechanics at the firm were primarily a group of white men who worked on projects that made the newspapers, so there is usually a pretty identifiable paper trail. The legions of seamstresses and other assistants at Sosman & Landis will remain unnamed and lost to theatre history.
From newspaper accounts we know that King began his career in 1859, fought in the Civil War, and began working for Sosman and Landis in approximately 1874. This would mean that he started working for Sosman while he was in itinerant artist, before the Sosman & Landis scenic studio was officially established in Chicago in 1879. Sosman and Landis were first mentioned together in newspaper articles dating from 1876, suggesting their initial meeting was between 1874 and 1875. King’s work for Sosman at this time is not a far-fetched idea, as Sosman and King were living relatively close to one other after each served in the Civil War. By 1887, King was credited with installing stages in 200 theaters for the firm. Likewise, Sosman was credited with painting scenery for hundreds of theaters too.
By 1890, King disappears from newspaper articles entirely.
To date, I have only located seven stages that credit King with the construction. They include the Grand Opera House and Academy of Music in Minneapolis Minnesota (1881), Roth’s Opera House in Unionville, Missouri (1882), Ragsdale Opera House in Newton, Kansas (1885), Myar’s Opera House in El Paso, Kansas (1886), Crawford Grand Opera House in Wichita, Kansas (1888), and the Crump Theatre in Columbus, Indiana (1889).
The first newspaper article that mentions King’s work is from Minnesota. On January 27, 1881, the “Star Tribune” reported, “Mr. C. S. King, the stage carpenter at the Grand Opera House, was initiated into some of the mysteries of stage mechanism as exemplified in our new temple of amusement. Mr. King who was summoned here from Chicago, is regarded as one of the best stage-carpenters in the country, having had wide experience and possessing perfect knowledge of his progression. He says that our opera house will have the finest stage, the easiest worked, and will be the best-appointed theatre west of Chicago, or of many large eastern cities.” “One of the best stage-carpenters” and “wide experience” is relative. The opening of most new theaters at this time added experience and credentials to those working on the project, much of it unsubstantiated. However, the article definitely places King in Chicago.
In 1880, C. S. King was listed in the Federal Census as a stage mechanic living at 264 Clinton Street. Six years later, the main Sosman & Landis studio was constructed at 236-238 Clinton Street.
The 1880 Census also lists that King was living with a wife and two children. His wife was simply listed as “A,” a 35-years-old mother of two. The children were Jennie (11 yrs.) and Charles (8 yrs.). This does not mean that the children were biologically King’s; keep in mind that when Joseph S. Sosman married his wife, he adopted her two sons from a previous marriage. It may have been a second marriage for King’s wife, but I doubt it, as I was able to track down the marriage of Anne and Charles. The 1880 census is the only record that I have located to date pertaining to King’s wife or children. I really think that the three died by 1890. In 1881 the family is not listed in the directory. By 1882 the Chicago Directory lists King as a stage carpenter, living at 320 W. Van Buren.
King installed Sosman & Landis scenery into Roth’s Opera House in Unionville, Missouri. On Oct. 12, 1882, the Unionville Republican reported, “During the past week, Mr. C. S. King, of Chicago, one of the most experienced stage carpenters in that city, has been busy arranging the stage fittings and mounting the scenery, and by the first of next week everything will be in readiness for the opening” (p. 3).
Fire, illness, and separation all come to mind. King is only listed that one year and then remains absent from Chicago Directories until 1889. This absence possibly suggests his continuous travel for theater work.
King is listed in the 1889 Chicago Directory as a stage machinist, living at 1262 W. Harrison. There is always the possibility that King’s family traveled with him as he went from one project to another in the 1880s. Thomas G. Moses brought his family along on several Sosman & Landis projects during this same time. If a family were renting their home, it would make more sense for them to travel together, especially if the work in any one location was substantial and lasted for more than a few weeks; such was the case with installing stages in a region.
By 1884, I believe that King was representing Sosman & Landis at firm’s regional branch in Kansas City where he also worked with Lemuel L. Graham from 1884-1886. Graham, left Sosman & Landis to establish his own studio in 1884, becoming an affiliate with Sosman & Landis. Graham also ran their regional branch in addition to running Graham & Davis. By 1885, King was working in Newton, Kansas, a town due north of Wichita. On Dec, 11, 1885, the “Newton Democrat” announced the opening of the Ragsdale Opera House (page 5). The article reported, “The stage is as large as any in the state, its depth being 30 and its width 50. The scenery was put in by Sosman & Landis of Chicago, under the direction of C. S. King of their employ.”
King was credited with not only building stages and installing scenery, but also painting the stage settings. Such was the case with the Myar’s Opera House project in 1886 when King traveled to El Paso, Texas. On July 5, 1886, the “El Paso Herald-Post” reported, “C. S. King, professional stage machinist came from Chicago to build and paint the scenery, rigging and traps for the stage. He had worked in more than 200 theaters across the nation and termed the Myar Opera House the finest he had seen in Texas.” King returned to Kansas in 1887 to work on other Sosman & Landis projects.
On January 21, 1888, King was mention in the “Wichita Daily Eagle” (page 5). The article described the Crawford Grand Opera House reporting, “Mr. C. S. King, an experienced stage carpenter from Chicago, is now engaged preparing the stage for scenery. He says that the scenery is very fine, the best, in fact, that could be secured and is being done by a young scenic artist of decided ability. There will be in all fifteen full sets but these may be used so as to equal to twice that number.”
The last article associating King with Sosman & Landis is from 1889 in Columbus, Illinois. It provides an abundance of information, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for me to follow.
On October 30, 1889. “The Republican” newspaper in Columbus, Indiana, included an article about King entitled, “An Old Stager” (page 4). The article reported,
“From time to time ‘The Republican’ has kept the public informed of the progress of Crump’s theatre from the architect’s preliminary plans to the finishing touches of the painter and draper, until it seems that the reader would tire of seeing further mention made of it. But when one considers that this beautiful structure is to mark a new era in the character and tone of amusements for Columbus audiences, and that the legitimate drama and opera which it invites will have the same elevating effect upon society here as elsewhere, some allowances will be made for extended notices. From Mr. Crump, on down to the mechanic, each have received favorable commendation, and as this is to be the opening night, when the building and everything is to be pronounced finished, ‘The Republican’ desires to mention the name of Mr. C. S. King, the stage machinist, who is the last to lay down his tools, take off the overalls and don his dress suit. Mr. King began the business of stage carpenter and stage machinist in 1859, which he has followed ever since except an interval of three years, which he served in the Union Army during the late war, and another brief period that he was manager of a large company on the road. For the last fifteen years Mr. King has been in the employ of Messrs. Sosman & Landis, or Chicago, which of itself is sufficient recommendation of his abilities, and has fitted up some of the finest opera houses in the country as well as in Canada and Mexico. Mr. King Came to Columbus Sept. 11, and commenced on the bare floor of the new theatre to construct the various stage machinery, mount scenery, and everything connected with stage settings, all without drawings or specifications, except those stored in his head from long experience. How well he succeeded in his work is there to speak for itself, and is pronounced by the profession to be the most modern, convenient and elaborate. Mr. King has taken special pride in fitting up his house, and has freely given many valuable suggestions to Mr. Crump, who has shown his appreciation by carrying out the plans in detail, thus securing the best results possible. Mr. King is delighted with the completeness of the theatre and pronounces it a veritable little parlor, unsurpassed by any house in Indiana. “The Republican” joins with Mr. Crump and the Citizens of Columbus in extending thanks to Mr. King, the veteran stage machinist.”
To track down information about King’s personal life, I started with his Civil War records, searching veteran death records for past occupations that would match either carpenmter, stage carpenter or stage mechanic. I located one particular “Charles S. King” that fit the bill; a veteran who also served three years in the Union Army. Serving three years during the war was not common, as most men served a year. Furthermore, this particular C. S. King was the right age, with the right occupation – carpenter from Chicago. He passed away at a Veteran’s home after a series of strokes and final paralysis in 1894. It was his paperwork from the Veteran’s Home that helped fill in the gaps. At the time of his admittance, King was working in Cincinnati, Ohio. This also fits within the Sosman & Landis timeline, as the firm established a regional office and theatrical management firm in Cincinnati during the early 1890s. King would have been the natural choice to work with a newly formed regional office, having already done so in Kansas City. Veteran Home records also indicate that King’s wife predeceased him. His next of kin was a sister in Columbus, Ohio. In short, King died alone. This factor, combined with the predecease of his wife, also explains his immediate disappearance from public records and association with Sosman & Landis.
So, I started to track down the life of this particular Civil War Veteran. Here is the story of the man named Charles S. King who I believe worked for Sosman & Landis. If years from now I realize this is the wrong King, at least I have told the story of a courageous man who served our country during the Civil War. For that alone, he deserves to be remembered.
Charles S. King was born in Sacketts Harbor, Jefferson County, New York in 1839. As a young man, he found work in retail as a clerk before traveling west and settling in Macoupin County, Illinois. For geographical context, Macoupin County is located in southern Illinois and situated halfway between Springfield, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The county was named for Macoupin Creek, which flows through the county and is purportedly derived from the Native American word for water lilies that grew along the creek. The county seat of Macoupin County is Carlinville, and this was where King first enlisted in the Union Army. He had previously secured work as a carpenter in Chicago and was also listed in the 1861 directory, boarding as 138 Jackson Street. My gut instinct says that he returned home to enlist and serve with close family and friends.
The Civil War officially commenced on April 12, 1861, and King enlisted on August 24, 1861. He mustered out as a Private on Oct 22, 1861, part of Co. C, 32nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry. Military records describe his physical appearance as 5’-8 ¼ with brown hair and hazel eyes. King was first discharged on July 1, 1862, by reason of enlistment in the marine brigade. He mustered out again on that same day. As noted in his records at the Veteran’s Home, King served a third time, enlisting from Chicago in 1863. He joined the US Navy and mustered out on October 17, 1863. At the time King enlisted in Chicago, he indicated a prior military service. This is the second connection with King to Chicago.
After the war, King returned to Carlinville, Illinois, and married Julie “Ann” Defenbaugh. This also corresponds to the 1880 Chicago Census with his wife listed as “A.” Tracking down information about Ann Defenbaugh was also tricky. First of all, she went by her middle name. Her first name was listed as July, Julie, and Julia; again, likely human error for the variations. Unfortunately, Ann’s last name of Defenbaugh was frequently mispelled, ranging from Definbaugh to Diffinbaugh. Regardless, Ann was the daughter of George Defenbaugh and Minerva Closson Defenbaugh. She was one of many children born to the couple, with her siblings being: David, Solomon, Margaret, Perthia, Amos, Harriet, John Calvin, J. Amos and Bertha. The Defenbaugh family moved from Virginia to Illinois in the 1860s, settling in Macoupin County near Palmyra.
The wedding of Anne and Charles was held on November 30, 1865, filed in Macoupin County. Their daughter was born shortly after their union.
The 1870 Federal Census listed the Kings as boarding with the Gibbs family in another Macoupin County town, Plainville.
Interesting sidenote and observation: Thomas Gibbs Moses from Sterling, Illinois.
In 1870, Charles was working at the Post Office in Plainville, also a small town in Macoupin County. The couple moved shortly after this, as by 1874, C. S. King was living in Chicago and working as a carpenter. This supports the idea that he worked for Sosman in 1874, as Sosman was also working in Chicago at this time. Sosman left Macomb, Illinois to work as a scenic artist. His friend and mentor, T. B. Harrison was a Chicago scenic artist. C. S. King was listed in the Chicago Directory in 1874, 1878, 1882 and 1889. As with most women at the time, his wife was not listed.
Between 1880 and King’s own passing in 1894, his wife passed away. I have not located any records for either of their children as young adults. Often, I can find additional information about the parents on later marriage certificates and in the obituaries of their children. The absence of his wife and any adult children meant that there was no one to take care of King when his health deteriorated in 1890, likely the main reason he was admitted to the Disabled Veteran’s home for the first time in 1891. Records suggest that he suffered a stroke and later partial paralysis. This affected his sight and speech. King was admitted to the home a second time in 1892 and died there on Nov. 7, 1894. He is buried at Wood National Cemetery in Milwaukee as the Veteran’s Home that he was admitted to was in Milwaukee. His Veteran’s Home records note that he was a seaman on the USS Michigan and USS Little Rebel, serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was a carpenter by trade, a widower and of the Catholic faith. His last residences prior to his admittance were listed as Chicago, Illinois and Cincinnati, Ohio. His sister, Mrs. Joseph Colwell of Cleveland, OH, was his only next of kin. No fanfare, not obituary listing or memorial. There is only a simple gravestone with C S King, US Navy.
Gravestone of Charles S. King in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Maquette and scenery. Artifacts from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
David A. Strong was a scenic artist and stage mechanic at Sosman & Landis from 1884 until his passing in 1911. Strong and Thomas G. Moses were the first to work in Sosman & Landis’ main studio on Clinton Street in 1886. Moses and Strong completed a panorama of General Grant’s Trip Around the World while the rest of the crew was finishing up projects at the old studio on Clark Street. Of the panorama project, Moses wrote, “We were alone in the big studio for some time before the whole force came over. We enjoyed painting the panorama as it was continuous. There was some careful blending to be done.” The new studio space on Clinton Street remained the home of Sosman & Landis until 1923 when the first iteration of the firm was liquidated.
David A. Strong, 1886
His fellow scenic artists referred to Strong as “Old Trusty,” admiring his “facile brush.” Moses wrote, “His color was deep and rich and his drawings very correct.”
David Austin Strong was born on January 20, 1830 in East Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. He was the youngest of ten children born to Erastus Strong and Lucy Wolcott Drake. As a young man, Strong moved from East Windsor to New Haven, Connecticut, and worked as a decorative painter, providing a variety of services that ranged from sign painting to ornamental décor. In 1852 Strong was listed in the New Haven Directory as a sign painter, boarding at Bishop’s Hotel. Around this time, he entered the theatre profession at Homan’s Theatre. There he worked as both the stage manager and scenic artist for the Homans and fell in love with their daughter, Esther. Esther A. Homan was an actress at the venue, her residence at State and Summer streets in 1892. Esther’s 1894 obituary provided additional information about the couple’s life at Homan’s On April 16, 1894, the “Morning Journal-Courier” provided insight into the early theatrical activities of the Strongs (New Haven, CT, page 2). The obituary stated: “Mrs. Strong was formerly Esther Homan, the daughter of Mr. Homan, who was the proprietor of Homan’s theater in the Exchange building of years ago. Homan’s theater in the Exchange building flourished in the fifties, and its popularity and success for a long period is well remembered in this city by old inhabitants; as also the fact that Miss Homan was the star of the company, which it is the privilege of but few to attain. She was a great popular favorite. Her husband, Mr. Strong, was also identified with ‘Homan’s’ as stage manager and scenic artist. At the same time, as we are informed, one of Miss Homan’s brothers was also a member of the Homan Theatre Company. Mr. Strong became quite noted for his success as a scenic artist, and many fine specimens from his brush have from time to time interested patrons of New Haven’s theaters. For some years he has been engaged in the profession in Chicago, meeting with still greater success in that larger field. Mr. Charles Homan of this city is the brother of the later Mrs. Strong. The funeral services will be held at the residence of her nephew, F. A. Frisbie…Mrs. Strong had been in poor health for the last two of three years and had been at times a great sufferer. The difficulty was an internal tumor.”
David Strong and Esther Homan were married on April 1, 1854 in New Haven. The couple lived with Esther’s sister Huldah and her husband Thaddeus Frisbie. Frisbie was also a local painter and frequently worked with Strong. Huldah Frisbie was the eldest of the three Homan children, followed by Charles, the middle child, and Esther. Strong and Frisbie formed a decorative painting company that lasted until Frisbie’s passing in 1859. In the years following Frisbie’s death Strong always took care of the Frisbie family, even after moving to Chicago. The Frisbies and Strongs eventually shared the same family grave plot in New Haven’s Evergreen Cemetery.
By the early 1860s Strong was an itinerant artist, traveling throughout the entire region for projects. However, he became increasingly associated with theaters in Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Strong soon specialized in burlesque pantomime and moving panoramas. His first significant panoramic work was entitled “Strong’s Washington and the War.” Advertisements stated that the exhibition included a series of representations of the City of Washington, with its street, houses, public buildings, fortifications, promenades, public levees, hospitals, stores, and hotels, heralding Strong as a genius. The panoramic exhibition opened on May 18, 1863. By May 22, 1863, the “National Republican” advertised that the event was “designed and executed by the celebrated artist Mr. David A. Strong.”
In March 1864, Strong delivered scenery for the “Grand Fairy Spectacle of the Seven Sisters and the Birth of Cupid in the Bower of Ferns.” This production played at Ford’s Theatre during November 1864. That year Strong was listed as living in Washington, D.C. at 334 E Street N. In Washington, D.C., he worked at various theaters, including Williard’s Hall, Grover’s Theatre, and Ford’s Theatre. For Grover’s Theatre, Strong partnered with fellow scenic artist John R. Smith and painted settings for “The Ticket-of-Leave Man.” Strong was credited as “the distinguished young artist of the theater” (“National Republican,” 18 Jan 1864, page 3). In later years, Moses recalled Strong sharing his recollections of Washington, D.C., and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Upon Strong’s passing in 1911, Moses wrote, “He was employed and was at work in Fords Theatre in Washington on the night that Lincoln was assassinated. The Doctor who attended Lincoln was a personal friend of Strong’s, and as the Doctor was cutting Lincoln’s hair to get at the wound, he put hair in his coat pocket instead of throwing it on the floor. He forgot until sometime next day. He gave Strong a bit of it, which he kept to his dying day.” This is not that far-fetched, especially after examining Strong’s theater work in 1864. Interestingly a purported lock of Lincoln’s hair recently sold at auction.
. By December 1865, Strong was credited with the spectacle scenery for “L’Africaine.” A December 29, 1865, article in “The National Republican” commented that the settings were “greatly superior to the one given in London, and in every respect equal to the famous New York Scene.” It was Strong’s grasp of staged spectacle that propelled his career forward and brought him in contact with other well-known scenic artists at the time. Strong was one of the scenic artists who created the original scenery for the production of “The Black Crook” at Niblo’s Garden Theatre in 1866. On Sept. 12, 1866, the “New York Times” mentioned the “gorgeous and brilliant” new scenery by Richard Marston J. E. Hayes, Robert Smith, David A. Strong, Lafayette W. Seavey, and William Wallack. That same year, Strong also painted “Rip Van Winkle” with E. Hayes at the Olympic Theatre in New York. He continued to gain work and recognition not only in the east, but also in Chicago, Illinois. By 1868, Strong painted scenery for another Niblo’s Garden Theatre production, “The White Fawn.” On Jan. 20, 1868, the New York Daily Tribune” included a review of the “White Fawn” at Niblo’s, reporting, “The main credit of the ‘White Fawn’ belongs to the scene painters – Sachetti, Marston, Strong and Thorne” (page 2). On June 2, 1868, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “Some of the principal scenes were brought from New York, but many of them were done here by Mr. Strong and are exquisitely beautiful, especially the Hall in the Palace of Safficallis and the Interior of the Dark Tower and he Enchanted Lake” (page 5).
The 1870 Federal Census lists Strong return to New Haven, Connecticut, where he and his wife were again living with the Frisbies (Hulda and her sons Frank and Frederick). The household also included Strong’s 71-year-old mother-in-law Esther Homan. In addition to painting stage settings for theaters across the country, Strong continued to paint panoramas. In 1871 Strong was credited with the “Panorama of Ireland.” Also advertised as the “Panoramic Mirror of Ireland,” his work toured for the next few years, making appearances at the Apollo Hall, Tony Pastor’s and the Republican Hall. Strong briefly returned home to New Haven in 1873, where he was again listed in the City Directory before moving west.
In 1874, the Strongs relocated to Chicago, where he secured work at the Adelphi Theatre, Haverly’s Theatre and McVicker’s Theatre. On August 10, 1876, Strong joined the Oriental Consistory. He entered the Fraternity in New Haven’s Hiram Lodge No. 1 on March 18, 1852. Over two decades later, he joined the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in Chicago (Oriental Consistory, 1876). At Sosman & Landis. Strong was instrumental in the development of Masonic degree productions for both the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction and Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, even receiving the Honorary 33rd degree for his continued scenic contributions for degree work. Strong’s knowledge of stage machinery and spectacle was instrumental in successfully transforming Scottish Rite degree work into theatrical productions. Upon his passing, Moses wrote, “Strong was the “daddy” of all Masonic designs.”
By the early 1880s, Strong traveled throughout the midwestern region with his permanent residence remaining in Chicago. In 1880, he was also credited with the scenery for the Mastodon Minstrels. Of his settings, the “The work is from the pencil of Mr. D. A. Strong, the eminent scenic artist so long identified with Mr. Haverly’s Theatres” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, 22 Nov. 1880, page 6). During this time, Strong also worked with fellow scenic artists J. H. Rogers and Lou Malmsha for McVicker’s (Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb 1880, page 7). Upon Malmsha’s passing in 1882, Strong commented that his friend had only two equals in the country – Marston and Roberts of New York (New York Times, 21 Oct. 1882, page 4).
Strong continued to travel, and in 1882 painted scenery and a drop curtain for the new Opera House in Ottawa, Illinois (“Ottawa Free Trader,” 15 July 1882, page 2). The next year, he was credited with the new scenery for the Plumb Opera House in Topeka, Kansas (Daily Commonwealth, 29 July 1883, page 2) and the new Opera House in Aurora, Illinois (Inter Ocean, 22 June 1883, page 13).
Since its inception, Strong was also involved with the establishment of the Theatrical Mechanics Association (TMA). The TMA was founded in New York in 1866, the same time that Strong was working at Niblo’s Garden Theatre. The organization spread west and eventually reached Chicago where String was again involved with its establishment. Chicago Lodge No. 4 was organized on April 16, 1884 with its first president listed as John Barstow (also spelled Bairstow, a stage carpenter at McVicker’s Theatre). The first meeting of Lodge No. 4 was at the Grand Opera House, with approximately seventy-five charter members, including Strong. Certificates of organization were filed with Barstow, John E. Williams, and Frank F. Goss. In 1891, the national convention was held in Chicago. Chicago Lodge No. 4 members that attended the conference included Strong, James Quigly, John Bairstow, William Faber, Thomas McGann, John Foust, Frank Faber, L. B. Savage, F. V. Sauter, Frank A. Lathrop, and Wallace Blanchard. Grand Master James McCurdy, one of the original charter members, spoke about the history of the organization, explaining that it always included both managers from the houses and the men working as mechanics. The initial membership of sixteen rapidly increased to thirty by the end of their first year. A second lodge was organized in Boston and then Philadelphia. By 1891 there were 2,300 members. In 1891, a “Chicago Tribune” article about the TMA reported, “Perhaps the public does not know it, but it is a fact that the theatrical mechanics deserve as much credit for a successful performance as the actors themselves. If one will only stop to think of the improvements that have been made in the last few years, the worth of the mechanic must be recognized. The ugly, heavy, and unyielding scenery which twenty years ago littered up the stage has given place to scenery that is the work of artists and that is handled by skilled mechanics. No longer are there dreary waits between acts. All this was accomplished, and much of it due to the association, by means of which have been given and taken.”
Strong’s understanding of stage mechanics enhanced his ability to successfully produce scenic illusion for the stage. However, it was his approach to scenic art that may have been the greatest asset to Sosman & Landis. In the larger context of American theatre history, Strong represented the Düsseldorf School. On Dec. 18, 1892, the “Chicago Tribune” included Strong is an article entitled, “Paint Mimic Scenes, Men Who Have Found Fame in the Wing and Drop Curtains” (page 41). The article reported, “David Strong, ‘Old Trusty,’ still at work in this city, is the only survivor of the good old Dusseldorf school. Everything that comes from his facile brush – and he could walk over miles of canvas of his own painting – has the quality of opaqueness peculiar to his school and seldom found nowadays.” It was this “quality of opaqueness” that greatly differed from scenic artist that applied a series of thin glazes. For context, the Düsseldorf School referred to a group of painters who either taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now Düsseldorf State Academy of Art). An extension of the German Romantic movement, it had a significant influence on nineteenth century landscape painting from the 1830s through the 1860s. This approach to easel art was also incorporated into scenic art for the stage. Düsseldorf School artworks were characterized by dramatically lit landscapes, with the focal point of the compositions falling in the middle ground. This light and action in the middle ground was framed with darker foreground masses on the sides. They employed roads, trails, streams, and other visual paths to draw one into the artistic composition.
On February 28, 1886, Strong was featured in a “Inter Ocean” article entitled “Up in the Clouds” (page 9). A short biography of Strong was included underneath his portrait: “Among the oldest and best-known scenic artists in Chicago is David A. Strong, whose name adorned Haverly’s bills in the latter’s palmy days, but who is now in the Sosman & Landis establishment. He was born so far back that he skillfully dodges the issue when questioned as to the exact time. His professional career was commenced in Howard’s Atheneum in Boston twenty-five years back, He was then engaged several years stocking the larger New England theaters with scenery. He painted in the National Theatre in Washington for four years during the war. Then went to the Chestnut at Philadelphia, under Len Grover’s management, He then worked in New York at the Olympic and later at Niblo’s. While at the latter place with Marsden he got up the original scenery for the ‘Black Crook.” He then painted the panorama, ‘The Mirror of Ireland,’ famous in the East some time ago, and traveled with it for four and a half years. When Grover and Call opened the old Adelphi in this city, Mr. Strong was induced to come West, and has remained here ever since, working in several of the first-class theaters.”
On February 19, 1888, “The Saint Paul Globe” of St. Paul, Minnesota, heralded Strong’s work as a scenic artist in an article entitled “Stage and Scenery.” In the section, “LOCAL AND GENERAL TALENT,” the article stated, “Among the elder scenic artists of the country are David A. Strong, of Chicago, formerly of Niblo’s Garden, New York, should be mentioned as one of the best colorists, and indeed is an artist of high rank.”
Strong passed away on Feb 5, 1911. On Feb. 8, 1911, the “New Haven Evening Register” reported, “The funeral of David A. Strong, who died in Chicago, February 5, will be held at the sanctuary chapel of Hayes & Pierce on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 o’clock. Mr. Strong was born in Windsor, Conn. In 1830 and came to New Haven a young man, where for several years he was well known as a decorative painter. Later he developed a great talent as a scenic artist and painted and arranged the scenery for the first theater ever opened in this city. Eventually he became noted throughout the country as an artist of the greatest ability in. his especial line. He was a 32nd degree Mason and a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 1 F. and A.M. A man of sterling character and wide sympathies, he never forgot a brother in adversity and in his death all who knew him best can truly say that they have lost a generous and devoted friend.”
His wife Esther predeceased him on April 13, 1894, and Striong never really recovered from this loss. In 1900, the Federal Census listed Strong living at 295 Wabash Ave in South Town Chicago, one of many boarders at the residence of Mary LaRoche. By 1910, the Federal Census listed Strong living in Van Buren Street, again as a lodger. His occupation was still listed as “artist-painter.”
The significance of Strong’s passing in 1911 was more than the loss of an individual artist at Sosman & Landis, it signified the end of a generation at the studio. Moses wrote, “Our beloved David Strong fell dead on the Street February 5th. He was a grand old man – past 80 years.” Strong’s influence in the production was replaced by a younger generation of artists who employed an increasingly impressionist approach. Even under the supervision of Moses, there was a shift in both color palette and painting techniques. The “old guard” that was once represented by both Strong and Joseph S. Sosman quickly slipped away. Strong’s work represented an older generation of scenic artists, with a romantic rendition of picturesque landscapes and palatial interiors. Amazingly, some examples of Strong’s work survive and are still used at Scottish Rite theaters across the country. His stage art can be found at Masonic theaters in Austin, Texas, Yankton, South Dakota and Deadwood, South Dakota, Portland, Oregon, and Pasadena, California. Although Strong’s painting for commercial theater disappeared over a century ago, his work still lives on in Masonic degree productions.
On June 1, 1893, Thomas G. Moses hired Fred McGreer to work at the Sosman & Landis annex theatre on the West Side of Chicago. He joined the West Side Force that included A. J. Rupert, Frank Peyraud, and Harry Vincent. Moses recorded that McGreer “proved to be a good man.”
Frederick B. McGreer pictured in 1898.
Frederick Beesley McGreer was born in Muscatine, Iowa in 1866. He was the son of John McGreer and Louisa Beesley. The couple celebrated the birth of three children, with Fred being the oldest. The younger children were Eva (1869-1934), Rob Roy (1879-?) and Essie (1882-1966). Rob, Fred and their father all became artists. The family tale is quite something, beginning with John’s arrival to Muscatine, Iowa as a young man. Upon his passing on June 13, 1908, the Muscatine “News-Tribune” remembered John’s artistic abilities: “his greatest claim to distinction was as a comic picture painter. His skill with the brush was something marvelous and his comic designs were strikingly and peculiarly inimitable and original.” John did not have to fortune to begin his life as an artist, he began his career in mercantile pursuits, and engaged in the grocery trade with his stepfather Charles Drury. During the Civil War, John McGreer worked as a sutler, furnishing provisions to Union soldiers. It was near the end of the war that he married Louisa, with the first son arriving the next year. After the end of the war, John managed the City Hat Store. His success in the hat business allowed the family to move to Chicago 1870 where he established a pictorial printing office. Despite being burned out and losing everything in the Great Fire of 1871, he pursued his new occupation and was later acknowledged as a pioneer in this line.
John and Louis McGreer (front). Image from www.ancestry.com
John McGreer’s obituary remembered, “Much of his time and talent was devoted to the painting of comic pictures for which work he was especially gifted and won celebrity.” His listings in the city directories were either as artist or publisher, and by 1885 was associated with the Cartoon Publishing Co. in 1885. The McGreers frequently returned to Muscatine for family visits and were extremely close to John’s sister, Mrs. Henry Geiss, remained a resident of the town. Over the years, McGreer sent illustrated articles and cartoons for the Muscatine paper, including those that highlighted the artistic careers of his two sons, Fred and Rob. Fred McGreer had the good fortune to come of age in an artistic home with good press. His father’s publishing career greatly helped his sons’ artistic ambitions, keeping them very visible in the public eye. By 1884, Fred McGreer worked as a lighting artist at the World Cotton Centennial in New Orleans. Later records would indicate that McGreer began working as a scenic artist at Sosman & Landis in 1887. Like many other scenic artists, he not only painted scenery for the firm, but also picked up extra work while on site. Additional work for scenic artists ranged from sign painting and decorative work to art exhibits and art classes.
On April 10, 1887, the “Inter Ocean” included a notice in the National Union section, announcing that McGreer was providing “an hour’s divertissement” in rapid oil painting at the Continental Council No. 55 (page 20). McGreer continued in this vein for the next two years as the couple celebrated the birth of their only son, Earl Milton McGreer on 3 May 1888. McGreer continued to work as a lighting artist, partnering with his cousin Ernest Cooke that summer. In August, the two were featured at E. W. Viall’s store on Main Street in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Each showed how fast paintings could be created and also gave lessons. Their class sizes numbered 20 students, with the two also holding classes in Elgin and Janesville, Illinois. By the fall, McGreer became a featured artist at James Wilde Jr. & Co., located on the corner of State and Madison Streets. If customers, spent more than $10 at the store, McGreer painted a complimentary 8×10 oil painting in ten minutes or less. He was advertised as “the most Wonderful Artist in the World – the rapidity of his work is marvelous. Hundreds of thousands of people visited him at the New Orleans Exposition” (Nov. 28, 1888, page 8). Every afternoon between 1 and 5pm, McGreer was stationed in the Children’s Department of the store. Regardless of his travels as an itinerant artist, McGreer started a family in 1885. On July 14, 1885, Fred married Minnie Ella (Elma) Hunt in Ravenswood, Illinois. Minnie was from Cedar Rapids, Iowa (b. 1865). The two lived in Cedar Rapids before moving to Chicago a few years later. Within three years the couple celebrated the birth of their only son, Earl Milton McGreer on May 3, 1888.
By 1889, McGreer was listed as an artist in the Chicago Directory, living at 584 W, Van Buren. and working at 263 State. Interestingly, Walter C. Hartson and Harry Vincent also listed 236 State Street as their business address. I have yet to identify this business, but these were the three that eventually formed the West Side Force for Sosman & Landis Studio in the early 1890s. In 1896 McGreer was still representing the Sosman & Landis studio when the firm was contracted to produce scenery for Green’s Opera House in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. On August 29, 1896, “The Gazette” reported, “The scenery was painted by Sosman & Landis, the well-known Chicago artists, the work being done by Fred McGreer who formerly resided in this city and who has developed artistic talents that place him among the foremost painters of the country” (page 3).
By 1897, McGreer traveled with Thomas G. Moses and Edward Loitz for Sosman & Landis, painting scenery for the English Opera House (Indianapolis, IN), the Grand Opera House (Columbus, OH) and the Valentine Theatre (Toledo, OH). Of these projects and his crews, Moses wrote, “I think we did some good work.” Sosman & Landis then offered Moses Pike Theatre Stock Company work in Cincinnati, Ohio. He accepted, writing, “I accepted $75.00 per week and went, taking McGreer and Loitz from Chicago.” It appears as if McGreer never left Cincinnati and soon became the scenic artist for the Pike Theatre, sending for his younger brother, Rob, to be his assistant.
The next year, the artistic success of the McGreers was published in their old hometown of Muscatine, Iowa. On Dec. 25, 1898, the “Muscatine News-Tribune” article was entitled “John McGreer’s Boys. Two Muscatine Brothers who are Winning Laurels in the Theatrical Art World” (page 16).
Here is the article in its entirety, as it provides a wealth of knowledge about the two:
“While the News-Tribune’s friend Mr. John McGreer, has been busy preparing the illustrated article which is a prominent feature of this edition, the management has taken the trouble to gather some facts and photographs that will show “Johnny’s boys,” Fred and Rob, their friends in Muscatine, the home of their birth.
Fred the eldest, is an exceptionally clever scenic artist, at present located in Cincinnati. When he visited Muscatine with his father some twelve years ago they gave what was called ‘lightning art exhibition.’ The late Geo. W. Van Horne, while watching Fred at his painting said: ‘Well Mr. McGreer, you ought to be proud of that boy. He has the making of a great artist, especially in the line of broad effects, as cyclorama, or scenic painting.’ Mr. Van Horne’s art criticisms were not made without a knowledge of art, for he had visited and studied in the Vatican, the Louvre, and all principal art centers of Europe.
The fine asbestos drop curtain that was in Hooley’s theatre, was the creation and execution of Fred. It was highly complimented be the entire Chicago press, and admired by patrons of the theatre. Fred has autographic letters complimenting his work from many leading lights of the stage, among them John Drew, E.M. Willard, Henry Irving, Joe Jefferson, Modjeska, Nat Goodwin, Augustus Daly, and others. The ‘Cat Concert’ drop curtain in the roof garden theater of the Masonic Temple was a unique and catchy production painted by Fred. The fine drop curtain which many Muscatine visitors to Cedar Rapids have seen in Green’s Opera House was also painted by Fred several years ago.
‘Rob,’ the youngest (just out of his teens) shows really more natural talent than Fred did at his age, but has not had the experience. His forte runs rather more to cartoon and figure painting, after his father, but with better opportunities for cultivation. His sketches show boldness, character, and originality.
Rob McGreer pictured in the 1898 article.
“Scenic painting nowadays is a very important factor in the theatre, as all plays of importance require special scenes to harmonize with the play. Whereas in former years one set of scenery had to answer for everything.
At present the McGreer brothers are scenic artists for the Pike Theatre, in Cincinnati, and are winning both the applause of the public and the praise of the press.
In speaking of a recent production of ‘Alabama’ at the Pike, the ENQUIRER has this to say:
“Mr. McGreer, the scenic artist, has given what the people one of two settings that will bear comparison with anything the best stage of the country has ever known. His first act is not so good, lacking in harmony and completeness, as well as exact fitness in atmosphere and surroundings for the poetical character of Mr. Thomas’ writing, but the third act is almost a scenic masterpiece, and merited even better applause that that vouchsafed it last night, liberal and demonstrative as it was. In this respect nothing is wanting in Pike’s Alabama.’”
Pike’s prize play, ‘The Charity Ball,’ was recently given, and the COMMERICIAL GAZETTE says this of the scenery:
“Mr. McGreer, the chief artist of the house, gave three scenes to the play that were marvels of their kind, while all of the accessories were not only handsome, but so carefully chosen as to deserve the warmest and most sincere commendation.”
The CINCINNATI POST gives the brothers this complimentary notice regarding their work:
“From a plane of minor importance, the scenic artist has attained a position second to none about a theater. If the average person were asked the reason of the great success of the productions of the Neill Stock Company at the Pike, the answer would be, “The excellence of the company and the beauty of the scenery.” Two gifted artists are responsible for the elaborate stage settings that have been seen at this house. They are Frederick B. McGreer came to Cincinnati from Hooley’s Theatre, Chicago, and as an artist of exceptional talent and splendid taste in color and design. Robert McGreer, his brother, worked most of his life with Augustin Daly’s artists in New York. They form a duo whose combined work is the admiration of every patron at the Pike.”
The portraits accompanying this article are reproduction of recent photographs, but will scarcely be recognized by their many Muscatine friends who knew them in early boyhood days.”
In 1900, McGreer was still successfully employed at the Pike Theatre and listed in the1900 Cincinnati Directory was the chief scenic artist for the Pike Opera House, boarding at the Burnet House.
On April 15, 1900, McGreer described his artistic process to the “Cincinnati Enquirer” in an article entitled, “Vast Amount of Artistic Labor Contributed by Scenic Artist Fred McGreer Toward the Success of Many Pike Productions” (page 12).
Fred McGreer at the Pike Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio. From the “Cincinnati Enquirer,” 1900.Fred B. McGreer, 1900.
Although lengthy, it is a wonderful snapshot in time of McGreer and his scenic art process from 121 years ago:
“Perched up in a little room on level with the head of a big white lady who holds a cluster of electric lights, over the right proscenium box at the Pike, is a small room in which an unseen factor in many successes at that house toils industriously day after day making for success on the Pike Stage.
The potent influence is Mr. Fred McGreer, the capable scenic artist, whose stage settings at the Pike have been a prominent feature of the 60 odd productions seen at the house during two seasons he has worked there.
The writer, after climbing up a narrow flight of winding stairs and stumbling over bits of scenery reached this little den the other day, and found Mr. McGreer hard at work sketching out the stage plan for Nero’s banquet hall which will be seen there this weekend in ‘Quo Vadis.’ Rich in scenic opportunities, Mr. McGreer had spread himself on this big production, and judging solely by the care and work he has lavished on it, the scenic side of the piece promises to be a triumph. Leading man and lady, villain or adventuress, or the others have thrilled with the applause at the Pike for their efforts, but Mr. McGreer who has contributed a great share to the stock company’s weekly offerings, seldom hears the same applause for his art as distinctly worthy as that of the players.
If the reader will follow we will take journey into his little den off the third landing of the winding stairs and see if we can’t get a faint peak at the amount of work a new production means to the indefatigable artist. You can imagine you climbed the stairway and arrived at the room, him half out of breath, with the writer who felt how sadly he had neglected his athletics. A generous part of the room is Mr. McGreer, a young man attired in a well-frescoed pair of shoes highly daubed overalls pulled over his other clothing. His sketches are works of art and marks the backdrops used in the course of a season, while at the other end a big roll of paper stands awaiting instructions.
When the photographer arrived, Mr. McGreer had just finished the elevation for the Nero palace. He gave clear insight into the business side in painting a theatrical setting, which the average playgoer sitting in front would never realize from simply looking at it. ‘We’ll begin at the beginning,’ said Mr. McGreer when told that his description of how a scene is built up was wanted. ‘The first thing that I do is to read the manuscript of the play to be put on. Then comes a consultation with the stage director regarding the practical openings for each setting of the play as every exit and entrance must be letter perfect so that the players will be kept within the point or sight and at the same time be able to make their exits properly. This done I map out the stage plans for the carpenter with the elevations for each set, and he sets to work to make the wooden frames for the various scenes.’
On these plans the frames are all cut out and placed just as they go. Then the heavy drill cloth is fastened to the braces which are attached to the paint frame. This is worked by a windlass that can raise or lower the canvas at will. The artists work on what is called the bridge while painting the scenery. This is a narrow platform suspended about 30 feet above the stage at the rear wall and the paint frames operates up or down close to this so that we can work up to the height on the drop merely by moving the windlass in whatever direction desired.
The illustrations accompanying this show Mr. McGreer and his assistants at work on the paint bridge as well as several other phases of the work incidental to making the scenic productions for the famous play.
‘I am able to outline the scenes after they have been coated with glue priming, for which a particular glue is used that will not crack. After the priming had dried I sketch the outlines with charcoal, and meanwhile the assistants are mixing their paints in buckets, and when I have concluded they set to work painting the scenery. In this process, first the broad colors are laid in and then comes the ornamentation, such as the figures on the walls of interiors, or colors for the moldings to get the lights and shadows. This is ended with the detail work of what we call bringing the scene together. It is like the finishing touches you see the rapid-fire artists put on their pictures in the vaudeville theaters when a form emerges out of what is apparently a chaos of conflicting colors. At this period, I may discover too much red at the base of a scene, or not enough red beneath the cornice of an exterior, and these must be toned down.
With the scene painted it is again hustled off the paint frame to make room for another act. The painted set goes back to the carpenter to be cut out and attached to the lines running to the rigging loft, there being three lines to each drop. The columns and solid sections which will be noticeable in ‘Quo Vadis’ are made of what we call profile board. It is a wooden veneer and is pre-hinged to a stand shipping. These columns also stand by themselves as though apparently part of the setting.
In the first scene for ‘Quo Vadis’ the case is different. The entire scene was originally painted on one big drop and then after it was completed I ‘red lined’ the whole scene. This is to outline the columns and vases with a delicate red line, which the carpenter follows in sawing out these separate sections. They are then all placed in position on the stage and the stuff that has been cut out is fastened together with a delicate netting which is invisible to the audience. The perspective created the impression that they are standing alone though really the entire set is one big drop. Some idea of the work required can be gained from the explanation that a single drop of this description generally requires the efforts of the carpenter and four assistants an entire evening to fix up. On the drop for this garden scene, we used 1080 feet of cloth and about 75 pounds of paint. In order to attach them to the rigging loft about 300 feet of rope is also used. Now another heavy scene is in the arena setting for the last act, in which over 700 feet of platform space is required, built up to a height running from two feet and reaching the topmost platform 15 feet above the stage. These platforms are all hinged and made so they will fold for shipment as the piece goes on the road after it is used here.
In ‘Quo Vadis’ every scene is numbered and arranged so that it can be put together hurriedly and when brought into a theater is very much like the animal puzzles that are so popular with the Children at Christmas. Only the stagehands will just know where every piece goes without being puzzled.
Mr. McGreer in conclusion estimates that he has painted over 30,000 feet of canvas for the big production this week and used about 2,000 pounds of paint in doing it, in addition to five barrels of whiting alone was used, while the paint was distributed among 20 or more colors. For ‘Quo Vadis’ everything had to be made new as nothing like it had been produced at the Pike.
Mr. McGreer during his two seasons at the local theater has mapped out and painted over 220 stage settings, and of these the ratio ran about three interiors to one exterior. The mere mechanical work of making the scenes is antedated by studies of the costumes as the ladies dresses and the scene colors must harmonize, and historical research as historical accuracy is demanded in these times. In all his stay, nothing has been used over much, excepting the solid doors that figure in Pike productions. These doors have been doing service for three seasons. They have been slammed by the impetuous Nigel or gently brought to by the careful Todman, but in all that time the same old doors groaned under the weight of added paint until now they are so heavy it takes a firm grasp and a long pull to draw them open.
But this is digressing from Mr. McGreer. Next week this popular artist will bid adieu for the summer, at least to his den back of the big white lady. He goes to New York, having been engaged by Gates and Morange, the scenic artist there. If long and varied experience will count for aught, Mr. McGreer is sure to make his mark there for few visiting attractions as the first-class houses have exhibited scenery which compares to that which has been in evidence so frequently at the Pike.”
During the summer of 1900, McGreer painted scenery for the Sosman, Landis & Hunt production of “Quo Vadis.” Of the production, Moses wrote, “It was not a success, as another company with the same play got in a week ahead of this production at a better theatre, which naturally killed the Herald Square Show.” The artists for the Herald Square production included Thomas G. Moses, Will Hamilton, John H. Young, Fred McGreer, and Gates & Morange.
McGreer left New York soon after this and headed to San Francisco. By January 1901 McGreer accepted a position as the scenic artist at Morosco’s Grand Opera House in San Francisco, California. He remained at the chief scenic artist for the venue until his passing in 1902.
Fred McGreer is buried at Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery.
Fred McGreer’s gravestone at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.
On January 18, 1902, the “Muscatine News-Tribune” reported his passing:
“Noted Scenic Artist is Dead. Mrs. Henry Geiss departed last evening for Chicago, in response to a message announcing the death of her nephew, Fred McGreer, the descendent is a son of our former townsman, John McGreer, the News-Tribune’s special artist. The Chicago Record-Herald, in its last issue, prints a fine portrait of this noted scenic artist and says:“ Fred B. McGreer, whose death occurred last night Monday at the German Hospital in San Francisco, was one of the best scenic artists in America. His first work was with Sosman & Landis, Chicago, fifteen years ago [1887], and since then has been identified with many of the leading theatres of the country. The drop curtain at Power’s theater in this city was painted by Mr. McGreer. One year ago, he took charge of the scenic studio of the Morosco Grand Opera House in San Francisco. The remains will be brought to Chicago for burial. The funeral will take place from Graceland Chapel next Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock.” (page 1). No cause was listed.
Fred’s son Earl continued his artistic legacy and by 1918 his occupation was listed as manager of Commercial Art School. He served in the army during WWI, achieving the rank of Sergeant and then moved Los Angeles California where he lived until his passing in 1954.
Earl Milton McGreer. Photograph from www.ancestry.com
His uncle Robert McGreer also lived in California and continued in the theatrical trade after his older brother’s passing. Robert had accompanied his older brother to California in 1901 and was listed in the San Francisco Directory that year as an artist for the Grand Opera House. When Fred died in 1902, Robert traveled the world. From 1902 to 1910 Rob McGreer visited the “Orient, Australia and South Africa.” During this trip he married an Australian actress named Beattie in 1904. The two were still married and living in San Francisco in 1910. However, in 1912 he married another woman Olive Mary King in Honolulu, Hawaii. He departed for Hong Kong in 1913 without his young wife. Interestingly, his 1919 passport application lists a second trip for “theatrical work” with stops in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Burma, India, Ceylon and elsewhere. McGreer departed San Francisco on October 22, 1919. Overall, Rob McGreer could be the topic of a whole separate post, so I will stop here.
Rob McGreer’s passport application. From www.ancestry.com
However, during Rob’s first absence (1902-1910), his father went to live with their sister in New York and met his own tragic end.
John McGreer’s passing at the age of 69 yrs. old made headlines in newspaper across the country. The aged artist died while sketching the Hudson River. On June 13, 1908, newspapers described the horrifying incident:
“John McGreer, a landscape artist, of No. 602 West One Hundred and Thirty-second Street, was drowned in the Hudson River yesterday afternoon. He had his easel on an old barge anchored near the shore at the foot of that street, and was seated upon a pile of bricks upon the scow. Laborers who were working in the vicinity were suddenly startled by the shouting of the artist’s grandson, who cried out that his grandfather had fallen overboard. The laborers saw that the Albany, one of the steamers of the Albany Day Line, had just passed down the river, and they also noticed that the barge upon which the artist had been painting was rocking and rolling in the big swell from the passing steamer. They ran to the deck of the boat, where the little boy told them that his grandfather had been thrown into the water by the rolling of the barge in the swell. Two of the men leaped into a small boat near at hand. They had scarcely done so when they say that Mr. McGreer’s head appeared above the surface of the water about thirty feet distant from the barge. Before they could reach him he sank and was seen no more. John McGreer, the nine-year-old grandson, ran home and told has what had happen. The West One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street police station was notified by the dead man’s daughter-in-law, and efforts will be made to recover the body. The artist’s wife went to Atlantic City several day ago, and word was sent to her last evening. Robert McGreer, a son, is now in Manila. Two daughters of the artist are Mrs. L. N. Semper of this city and Mrs. Harry Crosby of Chicago. Mr. McGreer had been working upon his painting of the river for several days. The picture was a medium sized canvas showing a section of the Palisades and the Hudson with a schooner in the middle distance. The artist’s brushes and easel and picture were found upon the barge, and were taken to the home of his daughter-in-law. Mr. McGreer was sixty-nine years old and a civil war veteran. He lived, until recently, in Chicago”
Scenic art examples from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
A. J. Rupert (1853-1934) worked with Thomas G. Moses at Sosman & Landis from 1892-1893. He was part of the firm’s crew known as the “West Side Force.” In 1892, Moses and his scenic art staff moved into the old Waverly Theatre on the West Side of Chicago. They primarily focused on subcontracted projects. Of the space, Moses wrote “I had A. J. Rupert, Frank Peyrand and Harry Vincent besides a number of assistants and paint boys. It was awfully hard to keep the building warm. It was so big we had to use stoves.” Some of their projects a production of “Ben Hur” and settings for William Haworth’s “A Flag of Truce.”
By the early 1890s, Rupert had become extremely well known as a landscape painter, having trained in Europe and worked extensively as an art instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago. Many art history books list A. J. Rupert’s birthname as Arthur J. Rupert, frequently sharing the same snippets of information in regard to birthplace, international study and art exhibits. Art experts explain that there is very little information available about the artist when lost paintings credited to A. J. Rupert come to light. Part of the problem is that they have the wrong name; A. J.’s first name was Adam, not Arthur.
Tracking down the correct information to tell A. J.’s story has involved slowly combing through city directories to look cross reference names, occupations and addresses. A. J. is listed as Adam, Adam J., Adam Jr., A. T., and A. G. The handwritten “J” seems to have caused a problem when submitting information to various city directories in the late nineteenth-century; the letter was frequently misinterpreted. What complicates matters even more is that his A. J.’s father, John Adam Rupert, also went by Adam, and is listed as such in city directories and other historic records. For the purpose of this post, I will use the name A. J. for the son and John “Adam” for the father.
The Rupert family remained together; they traveled together, lived together and worked together. They moved from New York to North Dakota, with stops in Michigan and Illinois on their journey west. A. J. was fortunate to have come of age in Chicago where he was able to pursue a career in art. He was in the right place at the right time to start out as a fresco painter for P. M. Almini. A. J. began his painting career at the famous decorative art firm around the same time that Thomas G. Moses began working there, 1873-1874. By 1874, A. J. was listed in the Chicago directory as an artist. By this time, the Rupert family had resided in Chicago for seven years, having moved west after living in Michigan.
Adam John Rupert was born on August 19, 1853, in Fort Plain, Montgomery, New York. He was the son of German immigrants, John “Adam” and Barbara Rupert. John was born in Bavaria in 1827, emigrated to the United States with his family before 1850, and ended his journey in Fargo, North Dakota at the age of seventy. A. J.’s mother, Barbara, is a little harder to track down. Barbara Holtzapel was born in Bavaria in 1826 and passed away in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1904.That is all I know about the matriarch of the Rupert family.
In 1866 John “Adam” worked as a shoemaker in New York, a trade that he would pass along to his son Christian Henry Rupert. In Fargo, Christian would establish C.H. Rupert & Co. Boot Store by 1880. He was also Fargo’s City Auditor for quite a few years. John “Adam” changed professions when his family moved to Chicago in 1867. He left the shoe trade to work for the railroad, working as a foreman, engineer and finally master mechanic. He continued to work in this capacity even after moving to Fargo.
The birth of A. J.’s siblings tell the tale of his family’s travels across the country from 1853 to 1880. I am constantly amazed at how frequently people packed up their families and moved to a new town or territory. It really is staggering when considering the logistics of young children, transportation, work and basic necessities. The two oldest Rupert children, Christian (1855-1913) and A.J. (1853-1934), were born in New York. Alonzo O. (1858-1920) was born in Adrian, Michigan. Helen (1860-1944) and John Henry (1864-1929) were born in Indiana. The youngest child, John Adam Jr. (1863-1929), was born in Michigan, and then the family returned to New York where they remained until 1866.
The Ruperts left New York for Chicago and by 1867, John “Adam” was listed in the Chicago Directory as foreman at the M. C. R. R. roundhouse. By 1868, he was still with the railroad, but now working as a foreman in the M.S. & N.I.R.R. shop. In 1874 John “Adam” was listed as an engineer. As each of his sons came of age and secured employment, they were listed alongside their father in the city directory, always living in the same home together. First was Christian in 1873 (clerk), and then A. J. (artist) and Alonzo (messenger) by 1874. A. J. was the first to leave the family home, but would always return. His success in 1875 likely prompted his desire to study abroad. On August 8, 1875, the “Chicago Tribune” announced, “A. J. Rupert, a young artist and student at the Academy of Design, has several pictures in progress for the Exposition.” By September 8, 1875, the “Chicago Tribune” listed Rupert as one of the Chicago artists whose work was featured in the Western Wing at the Inter-State Exposition (page 1). By 1876, Rupert was studying in Munich.
From 1867 to 1876, the Rupert family lived at 755 Indiana Ave. in Chicago. It was at this time that A. J. left to attend the Royal Academy in Munich. His 1876 passport application provided a physical description of Rupert at the 22 yrs. old: 5’-11” with dark hair, dark eyes and a fair complexion. During his absence his family moved into a new home at 29 Cottage Grove. In 1877 John “Adam” was working as an engineer, Alonzo as a bookkeeper, and Christian H. as a clerk. The Ruperts remained at their home on Cottage Grove until the end of 1879. When A. J. returned from his studied abroad, the Rupert family moved north. The family resettled in Fargo, North Dakota, with A. J. frequently visiting home to sketch the rolling prairie. However, his artistic career began to take off, so he remained in Chicago and opened a studio.
It was in 1880 that Thomas G. Moses began to study with Rupert, writing, “ I was determined to make something of myself. I found an old friend, A. J. Rupert, with whom I had worked at Almini’s. He was now an instructor at the Art Institute, in the life class. He studied abroad and was very clever.” Moses joined Rupert’s art class, two nights a week for a very small tuition. Moses noted that it gave him enough courage to attempt some figure painting on drop curtains, commenting that many of the artists “were very clever and gave me a lot of valuable pointers, so I improved rapidly.” Moses continued his studies and in 1883 recorded that he “painted from life at Rupert’s Studio every Sunday.”
On October 2, 1881, the “Chicago Tribune” cited the location of Rupert;s studio at No. 34 Monroe Street. The article reported, “Mr. A. J. Rupert, who was at one time a pupil of the old Academy of Design, but for five years past a student abroad, principally at Munich, where he acquired the bold, broad handling now prevalent there, has a studio at No. 34 Monroe street, which is filled with many interesting sketches, studies, and bric-a-brac, most of them reminiscences of his foreign travel. A full-length portrait of his brother playing upon his violin is especially rich in tone, and there is much infusion of sentiment into the picture as the limitations of the subject would permit. All of Mr. Rupert’s work shows a good command of the brush, and whatever fault there may be in drawing or selection of subject, there is no hesitation or weakness in execution. Although a figure painter, he has some landscapes which show a close inspection of nature. A Dakota prairie upon which stands a solitary farm-house gives an excellent idea of the vastness and loneliness of that distant region. Two examples of his work are shown at the Exposition. No. 540, ‘Ruins-Pallas Temple, Roma,’ has been described at length, and No 741, ‘Landscape near Munich,’ is broadly handled in low key. Mr. Rupert is at present engaged upon the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Brust, of Prairies avenue, and will, in addition to his studio work, conduct the evening life classes at the Academy of Fine Arts” (page 6).
By 1882 Rupert was hired to teach for the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago every afternoon during winter term. On October 15, 1882, the “Chicago Tribune” commented on the Exposition committee’s snub of Rupert’s painting, “The Beggars of Venice.” The article reported, “The ‘Beggars of Venice,’ by A. J. Rupert has lately attracted many visitors to his studio in the Lakeside Building, extra interest being excited by the fact that the picture, which was painted for the Exposition, was rejected by the Art Committee of that institution as unworthy of a place in the collection. That any picture which A. J. Rupert could possibly paint would be deemed unworthy of a place in a collection which contains such wretched daubs as Ward’s ‘Tobacco Filed’ Douglas Volk’s Miln as Hamlet and Burleigh as Othello, and numerous others that need not here be specified, would on general principles he astonishing and explicable except on the hypothesis of jealously and ill-will; but that so really excellent a work as the ‘Beggars of Venice’ should be rejected by the Art Committee is difficult to account for at all An artist who has been honored by the hanging of a picture this year in the Paris Salon said of Mr. Rupert’s canvas, ‘It would be unquestionably and unhesitantly be accepted and hung in the Salon.’ But it would not do for the Chicago Exposition! The truth is the picture is exceptionally strong in many points – notably so in the bold, rich treatment of the massive marble pillars and in the handling of the architecture in general. The figure of the aged mendicant soliciting alms at the entrance of the gloomy and old palace is well drawn, and the artist has finely expressed the idea of contrast between the heavy grandeur of the stately edifice and the petty human squalor of the wretches who lie in wait for the charity of the occasional visitors. Mr. Rupert’s fame as an artist can far more securely rest upon this picture’s merits than can the fame of the Art Committee as competent and fair-minded persons rest upon their rejection of it” (page 20).
Rupert enjoyed quite a following, both among fellow artists and art enthusiasts. Moses greatly revered Rupert’s work, even naming his second child after his close friend. Moses bought a painting from Rupert in 1885 entitled “My Studio,” it measured 34” x 54”. That same year, Rupert exhibited artworks at the inaugural reception and exhibition for the Western Art Association (“Inter Ocean,” 23 Jan 1885, page 5).The group held their show at the Chicago Art Institute on the corner of Michigan Ave and Van Buren Street where a lot of collectors participated in the event. For this show, Rupert had exhibited three pieces “The Violinist,” “The Tramp” and “Discouraged Vestal” (“Inter Ocean” on Jan. 23, 1885, page 5). In 1887 “Adam J. Rupert” was listed in the Chicago Directory as an instructor at 200 Michigan av. He became increasingly invested in the establishment and exhibits of various art organizations. In 1888 he participated in the Chicago Art League Exhibition at Art Institute of Chicago.
By 1889 Rupert opened a studio at No. 59 Honore Block in Chicago and soon exhibited at the Chicago Society of Artists. On Nov. 10, 1889, the “Inter Ocean” reported, “A. J. Rupert, who at one time was instructor in the Art Institute, but who has of late been studying in Europe, has returned to Chicago and opened a studio at No. 59 Honore Block” (page 12). In 1891 Rupert’s artwork was featured next to those of Walter Burridge, Herbert E, Butler, L.S.G. Parker, Frederick Freer, and Joseph Jefferson (the actor). He remained extremely active at the Institute, as well as joining the Palette & Chisel Club. Other exhibitions including Rupert’s works at the Art Institute Chicago were in 1898, 1900, 1906, 1915, 1917 and 1919.
Rupert was also listed as one of the founders of the Cosmopolitan Art Club in March 1892. Many of its members came from the Chicago Society of Artists. Founders included Franck C. Peyraud, Hardesty Maratta, Frederick W. Freer, Edgar S. Cameron, and others. Its purpose was to set a high standard for fine arts in the city of Chicago. Newspaper article announced, “This club, which is informal in its organization, is not intended to antagonize the interests of the older Chicago Society of Artists, but to procure the advantages of a smaller number of members having less diverse interests.” Their first annual exhibition was held in May 1892 at the Stevens’ Galleries. By 1896, the Cosmopolitan Art Club held their fifth annual exposition with A. J. Rupert, Hardesty Maratta, Frank Peyraud, Harry Wallace Methven and Charles Francis Brow as the painting committee. In
By the mid-1890s, Rupert began to travel throughout the United States, frequently stopping in Fargo. His name occasionally popped up the Fargo Directory, each time living with family there. By 1899, all of the Rupert family homes in Fargo were all located on 8th Ave. S. They remained a close-knit family. A. J. was also with his family at this time, but not for long.
In 1900 the Federal Census listed A. J. Rupert (artist) living in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Frank Peyraud was also living at the same boarding house on 6th Street, so we know it was the same A. J. Rupert. The two sporadically worked together from 1900-1904. By 1904, the two were painting Rupert a World Fair attraction. The project was for Henry Roltair’s “Creation,” an amusement at the St. Louis Exposition. Rupert and George Schreiber were the assistants to Frank Peyraud for this project. The attraction was described in the “Chicago Sunday Tribune” on May 29, 1904 (page 20). The article reported, “A great dome covers transformation scenes representing the creation of the world with dioramas showing what man has created in the world.” The took two hours and consisted of a boat trip travelled around the big blue dome, illustrating the works of God during the six days of creation. Other side trips in boats included the scenic vistas of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Alaska that allowed visitors to travel back into prehistoric time to primitive man. Another boat ride entered a labyrinth that depicted ancient countries and cities, including Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome, China, Japan, Spain, France, and England. The cost for this adventure was $0.50 for adults and $0.25 for children.
The next year, A. J. was listed in the 1905 Fargo Directory, again living with family; this time he was living with his brother Alonzo at 312 8th S. Street. And then he starts to disappear from print. His lengthy stays in Fargo were likely associated with the passing of his father in 1897 and mother in 1904. But there are so many other factors that could have been at play. It is so hard to know why this artist who was so revered by Chicago Society simply started to fade away from the public eye, despite his continued exhibitions. I have to wonder if he blundered, or made a social misstep.
By the early twentieth-century it becomes increasingly difficult to track down Rupert’s whereabouts and he only occasionally appears in a city directory. Maybe his time in the public eye simply over. In 1911, A. J. was listed as an artist and living at 55 W. Ontario in Chicago. I have yet to find a wife or any children; Rupert seems to have remained single. The 1930 Census lists A. J Rupert as a lodger on Dearborn Street in Chicago, living alongside performers and salesman. He is still working as an artist, but no longer active. He passed away on Nov. 1, 1934 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo, North Dakota.
Gravestone for Rupert Family at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo, North Dakota.
Gravestone for A. J. Rupert at Family Riverside Cemetery in Fargo, North Dakota.
Examples of scenic art and similar maquette from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
