Copyright © 2023 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
B. P. Lee was listed as a Sosman & Landis employee in 1885. His name was included in a list of individuals who made donations to the Grant Memorial Fund. On August 2, 1885, the Chicago Tribune” reported that Lee donated 50 cents.
Benjamin “Ben” P. Lee (b. 1856) was the son of Benjamin J. Lea (1830-1902). Both were both in Calne, Wiltfordshire, England. Fun Fact: Calne was the home of Samuel Taylor Coleridge!
Here is a view of Calne from the Canal in 1828. Here is a link to the image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calne#/media/File:Calne_canal.jpg
In many ways, I know more about Lee’s parents, grandparents, wife, and son, than Lee himself . The side stories were quite compelling, and I ventured down a few stray paths. I am going to start with B. P. Lee’s father, Benjamin J. Lea. Lea lost his father, Thomas Stretch Lea, when he was only 2 yrs. old. Lea was raised by his mother, Ann Rutherford, who worked as a local dressmaker. Leas’s grandparents also lived in Calne. His grandfather, John Lea, worked as the local tailor. I have tracked down Leas’ birth, christening, and listing in the 1841, 1851, and 1861 England census reports. He became went into the trade of masonry and married Frances Sarah Pring on Jan. 1, 1853, at St. Mary’s in Portsea, Hampshire, England. The two settled in Lea’s hometown of Calne and began to raise a family. Benjamin Lea, Jr. was their second born; this is the same Ben Lee who worked as a stage carpenter at Sosman & Landis in 1885.
In 1870, the Lea family left Calne and headed to the United States. The arrived in New York Harbor on May 17, 1870. They sailed aboard the H.M.S. City of London, an Inman Shipping Line vessel. Passenger lists include the following members for the Lea family:
Ben Lea, 40 yrs., mason
Fran Lea, 39 yrs., wife
Henry Lea, 16 yrs., teacher
Ben Lea, 14 yrs., teacher
Jno Lea, 11yrs.
Francis Lea, 9 yrs.
David Lea, 7 yrs.
Thomas Lea, 5 yrs.
Ebenezer Lea, 3 yrs.
William Lea, 1 yr.
After their arrival, the Leas settled in Chicago, where they were counted in the 1870 US Federal Census. At the time, they were living in the 14th Ward of the City, where Lea Sr. had secured work as a plasterer. The Lea household included: Benjamin Lea, Frances Lee, Henry, Benjamin, John, Fanny, David, Thomas, Ebenezer, William Lee, and boarder William Goff. Goff was 26 yrs. old and employed as a painter. The Lea family eventually relocated to Elgin, Illinois, where they were counted in the census in the US Federal in1880. Benjamin Lea Sr. continued to work as a mason as his children grew up and left the home. Many Lea family members were buried in Elgin, Illinois. For geographical context, Elgin is located on the Fox River, about 30 miles west of Chicago.
Sometime between Benjamin Leas Jr.’s arrival in 1870 and his marriage in 1883 he changes the spelling of his last name to Lee and begins going by B. P. Lee…and this is where his whole story goes through a series of twists and turns over the course of a few decades.
Ben Lee married Bandenah Hinkle Ellington (1849-1918) on Jan. 21, 1883. This date coincides with the birth of their first child Harry Chester Lee (1883-1940), who follows in his father’s footsteps as a stage carpenter.
The circumstances surrounding Bandenah’s first marriage, and the birth of Harry C. Lee, are very odd. They also bring the whole Lee tale to the area surrounding Peoria, Illinois, and the small township of Glasford. Keep in mind that Peoria is just downstream of Chicago by way of the Illinois River.
Bandenah Hinkle was the daughter of Nebat Hinkle. These two unique names made their story somewhat easy to trace and confirm the marriage of Hinkle to Lee. When Bandenah’s father passed away in 1904, his obituary mentioned his daughter, Mrs. B. P. Lee. On Feb. 26, 1904, the Glasford Gazette reported:
“In 1826 Daniel J. Hinkle, wife and five children, John, Obediah, Daniel, Jr., Elizabeth, and Polly came from Ohio and settled for a short time in Peoria. Here the sixth child, Nebat, was born Oct. 26, 1826. In the following spring they moved to Timber Township and settled on the N.W. ¼ of Section 21. This was the first family in the Township, and here, with no neighbors for miles around, amid deer, wolves, turkey and other wild game of the forest, the subject of our sketch spent his boyhood days. The father was a large, muscular man, 6 feet tall, and a great hunter. Brought up with such surroundings, it was but natural that Mr. Hinkle should acquire a love for the country, and a few years ago when he was visiting his daughter, Mrs. B. P. Lee, who then lived in Chicago, the writer spent several days with the family there. Mr. Hinkle remarked that he had heard so much noise of the great city, the elevated road running past the house, that he was homesick to get back to Glasford, and while he could not work much, he could tinker around on the farm and be happy. In 1848 he was married to Miss Margaret Shreffler, to which union two daughters were born, Mrs. B. P. Lee, and Mary, who died in infancy. In 1853 he was again married to Miss Matilda Shade. To this union eleven children were born. Six are dead and five are living as follows: Mrs. Hanna Floglore, of Pontiac; Alfred Hinkle and Mrs. M. B. Wilson, of Chicago; B. B. Hinkle, of Canton; and Mrs. Margaret Scovil, of Peoria. His son, B. B. Hinkle, and wife, lived on the home place for a number of years and kept house for his father. When Butler moved off the farm, his daughter, Mrs. B. P. Lee, and son Harry, took the farm and cared for Mr. Hinkle the remaining days of his life. He has been in failing health for some time, but we had hoped with the return of spring he would be able to come to town, as he seemed to enjoy coming in and talking to Col. Fahnestock of old times. A short time ago dropsy set in, and he continued to grow worse until the end came, Sunday, Feb. 21, 1904, about 1 o’clock a.m., aged 77 years, 3 months, and 26 days. All his children were present at the funeral, which was held at the residence, Tuesday, conducted by Rev. W. L. Jones of Chicago, who is here holding meetings at the Baptist Church, assisted by Rev. Oldham, the pastor. Singing was furnished by E. L. Fahnestock, A.C. Maple, Kate Wolgamott and May Maple of Glasford. Mr. Hinkle was one of the early members of Lancaster Lodge, No.106, A. F. & A. M., which conducted the funeral services at the grave, past Grand Master G. M. Saylor officiating. Mr. Hinkle leaves beside the children mentioned, one half-sister, Mrs. Katie Jane Sanders, and a host of friends to mourn his loss. The body was laid to rest in the Hinkle Cemetery, near Lancaster.”
Mrs. B. P. Lee was Bandenah Hinkle Ellington Lee (1849-1918). I tracked down Bandenah and her two husbands (Benjamin Lee and Joshua Ellington) to Peoria, Illinois in the 1870s. Benjamin Lee worked as a photographer and bookbinder. Joshua Ellington worked a cooper. Bandenah was a dressmaker, living and working with Lizzie F. Hinman. All three lived in close proximity, so it would be unrealistic to think that in the days of walking to work, they didn’t cross paths, especially if they were living on the same street.
On May 4, 1875, Bandenah Hinkle married Joshua Ellington. The next year, Joshua Ellington is listed in the 1876 Peoria City Directory as living at 318 N. Washington. By 1879, Mrs. Bandenah Hinkle is living at 320 N. Washington and Mrs. Jenny Hinkle is living at 318 N. Washington. ….and then everything changes and only Mrs. Jenny Hinkle is left in town, listed in the 1880 Peoria Directory as living at 410 1st. It is all so very odd.
Whatever happened in Peoria prompted a quick departure. On Jan. 21, 1883, Harry C. Lee is born in Chicago. Again, this is the same day that his mother Bandenah marries B. P. Lee.
Interestingly, in 1884, B. P. Lee was involved with the romantic drama “Se of Ice; or A Thirst for Gold” at the Chicago Museum. B. P. Lee was listed as the “Spanish Secretary” character in the third, for a fifth tableaux.
In 1885, Benjamin P. Lee is listed in the Chicago Director as a carpenter, living at 297 W. Randolph. This is the same year that he is listed as a Sosman & Landis employee in the Chicago Tribune. He is again listed as a carpenter in the 1887 Chicago Directory, now living at 24. N. Carpenter.
Just about the time I was ready to give up on locating anything about Lee’s work as a stage carpenter, I found him working on an opera house in Arkansas City, Kansas. On Oct. 7, 1888, the Arkansas City Daily Traveler reported, “Yesterday a reporter interviewed B. P. Lee, stage fitter for the new opera house and he said: ‘This opera house is the finest I have seen in this season, and it would do credit to a larger city.’ He also stated that Moses & Louderback, the scene painters, had fitted up several nice opera houses this season and although they had fitted up several larger houses yet for good arrangement, etc., our house never approached perfection than any of the others. Mr. Lee will be here about six weeks at it will take him that long to set the scenery” (page 6).
On Oct. 11, 1888, the Weekly Republican-Traveler of Arkansas City reported, “Yesterday a reporter interviewed B. P. Lee, stage fitter for the new opera house and he said: ‘This opera house is the finest I have seen in this season, and it would do credit to a larger city.’ He also stated that Moses & Louderback, the scene painters, had fitted up several nice opera houses this season and although they had fitted up several larger houses yet for good arrangement, etc., our house never approached perfection than any of the others. Mr. Lee will be here about six weeks at it will take him that long to set the scenery” (page 3).
On Oct. 25, the Canal City Dispatch of Arkansas City reported, “J. D. Louderback, of the Chicago scene painting studio, came to town today. His house is furnishing the scenery which B. P. Lee is putting in the new opera house” (page 7).
These three short articles connect Lee with Moses & Louderback, previously known as Burridge, Moses & Louderback. Thomas G. Moses, Sosman & Landis’s, one of the firm’s earliest employees. In 1887, Moses left the employ of Sosman & Landis to partner with Walter Burridge and J. C. Louderback. The firm failed after a series of disputes between Burridge and Louderback, causing Burridge to return to his position at the Chicago Opera House. Moses & Louderback continued the business, but it never regained its initial momentum. By the spring of 1888, Moses returned to Sosman & Landis. For more information about Burridge, Moses & Louderback, see past post https://drypigment.net/2017/06/30/tales-from-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-acquiring-the-fort-scott-scenery-collection-for-the-minnesota-masonic-heritage-center-part-132/ .
It was Perry Landis who convinced Moses to return to the firm that spring. They accidentally met in Altoona, Pennsylvania, each going after the same project at the Mountain City Theatre. Of the encounter, Moses wrote, “Mr. Landis also showed up after the same job. After our meeting, we went to the hotel and sat up long after midnight, talking over business. Sosman and Landis wanted me to come back with them, and I agreed to do so as soon as I could finish my work. I was to receive my old salary of $50.00 per week, and a chance to do contract work, which would increase my salary to $4000.00 per year.” Because of this deal, Sosman & Landis won the contract, as Mr. Plack want Moses to paint the scenery for his Mountain City Theater.
However, the Arkansas City Opera House was already in the pipeline. Moses & Louderback had to finish the work of installing the scenery. This is where Lee comes into the picture. None of the above-mentioned articles suggest that Lee is representing the firm of Moses & Louderback. I think that Lee was still working for Sosman & Landis and sent to complete the install that fall. This is why Louderback to inspect the work, as mentioned in the Canal City Dispatch on Oct. 25. Louderback was a business manager who ran an auction house with fine art galleries. He was not a scenic artist of individual familiar with intricate stage mechanisms. However, he likely went because Moses was overwhelmed with work. In June 1888 Sosman & Landis sent him to complete two California contracts at the Grand Opera House and Los Angeles Theatre. Jack Taylor was one of scenic artist assistants assigned to Moses upon his return to the studio in 1888 (see Employee No. 70 https://drypigment.net/2022/01/06/sosman-landis-shaping-the-landscape-of-american-theatre-employee-no-70-jack-taylor/).
Moses would have also worked with a team of installers, that may have included B. P. Lee.
Benjamin P. Lee was listed as a stage building in the 1890 Chicago Directory, living at 45 Carpenter; this is same address from his 1887 listing. In 1890, however, Mrs. Benjamin P. Lee is working as a dressmaker, the same work that Bandenah was listed for in Peoria Directories in the 1870s.
On Dec. 24, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. B. P. Lee, were listed in an article entitled “A Great Ghost Dance” (page 6). A “ghost dance” event was held by the Logan Tribe of Red Men (a white fraternity) at the West Chicago Club. It was basically a social gathering with dinner and entertainment. In the section, “Prominent among those who were responsible for the affair,” Mr. and Mrs. B. P. Lee were listed alongside a few dozen others.
The Lees remained at 45 Carpenter until 1891 when they temporarily disappear from my radar until the turn of the century.
In 1900, Benjamin P. Lee was living with his wife Bandenah at 594 Lake St. Other members of the household include a cousin-in-law who works as a compositor, Frank Meyer (19 yrs. old) and a 23 yrs.-old boarder named Lizzie Mear. Meanwhile in Glasden, Bandenah’s half-brother, Butler B. Hinkle and his wife are caring for Nebat Hinkle; a job that Bandenah and her son Harry will soon assume.
This is where B. P. Lee really fades away from his family, and the story continues through articles about his wife and son. Bandenah returns to Glasden to care for his father until his passing in 1904. As noted in Nesbet’s obituary: “When Butler moved off the farm, his daughter, Mrs. B. P. Lee, and son Harry, took the farm and cared for Mr. Hinkle the remaining days of his life.” Nebat passed away on Feb. 21, 1904. Bandenah does not return to Chicago but stays in the area where she was born. The 1910 census lists her as living in Timber Township, Peoria County, Illinois. Timber is due south of Glasden.
Before returning to Chicago, Harry C. Lee marries Sylvia C. Smith in Peoria on March 16, 1904. The two celebrate the birth of a daughter, Clara B. Lee, on Feb.1. 1905 in Canton, Illinois.
The 1910 US Federal Census listed Harry as a lodger at 1840 Wabash. At 27 yrs. old, Harry lists his employment as “Stage Hand” in the “Theatrical” industry. By the time, Clara is of school age, both she and her mother have moved to Chicago and are living with Harry.
Harry Lee’s WWI Draft Registration Card listed their address as 326 E 25th Street, in Chicago. His is working as a stage carpenter for the Columbia Amusement Co., located in the Columbia Theatre on North Clark St. I was excited to read his physical description, as I had no idea what any of the Lee family looked like until now. Harry Lee was described as medium height, medium build, dark brown hair, and blue eyes.
The same year that Harry registered for the draft, Bandenah passed away. Her obituary was the only indication that B. P. Lee was still alive. On Jan. 3, 1918, The Pantagraph, of Bloomington, Illinois announced, “Mrs. Lee Dies. Mrs. Bandenah Lee, aged sixty-nine, died yesterday in Glasford, Ill. Fourteen miles southwest of Pekin. She had been an invalid for seventeen years. Surviving her are the husband, Ben P. Lee and one son, Harry C. Lee, Chicago. The funeral will be conducted from the Methodist church in Glasford, Thursday afternoon at 1 o’clock” (page 2).
Reading, “she had been an invalid for seventeen years” really surprised me, as she returned to care for her father Nebat in his last years, sometime between 1901 and his passing in Feb. 1904. She had returned to Glasden with Harry. Harry would have been somewhere between 18 – 20 years old at the time of their return to Nebat’s farm. Harry was apparently there long enough to meet, court, and marry Sylvia in nearby Peoria too. There was no mention of Bandenah returning to Glasden with BOTH her son and husband. My assumption was that Harry was still working, or traveling, as a stage carpenter, and sending money home. Lee was estranged from his wife and son; it would be unlikely he would be mentioned in her obituary.
Bandenah died on Jan. 1, 1918, in Glasford. She was buried in the family plot, now known as Hinkle Cemetery. Fortunately, Janine Crandell documented the Hinkle Cemetery graves a decade ago and uploaded the images to www.findagrave.com. Without her documentation, I would have never located Bandenah’s grave, or the location of the Hinkle family farm. Thank you, Janine, for uploading your pictures to findagrave.com!
Gravestones of Bandenah and her mother at Hinkle cemetery. Photographs by Janine Crandell, 2013.
The Hinkle Cemetery in relation to Glasden. Google maps screen shot, 2023.
Hinkle Cemetery in relation to Peoria, Illinois. Google maps screen shot, 2023.
It is possible that B. P. Lee never left Chicago and worked for Sosman & Landis until the close of the firm’s first iteration in 1923. It would not be impossible, as unless his social activities made headlines, his working as a carpenter in the main scenic studio would go without any public record.
There was one mention of a B. P. Lee that caught my eye from 1921. On June 30, 1921, The Rock Island Argus included Lee’s name an article about the Chautauqua Club in Roseville, Illinois. The article listed B. P. Lee as one of the groups directors, elected as a meeting on June 30.
This is the last possible clue of Lee’s whereabouts and possible passing: The California Death Index includes Ben Lee with the following information attached to the file:
Ben Lee
Birth year: abt. 1856.
Death Date: 4 Dec 1936.
Age at Death: 80
Death Place: Los Angeles
It would make sense that Lee headed west after the passing of his wife. So many Sosman & Landis employees sought employment in the film industry after the first iteration of the studio closed. Lee would have had colleagues with connections in Los Angeles. If I locate any more information about B. P. Lee, I will update this post.
