In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Arrived in Chicago early Monday ready for a hustle. Mr. Hunt sent Mr. Leo Stahr on from New York to take my place and while he tried to be very nice about it, there was something about his attitude that didn’t ring true.” For context, in 1920, Hunt was in charge or two scenic studios: Sosman & Landis and New York Studios. The two firms were considered affiliates, with each maintaining offices in both Chicago and New York. By 1923, Hunt was involved with the establishment of the Chicago Studios, a new studio that operated out of the original Sosman & Landis space.
Leo Stahr pictured in “Variety” Magazine in 1929.
In regard to Leo Stahr, he was a well-known art director for Balaban & Katz by the 1920s. Like many former Sosman & Landis employees, Stahr is the perfect example of “once important, now forgotten.” Here is his tale…
Leopold “Leo” Alexander Stahr was born on Dec. 12, 1882, in New York. He was the youngest son of Gustave “Adolph” Stahr and Ida “Anna” Sengewein. Both of Leo’s parents went by their middle names, Adolph and Anna. The tradition extended to their children and complicated matters even more. Leo’s mother, Ida Anna Stahr, and his sister, Anna Ida Stahr, both went by their middle name. This made research quite challenging.
Leo came from a family of artists, including his father. Gustave “Adolph” Stahr was born in July 1845 and emigrated from Bavaria in 1864. Various historic records list Adolph’s birthplace as Bavaria, Germany, Poland and Prussia; it all depends on the timing. After arriving in America, Adolph Stahr settled in Stapleton, New York. Stapleton is located on the east side of Staten Island. The borough of Staten Island became home to the entire extended Stahr family. On October 20, 1868, Stahr became a naturalized citizen of the United States, renouncing his former allegiance to the King of Prussia. At the time, he listed his home address was in Manhattan, as 123 E. Houston St. Stahr consistently worked as either a painter or artist, frequently listed in New York City directories. Both of Adolph Stahr’s sons followed in his footsteps.
In regard to the matriarch of the Stahr family, Ida “Anna” Sengewein was also of European descent. Born in Hannover, she emigrated to the United States in 1871 at the age of 20 yrs. old. Four years later, she married Adolph Stahr in Manhattan. Their wedding ceremony took place on May 8, 1875. The Stahrs remained in Manhattan until 1870 when they moved to Staten Island.
Between 1876 and 1883, the Stahrs welcomed six children into their home: Frederick Charles Stahr (1876), Elizabeth B. Stahr (1877), Anna “Ida” Stahr (1879), Marie “Mary” M. Stahr (1881), Leopold Alexander Stahr (1883), and Theodora Stahr (1884). Little is known of Leo Stahr’s early childhood or artistic training. The family moved from However, by 1900, Leo Stahr was listed as an apprentice in the US Federal Census, still living with his family on Staten Island. At the time Leo was eight years old and the Stahr household included Gustave A. Stahr, A. Ida Stahr, Elizabeth B. Stahr, Ida A. Stahr, Mary M. Stahr, Leo Stahr and Theodora Star. Leo’s older brother, Frederick “Fred’ Stahr had already moved out by this time and was studying art. It is important to understand the artistic precedent set by Leo’s older brother to see what was at play during the early twentieth century. Fred C. Stahr began his artistic studies at the National Academy of Design, where he won the Lazarus Prize in 1911. The Jacob H. Lazarus Scholarship for the study of mural paintings was established in by Mrs. Amelia B Lazarus and Emilie Lazarus through the gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The holder of the scholarship made their headquarters in Rome under the supervision of the Director of the American Academy at Rome. While overseas, Fred also studied at the Royal Academy of Rome and the Royal Academy of Bavaria in Munich. While abroad, Fred C. Stahr was also awarded the Prix de Rome, a three-year term studying Italian Masters of Art at the Vatican, where he also completed a Master’s Degree. Stahr eventually taught at Columbia University, as well as assisting at the National Academy of Design. accepted a In later years, he completed a WPA project for Borough Hall in Staten Island. It was a project that he first proposed in 1904 at the time of construction. Finally in 1936, Stahr painted thirteen murals (6’-6”w x 13’-0”h) on the first floor. His paintings depicted the history of Staten Island from Giovanni Da Verrazano’s discovery in 1524 to the 1907 fire at the Hotel Castleton. Here are two links to his Borough Hall murals: https://www.statenislandusa.com/borough-hall.html and https://www.statenislandusa.com/uploads/8/9/8/7/89877849/bhall_murals-2_1.pdf
Mural by Leo’s brother Fred C. Stahr at Borough Hall, Staten Island. 1936 WPA project.Mural by Leo’s brother, Fred C. Stahr, for Borough Hall, Staten Island. 1936 WPA project.
Leo followed in his famous older brother’s footsteps, also beginning his artistic studies at the National Academy of Design, although I have yet to determine when he first started as a student. In 1904, Leo Stahr was listed as a student and prize winner there. On May 15, 1904, “The New York Times” published an article entitled, “Schools of the Academy. Prize Winners and Medaled Boys and Girls at the Exhibition” (page 5). The article reported, “The work of the past season by the pupils of the free art schools of the National Academy of Design is now to be seen in the classrooms on West End Avenue, corner of One Hundred and Ninth Street. The best paintings and crayons from the life classes adorn the walls with an iteration that is somewhat hard on the picture lover, but fills the breasts of proud parents and instructors with joy…The Academy schools adhere to the old way of giving out a subject for the composition class, with the avowed purpose of exhibiting best results and awarding a prize to one of the chosen pictures. The subject this time does not err on the side of modesty; it is the scene of Belshazzar’s feast and the writing on the wall. Out of the competitors eight have had the honor of exhibiting their designs. Last night prizes were awarded, and the First Hallgarten went to Frank Dawson, the second to Leo Stahr.”
Stahr was again recognized for his achievements the following year. His name was included in the list of those receiving prizes and notable mentions. On April, 13, 1905, the “New York Times” reported, “Students of the schools of the National Academy of Design received the annual award of prizes last evening at the rooms of the Architectural League, 215 West Fifty-seventh Street. One of the pleasant features was the distribution of awards” (page 9).
After completing his studies at the National Academy of Design, Stahr studied abroad. On Feb. 1, 1907, he received a certificate from the American Consulate in Munich, noting his travel for the purpose of study. The expiration date on the certificate was March 24, 1909. However, Stahr returned to New York by 1908, sailing aboard the S. S. Grosser Kurfurst from Cherbourg, France. He arrived in New York on Aug. 11, 1908.
In 1909, Stahr was working still working as an artist. That year he married Clarissa Holmes Williams (1885-1955) on June 6, 1909, at 717 Washington St. in Hudson, Hoboken, New Jersey. Williams was one of six children born to Robert Francis Williams Sr. (1841-1924) and Elizabeth Jane Merril (1850-1942). United Methodist Church Records list that at the time of their wedding Stahr lived in Newark, New Jersey, and Williams lived in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Hoboken and New Brunswick are approximately 34 miles apart.
Two years later, the Stahrs celebrated the birth of their first child, Leonora Clarissa Stahr on June 18, 1911. Their second daughter, Ida A. Stahr, was born the next year on June 11, 1912. Little is known of Stahr’s artistic career during this time. However, in 1914 Stahr was mentioned in “The Metal Industry.” In the “Printed Matter” section, there was an announcement that Leo Stahr’s painting, “In the North Woods,” was being included in the George S. Young’s 1914 calendar (page 141). At this time, the young couple had returned to Jackson St. on Staten Island.
The 1915 New York State Census listed the Stahr home at 27 Jackson St. That year the household included Leo (33 yrs.), Clarrisa (30 yrs.), and Ida (3 yrs.). They were living just a few does down from his mother. In 1915 Clarissa Stahr was 65 years old and her household included Fred C. Stahr (38 yrs.), Marie L. Stahr (29 yrs.), Theodora M. Stahr (28 yrs.) and boarders K. P. and Marie Garrett. Both Fred C. Stahr and Leo A. Stahr were listed as artists in the 1915 census. The Stahr Studio was located at 31 Jackson St.
In 1917, Leo and Clarissa Stahr were still living at 27 Jackson St., just down the street from his mother and brother’s family. Stahr’s WWI Draft registration card listed that he was working for Broadway designer, John H. Young. Young’s studio was listed as 536 West 29th St, in New York City. Stahr’s description at this time was noted as medium height, slender build, brown hair and brown eyes.
On April 7, 1918, the Stahr’s celebrated the birth of their third daughter, Elizabeth Alexandria Stahr. The 1920 US Federal Census listed that the Stahr household on Jackson St. including Leo (36 yrs.), Clarissa (34 yrs.), Leonora (8 yrs.), Ida (7 yrs.) and Elizabeth (1 yr.). It was at this time that Moses mentioned David H. Hunt sending for Stahr.
Stahr remained in the New York area until after his mother’s death. Ida Anna Stahr lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on June 25, 1923. She was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery. Her passing marked the end of an era and signaled a period of transition for many of her children. Fred remained on Staten Island, continuing the management of the family studio at 31 Jackson St. and teaching art lessons at Columbia University. Fred continued to specialize in mural work , completing dozens of projects in the 1920s. Leo and his family moved west, settling in Chicago at 2820 Sheridan road.
In Chicago, Leo became the artistic director for Balaban & Katz (B & K). For historical context, the earliest iteration of the B & K firm appeared in Chicago around 1916, established by Barney Balaban, A. J. Balaban, Sam Katz and Morris Katz. Today, B & K is primarily known for their chain of opulent motion picture theaters. However, B & K also produced full-scale musical stage productions for their venues. Stahr headed their production department. His move to Chicago was a game changer for his career, placing him in the right place at the right time.
The 1920s is an interestingly time in the world of scenic art. As the demand for painted scenery declines, many master scenic artists adopt the title of artistic director. This title marks a period of transition in the live entertainment industry. Art directors are set apart from those whole solely paint scenery. Prior to WWI, the title of “scenic artist” meant much more than painting; it signified a scenic visionary who thoroughly understood and participation all aspects of the production, including design, engineering, construction, painting and various lighting systems. Up until WWI, many scenic artists were considered backstage visionaries, with an intimate understanding scenic art, stage machinery and lighting systems.
By 1924 Leo and his family relocated to Chicago. Interestingly, I located a picture of Stahr from 1925, noting his work as an art director. On Jan. 25, 1925, Leo’ Stahr was pictured in the “Chicago Tribune” in a section entitled “The Inquiring Reporter.” The article posed the question, “What does the annual automobile show pose to you?” asked at the corner of State and Randolph Streets. The question was posed to stage manager Adolph. W. Dietz, stage manager Grant L. Johnson, organ builder Arthur Nelson, and art director Leo A. Stahr. The question was posed by Alex M. Tough, 3899 Fullerton Avenue, who received $5.00 for the “Chicago tribune” as his question was accepted for publication. “Leo A, Stahr, 640 Arlington place, art director – The show usually means about $2,000 out of my pockets because when I go down with the crush of fans and see all of the new models for the new year, I nearly always fall for one of them and have to start trading and dickering to buy it.”
Leo Stahr pictured in the “Chicago Tribune,” 1925.
In the Dec. 25, 1926, issue of “Exhibitors Herald” Leo Stahr was credited with the design and painting of “The Doll Shop,” “Pirate Days” and “The Waif’s Dream,” all Balaban & Katz shows under the direction of Will J. Harris. The article reported, “Thirty-five actors, including twenty children, with the Loomis Twins, are to give “The Doll Shop” in two scenes, and many curtain specialties at the Uptown. Some of the dolls are alive, and Ray Conklin, ventriloquist, will help keep the audience mystified. Eighteen singers, including a male chorus, will give “Pirate Days.” All these productions, including the four-scene “The Waif’s Dream,” at the Michigan in Detroit, have scenes painted by Leo Stahr and special costumes and lighting effects by Vincent Minelli.” Minelli and Stahr worked for B&K at the same time. I was surprised to find mention of Stahr in Emanuel Levy’s book “Vincent Minelli, Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer. Levy wrote, “Minnelli socialized with Leo Stahr, a jolly German who designed sets, and his wife, who invited him for dinner” (page 25). Yes, Vincent is Liza Minelli’s father.
Fred C. Stahr also ventured to Chicago for projects on several occasions. In 1927, Fred was credited with painting decorative panels for the First Annual Scenic Artists Ball in held in Chicago. That same year, Leo Stahr traveled to Havana with his wife Clarrisa and their two daughters Ida (14 yrs.) and Leonora (12 yrs.) The four returned to the United States aboard the Ship Shawnee on Jan. 28, 1928, docking in Miami, Florida.
In 1929, Stahr’s portrait was published in “Variety” Magazine. On Wednesday, Feb. 27, 1929, “Variety” devoted an entire issue to the career of A. J. Balaban, who had retired from business and relocated to Europe (page 20). A full page plate was included, picturing members of the Balaban & Katz live entertainment production department. Shown as a tree with the banner “In Appreciation to A. J. Balaban. The roots pictured Frank Cambria, Pioneer-Director of Productions; Leo H. Stahr, Art Director on the trunk; and in the branches were: Vincent C. Minnelli, creation of costumes; Arthur L. Kretlow, Kretlow’s Ballet; William Jackson, scenic designer; Herb J. Franksen, electrical technician; Louis R. Lipstone, gen. musical director; Morris S. Silver, general booking manager; and Victor Young, musical arrangements.
The Balaban & Katz tree with Leo A. Stahr, published in 1929.
The 1930 US Federal Census listed the Stahr family as living at 2335 Commonwealth. This was part of a massive apartment complex building at 2333-2341 Commonwealth Ave. Stahr was listed as an artist in theatre. The Stahr household included: Leo A., Clarrisa W., Leonore, Ida Anne, and Elizabeth. That year, Stahr contracted work with Chicago’s Robert P. Carsen Studio, well-known as “constructors and painters of theatrical scenery. Business records indicate that for the week of August 15, 1930, Carsen completed scenery for the Oriental Theatre, “as per drawings of Mr. Leo Stahr.”
On Dec. 25, 1931, Chicago’s “The Daily Herald” published an article entitled, “Secret of Exhibition Hall at Southtown Theater Revealed” (page 7). “The secret of the much-heralded Exhibition Hall at the Southern theater is at last revealed. The mezzanine floor lobby in this new Publix-Balaban & Katz theater at 63rd and Halsted street contained a series of illuminated niches and coves in which an interesting and educational exhibit has been promised. This lobby has been officially named “The Century of Progress Promenade.” Leopold A. Stahr, chief scenic artist of the Balaban & Katz Corporation is completing a set of models of famous Chicago events, designed like stage settings and using lighting effects for motion. The ambitious setting will be that famous Court of Honor of the old World’s Fair showing the imposing buildings. The great lagoon and states that made it so unforgettable. This display will be set at the head of the main lobby. The other displays included such scenes as the Chicago Fire, Old Fort Dearborn, the Loop in 1865, the corner of 63rd and Halsted street 30 years ago and the South side steel mills as a symbol of Chicago’s industries” (page 7).
In addition to lobby displays, Stahr continued to be credited as scenic designer for several B & K productions in the 1930s. His work was mention in the October 1935 issue of “Variety” (page 20). The review of “Villa Venice Revue” by B & K reported, “ “Leo Stahr also rates a bow for his scenic work. Stahr this week uses a single set piece to give an entire and complete stage picture, full of life and color. [Fred] Evans, [Francis] Pallester and Stahr manage to turn out a sustained high level of excellence week after week, despite obvious curtailment of the B&K product budget.” For context, Evans was the dance director and Pallester the costumer for the production.
On Jan. 23, 1937, “Billboard” reviewed another B & K show featuring a stage setting by Stahr. for “Chicago, Chicago” (page 17). The article reported, “Leo Stahr, scenic designer for Balaban & Katz, has furnished a novel idea for the opening number of this week’s show and production department has executed it with nice effect. Show opens with a cloud film projects on a wide screen, behind which is seen a giant air liner with moving propeller. As the lights come up and the scrim is raised, the aeroplane set piece is lowered from the flies and makes a landing on the stage as the illusion is furthered by set pieces of buildings being moved onto the stage. The Evans Girls, attired in summer resort frocks, make their entrances from the plane and go into a neat routine.”
In 1940s, Stahr was still designing for Balaban & Katz theaters. The 1940 US Federal Census listed that Stahr was employed as an art director, living with his wife and mother-in-law at 2820 Sheridan Rd. His 1942 WWII draft card listed his employer as Balaban & Katz Theatres, 175 N. State St., Chicago. He was still living with Clarissa at 2820 Sheridan Road. Meanwhile, his bother Fred C. Stahr continued to work as an artist in New York, living with his sisters, Theodora and Marie at 31 Jackson St. on Staten Island.
In the 1940s, Stahr also worked for the Chicago Theater. His role as stage manager for the venue was mentioned in an article published in the “Chicago Tribune” on April 14, 1949. In the section, “Front Views & Profiles,” Lucy Key Miller wrote an article entitled “No Business Like…” It provides an interesting snapshot of the entertainment industry and Stahr’s colleagues. I am including the article in its entirety, as I found it fascinating.
Miller wrote, “In a theater as tremendous as Chicago, with six performances a day, show business is big business, too, and the tempo is fast and furious. When a show closes Thursday night a new one opens Friday morning, with only one rehearsal – on stage – at the ghastly hour of 7 a.m.
Six shows for a day is grueling work for anyone, but it took Jack Benny to break all records by adding a seventh when there was still a line at the box office at 1 a.m., Fame for a person like that isn’t earned by an accident; it’s well earned,’ said Nate Platt production director in his office where all Chicago theater shows are born.
It is his job to book acts that will fit in with the movies and to time the whole production. He said that sometimes it is harder to get an actor stricken with applause fever off the stage than one, and he has to be very strict about limiting the acts in order to keep on a schedule.
Once the show is organized, it is put in the hands of Leo Stahr, who has been the Chicago’s stage manager for many years. He likes to talk about the old days when he produced elaborately costumed affairs with scenery, choruses, and music in the pit. “Now it’s just curtains and lighting effects and a bandstand that moves back and forth across stage on a trolled,” he said wistfully. But to the uninitiated, backstage is still a complex maze of rope pulleys, draperies, light switches, and sound control equipment.
In a small basement room, Hoagy Carmichael was rehearsing his numbers for the new show scheduled to open the next day, with a few musicians from Louis Basil’s orchestra. Hoagy made changed in the arrangements of his own tunes as he went along, but the musicians are used to things like that. They repeatedly have to adapt their style and tempi to the vagaries of singers, dancers, and song writers.’ Cheerily they now altered their scores, shifted their beat to the tom-tom rhythms evoked by Hoagy Carmichael’s first ventures into bebop, and produced a fine, pulsing accompaniment to the piano’s melody.
Leo Stahr was there, and Bob Burns, the ‘poet of the P. A. system.’ ‘I was in the navy for five years,’ said the latter, ‘but I couldn’t wait to get back into show business. If everyone else was interested in their work as stage people are, there wouldn’t be any trouble.”
The stage doorman, George Lucas, feels the same way. He started in show busines sin 1890, before the days of vaudeville, and insists that he has done everything except grand opera. He has been in medicine shows, minstrel shows, variety, vaudeville, and circuses, has worked with magicians and hypnotists, and had his own act, with his wife, brother, and sister-in0law called the Four Lucases. Lucas claims to have met every president since Grover Cleveland.
“Woodrow Wilson was a great vaudeville fan,” he said. “I have a program Wilson autographed from the last show he saw before his death.”
Even when he returned, George Lucas couldn’t stay away from the theater. Now he’s back keeping bobbysoxers out of the entrance and getting the actors on stage for their cues. His call board looks like a railroad time table. But he has rarely any trouble.
“Once a marimba player went to sleep in the wrong dressing room,” he recalled, “and I couldn’t find him at all. Sometimes the actors don’t know I mean NOW when I say so and ae later for their cues. But it doesn’t happen very often.
“I retired when they went from two shows a day to four or more. I was too old to take it. But O like working with show people. We speak the same language” (page 28).
Leo’s older brother, Fred Stahr, passed away in 1946. Fred’s obituary sheds a little more light on the Stahr legacy. On March 11, 1946, “The New York Times” published, “Frederick C. Stahr, well-known muralist and art instructor, died on Saturday of a heart ailment in his home at 31 Jackson Street, Stapleton, Staten Island., after a brief illness. His age was 68. Born in Manhattan, Mr. Stahr was taken to Staten Island by his parents at the age of 2 and had lived there ever since. He began his study of art at the National Academy of Design, where he won the Lazarus Prize, a four-year continued course in arts at the American Academy of Design in Rome. He also studied at the Royal Academy of Rome and at Munich in 1910-11. He later taught art classes at Columbia University and also taught privately in his home. Mr. Stahr specialized in murals in public buildings. Examples of his work are in the courthouses in Baltimore, Chicago and Boston. Shortly after the first World War he painted the history of Staten Island on the walls of the Borough Hall at St. George, S.I. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Design and the National Academy of Design. He leaves three sisters, the Misses Marie and Theodora Stahr and Mrs. J.A.C. Fitchmueller, and a brother, Leo Stahr, all of Staten Island.” Stahr’s mural commissions included a ceiling mural at the United States Treasury, the “Court Scene” for Newark Court House, the “History of Manhattan: in the Hotel Manhattan, portions of the ceiling at the Metropolitan Opera House and murals in the Ottawa railroad station. The Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences has five paintings by: a portrait of Mrs. McClain by Fred C. Stahr in 1952 (given by Mrs. Chester A. McClain). The four other paintings Stahr included a large view of the Parthenon, a large view of the Erechtheum, and two small still life paintings.
Leo Stahr retired as an art director sometime during the early 1950s. However, his retirement was short lived. Both Clarrisa and Leo Stahr passed away in 1955. On Feb. 10, 1955, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “Mrs. Leo Stahr. Clarrisa Holmes Stahr, 69, of 2820 Sheridan rd., died yesterday in Edgewater hospital. She was the wife of Leo, art director for the Balaban and Katz Theater corporation. Also surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Henke, Mrs. Leonore Bauby, and Ida; a brother, and a sister. Services will be held at 3 p.m. tomorrow in the chapel at 2907 N. Clark St.” (page 30).
Map to show the relationship between the five boroughs.
Her husband passed away only five months later, on July 30, 1955. On August 1, 1955, the “Chicago Tribune” announced, “ Leo A. Stahr. Services for Leo A. Stahr, 72, of 2820 Sheridan rd., stage art director for Balaban & Katz theaters, who died Saturday, will be held at 3 p.m. today in the chapel at 2907. N. Clark St. He leaves three daughters, Mrs. Lenore Bauby, Mrs. Elizabeth Henke, and Mrs. Ida Curry, and two sisters. A second obituary notice published in the “Chicago Tribune” that day reported, “STAHR – Leo A. Stahr of 2820 Sheridan road, beloved husband of the later Clarrisa, nee Williams; fond father of Leonora, Ida and Elizabeth; brother of Anna and Marie. Resting in funeral home, 2907 N. Clark street, at Surf. Services Monday evening 8 o’clock, Interment Staten Island, NY.”
The August issue of “Motion Picture Exhibitor” simply reported, “Leo A. Stahr, 67, Balaban
and Katz art director for many years until his retirement, died leaving three daughters and two sisters.”
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I interceded for Parker, formerly of Sosman and Landis with Mr. Hunt, and I think he will engage him to go to New York City.” At the time. Moses was working for David H. Hunt at New York Studios. He was referring to the scenic artist Seymour D. Parker (1849-1921).
Parker’s father was the well-known comedian Joseph Parker. His parents traversed the country as performers, settling briefly in Detroit, Michigan, where Seymour D. Parker was born in 1849.
The 1850 US Federal Census listed the Parker Household in Detroit as including actor Joseph Parker (37 yrs.), his wife Susana (40), daughter Josephine (13 yrs.), daughter Louiza [Julia] (5 yrs.), and son Seymour (1 yr.). In addition to his immediate family, Joseph’s household also included actor Seymour D. Shaw (32 yrs.), Joseph Shaw (57 yrs.), Patrice Shaw (40 yrs.), Bridgett Dwyre (18 yrs.) and Bridgett Campbell (36 yrs.).
It is very difficult to track any family that toured with theater productions. Seldom did they appear in census reports, being on the road for much of their lives. In most cases, I have to link snippets of information extracted from newspaper articles, directory listings, marriage records, birth certificates, and obituaries. Many of the Parker children remained connected with the theater throughout their lives, working as painters and performers. I was able to glean a little more information about Seymour’s father from his sister’s obituary. Julia Parker was a few years older than Seymour, married actor J. B. Polk in 1867. It was her obituary published in “The Baltimore Sun” on June 22, 1900:
“Mrs. Julia A. Polk, wife of J. B. Polk, the well-known actor, died Wednesday of apoplexy at the family residence, Charles and Hamilton streets. The funeral will be held today.
Mrs. Polk was the youngest daughter of Joseph Parker, a comedian well remembered in Baltimore. She was also a half-sister of Mrs. Charles B. Bishop. Mr. and Mrs. Polk were married in this city in 1867 while the bride was playing in Ford’s Street Theatre. For many years the clever couple won favors in this country and Australia” (page 7).
Charles Burke Bishop (1833-1889) also performed as a comedian and was quite well known in the Baltimore area. For context, the pall bearers at his funeral included many theatrical greats, including Daniel Frohman and E. H. Sothern. Bishop played comic roles with the Sothern company and died during a performance of “Lord Chumley.” He exited the stage, was laughing merrily, and then died a few moments later of a heart attack. His wife Josephine was with him when he died; her stage name was Jennie Parker. Her obituary commented that she first appeared at Ford’s Theater, Baltimore, and later was a members of Edwin Forrest’s company (“New York Herald, 29 May 1918, page 7). Josephine “Jennie Parker” Bishop was the daughter of Joseph Parker and his first wife; she was Seymour D. Parker’s half-sister. I have yet to discover the name of Joseph’s first wife. However, Seymour D. Parker’s mother was Susana, Joseph Parker’s second wife.
After the Civil War, Joseph, Susana and the extended Parker family moved from Detroit to Baltimore. The Parker family resided at174 N. Exeter. By this time, Josephine had left home and was working as an actress in California, starring with the Stockton Theatre.
Seymour moved to New York and worked for to Henry E. Hoyt. Parker described his early career in a 1913 article about Parker that was published in Rochester’s “Democrat and Chronical” (New York, 8 July 1913, page 24). The article detailed, “Mr. Parker was a pupil of Henry E. Hoyt the noted scenic artist of New York city, who painted all of the bigger and more important scenic effects for the presentation in the Metropolitan Grand Opera House. For three years Mr. Parker himself held this position of responsibility. For eight years he was the scenic artist in the Montauk and Park theaters in Brooklyn, and for four years he held a similar position in the National Theatre, Montreal.”
By 1870, the US Federal Census listed Seymour’s father as an artist. At that time, the household included Joseph Parker (56 yrs.), Susana Parker (40 yrs.), Julia (21 yrs.), Seymour D. Parker (19 yrs.). Willard Parker (17 yrs.). Charles Parker (14 yrs.), Clarke Parker (10 yrs.), John Parker (7 yrs.), and both a domestic servant and boarder. Over the years Joseph Parker had also worked as a scenic artist over the years between performances. It was even mentioned in his obituary. On Jan. 1, 1872, the “New York Herald” reported, Joseph Parker, a veteran actor and scenic artist, died in Baltimore on Saturday night, the 30th. Mr. Parker had many friends, professional and otherwise, and ‘retires’ from the busy stage life amid their regrets” (page 5). Years later, the “St. Joseph News Press” in Missouri, remembered, “Mr. Parker’s father, the late Joseph Parker, was a comedian of the old school and a scenic artist as well. He was associated with the late John T. Ford in the old Ford Stock Company in the Holiday Street Theater in Baltimore” (12 Feb 1913, page 6).
After the passing of his father, Parker moved to New York. By 1874, Seymour D. Parker was listed as a painter in the New York City directory, living at 40 Johnson in Brooklyn. This is likely when he was working as an apprentice to Hoyt. The following year he married Sibyl Voughan in Manhattan. By 1878, Parker was working as a scenic artist in Boston, boarding a 359 Tremont. However, this does not mean that Parker was solely working at Boston Theaters. Parker was continued to make a name for himself throughout the region and work on a variety of projects.
By 1885, Parker returned to New York, listing his permanent residence in Brooklyn, located at 171 Adelphi in both 1885 and 1886. By 1887, he was living at 126 Jefferson in Brooklyn and working at the Criterion Theatre. On August 3, 1887, the “Plainfield Daily Press” reported, “Mr. Seymour D. Parker, the well-known scene painter from the “Criterion Theatre,’ Brooklyn, will begin operation, it is expected, to-day on the scenery in Music Hall” (page 1). As most scenic artists at the time, Parker delivered painted illusion for a variety of entertainments. His skills extended beyond skillful painting. He was well-versed in scenic illusion and the stage machinery that facilitated successful spectacles.
On May 31, 1888, the “Buffalo Commercial” credited Parker as the visionary for the Niagara attraction at Coney Island (page 2). The article reported, “What promises to be one of the most unusual and beautiful combinations of art and mechanism that has ever been exhibited in this, and possibly in any other country, is now being constructed and painted in the Sea Beach Palace, at Coney Island, by Mr. Seymour D. Parker, the well-known scenic artist of Brooklyn, whose brain first conceived the idea.” The article continued, “This is the handsome manner which a Brooklyn paper begins a description of the ‘marvelous’ reproduction of ‘Niagara by the Sea.’ (By the way, between ourselves, we can bear to think of Niagara reproduced at Coney Island; it will be the harmony with the colossal cow, the white elephant and other wonders of that resort. But think of Coney Island reproduced at Niagara! That is what might have been and just what the state purchase saved us from.) The Coney Island Niagara will occupy a space measuring 150 feet by 90 in the Sea Beach Palace. ‘I the foreground is a huge tank, 70×59 feet and 3 feet in depth, into which the water from the falls is to pour from smaller tanks concealed from views on top of the huge bulk of papier mâché, twenty feet in height, which forms the vast curves of rock so well known to the tourists who have visited Niagara.’ The ‘skeleton’ of the Falls is wood with papier mâché background and a rubber-lined ‘brink’ – which will be ‘shellacked,’ we are told, so as it gives a fine realistic effect.’ The canvas in which the sky is arranged’ is transparent, to admit of sun and moon effects, and will also allow of the reproduction of a thunder shower with the usual accompaniment of lightning flashes.’ The water will not fall in any great abundance, but the painting of the rocks and the lights to be used will make it, to all appearances, resemble the volumes and force of the real body from which it has been copied. The cloud of spray which always hovers over Niagara Falls will be introduced. The candor and modesty of this prospectus are to be commended at least. The water will not be as ‘abundant’ as it is at the real cataract, but we dare say it is at the real cataract, but we dare say it will hold out much linger that it does at those ‘falls’ in the Catskills where they hold back the water by the dam and let it dribble five minutes for twenty-five cents.”
As a scenic artist, Parker painted the drop curtain for the Stillman Music Hall in Bridgewater, New Jersey. On June 7, 1888, “The Courier News” announced, “The proposed curtain was described in THE NEWS of Sept. 2d, 1887. It will be an elaborate affair, superbly painted by Seymour D. parker, scenic artist of the Criterion Theatre, Brooklyn. It will be gorgeous with colors which will represent the appearance of real lace, velvet and satin. And the centre will be a beautiful representation of an ancient Grecian theatre in ruins” (page 1).
The end of summer Parker secured a staff position at the Park Theatre. The venue was now under new management, although the venue was commencing its fifteenth season. The New Park Theatre was managed by Col. William E. Sinn and Mr. Walter L. Sinn. On Aug 18, 1888. Brooklyn’s “Times Union” announced, “Mr. Seymour D. Parker has been appointed scenic artist of Col. Sinn’s Park Theatre” in the Greenroom Gossip section (page 2). Parker remained at the Park Theatre for the next few years.
In 1889 the Parker family suffered the loss of Josephine “Jennie Parke” Bishop’s husband. On Oct. 18, 1889, the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” announced the passing of Parke’s brother-in-law; Josephine’s husband, Charles Bishop (page 11). The article reported, “Charles B. Bishop was very well known to Brooklyn theatergoers. He played his last engagement here at the Park Theater, November 31, 1888, in the same part in which he appeared for one scene last week – Adam Butterworth in ‘Lord Chumley.’ Mrs. Bishop is a sister of Seymour D. Parker, the scene painter at Park Theater. Speaking of Bishop’s life Mr. Parker said to-day that the actor was born in Boston, and that he started South with Wilkes Booth near the time of the breaking out of the war. He was quite as red hot a Secessionist as Booth and his desire was to reach the side of the Southern States where his side of the controversy had the most eager champions. He was stopped, however, at Baltimore and began there his career in an engagement with John T. Ford.”
On Aug. 21, 1890, the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” announced, “Manager Sinn’s Theater a Thing of Beauty…New Park Theatre- it has been entirely rebuilt” (page 2). The article continued, “The stage, under the guidance of J. H. Thompson, has been entirely reconstructed, enlarged and furnished withal modern machinery and appliances, which will enable the management to present any production which can be placed on any stage.” Part of the renovation included new scenery painted by Parker. The article detailed, “The new asbestos curtain, painted by Seymour D. Parker, is considered the finest painted asbestos curtain in the country. And this is given no small praise to Mr. Parker when the difficulty of painting on asbestos is taken into consideration.”
Seymour D. Parker was the scenic artist for Col. Sinn’s New Park Theater.
Parker remained associated with the Park Theater as the venue’s scenic artist, but began to take on other projects.
By the summer of 1891, Parker’s his name was linked with Frederick Warde and Louis James. On Aug. 9, 1891, “The Brooklyn Daily Eagle” reported, “Fredrick Warde, the tragedian, has returned from White Lake, where he has been spending the summer, and will begin active preparations for his opening, which occurs on August 24 at Detroit. Mr. Warde had added a prologue to ‘The Lion’s Mouth,’ and Seymour D. Parker, scenic artist of the Park Theater, has just finished the scenery for it. The scene of the play is laid in Venice” (page 11).
Meanwhile, Parker was painting a variety of other projects. On April 24, 1891, “The Springfield Democrat” published an advertisement that mentioned Parker’s scenic art (page 8). The advertisement announced, “Mr. J. Z. Little in the greatest of all successes, ‘The World!” showing the grand panoramic view, and the wonderful raft scene ‘The Golden Nugget!” In a grand new romantic drama of American Adventure and life in the wonderful mining camps of the rocky mountains. Ove $10,000 in scenery carried by this company, painted by the celebrated Scenic Artist Seymour D. Parker, Machinery and effects by Joseph T. Thompson, of Park Theatre, Brooklyn, N. Y.”
On Dec. 4, 1891, “The Brooklyn Citizen” announced that Seymour D. Parker painted “A summer View of Glen Island to Be Seen in Winter,” for Wechsler & Brother’s Display (page 2). The article reported, “The scene occupies the large window of the left of the main entrance…the scenery in the background is an essential part of the display. It was executed by Seymour D. Parker, a local scenic artist, and is well done.”
Life was looking good and opportunities abounded for Parker. By 1892, Parker left the confines of New York and began to travel with the Warde and James production company. On Nov. 6, 1892, the “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reported, “Mr. D. Seymour, the scenic artist, travels with the organization and gives personal attention to the stage effects” (page 34). The Warde and James tour included “Julius Caesar” and “The Lion’s Mouth.” On Dec. 2, 1892, Cincinnati’s “Commercial Gazette” reported, “Entirely new scenery, of the most elaborate nature, has been prepared for ‘Julius Caesar’ by the well-known scenic artist, Mr. Seymour D. Parker, who travels with the company, and personally superintends the stage effects” (page 8). On April 4, 1893, “The Standard” in Ogden, Utah described, “The most important dramatic engagement of the present season will be the appearance on Thursday, April 6th, at the Grand Opera house, of the celebrated tragedians, Fredrick Warde and Louis James, supported by their grand company of thirty actors. Shakespeare’s noble tragedy, ‘Julius Caesar,’ will be the play, and the most sumptuous production is promised. All the armors, weapons, and stage furniture were prepared especially for the tragedy, and the entire scenery was painted by Mr. Seymour D. Parker, the well-known scenic artist who travels with the company and gives personal attention to the settings.” On Feb. 8, 1894, “The Daily Review” in Decatur, Illinois, announced that the much anticipated production of Shakespeare’s historical tragedy, “Julius Caesar,” included painted scenes of “unusual splendor.” The article elaborated, “The scenery has been painted especially for the play by Seymour D. Parker, the New York scenic artist. As the curtain rises a view is given of the famed hills of Rome, with its architectural splendor. The stage is filled with massive buildings and crowds of Romans going to the sports of Rome.” Parker remained with the touring company until the fall of 1894 when a new opportunity presented itself back home.
On Nov. 4, 1894, “The Brooklyn Daily Eagle” published an article about the new Montauk Theatre on Fulton street, mentioning Parker. The article reported, “We have engaged first class scenic artists, who will be under the direction of Seymour D. Parker, and who will begin work upon the scenery within a month. The arrangement will not interfere with our management of the Park [Theatre].”
Parker returned from the road to Brooklyn. On Sept. 8, 1895, the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” reported, “The [Montauk] stage is one of the best in America, and it will be impossible to find one better equipped. The painting of scenery for it has been progressing under the brush of Seymour D. Parker for the last eight months. Mr. Parker’s contract with Mr. Sinn does not end with the completion of the Montauk, but will continue for years more, and additionally to the stock of fine scenery will be continually made. All the canvas used in making this scenery is first treated to a process that makes it proof against fire” (page 18). Interestingly, Arthur D. Peck was the mechanical stage engineer for the project and credited with building the stage for the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Parker remained at the Montauk for the next few years. Gradually his name began to disappear from the news. Newspapers seldom mentioned his projects in the late 1890s.
On brief mention of his scenic art appeared in The “Washington Times” on April 3, 1898 (page 15). An article about “Alone in London,” starring Cora Tanner briefly mentioned Parker’s scenic contribution: “The scenery is all new, from the studio of Seymour D. Parker, who has surpassed his efforts in the original production.”
Parker was still living in Brooklyn in 1900. The US Federal Census listed Parker, now age 50, living with Josephine Parker. This is where human error enters into census reports. Both Seymour D. and Josephine Parker share the exact same information: same birth month, birth year and birth location. It also reported that they were married for twenty years. That would be five years after Parker married his first wife Sibyl in 1875. Josephine was Parker’s second wife and the two were married in 1880. I have yet to locate any other information about Josephine.
In 1902, Parker finally resurfaces, making the news again. He is listed with several scenic artists who are credited with scenery for Frederick Warde Co., productions. His fellow scenic artists included George Heinman, Charles Porteus, Harley Merry, Ernest Albert and others. The article published on March 9, 1902, in the “Dubuque Enterprise” simply shows that Parker was still active in 1902.
In 1905, the New York State census listed Parker living in Manhattan with Augusta Parker, aged 57. He is listed as a scenic artist, but there is no information to show whether Augusta was a wife, sibling, or distant relative. I have to wonder if this was when Parker worked for Sosman & Landis at their New York Branch. It would make sense, as the firm’s scenic artists at this time seldom made news, unless they were on the road and a local newspaper mentioned them.
By 1910, Parker becomes associated with the Avenue Theatre and the Avenue Amusement Stock Co. This marks the beginning of Parker being known as “Avenue’s scenic artist.” Parker’s scenic contribution for the company was describe in “The News Journal” of Wilmington, Delaware, on Nov. 22, 1910 (page 8): “From a scenic standpoint, the production excelled anything hitherto given at the Avenue. While all the sets were attractive and most appropriate, the church scene in the third act with a figure of Jesus on a window of the edifice was exceptionally commendable. It was a further illustration of the capability of Seymour D. Parker, the scenic artist. Elaborate scenic effects and the ability of the Avenue Company to correctly interpret any play ever written, make a combination that will win-win in any theatre.”
On March 9, 1911, the “Wilmington Evening Journal,” mentioned Parker’s contribution for “The White Sister,” reporting, “The Avenue’s artist, Seymour D. Parker, has painted the handsomest effects ever seen on the stage of this popular playhouse” (page 13
On March 23, 1911, “ The News Journal” reported, “The bill at the Avenue Amusement Stock Company next week will be the noted drama ‘Lost Paradise,” by Henry C. DeMille. This will be the scenic event of the season…In the second act there will be a representation of a rolling mill in full operation. The Avenue’s scenic artist Seymour D. Parker, is now engaged in painting the massive scenery” (page 4).
1913, is a turning point for Parker and he really begins to make news again. On Feb. 12, 1913, he is mentioned in the “St. Joseph News-Press (page 6). The Missouri article announced “Schuberts Bend Players from New York to Occupy Local Playhouse – Tootle to be home of a stock company.” The stock company featured Miss Emma Bunting. Frank Phelps, the former local manager of the Schubert Theatre in Omaha was appointed general traveling representative for the theatrical firm. The article further reported, “Seymour D. Parker, a scenic artist of note, who will paint all the scenery used in the production here.” So in 1913, Parker traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri to paint scenery. By the summer, Parker traveled to the Lyceum Theatre in Rochester, New York. On July 8, 1913, the “Democrat and Chronicle” published a lengthy article about Parker:
Lyceum Scenery all Made Here.
Artist Paints it Aloft as Actors Perform Below.
‘Sets’ are very effective.
Seymour D. Parker, the Scenic Artist, Labors Unceasingly in Order to Have Scenery Prepared for Opening of Each New Play.
Few of the many persons who see the performances of the Manhattan Players in the Lyceum Theater realize, perhaps, that during the actual progress of the play, work on the production for the next week is going on, and upon the same stage, so to speak. This, however, is a fact, and it is Seymour D. Parker, the scenic artist of the Manhattan Players, who does this work. Perched away up on the ‘paint frame’ of the Lyceum, some forty or fifty feet above the stage and heads of the audience, Mr. Parker goes silently but swiftly and surely ahead with his work of manufacturing drawing room, forest, the boudoir of milady, some dive of the underworld or whatever other scenic settings are required to give realism and picturesqueness to the forthcoming play.
Aside from the splendid acting of the members of the Manhattan Players, the wisdom displayed in the section of the pays and the staging of them by Edgar J. MacGregor, it has been a matter of much comment that the scenic investiture of each play has come near the standard of Broadway productions. It is interesting to know that these handsome sets have been made to a considerable extent while the performances at the Lyceum have been going on.
Each production of this company is new and complete in detail. The handsome ‘interior’ sets used in ‘What it Means to a Woman’ would not suffice in any respect for the Clyde Fitch comedy ‘Girls,’ which is the bill for this week. Each Monday evening sees entirely new scenic investiture, and one may readily see that Mr. Parker has little enough time in which to prepare the new sets. Thus it is that for six days of the week, Mr. Parker is required to be ‘on the job’ from early morning until long after the performance has ended at night. Sunday is his day of rest; so he devotes it to laying out the production for the following week, making his sketches and seeing that his canvas, paints, etc. are ready for early on Monday morning.
There is no man in America more skilled and experienced in his work, it is said, than Seymour D. Parker. He had given practically his entire life to the profession and has held some of the highest positions in scenic artistry. Mr. Parker was a pupil of Henry E. Hoyt the noted scenic artist of New York city, who painted all of the bigger and more important scenic effects for the presentation in the Metropolitan Grand Opera House. For three years Mr. Parker himself held this position of responsibility. For eight years he was the scenic artist in the Montauk and Park theaters in Brooklyn, and for four years he held a similar position in the National Theatre, Montreal.
Mr. Parker is an artist on a more pretentious scale. He had done much work in oil, and two of his paintings exhibited not long ago by the Montreal Art Society won much praise for him. They were landscape views from nature sketches and were entitled ‘The Canadian Rockies; and ‘A Brook in the Lorencian Mountains.” He has painted many portraits.
Mr. Parker’s father, the late Joseph Parker, was a comedian of the old school and a scenic artist as well. He was associated with the late John T. Ford in the old Ford Stock Company in the Holiday Street Theater in Baltimore.”
A few years later, a similar article is published when Parker becomes associated with the Bonstelle Stock Company. On April 18, 1915, “Buffalo Morning Express” reported,
“Celebrated Scenic Artists with Bonstelle Stock Company.
Seymour D. Parker, the scenic artist with the Bonstelle company at the Star theater is one of the few theatrical artists who have had their paintings hung in art exhibitions. Several of his landscapes were at the academy exhibition in Montreal. As a scenic artist, Mr. Parker has few equals. He has painted in all the big studios in New York and in most of the first-class stock companies in the country. He was for three years in Montreal, and spent last season in Northampton.
The attention given of late years to the scenic investiture of a play has resulted in uplifting the scene painter’s art. A man must now be master of his technique, he must have artistic appreciation and ability, and, above all, he must have the subtle power of suggesting atmosphere. Granville Barker call the result of the scene painter’s effort the decoration, and the man who designs and arranges it is mentioned immediately after the producer’s name on the programme now in use at Wallacks theater, New York. Norman Wilkinson, a new discovery of Mr. Barker, an American, is receiving an acknowledgement for his decorations for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and part of The Doctor’s Dilemma, which would have seemed possible a score of years ago. The work of Gordon Craig, of Reinhardt and all other foreign scenic specialists, has proved to the theatergoer that it lies within the power of the painter and designer of scenery to present a work of art in the theater as well as on canvas.”
That summer, Parker repeatedly makes news for his scenic contribution in “Too Many Cooks.” On June 9, 1915, the “ Buffalo Evening News” announced, “Seymour D. Parker, the scenic artist has designed a charming setting in which the little home of the heroine is shown in various stages of completion” (page 8). On June 10, 1915, “The Buffalo Times” adds, “The production scenically is a fine one. Seymour D. Parker, the scenic artist, has arranged an attractive location for the little home which is shown in various stages of construction during the three acts” (page 9).
Parker remained with the company for a few years. In 1917 Parker delivered scenery for the Bonstelle Company’s production of “The Cinderella Man” and “The Professor’s Love Story.” Parker’s scenery was mention on Sept. 1, 1917 in the “Buffalo Evening News: “The three acts are laid in the Professor’s London home and in a Scotch village. The second act takes place in a wheat field, termed corn, English fashion and gives a fine opportunity to the scenic artist, Seymour D. Parker, who has made a lovely picture, from designs by the technical director, Adams T. Rice” (page 4).
Sometime after 1917, Parker became associate with New York Studios and again fell off of the radar, his name lost in studio projects. Managed by David Hunt, the firm was recognized as the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis, of Chicago. The Midwestern firm shared designs, labor and materials with their eastern counterpart. Parker was working for New York Studios at the same time as Thomas G. Moses. Again, Parker was mention in Moses’ memoirs in 1920. Here is the entry written by Moses:
“Binghamton, New York, work came in during February and proved to be a good contract. Mr. Hunt arrived from New York and remained for a few days, then left for California where he will remain several weeks. I interceded for Parker, formerly of Sosman and Landis, with Mr. Hunt, and I think he will engage him to go to New York City. One cold day at the studio sent us all home. Too bad that we have to lose any time on account of a cold work room.”
In 1920, the US Federal Census listed Seymour and Josephine Parker living at 145 41st Street in Manhattan. Seymour was working as an artist in the theatre industry. Again, I have yet to find any other information about his second wife. I have only located Parker’s 1875 marriage certificate to Sibyl Voughan in Manhattan, New York. This was not Seymour’s sister, as Josephine Parker Bishop died in 1918.
The final time that Parker made papers was in 1921. He was working at Keith’s Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. On June 5, 1921, the “Chronical Telegram” of Elyria, Ohio, reported, “Gotham Scenic Artist Stricken at Columbus. (International News Service) Columbus, June 4, – Seymour D. Parker, New York scenic artist, lies seriously ill at Protestant hospital tonight. He suffered a sudden stroke of paralysis today while sitting in front of the hotel Southern where he roomed. He is the artist for the stock company at Keith’s theater here. He was serving in a similar capacity here a year ago when his wife died as a result of paralytic stroke.” This suggests that Josephine was his second wife. Her listing in the 1905 and 1920 census suggests that the two were married in 1880, five years after his marriage to Sybil.
On June 8, 1921, “The Marion Daily Star” in Ohio, included and article entitled, “To Take Body East.” The article continued, “Columbus, June 8.- John Parker of New York City, is here, today, arranging for the shipment to New York, of the body of his brother, Seymour D. Parker, fifty-eight, prominent scenic artist, whose death, due to paralysis, occurred at Grant hospital, here, last night. Funeral and burial services will take place at New York, City.”
Parker was 63 years old when he passed away and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.
In 1901, Grace Wishaar made headlines as a scenic artist. In an interview, Wishaar stated that she worked with “Sousman [sic.] and Landes [sic.]of Chicago.” This was the Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio. Before I delve into the fascinating career of Wishaar, I must clarify that she was not the first female scenic artist in America. Many women scenic artists paved the way for Wishaar to enjoy a warm welcome from the press at the turn of the twentieth century.
Grace Wishaar on 1901. George H. Brass, J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs.
Regardless of her predecessors, 1901 newspapers announced that Wishaar was the “Only Woman who can claim the Title.” Not quite, but it likely made her presence more palatable for many men across the country. For some, it seems like less of a threat when we talk about “the only one.”
Sheridan Jenkins and Grace Wishaar in May 1902, Seattle. Jenkins was the artist at the Third Street Theatre in Seattle. From the J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs (JWS24539): http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/sayre/id/13233/rec/2 University of Washington Libraries.
Here is the article about Wishaar in its entirety as it was first published in the “Buffalo Express” on April 4, 1901 (page 3):
“She is a Scenic Artist.
Only Woman Who Can Claim the Title.
Young Westerner’s Work.
Miss Grace Wishaar went from Seattle to New York with a determination to succeed. Fifty-two feet up in the flies of the Manhattan Theater stands all day long a slip of a girl painting purple parrots and green glades. Her name is Grace Wishaar; she is 22 years old and herself a picture, and she is the only woman in scenic art in the United States, says the New York World.
She is a little Western girl, fresh from her coming out party, and not many years away from her graduation gown. Her home is in Seattle. She has been in New York only since the middle of January, yet in that time she has not only established herself as a member of the staff of Frank Dodge, undertaking with five men to produce the entire scenery for ‘The Casino Girl’ and ‘The Prima Donna,’ but she has done this: She had proved what the scenic artist of the Metropolitan Opera House and the Lyceum Theater in turn laugh at her for trying. That a woman can do their work as well as a man.
She has a girlish face, with deep eyes and dark hair, to match, which ripples up to a high pompadour. She is not tall; her hands are delicate and expressive.
‘I am convinced that I am a curiosity,’ she said yesterday.
She was standing on the platform, 52 feet high, with not even a handrail between her and the dim stage, where some ne ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ people were rehearsing. A great movable frame was before her, half covered with a tropical scene from ‘The Casino Girl.’ The blazing parrots for the same scene were piled before her. She was covered with a great denim apron; a dozen huge bowls of paints stood in an old sink, called by her courtesy the ‘pailette,’ and as many brushed lay in as many mixtures on the zinc. On a narrow bridge below, five new scene painters were working on a garden drop.
‘People catch sight of my skirts,’ said Miss Wishaar, both here and at the Herald Square, where I sometimes work and they stop rehearsal and bet on what I am and call up to me to find out. I guess I am a curiosity.
“it was like this,’ she said simply, ‘I left school out in Seattle and went into society. But my sister cared for music and I cared for art, and we tired of other things and decided to study.
‘She began training her voice for grand opera. I fitted up a studio – a beautiful room it was, 80 feet long, in Seattle business block – I kept at portrait work. My mother writes – she lately copyrighted a play on the Philippine war – so she understood how we felt.
‘Then one day two years ago the Seattle Theater needed a drop. My father, E. B. Wishaar, is dramatic editor of the Post-Intelligencer, and he heard about it and mentioned it to me. I thought I could do the drop. Mr. Russell the manager laughed at me, but he let me try it.
‘I painted the scene and they said it was just what they wanted.
‘After that I had all I could do for the Seattle and Corday theaters and for two years I worked as a professional. I did the work for Katie Putnam, with Sousman and Landes of Chicago, scenic artist. Then I decided I would come East.
‘I came here a year ago last fall and studied a year and went to Chase Art School. Then I went home for the summer, and then I can back to New York in January, perfectly sure that I could do this with success.’
The story of the attempts of this shy-eyed girl to ‘make something of herself’ begins about like anybody’s, in its discouragement – only hers did not last. She went from one New York scenic painter to another, asking only to do one piece, and they were everyone amused.
‘A girl up in the flies’ they said, ‘absurd! Why she’d have to wear bloomers!’
Mis Wishaar insisted that she would not have to, and when they told her that a scenic painter was made, not born, and that he grew up out if the stage paint pots, rubbing his nose against the scenery, she simply went off and found another manage.
He was Frank Dodge, and he told her indulgently a woman could doubtless do very nice work on the tiny paper models that have to be painted first. But he let her try one drop for ‘The Prima Donna.’
That nearly settled it. She was taken for a week on trial, and hat did it. Now she is on the staff of scenic artists.
Every morning at 9 o’clock she appears with the men, either at the Manhattan or the Herald Square, and she works all day on the bridge or on her solitary high platform. What she paints looks like robin’s-egg blue leaves and magenta trunk, until the colors dry and reveal greens and browns. She works with water colors, in what is known as distemper.
Miss Wishaar has a good many curious visitors. People come panting up the steep steps that lead to her workshop mainly to ask her how she came to do it, and they stay to watch her work. Volumes of invitations from people about the theaters come to her to go to supper and to see the pieces whose scenes she is doing. But she is the despair of all such, because she accepts absolutely no invitations.
‘I am here to work,’ she said spreading out her paint-covered denim apron. ‘I confess I don’t like the theaters and the cafes very well, and if I wanted society, I should have stayed in Seattle for that. I love my work. I love it! There is no place in the world, you know, where it is taught. I have been lucky enough to be born able to do a little, and I won’t share my time with anything else.
It’s a wise decision, no doubt, only she is so very pretty! Even in her denim apron, with 40 kinds of paint on it, she is pretty.
‘They told me at half of the theaters in town that a woman couldn’t do it,’ she said. ‘Anyway, I have proved one woman can.’
Wishaar was 25 years old when the reporter interviewed her that year. She had already married, but given birth to a son. She continued to work under her maiden name. As mentioned in the article, she came from a fairly progressive home; one that encouraged their children to follow their dreams. I have written many posts about Wishaar in the past, but this is her complete story.
Grace Norton Wishaar was born on October 26, 1876, in Beverly, New Jersey. She was the eldest of six children born to Emile Bernard Wishaar (1859-1918) and Marie Ida Smith (1849-1920). Her father was from France, and her mother from New York. The two married in 1874. In 1885, the New York State Census listed the Wishaar household as including: Emile B. Ida, Grace, Harry, Daisy, John and a servant, named Annie Lannan.
The full names of Wishaar’s younger siblings were Henry Gwinner Wishaar (b. 1878, New Jersey), Jenny “Daisy” McGraw Wishaar (b. 1880, New York), John Herman Wishaar (b. 1882, New Jersey), William Pitts Wishaar (b. 1886, at sea) and Louis Beauchamp Wishaar (b. 1888, California).
The Wishaar’s sailed from New York to California in 1886, where William Wishaar was born at sea. They remained in California until May 1888, when Lou Wishaar was born. The Wishaars then head north and were counted in the Washington State Census for 1892. The Wishaar family moved around a lot and eventually settled in Seattle, Washington where her mother became a playwright and her father was dramatic editor for a newspaper. Both Grace and her sister were encouraged to develop their talents. As mentioned in her 1901 interview, Grace studied art, while Daisy studied music.
Wishaar’s career as an artist began at the San José Art School in California. Interestingly, her first drawing instructor was the well-known scenic artist– Lee Lash (1864-1935). The Lee Lash Studio was founded in 1891 and continued operations until approximately the mid-1940s. A variety of artists filtered through his New York studio over the years.
When her family moved north California for Washington, Wishaar continued with her artistic studies. In 1894 she completed her first scene painting project at Cordray’s Theatre in Seattle, Washington. On Nov. 30, 1894, the “Washington Standard” reported, “Seattle has a young lady scenic painter, in Miss Grace Wishaar. A new drop curtain, at Cordray’s which is universally admired, is from her brush” (page 2). At the time, Wishaar had just turned eighteen years old.
In 1895, Wishaar activities continued to make the local news. Both her artistic accomplishments and travels were closely monitored, possibly with the assistance of a proud parent. On March 10, 1895, the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” reported, Miss Grace Norton Wishaar returned yesterday from a six-week visit to her uncle Dr. James McNulty, in Santa Barbara, California” (page 9). Back in Seattle, Wishaar remained active in society. She and her sister Daisy were members of Seattle’s Progressive Literary Society. The two performed as part of the Nov. 8 in 1895. On Nov. 10, 1895, the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” published the programme that was held in the school rooms of the business college (page 9). Grace not only read a paper, but also performed. She and Daisy played mandolin and guitar as the final act. Grace also performed with her sister for the Seattle Union Veteran Club’s seventh annual camp fire at the G. A. R. Hall. For the evening program, Grace and Daisy Wishaar performed “The Wilderness” (“Seattle Post-Intelligencer,” 8 Dec, 1895, page 10).
In Seattle, Wishaar’s parents both belonged to the Masonic Fraternity. Her mother was a member of Lorraine Chapter. No. 6, Order of the Eastern Star. On March 25, 1895, the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” reported that Marie “Ida” Wishaar presented papers after degree work, both written by herself and others written by Maj. W. J. Rinehart (page 6). The next month, Wishaar read another paper after a special convocation (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 22 April, 1895, page 5).
Her father, E. B. Wishaar, became the publisher of “Pacific Mason” in 1895. On August 1, 1895, the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” announced, “New Masonic Monthly” (page 5). The article continued, “No. 1, volume 1, of the Pacific Mason is out. This monthly magazine, published by E. B. Wishaar, is devoted entirely to the interests of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Wishaar, the publisher, is an old newspaper man, as well as a Mason, and if anyone could make a success of the venture he should. The frontispiece of the new magazine is a very good likeness of Prof. J. M. Taylor, P. G. M., and enthusiastic Free Mason. Pictures are also given of T. M. Reed, grand secretary, and Mary A. Amos, P.G.M. of the Order of the Eastern Star. The department of this order is conducted by Mrs. Wishaar and is creditably gotten up. Altogether, with the large field to be covered, including, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho and Nevada, and the ability and experience of its published, the magazine should be a success.” I have to wonder if his daughter was the one creating the Masonic portraits for publication. On October 7, 1895, the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” reported, “The portraits and biographical sketches of prominent Masons appearing in the Pacific Mason from month to month will constitute that periodical a valuable repository of Masonic history (page 3).
Grace continued to make a name for herself in local newspapers as an artist. On Jan. 5, 1896, the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” reported, “There will be placed on exhibition today in the window of the Globe art store a painting with a rather remarkable history. It is from the brush of a young artist whose work has already attracted considerable attention, Miss Grace Wishaar. Without the advantage of technical instruction in her chosen art, she has done some pieces that have drawn cordial praise from competent critics. The painting, which will be seen by the public for the first time today is an ideal head. The first suggestion of it came into the artist’s mind from the face of a little foreign boy, whom she met by chance at a fruit stand in the city several months ago. With one sitting of half an hour she made a rough sketch, but grew dissatisfied with her work and turned the unfinished face to the wall. On New Year’s morning, rambling through her studio, she turned suddenly with fresh inspiration to her abandoned task, and worked almost incessantly until she had put on canvas the idealized face of a Hungarian patriot. Of the extent to which she has succeeded in communicating her own conception to the cold canvas, of breathing fire into the eyes and giving the lines around the mouth their silent testimony of firmness and loyalty, the public must be left to judge for itself” (page 11). By the summer, Wishaar was known as “Seattle’s talented young artist.” The newspaper continued to post announcements about her portraiture projects. By Dec. 20, 1896, the “Post-Intelligencer” reported, “Miss Grace Wishaar, the talented young artist, whose portrait paintings have been greatly admired by art connoisseurs of Seattle and Portland, has just finished a portrait in oil of Prof. Gettus, which shows wonderful color and artistic merit” (page 9).
Wishaar’s reputation continued to grow and caught the attention of Chicago’s “Inland Printer” magazine. On July 11, 1897, the “Seattle’s Post-Intelligencer” reported, “Miss Grace N. Wishaar, a young artist of this city, whose talent is well appreciated by those who have seen products of her dainty hand, has attracted sufficient attention in the East to have the Inland Printer, a magazine of high art standing published in Chicago, devote considerable space to a reproduction of some of her pen pictures, giving at the same time a highly complimentary mention of the young artist. After speaking of Western art in general, the Inland Printer said:
‘Among others, Miss Grace N. Wishaar of Seattle, Wash., is a young pen-and-ink sketch artist whose work deserves a word of appreciation. Portraiture is her forte. In this she exhibits a winsome touch, a kind of feminine delicacy that does not impair the truthfulness of outline and shading. A ‘study head’ by her is a very attractive bit of drawing. Her other portraits show painstaking and skillful work with the pen. Miss Wishaar does not confine herself to line drawing. She has recently finished portraits in oil that, when placed on exhibition in Portland, received general commendation. Although not possessed of a technical education in her chosen art, Miss Wishaar has availed herself every opportunity to perfect herself in it, and her present success gives assurance of a promising career” (page 5). Wishaar continued to land work as an illustrator.
On September 13, 1897, Wishaar married her first husband, Whitney Irving Eisler (1873-1936) in Seattle. Although the marriage did not last, Eisler was quite an interesting fellow in his own right. Eisler’s obituary was published in the “Times Union” of Brooklyn, New York, and provides a little information after he separated from Wishaar: “A native of New York, Capt. Eisler had been in China since 1905, most of the time in Shanghai, He was an ensign in the Navy during the Spanish-American War, and served as captain in Naval Intelligence at Shanghai in the World War. At various times he was United States Shipping Board Representative and vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce.” At the time of Eisler’s passing, he was a senior partner of Eisler, Reeves & Murphy, marine surveyors. Eisler joined the Fraternity after leaving Wishaar and Seattle. In 1903, he was initiated, passed and raised a Mason in Shakespeare No. 750 Lodge, New York, New York. He was also affiliated with lodges in China and Shanghai. He eventually remarried, wedding Beatrice F. Leonard on Oct. 2, 1907, Manhattan, NY.
After marrying her first husband, Wishaar continued to work as an artist. On Dec. 19, 1897, the “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” reported that the title page for a new set of meta waltzes, composed by Harry Sherman Sharp and published by Winter & Harp, was designed by Grace N. Wishaar (page 8). The advertisement noted that Wishaar’s design was “a very artistic piece of work.”
Less that a year later, Wishaar became a mother. On October 30, 1898, she celebrated the birth of a son, Carrol Earl Beauchamp Peeke Eisler. The babay’s father, however, was not her husband Whitney Eisler. Carroll’s father was Oscar Graham Peeke. Later in life, Carroll dropped the adopted name of Eisler, and solely went by Carrol Earl Beauchamp Peeke for passport applications, social security applications and other official documents.
Wishaar remained married to Eisler for a few years, a period in which he primarily remained at sea. In1899 the Seattle City Directory listed Grace N. Eisler, boarding at the southeast corner of 12th Avenue and East Mercer. This was her father’s home at the time. Despite the directory listing, Wishaar returned to using her maiden name in professional settings. She soon left Seattle and studied at the Chase Art School during the fall of 1899. Keep in mind that her son is less than a year old at this point. This move took guts. Wishaar ventured east to continue her artistic training at the William M. Chase School of Art and attempt a scenic art career in New York. One of the first individuals that she sought out was her first instructor – Lee Lash. However, Lash he was not supportive of his former pupil entering as a competitor in the field of scenic art. A 1903 interview with Wishaar reported that he “coolly turned her down” and said that “scene painting was no work for a woman; that her sex would make her unwelcome among the workmen, and that women were too ‘finicky’ for work that demands broad effects” (“San Francisco Call,” October 13, 1904, page 6). Fortunately, Wishaar persisted and eventually secured a position with Dodge.
In 1900, she, Eisler, and son Carroll, were included as part of the Wishaar home in Grace House, located on the northwest corner of Summit and East Union in Seattle. The Wishaar household included: Emile Wishaar, Marie I Wishaar, Henry G. Wishaar, William P. Wishaar, Lou B. Wishaar, Daisy Wishaar, John H. Wishaar, Grace Wishaar Eisler, Whitney Eisler, Carrol E. Eisler. In the census, Grace Eisler’s occupation was listed as a portrait artist and Whitney Eisler’s occupation was listed as 2nd Officer USS Patterson. In all likelihood, after the birth of Carroll, Eisler returned to the sea and Wishaar moved East. Carroll likely stayed in Seattle where he was raised by Marie “Ida” Wishaar and extended family members.
By January 1901, the newspaper article about Wishaar made papers across the country as the only woman scenic artist. Obviously, Wishaar continued to return to Seattle. On March 2, 1902, she married Carroll’s father, Oscar Graham Lester Peeke, in Seattle. The two were married at the Seattle Theatre, the ceremony witnessed by Daisy Wishaar and Ralph Stewart. Although Peeke was frequently listed as “English,” he was actually born in Dublin, Ireland, emigrating to the United States in 1892. After marrying Peeke, Wishaar did not remain in Seattle and soon returned to New York where she continued to paint for Dodge.
Wishaar’s second marriage lasted a bit longer than the first, but not by much. Despite society’s traditional expectations concerning wives and mothers, Wishaar continued to excel as a scenic artist. I wonder if her first two marriages failed because she was expected leave her career after marrying. That certainly fell into line with societal expectations that remained in play for many throughout the twentieth century.
A 1905 newspaper article entitled “A Lady Scene Painter,” provided a little more information about Wishaar’s scenic art career. In an interview, Wishaar explained that not all of her work was confined to New York City. Wishaar detailed that she traveled “at Mr. Dodge’s request, to all parts of the country.” She also further explained the scenic artistic process at Dodge’s studio: “When we receive an order for an important production, a consultation is held with the author of the play, and if the scenes are laid in another State, either I or Mr. Dodge take a journey to the particular locality and make sketches. If the scene is laid abroad, we have to read up on it, and when the play is English we get many a useful hints from the beautiful production, ‘Country Life.’” She was not just a worker bee under Dodge, but also a designer who gathered source material.
This is exactly what the process implemented at many other scenic artists across the country. Although the rise of the studio system confined some scenic artists to a single location, there were still many completed on site after a series of sketches were completed on location. What I find fascinating is that as a female, she wasn’t being hidden inside a scenic studio with her work attributed to male colleagues. Wishaar actively represented the studio of Frank D. Dodge in 1905.
An article in “Success Magazine” from 1906 featured Wishaar in the segment “Life Sketches of Ambitious Young Men and Women” (page 32). The article started with “What Miss Grace N. Wishaar Has Accomplished in a Field in Which She Seemed Totally Unfitted.” It reported, “pluck, enthusiasm, and conscientious work have enabled Miss Grace N. Wishaar to become the only woman scenic artist in the United States.”
Her history with Dodge was expanding a bit, differing from previous recounts of the story. In this telling of the tale, Wishaar initially wrote to Frank D. Dodge in New York. After receiving no response, she appeared at his studio to make a personal plea.
The article continued:
“Mr. Dodge looked at her smilingly. He liked the enthusiasm she displayed, although he felt he had no use for women in his studio. The idea of women painting huge pieces of scenery on a bridge away up under the roof of the theatre struck him as being somewhat amusing.
‘I don’t see what I can do for you,’ he said. ‘Women are not adapted to this work. Besides, my men would certainly go on strike if I should put you among them on a bridge.’
‘I don’t believe they would at all,’ replied Miss Wishaar, ‘and so far as lack of adaptability for the work is concerned, I intend to show that I am adapted for it; I’ll disguise myself as a boy, – if I find that nobody will give me a chance as a woman.’
‘Well,’ he finally said, ‘come back to-morrow, and I’ll take the matter up again.’ The next morning, Miss Wishaar appeared with a satchel in hand holding her artist’s painting dress. She was ready to go to work. “This business-like method strengthened the good impression she had made on Mr. Dodge, and without further delay he put her to work in the model room, and a few days later gave her an opportunity to do real scenic painting on the bridge.” His artists protested, but were told they must give the young woman fair play. Within a week she had won their good will, chiefly because she asked no favors and had shown that as a craftsman she could “hold up her end” with any of them.”
Within a year and a half after arriving in New York [January 1901], Wishaar described that she became the director of scene painting at “an important theatre,” one that remained unnamed in the article. However, we know that when she was working for Dodge, the scenic art staff painted at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, Herald Square Theatre and the Manhattan Theatre. Wishaar must have been quite talented, in order to rise that quickly in the ranks. It took many scenic artists years to make the jump from staff painter to director.
A 1903 newspaper article written by Marilla Weaver provides a small glimpse into the extreme hardships encountered by Wishaar while searching for work in New York. Weaver reported, “There was success for her, but not till after a struggle so hard and bitter that it ought to make American men bow their heads and a dull red flush of shame dye their cheeks when they remember the mothers that gave them life. It was the old struggle against sex prejudice. Here was this slender, gifted, graceful girl, a skillful scenic artist, a stranger, away from her parents, seeking honorable employment at work she could do as well as the best. Men who should have welcomed her turned from her with ominous muttering and black scowls. Sex jealousy!”
So let’s look at the men who were painting in New York at this time…
Scenic artists active in New York at the turn of the century included Frank Dodge, Ernest Albert, Charles Basing, Wilfred Buckland, Joseph Clare, Homer F. Emens, Frank E. Gates, George Gros, J.M. and T.M. Hewlett, Lee Lash, H. Robert Law, St. John Lewis, W.H. Lippincott, John Mazzonovich, P. J. MacDonold, E. A. Morange, Thomas G. Moses, Joseph Physioc, Hugh Logan Reid, Edward G. Unitt, Charles G. Witham, Joseph Wickes, and John H. Young. A significant number of this crowd resented Wishaar and did not offer to help. Fortunately, Wishaar’s drive and talent caused her to excel in a world primarily dominated by men. Wishaar became so successful that she soon went into business for herself after returning to the West Coast.
An article in 1904 reported “Miss Wishaar’s talent sweeps over a wide range. Not only is she adept with a broad brush and tricky ‘distemper’ of the scene painter, but she is even more skillful with the tiny ‘camel’s hair’ and oil of the miniature artist.” In the article, Wishaar was quoted saying, “I love my work. It is progressive, there is room for originality, and results are quick. I do wish you would say something about the medium I use. People generally think that scenery is painted with a whitewash brush and that some kind of wash is used. But the distemper with which I work is an opaque watercolor. It is delightfully effective, but plays some tricks sometimes on those unfamiliar with its vagaries. The first trick it played on me was with a garden drop. I fairly reveled in the delicious greens that paled and deepened under my brush, but when it dried! I wish you could have seen it.” Wishaar was noted as laughing heartily when she remembered the “dull picture” into which her work had faded. In an earlier article Wishaar commented, “Distemper is a really beautiful medium. You can produce such fine effects with it! But it’s very tricky unless you know just how to handle it.” This article appeared throughout the country, including the “Topeka State Journal” (May 25, 1903, page 8), the “Racine Journal-Time” (Wisconsin, 27 July 1903, page 7), the “Wilkes-Barre Record” (Pennsylvania, 7 May 1903, page 2), the “Wichita Daily Eagle” (Kansas, 3 May 1903, page 22), the Richmond Item (Indiana, 2 May 1903, page 10), the “Marion Star” (Ohio, 2 May 1903, page 10), the “Decatur Herald” (Illinois, 14 June 1903, page 19), the “Lincoln Star” (Nebraska, 5 May 1903, page 9), and many others publications that are not digitally available to date. When news was published about Wishaar it appeared all across the country.
Grace N. Wishaar. “The San Francisco Call,” 13 Oct 1904.
Wishaar described that her return to Seattle in 1904 was prompted by a large order for painted scenery contracted by Mr. Dodge. As this was Wishaar’s home city, the idea of returning as “a successful worker in her chosen field” appealed to her. Arrangements were made for Wishaar to travel west. She never returned, but continued painting scenery along the Pacific Coast. She worked as a scenic artist at theaters in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, San Francisco and Oakland. That year, Wishaar was listed as the scenic artist at Harry W. Bishop’s Ye Liberty Playhouse in Oakland when it opened to the public. For context, this was ten years after her scenic art career began and forty years before she would win the Ladies World Championship for chess. By 1904, Wishaar’s scenic art career was soaring. Ye Liberty Playhouse was located at 1424 Broadway in a portion of the Realty Syndicate Building. “Henry’s Official Western Theatre Guide” (1907-1908) listed the seating capacity for the venue as 1,980. It was a sizable house for Oakland and the space was illuminated with both gas and electric lights. The proscenium opening measured 36’ wide by 36’ high. The depth of the stage was 80’ with a 75’ revolve conceived by Harry W. Bishop. The height to the gridiron was 65’-0.” Ye Liberty was also considered to possess an extremely fine stock company and present remarkable productions.
For a little historical context, Harry W. Bishop (1872-1928) opened Ye Liberty Playhouse in 1904. It purportedly included the first revolving stage in the western United States. I want to take a moment to comment on the man who offered Wishaar a scenic art position as Ye Liberty Playhouse in 1904. Bishop was the adopted son of Walter M “Bishop” (1849-1901), otherwise known as Walter Morosco, the proprietor of Morosco’s Royal Russian Circus. Harry W. Bishop’s obituary reported that he “began his career as a showman in San Francisco and ended it brokenhearted and poor as a sometime real estate operator.” But the story wasn’t that simple. Oliver Morosco adopted Walter and Leslie Mitchell, orphaned sons of Sir John Mitchell and Dora Esmea Montrose of Utah. Some sources reported that Walter ran away from home at the age of 17 to join the circus as an acrobat. After Walter left his circus career, he took over the Howard Street Theatre in San Francisco and started his new venture as a producer and manager. He later took over the Burbank Theatre in Oakland, as well as the Union Hall and the Grand Opera House in San Francisco. It was at the opera house that Harry W. Bishop began his career and Oliver Morosco was the treasurer.
By 1905, Bishop managed Ye Liberty Theatre, San Francisco’s Majestic Theatre, Central Theatre, the American Theatre and Bell Theatre. His obituary reported that “he won a reputation as a star-maker and while his productions, both dramatic and stock, concert and musical were famous, he was not in the commercial way. Throughout his career he remained a dreamer and his sole use for money was to return it to the theatre in the way of more lavish productions and finer casts until the profit was reduced to a minimum.” Bishop was ahead of his time, not only offering Wishaar the opportunity to paint at his theaters, but also offering other women positions as ushers and ticket takers. There was another aspect to Bishop that I find fascinating as it would have greatly affected the venue where Wishaar worked. Bishop was also an inventor, filing for various patents that related to theatre design and stage construction.
Wishaar was with Bishop from the very beginning of Ye Liberty Theatre. Some of Wishaar’s 1904 productions there included “Frou Frou,” “Hamlet,” “A Gentleman of France,” “Merchant of Venice,” “Pudd’nhead Wilson” and “Held the Enemy.” Newspaper articles mentioned the combined efforts of the scenic artist Miss Grace Wishaar and Ye Liberty’s stage carpenter, Walter Woerner. Woerner was also in charge of the mechanical department and later worked at the Fulton Theatre. On May 16, 1904, the “Oakland Tribune” announced, “James Neill in New Play.” “A Gentleman From France,” was featured at Ye Liberty Playhouse. The article reported, “Miss Grace Wishaar has painted an entire new set of scenery and the costumers have made new clothes and dresses for everybody.”
In 1905, Wishaar painted scenery at Ye Liberty for “Juanita of San Juan” and “The Light Eternal.” That year, Wishaar also made headlines in the article “Clever Woman Invades Scene Painting Field” (“Albuquerque Citizen,” 21 July 1905, page 3). The article was published in newspapers across the country and reported “A woman sitting on a bridge at a dizzying height in the rear of the stage in an Oakland theatre, painting in with bold strokes skies and trees and castles, proves the ability of her sex to keep pace with the masculine gender in the following of any profession. While Miss Wishaar has gained fame and a good living from her scene painting, she is devoting herself to a branch of art that no doubt in time will bring her fame of the highest type. Her miniature painting shows the most exquisite appreciation of the value of colors. A rare skill in catching her subjects likeness, combined with a most subtle blending of tones make her miniature work worthy of the praise of the most critical of critics.”
Grace N. Wishaar. “Albuquerque Citizen,” 21 July 1905.
In addition to her scenic art, Wishaar continued as a portraitist. Some of her more notable fine art projects were miniatures of Jack London’s young daughters. London (1876-1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. He was considered to be a pioneer in the world of commercial magazine fiction, becoming quite a celebrity in his day. Wishaar’s relationship with London and other California socialites provided a variety of opportunities. I keep thinking back to her statement from the 1901 interview – “I am convinced that I am a curiosity.” She somehow managed to capitalize on that; people were immediately drawn to her. As in New York, she remained a curiosity to many who met her, captivating people with both her talent and intelligence. Wishaar exhibited and won awards many art exhibitions during this time, even chairing a variety of artistic clubs.
Grace N. Wishaar. “Oakland Tribune,” 25 Nov. 1906.
In 1906, Wishaar was again featured in the “Oakland Tribune” with a lovely illustration of her straddling a beam and painting scenery in bloomers – ironically, attire that was not her painting outfit. Another article in “Success Magazine” that year featured Wishaar in the section entitled “Life Sketches of Ambitious Young Men and Women” (page 32). The article started with “What Miss Grace N. Wishaar Has Accomplished in a Field in Which She Seemed Totally Unfitted.” It was followed with the statement, “pluck, enthusiasm, and conscientious work have enabled Miss Grace N. Wishaar to become the only woman scenic artist in the United States.” Again, not the only woman scenic artist at the time, just the most promoted.
On August 14, 1906, Wishaar married her third husband, John Bruce Adams. Sadly, this marriage was also very short lived. On July 17, 1907, the “Oakland Tribune” reported, “Mrs. Grace Wishaar Adams is in Matrimonial Trouble.” The article continued, “According to a dispatch received from Los Angeles, Bruce Adams, the handsome husband of Grace Wishaar Adams the well-known scenic painter, is contemplating securing a divorce from his wife. He is now said to be in Los Angeles. Mrs. Adams, who paints all the scenery at Ye Liberty Theater and Idora Park, and who is well known in literary and art circles, said today that she had no idea where her husband is, that he positively has no grounds on which to obtain divorce, but that she has plenty of charges against him, but, nevertheless, would not seek a separation, and should fights against him to a finish if he should attempt to do so. Mrs. Adams charges that her husband has deserted her, and that he has contracted a lot of debts in her name, and that he has concealed his present place of residence to her. Mrs. Wishaar, mother of Mrs. Adams said this morning: ‘If Mr. Adams intends suing for a divorce, it is my opinion that my daughter will fight him to the bitter end. I know nothing of my daughter’s intensions at this time, not having discussed the matter with her. One thing I do know is that my daughter’s matrimonial venture has proved an utter failure. As for Adams, he is hardly able to take care of himself, much less a wife.”
I have a good friend who repeatedly says, “No one loves you like your mom.” Such was the case with Wishaar. Ida continually supported and defended her daughter over the decades; she was always there to help.
When Wishaar’s third marriage ended, she was still painting all of the scenery at Ye Liberty Playhouse, Idora Park, San Francisco’s Majestic Theatre, and few other performance venues in San José. A few shows painted by Wishaar in 1907 include the elaborate scenery for “Cleopatra” at Ye Liberty and “The Toy Maker” at the Idora Park Opera House. Both received rave reviews. For “Cleopatra,” an article described her stage settings in detail: “The play opened with the meeting of the beautiful queen of Egypt and the Roman conqueror at Tarsus. This scene was gorgeously set. Cleopatra entered in her brilliantly decorated barge seated beneath a canopy of gold. But this first scene was no more splendid than the other five that followed” (“San Francisco Call,” 31 December 1907, page 4). Wishaar’s career continued to soar in California, with the public recognizing her artistic achievements in both theaters and fine art galleries.
Grace Wishaar. “The Pittsburgh Press,” 28 April 1907.
Wishaar continued to make headlines throughout 1907-1909. On March 29, 1907, “The Elgin Chief” of Elgin, Oklahoma, reported, “Only Woman Scene Painter. Miss Grace N. Wishaar, of San Jose, Cal., is the only woman theatrical scene painter in the United States, She was educated in Paris and painted the scenery for three New York theaters – the Fifth Avenue, Manhattan and Herald Square” (page 7). In 1908, Wishaar delivered scenery for Isabella Fletcher’s performance of “Nell Gwynne.” On March 24, 1908, the “Oakland Tribune” reported, “Grace N. Wishaar gives the play an atmosphere which puts the drama in a high class”
And then tragedy struck the Wishaar home. On July 3, 1909, “The San Francisco Call” reported that Miss Grace Wishaar “narrowly escaped death” when home at Folkers and Lake Shore Avenue burned to the ground (page 12). At the time. Piedmont Heights had no fire protection, so the Oakland fire department was called to battle the blaze. Tragically, the Oakland fire department was already responding to a small fire at the Empire foundry on Third and Broadway. Wishaar lived in the same neighborhood as Harry W. Bishop. Wishaar’s fire was attributed to a defective grate, but she lost everything: her home valued at $5,000, all of her furniture and prized collection of paintings. Inhabitants of the Wishaar home at the time were listed as Grace’s mother Mrs. M. I. Wishaar, her brother Louis Wishaar, and her son Carroll Peeke.
Grace N. Wishaar. “The San Francisco Call,” 3 July 1909.
Despite the tragedy, Wishaar persisted with work for a variety of venues. On October 16, 1909, the “Oakland Tribune” reported that Grace Wishaar is painting the scenery for Cupid and the Cow Punch.: The article commented that Wishaar was “truly a most wonderful artist, and the book has been splendidly dramatized” (page 9). In addition to painting scenery, Wishaar also designed the parade float, “Where Rail and Water Meet,” to represent Oakland in the grand Portola pageant in San Francisco that fall. The float was 27 feet long by 14 feet wide and 9 feet tall, drawn by six dapple-gray horses in white harnesses.
Regardless of abundant work, debt from both fire and her third husband’s spending spree, began to take a toll on Wishaar. On Nov. 6, 1909, the “San Francisco Call” reported that Wishaar collapsed from overwork and was compelled to take a “rest cure” (page 9). Her doctor advised a “rest trip” for treatment. For the upper classes, rest trips were prescribed as a cure. They were intended to offer respite from all of life’s demands and worries.
I am sure that there are many of us who would appreciate this type of medical treatment right now.
Enter California socialite, Marian Smith Oliver, the former ward of F. M. Smith, a multimillionaire known as the Borax King.
Under the advice of a physician, Oliver had already left for Australia during August 1909. She was not gone for long after learning of Wishaar’s series of unfortunate events. Oliver returned to California and planned an extended trip around the world with Wishaar. In 1910, Wishaar and Oliver journeyed to the South Sea Islands, New Zealand, Australia, the Orient, Mediterranean countries, and elsewhere. They ended up in Paris.
Marian was the wife of Roland Oliver, manager of the Leona chemical company. Leona Chemical Co. was one of F. M. Smith’s properties. One-time miner, Mr. Oliver stumbled upon the wealth of chemicals in Death Valley where he staked out the wonderful borax deposits. This paved the way for an immense fortune and the hand of Marian. In Oakland., Mr. Oliver developed a scheme known as the Realty Syndicate, a plan that issued certificates carrying guaranteed interest against the enormous realty holdings the syndicate acquired with high finance. Most importantly, the Realty Syndicate building housed Ye Liberty Playhouse. Wishaar painted at the Ye Liberty Playhouse and eventually became friends with Mrs. Marian Oliver.
Marian was a prize catch; one of several wards raised and educated by Mrs. F. M. Smith. She received $250,000 worth of jewels and a few articles of her costly and famous wardrobe. When Marian married Roland Oliver, F. M. Smith also gave her an independent fortune in securities and realty holdings. In the end, the Smiths ensured Marian’s financial independence from her husband. It was this financial independence that funded her world trip with Wishaar in 1909.
Two women on a rest trip seemed like a perfect escape until the rumors started flying about. On October 16, 1910, “The San Francisco Call” reported “Wife’s Long Stay Abroad Gives Rise to Gossip” (page 31). While away, Mrs. Oliver decided to remain abroad to study music and performance. Oliver continued to study music in Paris, with Wishaar setting up an art studio, well into 1911. Newspaper articles conveyed bits of information concerning Mrs. Oliver’s improved health and her life upon the stage. On April 6, 1911, the “Oakland Tribune” even reported that Mrs. Oliver was enjoying her “career before the footlights” (page 1). The article explained, “Her fascination for the stage led her to spend time among theatrical folk, and it was partly in this way that her friendship with Miss Grace Wishaar, the long time the scenic artist at Ye Liberty theatre formed.” By August 1911, Mrs. Oliver returned to the United States. Wishaar remained in abroad.
On April 5, 1914, the “Oakland Tribune” mentioned Wishaar’s extended absence under the heading, “Oakland Artist Gains Triumph” (page 29). The article reported that Wishaar was exhibiting three portraits at the Salon des Beaux Arts in the Grand Palais, beginning on April 12, a goal for which most artists strive. Two of her portraits featured Giralamo Savonarola and Countess Walewska. The article reported, “Miss Wishaar may be considered in every sense to have definitely arrived.” This marked the end of her scenic art career.
Wishaar was lucky in many things, but certainly not in marriage. I have to wonder if her husbands never quite matched her intellect. She married her fourth husband in Ceylon. Archibald C. Freeman was a dual British-American citizen. It was her marriage to Freeman that granted Wishaar British citizenship. After Freeman, Wishaar married her sixth husband, Henry James Bromley. Not much is known of their relationship, other than it was disclosed on her last marriage certificate. Wishaar’s seventh husband was Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946), the world chess champion.
Alekhine was born in Moscow. He grew up in an aristocratic and very wealthy family, learning to play chess at the age of six. He first encountered simultaneous blindfold chess games when he was nine years old and became enthralled with a visiting champion who competed in twenty-two games. Alekhine would eventually become one of the greatest blindfold players in history. He joined the Moscow Chess Club and won the All-Russian Amateur Tournament by 1909. In 1914 he emerged on the worldwide state, being one of the top five. That same year, Alekhine was retained in Germany with ten other Russian chess players when war erupted. Fortunately, he escaped and returned to Russia. After the war, he began to travel again and compete all over the world, landing on US soil in 1923. While in the States he participated in 24 exhibitions, even competing in one blindfold simultaneous game against twenty-one other players.
Ten years later, he met Grace Wishaar in Tokyo.
Wishaar was also competing in the Tokyo chess tournament, playing against Alexander Alekhine in a simultaneous exhibition. For her participation, she received one of Alekhine’s books and asked him to autograph her copy. Although sixteen years older than Alekhine, he was captivated with Wishaar and they married the following year.
Wishaar had been playing chess for quite some time. The game was a popular paint break activity early in her career. On October 13, 1904, “The San Francisco Call” reported, “To complete the versatility of this remarkable young woman, [Wishaar] is an excellent musician and a clever chess player. When her eyes grow weary of color and the brush becomes a heavy weight she turns to chess for recreation.”
On March 26, 1934, their wedding ceremony took place at Villefranche-sur-Mer in France. This is about 6 miles southwest of Monaco. They lived in a magnificent chateau (La Chatellenie Saint-Aubin-le-Cauf was near Normandy), with Wishaar keeping an art studio in Paris.
They traveled extensively for chess championships around the world. Both competed at the Hastings International Chess Congress in 1936/37 where Alekhine won the Premier. He won this same tournament in previous years (1922, 1925/6, 1933/4). Wishaar won 3rd prize in the 3rd Class Morning A class competition. By 1938, a civic reception was held in their honor at the Golden Jubilee Chess Congress in Plymouth.
Life wasn’t without challenges or struggles, however, as reports continued to depict Alekhine’s excessive drinking during competitions. Yet he continued to win, game after game, and excelled in blindfold simultaneous chess challenges.
During World War II, the Nazis took over their chateau and looted its contents. Alekhine was allowed to freely travel under Nazi occupation, but no exit visa was allowed for Wishaar. After the war, Wishaar sold the chateau and spent the last five years of her life in her Paris studio. She passed away on February 21, 1956 and is buried next to Alexander in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Final resting place of Grace N. Wishaar in France.
Her only son remained in the United States. Lt. Col. Carroll Peeke fought in WWI, and graduated from University California at Berkley. He followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and went into the newspaper business. Peeke joined the “San Francisco Call-Bulletin” in 1922 and later worked as city and diplomatic editor for “The Times Herald” in Washington, D.C.
In 1919, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Larson quit us on October 24th.” He was referring to Larry. Unfortunately, both Moses and newspapers frequently misspelled Larry’s last name; it was actually Larsen. Larry P. Larsen began his career as a scenic artist in Chicago during the first decade of the Twentieth Century. Later in life, he founded his own studio and became extremely well-known as an architect and contractor, building more than 100 theaters across the country.
Lawrence “Larry” P. Larsen (1892-1950)
Lawrence “Larry” Peter Larsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 25, 1892. He was the eldest son of eight children born to Louis V. Larsen (1862-1947) and Carrie M. Mortenson (1868-1959). The couple celebrated the birth of five children in Denmark, with three more arriving in the United States. The Larsen children included: Lawrence P. Larsen (b. 1892), Cora R. Larsen (b. 1893), Henry Larsen (b. 1896), Gertrude Larsen (b. 1898), Herbert R. Larsen (b. 1900), Arthur H. Larsen (b. 1904), Katherine Larsen (b. 1911) and Mayme C. Larsen (b. 1912).
The Louis and Carrie Larsen emigrated with five children to the United States in 1902, sailing from Hamburg, Germany, to New York. They arrived in the United States on April 22 of that year. At the time, Larry was only 12 yrs. old, but had already studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. After arriving in the United States, the Larsen’s briefly settled in Hancock, Michigan for two years. In 1904, they moved west to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. For geographical context, Oshkosh is located on the shores of Lake Winnebago. It is southwest of Green Bay and northwest of Milwaukee.
Larry did not come from a family with any theatrical connections or ambitions. After arriving in America, his father worked a variety of jobs that ranged from security guard to fireman. It remains unclear as to whether he supported his son’s artistic ambitions, but Larry ran away from home to pursue a career in art sometime between 1908 and 1910.
Larry was not listed as part of the Larsen household in Oshkosh for the 1910 US Federal census. I have yet to locate any listing for Larry that year, and it is likely because he was working on the road for Sosman & Landis. In later accounts, Larry explained that he ran away from home as there was no formal artistic training in Oshkosh at the time. He attended art school in Chicago, working as a scenic artist during the day and attending art classes in the evening. This was a common situation for many scenic artists who filtered through the Sosman & Landis shops at the time. After hours, scenic artists studied art, constantly attempting to improve their skills to advance through the ranks at the studio. Many hoped to make a name for themselves someday.
In 1913, Larry was listed as an artist in the Chicago Directory, living at 4615 Langley Ave. On May 10 of that year, he married his first wife, Marguerite Pottinger Muir (1895-1924). They were married in Chicago, the city where they likely met. Marguerite was the daughter of Jamill Pattinger and Howard A. Muir. At the time, Larry was 21 years old, and Marguerite was only 18 years old. The following year, the couple celebrated the birth of their first child. Jeanette M. Larsen was born on June 27, 1914,
In 1915, the Larsens moved from Chicago to New York where Larry continued to work as a scenic artist. That year the New York State census reported Larry and Marguerite living with their one-year-old daughter, Janet M., in Queens. By the next spring, a second child arrived. On April 14, 1916, the Larsen’s celebrated the birth of Lawrence Peter Larsen Jr. On Sept. 15, 1916, Chicago’s “Englewood Times” reported, “Mrs. Lawrence P. Larsen and her two little children who have been visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Muir, of 6448 Champlain Ave. the past three months returned to their home in Brooklyn, N. Y., Tuesday” (page 1).
Meanwhile, Larsen spent a considerable amount of the time on the road, traveling across the country from one painting project to the next. It was during a stay in Texas that Larry became a naturalized citizen on May 25, 1917. At the time, he was working in Beaumont, Texas, temporarily residing at the Woodrow Hotel. The day after he was naturalized, Larry registered for the WWI Draft. Although his card was submitted in Jefferson County, Texas, on May 26, 1917, it was placed on file in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, by June 5, 1917. Larry’s Registration card noted his employers as United Scenery Studios and that he was employed “on road.” His physical appearance was described as medium height, stout build, blue eyes, and brown hair. Larry listed 721 Mt. Vernon, Oshkosh, as his permanent home address. The couple likely returned home while awaiting the birth of their third child Thomas P. Larsen that year.
In regard to Larry’s employer, the United Scenery Studios of New York…
During the fall of 1917, the United Scenery Studios was credited with decorating a variety of theaters, including the Orpheum Theaters in Topeka, Kansas, and Mexico, Missouri. On October 2, 1917, the “Mexico Ledger” of Mexico, Missouri, announced, “Improving the Orpheum. Stage Will be Made Into Conservatory of Charm” (page 1). The article continued, “Following the popular trend of decorating the space around a moving picture screen, Manager S. C. Thompson, of the Orpheum Theatre has L. P. Larson, G. F. Moody, his assistant, of the United Scenery Studios, of New York City, here building a conservatory set to surround the picture screen at the Orpheum. This setting will have large windows in it, behind which a subdued moonlight effect in lights will present a beautiful landscape. The top of the stage will represent a glass conservatory roof. The idea is a new and novel one and is being installed in the larger and more progressive theatres in this country.”
Larsen’s assistant was George Farnsworth Moody (1886-1944). Both Larsen and Moody moved to New York about the same time, c. 1913-1914. Moody’s marriage license to Hattie M. Dyment was registered in Manhattan, New York, and dated August 10, 1914. In 1917 Moody also listed his occupation as an “on road” with the United Scenery Co. on his 1917 WWI Draft Registration card. Moody later worked as an artist for the Kansas City Scenic Co. and the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. of Kansas City. Many of Moody’s designs are part of the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. at the University of Minnesota’s Performing Arts Archives.
Design by G. F. Moody. Great Western Stage Equipment Co. Collection, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota.
There was another interesting article from 1917 that mentioned the United Scenery Studios in Topeka, Kansas in 1917. On Oct. 17, 1917, “The Topeka State Journal” reported, “Camouflage artists, wanted by the British in the French trenches, area working this week on the Orpheum stage transforming it into a thing of beauty and a joy forever, as the old saying goes.
A week from Monday Orpheum patrons will look upon a stage rivaling in beauty of decorations and movie stage in the country. It will picture a Japanese garden scene.
A land scape will appear on one side of the stage and a water scene on the other. Prior to the opening of the show, patrons will have an opportunity to look at the garden scene, as it would appear at daybreak, daytime and in the evening. Red lights will be flashed to depict daybreak, white lights, daytime, and blue lights evening. The canvas on which the pictures are thrown will be hidden by a heavy velvet curtain. There will be stone lanterns and Japanaise vases on the land side of the stage and the sacred mountains of Japan will appear in the background. The work is being done by the United Scenery Studios of New York” (page 6).
Although referred to as the United Scenery Studios of New York, the actual name of the firm was American Velvet Drops United Scenic Studios; an unfortunate mouthful that needed to be shortened. The company was managed by Ernest A. price and located in the Gaiety Theatre at 1547 Broadway in New York. The firm specialized in stage draperies, but also delivered painted scenery and ornamental décor.
Larsen was still working for the New York firm during the spring of 1918. On March 20, 1918, “The Salina Daily Union” included an article about the Palace Theatre in Salina, Kansas. The renovated venue represented a Japanese tea garden, complete with Japanese stone lamps, flower pots and painted dragons; similar to the theaters in Topeka. The article reported, “The velvet curtain parts and rises as the pictures come upon the screen. The theatre is certainly one of the most beautiful in the state of Kansas, and, according to Mr. L. P. Larsen of the United Scenery Studio of New York, this is the prettiest job they have done in Kansas and they have done several” (page 6). Sometime between in 1918, Larsen also began working for the New York Studios in Chicago. Keep in mind that New York Studios held a regional branch in Chicago and was considered the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis. Regardless of timing, Larsen permanently returned to Chicago where he became associated with the Universal Scenic Artist Studio.
Between 1918 and 1920, Larsen worked for New York Studios and then founded his own Chicago-based firm, Universal Scenic Studios, Inc. It gets a bit confusing from here on out due to the similarity and repetition of studio names. To start with, Universal Scenic Artist Studios is erroneously listed in newspaper articles as Universal Scenery Studios, and Universal Sceneries Studios. However, it is the same firm, as Larsen is often mentioned by name.
There was a second firm established in 1919 named the Universal Scenic Studio Co. The only different is Co. versus Inc. at the end. This firm was established by Boyd P. Joy and initially located in on East Tenth Street in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Business offices for Boyd’s Universal Scenic Studio Co. later opened offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In regard to Boyd’s endeavor, an interesting article was published in the “Argus-Leader” on March 22, 1919. It reported, “The Universal Scenic Studio of Sioux Falls, on East Tenth Street, under the direction of Boyd P. Joy, is providing for this section of the northwest products of the best experience of a man who was for a number of years connected with the best studios of New York and since coming west a few years ago has become one of the recognized leaders in scenic art production.” In later years, Boyd’s firm was often advertised as “Universal Scenic Studio, of Milwaukee” and “Universal Scenic Studios, of Minneapolis” whereas Larsen’s firm was advertised as “Universal Scenic Studios, of Chicago.”
Between 1917 and 1920 Larsen divided his time between Chicago and New York, although he was constantly on the road. Larsen’s fourth child, William Herbert Larsen, was born on May 15, 1918, in Chicago. This is likely when Larsen shifted from the United Scenery Studio of New York to New York Studios. His wife was now caring for four children and likely benefitted from remaining in the same city as her parents.
When Larsen went to briefly work for New York Studios, it was not in New York. New York Studios managed a branch office in Chicago, and were an eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis. This is where Moses was temporarily working in 1918 and 1919. Moses and Larsen were not the only scenic artists hopping from one studio to the next. This was a tumultuous time for scenic artists and their employers. There were a series of disputes and settlements just prior to the United States’ entry into WWI. It created a perfect storm for suppliers and artisans in the theatre industry.
Two articles were published in the August 1918 issue of “Variety.” They painted a vivid picture of the struggles for scenic artists that summer. The first article was entitled, “No Studio Settlement.” The article reported, “The report that the scenic artists had won their fight against the studio operators and had returned was erroneous. There have been two committee meetings between artists and contractors, but the former were not empowered to settle even had the differences been adjusted. All the large studios are continuing with newly developed artists, and although running short-handed, are getting out some work. The contractors say they are ‘standing pat’ and that the scenic association’s men are working in smaller studios only. There was but one deflection from the contractor’s association, that being the Metropolitan Studio of Brooklyn, in which plant the men never walked out. While the fight is on the Dodge and Castle studio has shifted all work to the plant of the New York studio. New York Studio was where Moses and Larsen worked that year.
The second article in “Variety” during the summer of 1918 was entitled, “Scenic Artists Arbitrate.” The article reported, “The so-called ‘strike’ of the scenic artists, which lasted for five weeks was amicably adjusted last week and the ‘belligerents’ returned to work. While ‘strikers’ gained nothing in the matter of salary or hours in employment – returning under a somewhat less favorable basis than was offered then before the quit – they succeed in securing an Arbitration Committee to adjust any further disagreements. When they walked out the scene painters demanded that 44 hours constitute a week, double pay for overtime, such as nights, Sunday’s and holidays, and a minimum wage of $30 for assistants. All this was agreed to by the studio managers, but they objected to being limited to one assistant to every artist. Upon occasion they have found it expedient to employ as many as four assistants to one artist, often paying them more than minimum wage demanded. The walk-out was times for the busiest period of the year, but the studio managers merely did as much work themselves as they could and passed up the remainder.”
The entry of the United States into WWI also prompted many scenic artists to leave the private sector and work for the government. Others, such as Larsen, founded their own scenic studios. In the beginning, Larsen founded Universal Scenic Artist Studios in Chicago. He was listed as the art director and manager of the firm. After leaving New York Studios in 1919, Larsen remained in Chicago. The 1920 US Federal Census listed the Larsens living at 5617 Drexel Ave. The household included: Lawrence (27), Marguerite (24), Jeanette M. (5), Lawrence P. Jr. (3 yrs. 8 mts), William (1 yrs. 5 mths.), and Lawrence’s brother, Herbert R. Larsen (19 yrs.). Herbert was listed as an “artist’s helper” in the theatre industry.
By 1921, Universal Scenic Artists Studios was working with Universal Electric Stage Lighting Co. of New York. On Jan. 29, 1921, the “Lansing State Journal” of Lansing, Michigan, reported that Universal Scenic Artists Studios of Chicago delivered black velvet hangings trimmed with gold bullion for the Style Review at the Gladmer Theatre. The Universal Electric Stage Lighting Co. provided special electrical effects and scioticons for the show, with Sosman & Landis delivering the painted stage settings. As with many new scenic concerns, Universal Scenic Artist Studios started small, picking up whatever projects they could find, including fabric draperies for the stage.
Listing in the Chicago Business Directory, 1921.
On April 1922, Wisconsin’s “Kenosha News” reported, “Beautiful Scenery in Haresfoot Comedy. Scenery and equipment for the Wisconsin Haresfoot show, “Kitty Corner,” which is to appear at the Rhode Opera House, Tuesday evening, April 18, is being specially constructed for the production by the Universal Scenic Artist studio, Chicago, recognized leaders in scenic equipment” (page 9). The 1922 Chicago Central Business and Office Directory listed L. P. Larsen as the general manager and art director for Universal Scenic Artist Studio. Advertisements state that they were “Leaders in Scenic Equipment.” The firm was located in Suite 626 of the new State-Lake Building at 190 N. State. Other tenants in the building that year included the Orpheum Circuit Inc., Rapp & Rapp architects, B. F. Keith’s Vaudeville Exchange, Western Vaudeville Managers Association, Broadway Music Corporations, Advertising Art Bulletin Co. Signs, Lester Theatrical Costumes, and dozens of other managers in the entertainment industry.
The State-Lake Building, pictured in the 1922 Chicago Business Directory.
In 1922, Larry and Marguerite welcomed their fifth child into the world. On February 17, 1922, Howard Muir Larsen was born in Chicago. Marguerite, however, never seemed to recover and passed away two years later. Marguerite Muir Larsen died Feb 4, 1924 and was buried on Feb. 7 in Oakwood Cemetery. At the time, the Larsen’s home address was listed 6411 St. Lawrence Ave. On Feb. 8, 1924, Chicago’s “Suburbanite Economist” reported, “Mr. Marguerite Muir Larsen, wife of Lawrence P. Larsen, died at Englewood hospital on Monday morning, February 4, 1924. Mrs. Larsen was the daughter of Mr. and. Mrs. Howard A. Muir, residents of Englewood and Woodlawn. Funeral services were held at Cunningham’s chapel, 6237 Normal Blvd., on Thursday, at 2 O.M. Interment at Oakwood cemetery” (page 4).
For the next two years, Larsen struggled as a single parent, relying heavily upon his in-laws as his business continued to expand. On May 2, 1926, the “Joplin Sunday Globe” reported, “L. P. Larsen, general manager and art director of the United Studios, was in Joplin Friday…”(page 1). Larsen was spending an increasing amount of time in Missouri, completing one project after another, including the Gillioz Theatre in Springfield, Missouri. In June 1926, Larsen married Helen June Mingo (1901-1988). Helen worked as a secretary in Larsen’s office.
The 1920s posed a challenge to well-established scenic studios while offering opportunity to new firms. Theatre suppliers and manufacturers had to rapidly adapt to changing times, immediately responding to new expectations and technological innovations. Live entertainment began to promote drapery settings in lieu of painted scenes. In some ways, it benefited many new studio owners. The manufacture of drapery settings or abstract scenes required an entirely different skill set from their labor pool. This meant that majority of work once completed by highly-skilled scenic artists was replaced with projects that could be completed by their assistants. In some ways, scenic art became more of a scenic trade.
Installation by ACME Studio of Chicago, a firm established by another former Sosman & Landis employee (Art Oberbeck).Installation by ACME Studio of Chicago, a firm established by another former Sosman & Landis employee (Art Oberbeck).
As noted above in the “Variety” article above, the ratio of one assistant per artist could be stretched to several assistants per artist. This allowed the master artist to supervise a team of less-experienced, and minimally-paid, individuals. In the end, studio owners were able to rake in larger profits by substituting the work of master painters with their less-experienced assistants. Scenic artists well-versed in painted illusion had to adapt, and quickly. Some set their sights on a much bigger prize – the whole theatre building. Such was the case when Larsen
founded his second firm, United Studios, Inc. Larsen became well-known as a designer and builder of atmospheric theaters. Years later, on April 31, 1927, the “Kenosha News” reported, “It is the only enterprise designing and executing theaters from the laying of the first steel and stone to the finished product completely equipped ready to present entertainment and receive patronage.” Larsen became well-known as a designer and builder of atmospheric theaters. His company advertised as “Creators and Builders of Theatres Complete.”
At the beginning of January 1927, Larsen opened his second firm, United Scenic Studios, Inc.
On Jan. 26, 1927, “The Capital Times” of Madison, Wisconsin, announced United Scenic Studios, Inc., Chicago, as a new Foreign Corporations (page 20), with a capital stock of $50; proportion represented in Wisconsin, $12,000; Wisconsin agent, B. W. Frampton, Kenosha, Wis.” Larsen made news that year and began an aggressive marketing campaign. On April 31, 1927, “The Kenosha News” pictures a portrait of Larsen in an article entitled, “Larson Bought First Suit from Laemmle, Now Builds Theatre” (pages 1 and 7). The article uses Larsen and Larson interchangeably; so, you can see how difficult it has been to track down Larry. Here is the article in its entirety:
“Larry Larsen, school boy of Oshkosh, was about to be confirmed and he was to have a new suit. He was told that it could have long pants and as he opened negotiations for its purchase with Carl Laemmle in his little Oshkosh clothing store it was one of the proudest moments in his life.
And now today as Larry Larson, master builder of theaters, puts the finishing touches on the splendid Kenosha Theater, he comes to another moment fraught with import and intimately associated with it the man of his earlier experience for he created and built the theater for Carl Laemmle, president of the Universal Pictures, Inc.
‘Our first transaction,’ says Larsen, ‘was a matter of fifteen dollars or so. Now our deals involve the exchange of millions but the same happy, kindly, honorable spirit dominates negotiations for ‘Uncle’ Carl Laemmle’s knows just one way of doing business.’
L. P. Larsen, president and general manager of the United Studios, Inc. of Chicago, a concern which designs and builds theaters complete, is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he studied art in the Royal Academy. When he was a lad the family came to the United States, going directly to Oshkosh.
Young Larsen, his soul hungry for art tuition unavailable in his home town, ran away to Chicago where he studied by night and acted as a scenic artist by day. His rapid rise in the fields of decoration and architecture led him to form his own company in 1920, This is known as United Studios, Inc., a concern which stands unique and in a field of its own making. It is the only enterprise designing and executing theaters from the laying of the first steel and stone to the finished product completely equipped ready to present entertainment and receive patronage.
Built First Atmospheric Theater.
Mr. Larsen is particularly enthusiastic over the latest innovation of theatrical architecture, the atmospheric theater. It was he who built the first house of this type east of the Mississippi. The theater was erected at Worchester, Mass., and was considered one of the outstanding show places of the east, both from architectural and entertainment standpoints. The United Studios have since built similar places coast to coast.
Handsome theatrical structures, involving millions of dollars, are underway for Carl Laemmle at Racine and Sheboygan, states Larsen, and that being the case it prompts the builder to remark, ‘Isn’t life queer?’” This story would be retold dozens of times over the years with minimal variation to the storyline.
By 1927, Larsen had built several large theaters for Universal Chain Theatrical Enterprises, Inc., of New York, The Universal Chain owned and controlled more than 290 theaters throughout the United States and Foreign countries, with a seating capacity of 250,000 (The Sheboygan Press, 27 Dec. 1927, page 11).
Larsen’s reputation continued to grow, along with profits generated by the United Studios, Inc. in the late 1920s. On Aug. 6, 1927, “The Sheboygan Press” reported “The United Studios, Inc., which has the erection, completion and furnishing of theatres for the Milwaukee Theatre Circuit, now has under construction projects totaling approximately $2,300.000. These include the $1,000,000 theatre at Racine, the $700,000 theatre in Kenosha, and the $600,000 building in Sheboygan” (page 1). But all was no well with Larsen. On Aug. 27, 1927, the “Joplin Globe” announced “L. P. Larsen was admitted for medical treatment yesterday” (page 5).
Larsen also began to diversify and invest in other business opportunities, such as the Joplin Building Corporation. When the Universal Film Corporation announced plans for construction of a theater on the site, Larsen purchased the property for the purpose of erecting a combined hotel and theater building. He formed the Joplin Building Corporation. Larsen was noted as the president of the Joplin Building Corporation, incorporated for $200,000. (“Joplin Globe,” 29 Feb 1928, page 2). “L. P. Larsen of Chicago, president of United Studios, Inc.” was credited with the design for the 11-story hotel, advertised to be the “Highest building in the Ozarks.”
On Feb. 28, 1928, the “Freeport Journal-Standard” reported, “The United Studios are the builders of the new theatre and 100 room hotel to be constructed in Beloit, Wis. And have recently completed theatres in Racine, Kenosha and Sheboygan. Among other houses which the company have constructed are the Ambassador in Chicago, houses in Worchester, Mass. Springfield and Joplin, Mo., and Edison Park, Ill.” (page 6).
Larsen was also featured in “The Journal Times” of Racine, Wisconsin, on April 11, 1928 (page 33). The article was entitled “New Venetian Theater is Creation of Former Badger State Resident.” Here is the article in its entirety:
“The architectural beauty and stability, and the elaborate and carefully worked out details of the new Venetian were planned and executed under the direction of L. P. Larsen, president and general manager of United Studios, Inc., a concern which designs and builds theaters complete. He is an expert on atmospheric houses, of which the Venetian is a magnificent example.
Mr. Larsen, who is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he studied art in the Royal Academy, came to the United States with his family, while he was still a lad, going directly to Oshkosh, Wis. Here, as a school boy he had his first dealings with Carl Laemmle, president of Universal Pictures, Inc., and Universal Chain Theatrical enterprises which owns and operates the Venetian Theater. Mr. Laemmle, then owned a small Oshkosh clothing store, and it was to him that young Larsen went on the eve of conformation to purchase his first ‘long pants.’
Mr. Larsen and Mr. Laemmle smile today when they look on the early deal which involved fifteen dollars, for today Mr. Larsen builds theaters all over the United States for the Universal company, and millions of dollars are exchanged by the two men in necessary transactions.
Early in life Mr., Larsen exhibited artistic tendencies and desired art education. Since there was none available in his home town he ran away to Chicago, where he ‘doubled in brass,’ acting as a scenic artist during the day, and going to art school at night. His successes in the field of art and decoration were so outstanding that he formed his own company in 1920, known as the United Studios, Inc. This concern is unique in that it is the only enterprise designing and executing theaters from laying of the first steel and stone, and the mixing of the first concrete, to the finished product, completely equipped and ready in every detail for patronage and presentation of entertainment.
Atmospheric theaters, of which the Venetian is a wonderful example, are close to Mr. Larsen’s heart, for he built the first theater of this type east of the Mississippi. Erected at Worchester, Mass., this theater was considered one of the showplaces of the east, both from an architectural and amusement standpoint. The United Studios have since built similar places from coast to coast.”
On July 10, 1928, the “Freeport Journal-Standard” reported, “The United Studios, Inc., finance, design, erect and equip theaters and have recently completed houses in Racine, Kenosha and Sheboygan, Wis., Chicago, Ill., Worchester, Mass., Springfield, Mo., and are now constructing a ten-story theatre and hotel in Joplin, Mo., and a new 100-room hotel in Beloit” (page 1).
On Nov. 15, 1929, “The Post-Crescent” of Appleton, Wisconsin, published a full-page advertisement for the opening of the New Fox Midwestco Theater, crediting “The United Studios of 14 W. Lake St., Chicago” with conceiving and executing the new theater building. The ad stated, “The New Fox Midwestco Theater created for Appleton by the United Studios, Inc. of Chicago. The United Studios, under the direction of L. P. Larsen have designed and built many of the country’s outstanding theatres. The new Fox is their latest achievement.” The ad also stated, “The following work was executed under the direction of the United Studios, Inc.: Architecture, Electrical Work and Equipment, Pain and Ornamental Plastering, Painting and Decorating, Sign and Marquee, Scenery and Rigging, Draperies, Lighting Fixtures, Carpets, Furniture, Switch Board and Border Lights, Opera Chairs, Organ, Booth Equipment, and Talking Equipment Installation.” Other projects for United Studios, inc. included Crystal Lake’s El Tovar theatre in Crystal Lake, Illinois. That year advertisements for United Studios, Inc. stated, “United Studios, Inc., builds massive structures of beauty and durability,” detailing that the were “Builder and Equippers of Theatres Complete” (“The Herald,” Crystal Lake, Illinois, 25 July 1929, page 9).
E. R. Nickel was listed as the superintendent of construction for the United Studios, Inc. during the remodeling of the New Van Der Vaart Theatre in Sheboygan (“The Sheboygan Press,” 31 Aug 1928, page 18). For other projects, Nickels was listed as the firm’s engineer (“Stevens Point Journal,” 23 July 1928, page 2). Nickel was also the president of the Valley Construction Co. of Oshkosh. An article about the New Van Der Vaart Theatre reported, “United Studios, Inc. whose artists drafted the plans for the remodeling and re-decorating program has under construction at the present time a combined hotel and theatre building in Joplin, Mo., which when completed $1,500,00, theatres in Crystal Lake, Ill, Delavan and Green Bay, Wis., South Bend, Ind. And Freeport, Ill. A large number of other big projects, such as the $1,000,000 theatre in Racine, the Sheboygan theatre, and numerous other theatrical and hotel properties have also been planned and constructed under supervision of the United Studios, Inc.” (page 18). That same year, Larsen, Nickels and pilot Max Bergham survived a plane crash near Marshfield shortly after takeoff. Larsen and Nickels had chartered a plane to take them to Chicago for a pressing business appointment. They were meeting with J. P. Adler, proprietor of the Adler and Trio theaters of Marshfield, Wisconsin. Miraculously, all three men survived (“Oshkosh Northwestern,” 8 Aug 1928, page 9).
On Sept. 29, 1929, the “Joplin Globe” included an article entitled “Theater Depends on Stock Sale” (page 21). The article concerned the proposed theatre at Fifth Street and Virginia avenue. “L. P. Larsen of Chicago, one of the promoters” explained there must be $50,000 to $60,000 worth of stock subscribed if the building was to be erected. “Larsen said the actual construction of the building would be begun when the stuck is subscribed.”
By 1930, L. P. Larsen was not only listed as president of United Studios, Inc., but also the president of J. N. Blumberg Theatrical Enterprises, Inc. Although N. J. Blumberg and his wife, Kate Silvers, were the original incorporators of N. J. Blumberg Theatrical Enterprises, Inc. Larsen gained control of the stock by November 1928. By 1930, Larsen, H. J. Mingo (Mrs. Larsen), E. R. Nickel and W. E. Roberts were the present stockholders of the corporation. Mrs. Larsen and Nickels were also principal stockholders in the United Studios (“The Sheboygan Press,” page 12).
N. J. Blumberg, pictured in 1930.
1930 US Census listed the Larsens living at 844 Glencoe Ave. in Highland Park, Illinois; this was part of Deerfield Township. Larsen was listed as a contractor in the Theatre Building industry. In 1931, the Larry briefly relocated his family to Bakersfield, California, where he was listed in the City Directory: “Lawrence P. Larsen (Helen) h2200 D.” They soon returned to Missouri, where Larry worked in Joplin as an architect.
On April 29, 1932, the “Joplin Globe” reported “Theater Proposal at W. C. Explained” (page 3). The article concerned the approval and support given to plan of rebuilding Old Blake at $40,000. “Webb City, Mo.- April 28. – Approval and support were unanimously given to the proposal of rebuilding the Blake theaters, destroyed five weeks ago by fire, at a mass meeting at regular weekly scheduled session of the Chamber of Commerce today. The meeting as largely attended. The proposal was explained by Fletcher Hammond, manager of the ruined theater and L. P. Larsen, Joplin architect, who would build the new theater.”
In 1933 the Larsen’s moved from Joplin to Webb City, where Larry would remain until his passing in 1950.
Larry and Helen welcomed their only son, David, in 1936. Sadly, their marriage would end in divorce, with Larsen securing custody of his son David. Something happened to the couple between 1936 and 1943. By 1940, Helen ended up as a patient in the State Hospital, they briefly moved to her hometown of Cedar Rapids. The 1940 Us Federal Census listed Helen J. Larsen as a patient at the State Hospital in Washington, Missouri. She was one of many housewives who were listed as patients, ranging in all ages. The same census also listed Helen as part of the Larsen household, living at 125 N. Ball Street, Webb City. The report included the following household members at the time: Larry P (47 yrs.), Helen J. (38 yrs.), David (4 yrs.), William (21 yrs.), Howard (18 yrs.), Lawrence (23 yrs.), and Kathryn (21 yrs.). Kathryn was Larsen’s daughter-in-law, Larry Jr.’s first wife. Larry Sr. was listed as an architect, his son William as a mechanic in the building industry), and Larry Jr. as a manager in the theatre industry.
On March 18, 1941, the “Joplin Globe” announced “Architect to Speak Before W. C. [Webb City] Rotarians” (page 5). The article continued, “Webb City, Mo., March 17. – Larry Larsen, architect, will deliver the principal address at a meeting of the Rotary Club which will be held at 12:10 o’clock Wednesday in the Elks Club building. Following the meeting the members and their guests will be the guests of the Civic Theatre, where they will be shown “World in Flames.” The picture was a complete outline of the happenings and events of the world from 1929 up to the present crisis.” In many ways, it was the beginning of a personal crises for the Larsen family too.
The last listing for Larry and Helen as a couple was from 1942 – the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, City Directory. They briefly moved to Iowa for a year after Helen was released from the State Hospital. She was returning to her hometown and family. At the time, Larry was listed as a theatre operator in the Cedar Rapids Directory, living at 218 8th Ave. SW. I doubt that Larry remained in Cedar Rapids for long, as he was too active that year in Webb City area that year. Helen would go on to live another 46 years after their divorce. On Nov. 21, 1988, the Cedar Rapids “Gazette” announced Helen’s passing, reporting, “87, died Sunday in the People’s Care Center at Independence after a long illness. She was born June 9, 1901, at Cedar Rapids. She married Lawrence P Larson [sic.] in June 1926. She was a graduate of Grant High School and was employed as a secretary for the L. P. Larson Designers and Builders of Chicago. Surviving are a son, David of East St. Louis, Ill; and two sisters, Mrs. Gladys Suchomel of Cedar Rapids and Mrs. Evelyn Hoffey of Iowa City. Services: 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jacobs-Kuba Funeral Home, by Rev. David Young. Burial: Linwood Cemetery. Friends may call at funeral home from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and after 9 a.m. Tuesday” (page 14).
On Jan. 26, 1942, the “Joplin News-Herald” included a full-page spread on Larsen’s new theater, entitled, “New Civic Drive in Cafe” (page 6). The article reported, “The dreamer is Larry Larsen, artist and architect who erects buildings, not because of what they represent in potential earning power, but because they are beautiful to look at and be in, and make life a little more convenient and pleasant. Larsen came to this district in 1926 to plan a new theater in Joplin. His plans culminated in opening the Fox theaters in November, 1930.
But while he was working on the theater project, Larsen was doing something else. He was falling in love with this region as an ideal place to live. He knew he intended to give up the hurry and cold-blooded commercialism of the big cities and seek a more leisurely and less materialistic life in a smaller community, but he didn’t find just what he wanted until he reached the ‘gateway to the Ozarks.’ When he came here, he already had built 100 of the finest theaters in the nation. Even after closing the community for his home, he went out and erected 40 more show houses before returning to Webb City ‘for good,’ as he expresses it. Larsen’s first contribution to Webb City was the Civic theater, opened in November, 1932. That gave the city a show house with an atmosphere in keeping with that of the largest metropolitan centers – one so pleasant that many persons attend shows from all parts of the district. The Drive-In Café is a second step in a plan for a complete tourist center in Webb City. Next, Larsen expects to establish a hotel, or Mo-tel as he will call it, because it will be constructed especially for cross-country tourists or salesmen who travel in this district with their wives and wish complete garage and eating accommodations…Larsen is known throughout the United States, not only because of his playhouse construction, but also as the man who brought the first pair of suspenders from the man whom he later built so many theaters. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Larsen came to American when he was 9 years old. He left home when he was 14 to make his own way in the world and literally pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, earning by his own effort the tuition he needed to study art. Later he devoted his time to interior decorating and finally found expression for his talents in architecture. Larsen first met the man for whom he built the theaters when he was in Oshkosh, Wis. He was the late Carl Laemmle who founded Universal Film Corporation. At that time Laemmle was operating haberdashery and it was his store that Larsen went to buy his first pair of long trousers – with suspenders thrown in. Erection of the Fox Theater here in 1930 marked a step forward in playhouse design which to a great degree influenced all other theater construction in the district. At that time, with due respect to the old Hippodrome and Electric theaters, playhouses of Joplin and the district had not advanced with the motion picture industry. The industry had given the world ‘talkies,’ but show houses still were designed for the silent days. The Fox theaters was the first house built especially for sound motion pictures. It was the first really beautiful playhouse in the district. It set a pace and other theater operators throughout the district were encouraged to follow suit” (page 6).
On July 16, 1942, the “Joplin Globe” included an article entitled Webb City Business Men Will See Film” (page 10). The article noted, “The luncheon will be served promptly at noon at the Civic Drive-in Café. The group will then adjourn to view the picture as guests of L. P. Larsen, manager of the theater” Luncheon Chamber of Commerce meeting. That year, Larry Jr. was managing his father’s Civic Theatre in Webb City.
On May 30, 1943, the “Joplin Globe” announced “Six divorces were granted in circuit court today: Lawrence P. Larsen from Helen J. Larsen, with the custody of their child awarded to Larsen” (page 3). Larry remarried two days later. On June 1, 1943, he married Bird Necomis McKnight Brooks (1905-1970) in Webb City. Byrd had also worked as a secretary at Larsen’s firm. She was a divorcee, having previously married Fred A. Brooks in 1928. Byrd was a resident of Webb City and had been working as a secretary at the theatre corporation since 1940.
Despite WWII, business continued to thrive for Larsen in the 1940s. Tragedy struck the Larsen family, however, in 1947 when Larry’s father passed away. Louis Larsen’s obituary was published in “the Oshkosh Northwestern” on April 19, 1947 (page 4):
“Louis Larsen, 85, of 721 Mt. Vernon street, passed away this morning at 6:45 o’clock after an extended illness. He was born in Denmark, March 14, 1862, and settled at Hancock, Mich., in 1902. Since 1904 he had been a resident of Oshkosh. He was a member of Our Saviour’s Lutheran church and of the Danish brotherhood No. 9. Survivors included his wife Carried; three daughters, Mrs. Cora Morgan of Wenatchee, Wash., Mrs. Gertrude Pilcher of Salem, Ore. And Mrs. Katherine Steiger of Oshkosh; four sons, Lawrence of Webb City, Mo., Henry of Olympia, Wash., Arthur of Fond du Lac, and Herbert of Osh Kosh; 17 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.”
Gravestone of Larry’s father, Louis V. Larsen, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Larry passed away less than three years later. On Feb. 18, 1950, he died from a cerebral hemorrhage. On Feb. 19, 1950, the “Neosha Daily Democrat” reported, “Well-Known Joplin Architect Succumbs. Joplin, Mo., Feb 18 – (UP) – L. P. Larsen, 57, widely known architect of the Missouri-Oklahoma-Kansas area, died today in a Joplin hospital. Larsen was a resident of Webb City, where he owned and operated two motion picture theaters, He was a native of Copenhagen, Denmark” (page 1).
Longer obituaries were published in local newspapers.
“Larry P. Larsen of Webb City Dies.
Owner of Civic Theater and Designer of More Than 100 Playhouses Succumbs Unexpectedly.
Webb City, Mo., Feb 18. – Larry P. Larsen, 57 years old, 119 North Ball street, died at 12:40 o’clock this afternoon in St. John’s hospital in Joplin. He had been ill three years, but was not hospitalized recently until about 11 o’clock this morning.
Mr. Larsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and came to this country with his family when he was five years old. He had resided in Webb City for 17 years. He was a member of the Elks Lodge, War Dads, Chamber of Commerce and Presbyterian Church.
He was an architect and contractor, having built more than 100 theaters in all parts of the country. He designed and built the Fox Theater in Joplin and the Civic Theatre and Civic Drive-In restaurant in Webb City, which he owned, and the sanctuary of the Presbyterian church.
He is survived by his widow Byrd Larsen of the home; four sons, Larry P. Larsen, Jr., of Indiana, William H. Larsen of Kansas City, Mo., David Larsen of the home, and Howard Larsen of Webb City, a stepson, Fred Brooks of Stockton, Calif., one daughter, Mrs. Janet Hawk of Webb City, his mother Mrs. Louis Larsen of Oshkosh, Wis., three brothers, Henry Larsen of Washington, Arthur Larsen of Fond Du Lac, Wis., and Herbert Larsen of Oshkosh, three sisters Mrs. John Stiger of Oshkosh, Mrs. Ira Pricher of Salem, Ore., and Mrs. Cora Morgan of Washington, and three grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are in charge of the Johnston-Arnce-Simpson mortuary.”
Larsen was buried in buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Webb City.
James M. Wood became associated with Sosman & Landis in the 1880s. Although he began his career as a decorative painter, he soon transitioned to architectural design and construction. Wood specialized in theatre buildings and even established a brief partnership with Joseph S. Sosman and Perry Landis known as Sosman, Landis & Wood. In 1887, the firm was mentioned in the early phases of a new opera house planned for Bloomington, Illinois. On March 29, 1887, the “Bloomington Daily Leader” announced, “New Opera House. A Chicago Firm Drawing the Plans for $60,000 Building – A Sensible Scheme for a Stock Company” (page 7).
The article continued, “The prospect of securing a first-class metropolitan opera house for the city is beginning to assume tangible shape, and if leading capitalists who have pledged themselves to take stock do not back out at the last moment, it will certainly be built. Mr. E. W. Tillotson was in Chicago and arranged with Sosman, Landis & Woods to draw the plans for a four or five-story building of elegant proportions to cost about $60,000. The first and second floors are to contain offices furnished with tile floors; the third and fourth stories are to be fitted up as flats. The whole building will be heated by steam and furnished with a passenger elevator. It will be similar in plan and dimensions to the Chicago Opera House, which is regarded at the model theatre of Chicago.
The theatre proper will hold 1,600 people and will be handsomely finished and furnished. The dimensions of the stage will be 45×84, with a 36-feet opening. The stage of Durley Theatre is 22×65, so it will be seen that this is over twice as large. The theatre is to be furnished with exits from all sides.
The plans are to be ready in about ten days. Messrs. Tillotson & Fell will then call a meeting of citizens to form a stock company. They propose to take the opera house for a tern of ten years as a yearly rental of 7 per cent of the entire cost of the building and land, and will give the company the basement rooms, the yearly rental of which is estimated will pay for repairs. Estimating the taxes and insurance at one per cent, this will leave the stockholders a net interest on their money of six per cent, which will be a very handsome investment, as money loans at the present time. The property will also continue to improve in value as the city grows. Mr. Tillotson says that over $30,000 has already been pledged, and thinks there is no doubt that the stock will be quickly taken. THE LEADER hopes that the plan will succeed, as Bloomington badly needs such a temple of amusement. It is expected to have the building ready for occupancy in September.”
Wood’s early career in the decorative painting industry and the theater are seldom mentioned when his later architectural endeavors are discussed. Here is what I have managed to locate about the life of Col. J. M. Wood.
J. M. Wood, 1907.
James Madison Wood was born in New York sometime during 1841. Although a few records suggest an earlier birthyear, I am pretty confident about this date. He was one of several children born to James E. Wood (1804-1861) and Jane Dunning (1806-1895). The two were married in New York City on Jan. 11, 1827, and remained in the area for the first few decades. Their children, those who survived to adulthood, include George W. Wood (b. 1838), Henry Clay Wood (b. 1846), James M. Wood (b. 1841) and Henrietta Wood (1844-1903).
The 1850 US Federal Census listed the Woods living in Ward 3 of New York City. The household included: James E. (45), Jane (44), George W. (18) James M. (11), Henrietta C. (7) and Henry C. (4). Five years later, the Wood household had expanded to include a servant and Ann E. Wood, James E. Wood’s younger sister. In 1855, they were living in Ward 16.
By 1860, the Wood family moved west, settling in Perry, Illinois. Perry is approximately 40 miles east of Quincy, Ill, and 120 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri. In Perry, the Wood household now included James E. (56), Jane (54) James (21), Henrietta (17) and Henry (14).
In 1861, the elder James Wood passed away at the relatively young age of 57 yrs. old. His obituary was published in the “New York Evening Post” on Aug. 29, 1861, noting “James E Wood, late of this city.” Wood was buried at Perry Cemetery in Perry, with his tombstone dating August 9, 1861. The same year that his father passed away, James M. was married to Isabelle Sarah Slaughter (1843-1925). It remains unclear if Wood fought in the Civil War, although in later years, he would go by Col. Wood. Interestingly, I have yet to locate any records that suggest a Col. Wood who fought for the Union, but a Col. Wood fought for the confederacy. There was a theatrical manager, Col. Joseph H. Wood (1821-1892), who opened Col. Wood’s Museum in Chicago in 1864 at the corner of Clark and Randolph Streets. However, this was an entirely different person.
Regardless of Wood’s military service, he relocated to Chicago by the early 1860s and secured work as a decorative painter. In 1863, James and Isabelle celebrated the birth of their first child, Benjamin Wood, on June 17. Five more children were born to the couple in Illinois: Ellen “Nellie” Wood (b. 1865), and Minnie Wood (b. 1869), Lulu Wood (b. 1871), Alta (b. 1872), and Edna Wood (b. 1877).
Many histories are quick to link Wood’s sporadic employment as a carpenter resulted in his later career as a contractor and architect. However, in 1870 Wood still listed his occupation as a painter and grainer in the US Federal Census. He was listed in the 1870 Chicago Directory as a paper hanger, living at 9 Vincennes Ave. His son Benjamin also entered the wall paper trade, a profession that he continued until his own passing in 1912.
In 1870, the Wood household as included James (30 yrs.), Isabelle (27 yrs.), Benjamin (8), Nellie (5 yrs.), and Minnie (3 yrs.). Isabelle’s younger brother, Robert Slaughter (20 yrs.), was also part of the household and listed as a painter too. In later years, Slaughter continued to work as a painter, moving from Chicago to Cincinnati by 1880. Interestingly, Slaughter’s son, Robert F. Slaughter Jr., later worked as a sign painter in California.
In 1872 Wood was still listed as a painter, but included a new service – “builder.” This would make sense, as Chicago began to rebuild after the 1871 fire. Wood’s directory listing continued to shift with the times and included the trade of painter, paper hanger, builder and contractor. Like many, his directory listing reflected ever-changing projects. In 1873, he was listed as builder, but in 1874 was again listed as a paper hanger, now working at 614 Cottage Grove, During this time, his private residence remained on Langley ave., although the house numbers would change from 8 to 72. In 1875 he was listed as a contractor, living at 72 Langley Ave. Wood also suffered some legal troubles around this time too. On Jan. 12, 1876, “The Inter Ocean” reported, “James M. Wood, of Chicago, – 3,054 – Involuntary petition files against James M. Wood, a contractor, of 72 Langley avenue by E. E. Cadwell, on a claim of $1,425; Wm. Stevens, $446.95; Carney & Haskell, $375. The debtor is charged with giving on Jan. 8 last to James Berry & Co., a judgment for $134.88, with a preferential intent, also with transferring certain moneys to his wife with a fraudulent intent. Ryule to show cause Jan. 22. Olney & Waters attys.” (page 3).
On May 8, 1877, the “Chicago Tribune” announced, “R. K. Jenkins was yesterday appointed Assignee of James M. Wood.” This is likely when Wood began to travel across the country for work, ever expanding the scope of his projects throughout the regions. The 1880 US Federal Census listed Wood as a decorator, now living with his family at 215 Johnson Place. His neighbors were primarily painters and paint suppliers. Their names included William Warner, Thomas Turner, William Edmour, and William Appleker.
Between 1880 and 1882, Wood increasingly worked as an architect. By 1882, Wood relocated his family from Illinois to Wisconsin. On March 28, 1882, the “Oshkosh Daily Northwestern” reported “The committee is much relieved of embarrassment on this point by the receipt of a letter from J. M. Wood, theatrical architect, who built the Rockford Opera House, accompanied by a pamphlet giving full information as to the building of the opera house at that place, its seating capacity, its status as a financial investment and its acceptability to both public and artists playing in it” (page 4).
By the end of 1882, Wood added a new title – theatre manager. He settled in Racine, Wisconsin and began managing Racine’s Blake Opera House.
On Dec. 7, 1882, the ‘Racine Advocate” published a letter form James Wood (page 8):
“Card to the Public”
In announcing the opening date of the Blake Opera House Friday, Dec. 13, I have felt that it would not be out of place for me to say a few words to the people of Racine regarding the house, and the aid and cordial support which the Board of Directors have afforded me in my efforts to present, to you and Opera House which for completeness and refined elegance is without rival in the west. To produce these results has required an outlay far in excess of their original intention; but realizing that there was a future for Racine justifying it they have cheerfully furnished the means to erect a public building that will be a pride and source of pleasure in the years to come. In the management of this House it will be my aim to present only such attractions as shall tend to elevate the morals of the community or at least to divert the minds from the worrying cares and anxieties of active business which without some recreation makes man prematurely old. I would respectfully call your attention to the magnanimous manner in which sister cities of the west have shown their appreciation for such public work. The citizens of Peoria when called upon responded at the auction sale of seats for the opening to the tune of about $8,000. Kalamazoo, Mich., $4,400, and the little city of Lima, Ohio, nearly $3,000; and I might name many others, Trusting that the citizens of Racine desire not to be considered lacking in generous liberality and public spirit I would invite you all to assemble in the Opera House on Saturday evening, December 9, at 7:30 P.M., when you will be afforded an opportunity of tendering a benefit to the Opera House Association in the purchase of seats for the opening entertainment which will be disposed of by auction.
J. M. Wood, Manager.
For years our society people have been regretting the lack of a suitable place for entertainments and amusements. In the Blake Opera House such a place has been provided and it is to be hoped that our citizens will give it the patronage it deserves. Go to the Opera House next Saturday evening, pick out a good seat and pay for it. The seats will be sold at auction” (page 8).
Wood’s construction of the Blake Opera House and its management signifies a definitive link with both Thomas G. Moses and Sosman & Landis. Moses painted scenery for Racine’s Belle City Opera House and Blake Opera House in 1883. On March 14, 1883, “The Journal Times” of Racine, reported, “Thomas Moses, the scenic artist, who painted all the handsome scenes at the Blake Opera House, departed for Illinois to-day. During his stay here Mr. Moses has made many warm friends, who wish him every success, wherever he may go” (page 2). At the time, Moses was working with Lemuel L. Graham and John H. Young. Other projects completed by Graham & Moses between 1882 and 1883 included the Academy of Music in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Redmond’s Opera House in Grand Rapids, Michigan; the Opera House in Marengo, Illinois; and the Grand Opera House in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Moses and Graham soon added John H. Young to their force, and they were able to work at multiple locations simultaneously.
Moses returned to Sosman & Landis shortly after painting scenery for the Blake Opera House in 1883, That spring he wrote, “I went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, after a contract. I met Mr. Landis there. I got the contract. We rode to Chicago together and met Mr. Sosman on our arrival. We [Moses and Lemuel L. Graham] were offered $45.00 a week. I wired Graham at Burlington. He answered $50.00 and extras. We closed for that.”
This caused a bit of trouble in Oshkosh for all parties concerned. On April 4, 1883, the “Oshkosh Northwestern” published an article entitled, “The Opera House Scenery Contract.” It reported, “Graham & Moses who were awarded the contract for furnishing curtains, scenery and stage settings for the Opera House have notified that they withdrew their bid and decline the contract. On receipt of this also comes a notification from Sosman & Landis, also bids on the job to the effect that they have employed Graham & Moses in their establishment and asking that the contract be awarded them in accordance with their bid. It appears that there were only two bide in for the work, that of Graham & Moses and one from Sosman & Lands. The latter’s bid was about $700 larger than that of Graham & Moses, and, now it would seem the two firms have fixed it up so as to try and have the contract awarded at a greater amount. The directors are now talking of giving the contract to other parties entirely and not letting either of those firms get a finger in it” (page 4). Regardless, Moses completed the project in Oshkosh and headed back to the Sosman & Landis studio in Chicago. Of the transition from Graham & Moses to Sosman & Landis, he wrote, “I had Oshkosh to finish, which I did, and May 1st found Graham, Young and myself back on Clark Street at the Sosman and Landis Studio. I averaged $70.00 per week, as we had a lot of night work, mostly piece work. We had to do all the road work which I didn’t like.”
That same year, the 1883 Racine City Directory listed J. M. Wood as an architect. He was one of only three architects listed in the city. The other two listed in the city directory were J. G. Chandler of 315 6th and W. H. Phelps of 1013 Peral. Wood was just up the street from Chandler, working at 322 6th. It was also in 1883 that James M. Wood and his son Benjamin W. Wood founded J. M. Wood & Son. The firm’s business offices were located as Hotel Blake in Racine, on the corner of 6th and College Ave. Finally, it was also in Racine that Wood met his future busines partner, Sidney Lovell (1867-1938). At the time, Lovell was only 15 yrs. old. Some architectural historians purport that Lovell became Wood’s architectural assistant by 1883. Two years later, he was working as Wood’s draughtsman in Chicago.
There is a reason that Wood began working with Sosman & Landis in 1884; his opera house burned down. In 1884, J. M. Wood, was the architect for the Academy of Music in Saginaw, Michigan. Lovell followed his mentor, eventually transitioning from architectural assistant to a full-fledged architect. In 1885, the Chicago Directory listed Wood as an architect, with his employer’s address as 279 S. Clark Street. The directory listing noted that he was still living in Racine, Wisconsin. 279 S. Clark Street was the business offices and main studio for Sosman & Landis in 1885. Meanwhile, Lovell was also working in Chicago with Wood. He was listed as a draughtsman, boarding at the Brunswick Hotel. In 1885, Wood was credited with several opera houses, including those in Elgin, Illinois and Grand Rapids, Michigan. On July 11, 1885, Racine’s “Journal Times” reported, “Architect J. M. Wood was in the city yesterday and he is the busiest man in the country at present. He is building two opera houses in Michigan, two in Pennsylvania, one in Ohio, and is superintending the rebuilding of the Academy of Music in Milwaukee. Mr. Wood said that next winter, when he has plenty of leisure time, he proposed to work up an opera house company in Racine. It is hoped he will keep his promise and be successful in the scheme” (page 3).
Wood kept his word, and drew up plans for a new opera house by that fall. On October 20, 1885, the Milwaukee “Sentinel” reported, “J. M. Wood, the architect who remodeled the Academy, and who also built the Blake Opera House at Racine, recently destroyed by fire, and the Saginaw and Wausau opera house, has completed the plans for a new playhouse to be built at Racine. The building is to cost between $30,000 and $40,000, and will be owned by Bell City capitalist and Mr. Wood. It is to be located on a centrally located piece of real estate on Main Street.”
Wood improved upon the old Blake Opera House design. In an article written for Racine’s “Journal Times” on Nov. 11, 1885, Wood stated, “You had an opera house that you had reason to feel proud of, for it stood second to none in artistic effects, The mistake made in building it upstairs will neverbe repeated” (page 3). Wood’s proposal for a new opera house included a first floor-venue and larger stage. In short, he paid attention to backstage activities when managing the first Blake Opera House. Wood became a very successful theatre architect because he understood backstage activities and stage systems. More so, he knew what worked and drew touring productions to a venue.
It is not surprising that by 1887, Wood partnered with Sosman & Landis to establish Sosman, Landis & Wood. Although the firm was short-lived, the affiliation between Wood with the well-known Chicago scenic studio lasted for decades.
The 1880s was a turning point in both the life and career of Wood. Not only was his business thriving, but his children were leaving home and starting their own families. On Oct. 6, 1886, Wood’s daughter, Ellen “Nellie” Wood married Edward P. Clancy. The next year, Minnie Wood, married James H. Driver. On April 13, 1887, the “Racine Journal” announced the wedding, noting that Minnie’s parent, James and Isabelle Wood resided at No. 1136 College Ave.
In addition to working as an architect, Wood began to invest in other business ventures. On April 2, 1887, “The Irish Standard” in Minneapolis, Minnesota” reported, “The Hennepin Avenue Theatre Company was incorporated Wednesday by W./A. Barnes, Jacob E. Sackett, James M. Wood, Enoch W. Wigging, Frank P. Weadon, Carroll Gates and Burt P. Gates. The company has a capital stock of $100,000 divided into share of $50 each” (page 5). That same month, Wood also helped establish and opera house company in St. Paul.
On April 19, 1887, Article of Incorporation were filed for the Murray Opera House Co. An announcement in the St. Paul Globe noted the commencement of the corporation as 1 April 1887 with a capital stock of eighty thousand dollars, divided into sixteen hundred shares of fifty-dollars each. The names and places of the persons forming this association for incorporation were William P. Murray, residing at St. Paul, Minnesota; Jacob E. Sackett, residing at Chicago, State of Illinois; James M. Wood, residing at Chicago, Illinois; Enoch W. Wiggins, residing at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Frank P. Weadon, residing at Minneapolis, Minnesota.” The announcement stated that “The general nature of the business shall be the building, erecting and operating a public hall or halls and opera house or opera houses within the limits of St. Paul.”
Wood also began casting his net much wider for projects throughout the country, and soon set his sights to the West. It is also around this time that he begins using the title Colonel, going by Col. J. M. Wood.
On Aug. 2, 1888, the “Morning Oregonian” of Portland reported, “The New Opera House – Col. J. M. Wood, the celebrated architect of Chicago arrived here on the O. & C. yesterday. He brought a sketch of the plans he is drawing for the new opera house on Marquam’s block. The house will be 70×133 – will have parquette, parquette circle, balcony and gallery, will seat 1600 people, will have six proscenium boxes and six large elegant parlors both for ladies and gentlemen. The theatre building will be separated from any other building and will have an alley or court eight feet in width around the entire theatre, which, as Col. Wood puts it, will make it the safest theater in America in case of a panic, as the house will have any number of exits, and is on the ground floor. The interior will be of East India Style in architecture and finish” (page 5).
On April 4, 1889, the “Lincoln Journal Star” in Lincoln, Nebraska reported, “The visit at this time of Col. J. M. Wood, whose name and fame as an architect and builder is widely known across the continent, is believed to indicate preliminary movements about to be made towards the erection of some elegant and expensive buildings in this city. On account of the distinguished gentleman’s intimate social and business relations with Mr. John Fitzgerald, it is but natural to conclude that our honored citizen has plans of the long talked of hotel and opera house project now nearly matured and seeks the valuable services of the noted builder with the object of soon commencing active operations…Col. Wood is now engaged in building the California Theatre and the Grand Hotel at San Francisco, for Mrs. John McDonough, erected at an expense of $100,000. Mr. McD. (deceased) is pleasantly remembered by all pioneer Californians as the enterprising person who built the first theatre in that city. The new building is located on the old site. Mr. Wood is also building the Burbank opera house at Los Angeles, Grand opera house at Portland, Oregon, and new opera house at Tacoma, W.T., and Broadway theatre at Denver. He has just completed the Bush street theatre at San Francisco, a magnificent structure for Mrs. Leavitt. He erected the Hennepin opera house at Minneapolis, the Murray at St. Paul, and ‘Wonderland Theatre,’ Grand Rapids, Michigan for J. E. Sackett of our new Lincoln Eden Musee…” (page 4).
On Aug. 29, 1889, “The Los Angeles Times” reported, “Col. J. M. Wood, the architect of the New California and the New Grand Opera-house in Portland, talks of building an opera-house where the stage will be run by electricity – two men being able to operate the most intricate spectacular production, one being able to handle the entire scenery of an ordinary drama” (page 2).
In 1889, Moses and Wood were brought to Tacoma. On 6 Jan 1922, “The Tacoma Ledger” published an article on the return of Thomas Moses after 33 years. (page 18). The article reported, “Mr. Moses has been closely identified with Tacoma for many years. It was he who, 33 years ago, was brought to Tacoma with Col. J. M. Wood in connection with the construction of the Tacoma Theater, one to do the scenery and the other to build the structure. That both performed their appointed tasks well is attested by the fact that the Tacoma Theater is still Tacoma’s leading playhouse and that some of the scenery painted by Mr. Moses 33 years ago is still in excellent condition.”
On Sept. 3, 1889, “The News Tribune” of Tacoma, Washington, reported, “The New Theater Architect. Col. J. M. Wood, the noted Chicago architect of theaters, and daughter, are at the Tacoma hotel. Col. Wood designed the new Tacoma Theater. He came out to see how work was progressing on it. He expected to find more progress was made. Manager Hanna said this morning that he expected to be doing business in the theater by Thanksgiving at the very latest” (page 4).
Father and daughter then headed down the coast to California. On Dec 27, 1889, “The Daily Courier” of San Bernardino credited Wood as the architect for the Riverside Opera House. The 100-set Loring Opera House was one of the first built in southern California. The newspaper article mentioned “J. M. Wood, the architect of Chicago, considered the finest theatrical architect in the country.” The article also reported, “the scenery has been painted by Thomas G. Moses of Chicago, one of the best scenic artists in the United States” (page 3). Sadly, Wood’s trip to California with Lulu ended in tragedy. On March 26, 1890, “The San Francisco Examiner” announced Lulu’s death. The obituary announcement reported, “WOOD – In this city, March 23, Lulu, beloved daughter of James M. and Isabelle S. Wood, a native of Chicago, Ill., aged 18 years I month and 7 days. The funeral services will be held tomorrow (Thursday) at 3 o’clock P.M, at the undertaking parlors of Halstead & Co., 746 Mission street. Friends are respectfully invited to attend. Remains will be taken to Chicago for Interment.” At the time, her father had just completed 1,000-seat Loring Opera House in Riverside, California. I have yet to locate her cause of death.
It was around this time, that Wood’s assistant Lovell was added as a full-fledged partner to the architectural firm, establishing Wood & Lovell. Lovell had garnered quite a reputation of his own by this time, having continually assisted Wood since their early work together in Racine. On Feb. 25, 1890, the “Journal Times” of Racine, Wisconsin, reported that Lovell was “one of the finest draughtsman in the western country” (Page 3). Wood & Lovell established regional offices in San Francisco and completed a remarkable amount of work together by 1892. Projects included: Grand Opera House, Los Angeles; Loring Office Building and Opera House, Riverside, California; California Theatre, San Francisco; Columbia Theatre, San Francisco; and the Burbank Theatre, Los Angeles; Tacoma Theatre, Washington; and Marquam Grand Theatre, Portland, Oregon. They also remained associated with Chicago during this time.
It is in the California voting registry that we get a little more information about Wood’s appearance. On Oct. 2, 1892, his physical description was listed as 5’-8”, light complexion, grey eyes and grey hair. That year Wood was noted as “an enthusiast in this branch of his profession, and has devoted a great deal of time and study to the comfort, convenience, acoustic qualities and effect in the design and arrangements of opera houses, theaters and concert halls” (“The Bay of San Francisco,” Volume 1, 1892).
In 1893, Wood & Lovell’s business offices in Chicago were located in the new Ellsworth Building, at 537 S. Dearborn Street. Their list of accomplishments continued to grow throughout the duration of the decade.
On Dec. 2, 1894, “The Commercial Gazette” of Memphis, Tennessee, included an article on the new Lyceum Theater in that city (page 2). Architect Wood & Lovell.
“Col. James M. Wood.
Col. James M. Wood, the architect of the New Lyceum, is one of three American architects who make a specialty of theater building. He has been in the building business since he was 24 years old. As a practical contractor he has been engaged in several important lines connected to the building trade. He began the construction of theaters sixteen years ago, and among his notable structures are the California Theater, San Francisco; the New Broadway, Denver; the Marquam Grand, Portland, Ore.; the Grand Los Angeles; the Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis; the Yosemite, Stockton, Cal.; the New Empire, Quincy, Ill.; Academy of Music, Kalamazoo; Black Opera House, Racine, and his own theater, Wood’s of Bay City, Mich. The characteristics of his work is the progressive spirit manifest in all of it, originality in arrangement and rigid adherence to the orders of architecture. He is the senior member of the firm Wood & Lovell of Chicago. Lovell has been associated with him for many years, giving his attention to the office work. The two men are in close artistic sympathy. Mr. Lovell’s talent as a designer, accounting for the perfection of their work. Mr. Wood is the inventor of the peculiar system of stage machinery in use at the new Lyceum. This theater is absolutely his own conception. It does not resemble any other theater in America, and will stand as a model…The stage is 68 feet in width and 40 feet in depth, and it is 60 feet to the gridiron, making the stage large enough for any requisition. The stage machinery will be the same as that delivered by Col. Wood for the new Broadway Theater in Denver, and similar to that adopted by the directors of the Chicago Auditorium, who sent one of the best American Stage carpenters to Europe to examine the most approved machinery in use abroad. The entire machinery is operated form the stage floor by a system of endless wire and cables counterweighted, thus avoiding the confusion incident to stage hands being crowded in the fly galleries, There are all the usual mechanical appointments. The scenery has been painted by some of the best American artists. No wood appears on the stage, apart from the flooring. The fly galleries and rigging loft are entirely of steel. An asbestos curtain running in iron grooves has been provided, and also an automatic skylight ventilator, which will open upon a rise of temperature. Automatic fire sprinklers have also been placed, so that every appliance has been rendered to use the stage safe and fire proof” (page 2).
Wood was also the theatre architect when Lyceum Theatre scaffolding in Memphis collapsed with seven men plummeting to the stage floor (“The Commercial Appeal,” 4 Dec 1894 page 3). This was another project supervised by Moses. It resulted in a death and a subsequent court case. Those who were working on the scaffolding when it collapsed were scenic artists Al Morris (Chicago), Charles Wallace (Des Moines), John Vorhees (Chicago); stage carpenter Joseph Wykupt; and assistants Horace Posey, A Ewell, and John Wiley.
On Dec. 2, 1898, the “Detroit Free Press” reported on the ongoing collapse of the Wonderland Theatre roof collapse. “Col. Wood testified that in the first interview with John Scott, the latter told him that his firm would insist on having control of the construction of the building and would consult with him regarding the arrangements of the theater. The witness had a book showing a record of all the material used in all the theaters he had built of the fire-proof type, and he was able, without any hesitation, to answer any question regarding them. His answers were all so direct and positive that there was no chance to quibble with him. He asserted that he was employed to look after the stage, the seating, acoustic conditions, line of vision, boxes and other matters pertaining strictly to the Wonderland Theater, while with the architectural and steel construction he had nothing to do; and paid no attention to it. Regarding to the fact that he had loaned John Scott & Co. a set of plans of the Detroit Opera house, he said that he did it simply as an act of courtesy, to a brother member of the profession, thinking that it might give him some idea of theatrical construction. He denied that he told Arthur Scott to follow those plans, saying that he had no authority to order him and he had not been asked to have anything to do with the construction of the building.” Woods connection to the Wonderland Theatre project was later described: “Col. Woods then narrated how he became connected with the Wonderland work, stating that in early April Mr. Wiggins called on him at the Russell House and referred to building a new theater. Mr. Wiggins told him he had contracted for the upper floors of the Barbour building for the museum, which made it necessary to employ the same architect. ‘He asked me,’ said Col. Wood, ‘to act in conjunction with John Scott & Co., and I said that I would, providing it was perfectly satisfactory to them, and Mr. Wiggins told me that they had already agreed. In talking to John Scott, he said the Scotts would expect to control the construction of the building and act with me as the designer of the theatrical arrangements in the building.”
Meanwhile, Wood continued to work throughout the region. On October 6, 1898, the “Lake Geneva Weekly News” of Lake Geneva, WI, reported, “Kansas City – The Auditorium destroyed by fire last winter, is to be rebuilt at an early day and run as a popular price house. Col, J. M. Wood of Chicago has arrived with plans for the new building.” (page 2).
In 1899, Wood was working out of Detroit. He was also assisting the architect William J. Brockett for a new theater to be built on the same site as the Cook Opera House in Rochester, NY. On May 9, 1899, the “Democrat and Chronicle” of Rochester reported, “The intention of the owners of the property was submitted to Mr. Brockett about a month ago, and he has been devoting his entire time to the plans since that time. Colonel James M. Wood, of Detroit, will be associated with Mr. Brockett as a consulting architect, after the actual work of construction is begun” (page 7). On August 18, 1900, “The New York Times” reported, “ Detroit, Aug. 17. – Col. James M. Wood of this city is preparing plans for a new vaudeville theatre to cost $300,000 to be begun this autumn in Sixth Street, Pittsburg. The theatre is to be built by Eirick & La Marche, proprietors of the Empire Theatre, Cleveland. Col. Wood said that Wiggins & Moore, proprietors of the Wonderland, the vaudeville theatre in this city, would probably also be interested. The new building is to be called the Empire and will probably be finished this winter” (page 7). On August 18, 1900, the “Detroit Free Press” reported, “Col. James M. Wood, the architect of this city, is preparing plans for a splendid new theater which is to be erected this fall on Sixth street, in Pittsburg, and in which the proprietors of the Wonderland will in all probability be interested. Col. Wood said last night that the theater, when completed, would be the finest vaudeville theater in the country” (page 5).
During the fall of 1899, Wood’s youngest daughter was married. On Oct. 19, 1899, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “The marriage of Miss Edna Wood, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Wood, 4212 Greenwood Ave., to Mr. Burt C. Hardenbrook took place last night at the residence of the bride’s parents” (page 7).
Business was booming at the dawn of the twentieth century. The 1900 US Federal Census listed the Wood home as located at 4200 Greenwood Avenue, Chicago. He an Isabelle had been married 37 years, and enjoying life as grandparents, yet James was not slowing down yet. At the age of 59 yrs. old, he had designed dozens of very well-known theaters and was running architectural firms in Chicago, Detroit and New York. For the next decade, Wood worked on dozens of theater projects. Here are a few newspaper articles describing several projects:
On Sept. 2, 1900, the “Democrat and Chronicle” announced, “Manager J. H. Moore, of the Cook Opera house of this city, and the Detroit Theater has just perfected arrangements for the building of a new vaudeville house in Pittsburg, Pa. Colonel James M. Wood, the well-known architect, has completed the plans for the structure” (page 16).
On Feb 1, 1901, “The Buffalo Enquirer” reported, “New Theater’s Iron Delayed.” (page 8). “Col. J. M. Wood who has charge of the erection of the new Academy of Music, on Washington Street, arrived in Buffalo yesterday. It was expected that the work of putting up the iron of the stage would be begun this week, but the mills were unable to turn out the material on time…”
On April 13, 1901, “The Ottawa Citizen” of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, announced, “Theater to be Rebuilt. Manager Small Announces That the Restoration Will be Effected Under the Supervision of Col. Wood of New York” (page 1). He was referred to as “Col. J. M. Wood, the theatrical artist of New York” and later “Col. J. M. Wood, the eminent theatrical architect of New York, Chicago and Detroit.”
On April 20, 1902, Detroit’s “Free Press” noted “Grand Rapids, Mich., April 198 – (Special) – Col J. M. Wood, of Detroit, the well-known theater architect, has leased what was formerly Powers’ Opera house, and it will be known hereafter as the Campo Square theater. The new opera house will be remodeled, and put in excellent condition and only first-class attractions will be booked for the next season” (page 23).
On Nov. 6, 1903, “Huntington Weekly Herald” of Huntington, Indiana, reported, “Col. J. M. Wood, of Grand Rapids, a noted architect whose specialty is opera house work, is in the city today in consultation with the opera house company regarding the structure to be erected in this city. The Colonel is the architect of most of the theater buildings in Michigan, including the fine play hoses of Detroit and Grand Rapids” (page 5). (page 5).
On June 25, 1904, the “Daily News-Democrat” of Huntington, Indiana, reported, “At the Opera House. Rapidly the brick is being laid on the new opera house. On an average the walls have reached fifteen feet in height. Pressed brick is being put on the front. Two round columns at the entrance extend to the floor of the second story. Carpenter work is also being hurried along on this building. Timbers for the balcony and gallery are in place and the other carpenter work is kept ahead of the brick masons. Col. J. M. Wood of Chicago, architect for the building, is in the city most of the time overseeing the construction. The opera house is to be a most complete modern and commodious structure, a distinct credit to the city” (page 13).
On April 1, 1904, the “Fort Wayne Sentinel” reported, “Col. J. M. Wood of New York City who has been in Fort Wayne for over the past two days to look over the ground for a number of New York Capitalists who contemplate the erection of a combined theater and office building in this city, returned to the last night, and will report favorably on the proposition to his principals…Colonel Wood is one of the most noted architects in the east and has made plans for more than fifty theaters in the larger cities of the country…he was a guest of E. Gregg Davis” (page 1).
On March 18, 1905, “The South Bend Tribune” reported, “Goshen, Ind. March 18. – The Sanders, Hay & Niedeg company of this city, has contracted with Col. J. M. Wood of Chicago for plans and specifications for a three story business block and theater…”
Wood’s reputation continued to grow over the years. On Oct. 24, 1905, “The Indianapolis News” reported, “Builder of Ninety-Eight Theaters. (Special to the Indianapolis News.] GOSHEN, Ind., October 24. – Col J. M. Wood, supervising architect of Goshen’s new theater, the Jefferson, to be opened November 6 by Richard Mansfield, with a dedicatory address by Governor Hanly, has closed a contract to build a $150,000 fireproof theater at Cincinnati. It is to be owned by the Schubert independent theatrical organization, and the site will be cleared this winter for early spring construction work. Colonel Wood had built ninety-eight theaters, some of them the finest in the country. He will also build one at Toledo and another at Garrett, next spring” (page 2).
J. M. Wood was still listed in the Architects section of the Chicago City Directory in 1907, working at 1708, 9 Jackson Boulevard H586. On April 16, 1907, Col. J. M. Wood was pictured in “The Indianapolis Star” on page 4. Beneath his picture, the caption stated, “Col. J. M. Wood of Cincinnati, the well-known architect who has drawn the plans for the new Grand Opera House and who has arrived here to superintend the building of the new theater, formerly lived in New York and knew Stanford White, who was murdered by Harry Thaw, the Pittsburg millionaire. Col. Ward was a personal friend of White, as both were prominent as architects. In discussing some of the great architectural feats the country has known Col. Wood last night spoke of the work of Stanford White. He declared the murdered architect did not deserve the reputation that has been given him in the thaw trial. ‘Stanford White is dead,’ said Col. Wood, ‘he has no defense, but the genius of the man and the refinement of the work he has produced ought to have some weight with the public. The unprejudiced mind ought to discriminate between one who is not here to defend himself and the character of his detractors. There is little doubt in my mind that the view of the entire jury in the Thaw case might have been radically changed if the efforts of the learned district attorney had been successful in bringing all the facts to light.”
By 1909 Col. James M. Wood was living in Indianapolis, Indiana, and working on a project in Rushville, Indiana. On Sept. 21, 1909, “The Daily Republican” noted that Will H. Ogan of Tipton and Col. James M. Wood of Indianapolis are directing the movement to get new factories, etc., into Rushville. Four hundred and fifty lofts were platted in the Posey farm at the northern city limits…articles of incorporation for the Young Men’s Commercial Club of Rushville” (page 4). He remained in Indiana for another decade, but the stream of work projects began to slow down. Most information about Wood’s life and career is found in census reports from this time.
In 1910, the US Federal Census listed that James and Isabelle Wood were living in Turkey Creek, Kosciusko, Indiana. Although still listed as an architect, he was living with his son Benjamin on a farm. At the age of 71, the household included Benjamin W. Wood (47) and daughter-in-law Nina Wood (39). At the time, Benjamin was working as a laborer in the Papering industry.
The 1920 US Federal Census listed J. M. Wood as an 80-yrs.-old grandfather. He and Isabelle were living with their grandson in New York. The household included Russell E. Driver (26 yrs.), Minnie Driver (51 yrs.), and Arthur E. Schneider (30, boarder). Their home was listed as 2910 Hilldale Ave in New York. Russell was an accountant.
Sometime between 1920 and 1923, James and Isabelle Wood moved to Washington, D.C., where they both passed. I have yet to locate any information about why they moved at this time. However, I was able to locate one article about Wood just prior to his passing.
On July 29, 1923, the “Washington Evening Star” reported that Wood was a guest at a gathering of old Civil War soldiers. The article detailed, “Entertains Party. Mr. and Mrs. William G. Good entertained at a dinner at Mountain View, their home in Rappahannock county, in honor of Maj. William F. Anderson, a former resident of that county who now lives in Covington. Maj. Anderson, who is eighty-three years old, is a Confederate veteran and the other guests were his old comrades-in-arms. J. M. Wood, eighty-two, Andrew T. Botts, eighty-one; Robert E. Miller, eighty, and Col. Patrick Henry O’Bannon, seventy-five” (page 11). I have yet to locate any James Woods with the rank of a Col. in the Union Army, although there were plenty of men named James Wood who fought in the war on both sides. However, in the 1878 publication “Georgia: A Guide to its Cities, Towns, Scenery and Resources,” there is mention of “the gallant Col. Wood” in the section entitled, “Confederate Military History.” This mention and the 1923 article may suggest that James M. Wood fought for the south. After all, he was living in southern Illinois when the Civil War broke out in 1861.
On October 3, 1923, the “Washington Evening Star” included Wood’s name in the “Deaths Reported” section (page 9). He passed away at 3224 Park Place. Two years later, Isabelle followed, also at the same address. On March 16, 1925, the “Racine Journal News” announced, “Mrs. James M. Wood, widow of the late James Wood, and a former resident of this city. She is survived by two daughters. Mrs. Minnie Driver and Mrs. B. C. Hardenbrook. The body will be brought to Racine Wednesday morning and funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon 2 o’clock at the Thorson Funeral home. The Rev. N. K. Tully will officiate and burial will be in Mound cemetery” (page 4).
Wood was buried at Mound Cemetery, Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin. Although there is no marker, his grave is located in Block 11, Lot 109, grave 2.
Joseph Landis (1844-1936) worked as an electrical engineer at Sosman & Landis before he became associated with the American Reflector and Lighting Co. in 1893. At the time of his passing in 1936, his obituary mentioned his work for the “Sosman & Landis Lighting Engineers Company.”
Joseph Landis (1844-1936). Image posted at www.ancestry.com
Joseph Landis was born on March 8, 1844, in Fairfield, Iowa. He was the fifth of twelve children born to Henry H. and Catharine Landis. The Landis family never settled in one place for long, and the birth of each child marked the Landis family’s travels between Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The twelve Landis children included: Mary (1833, Indiana), John A. (1835, Ohio), David J. (1839, Ohio), Jacob H. (1841, Ohio), Joseph (1844, Iowa), Infant daughter (born/died 1846), Julia Ann (born/died 1847), Perry (1848, Indiana), James Henry (1851, Indiana), Edgar (1852, Indiana), Franklin (1856, Iowa), Charles (1858, Iowa).
By the time he was twelve years old, Joseph was living on a farm in Steady Run, Keokuk County, Iowa. The boys sold produce and manned a local fruit stand. For geographical context, Steady Run was due north of Fairfield, Iowa. When the Civil War began, Jacob was seventeen years old; old enough to enlist and fight. Davis, Jacob and Joseph Landis all registered for military duty in Steady Run on the same day. I have yet to locate any information that verifies if Joseph Landis actually fought in the Civil War, but four of his brothers enlisted. David Landis died in 1863 from injuries sustained during battle.
In the years immediately following the Civil War, Joseph’s older brother, Jacob “Jake” Landis, entered the watch and jewelry business. He established a store in Fairfield, Iowa, and placed advertisements in the “Fairfield Ledger:”
“Jacob Landis, Dealer in and repairer of Watchers, Clocks, Jewelry, & c. North-East Corner Park, Fairfield, Iowa. A strict attention to business, and a desire to please all. He will pay particular attention to the manufacture of Gold and Silver Rings. Oct. 25, ’66-1y44.”
This was a turning point for the Landis family as they gradually transitioned from farmers to merchants. Over the next two decades four of Landis sons entered this jewelry profession. Even at the time of their father’s passing in 1893, Henry H. Landis was listed as a silversmith.
In 1870, Joseph Landis’s occupation was listed as a jeweler in the US Federal Census. At the time, he was 26 yrs. old and living in Liberty, Union, Indiana. Boarding at the United States Hotel, he met and soon married a local Liberty girl named Prudence Mae Hughes. She was the daughter of Francis N. Hughes and Mary Prudence Adams. Joseph and Prudence were married on Oct. 19, 1871, and remained in the area for several years. In 1875, they celebrated the birth Kathryn E. Landis.
By 1880, Henry H. Landis was also working as a jeweler in Rushville, Indiana, founding H. H. Landis & Son. That same year, Joseph was working as a jeweler in Liberty, Indiana, and Jacob Landis was working as a jeweler in Paskenta, California. Edgar would also move to California and work in a variety of trades, including mining.
Meanwhile, Perry Landis embarked on another journey and entered the theatre industry. By 1879 he and Joseph Sosman opened Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio at 279 South Clark St. in Chicago. That year, Frank Landis worked for the firm as a traveling salesman. By 1880, Sosman & Landis began to expand their staff as scenic art orders substantially increased. Some of their clients that year included the Turner Hall in Menasha, Wisconsin; the Philharmonic Hall in Winona, Minnesota; and H. D. McCullough’s Hall in Steven’s Point, Wisconsin. Between June 1881 and July 1882, Sosman & Landis delivered scenery to seventy-four stages throughout Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Indiana, Wisconsin, West Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Wyoming, Dakota Territory and Montana Territory.
The immediate success of Sosman & Landis drew in other Landis brothers by the mid-1880s. Charles worked for the firm as a foreman in 1885, although it remains unclear in what department, whether it was scenery, lighting or stage hardware. Although I have yet to locate exactly when Joseph moved to Chicago, but he was a resident by 1891. On Aug. 23, 1891, the “Indianapolis Journal” reported, “Joseph Landis and family of Chicago are visiting in Liberty.”
Two years later, Joseph transitioned from working at Sosman & Landis to managing the American Reflector and Lighting Company of Chicago. The American Reflector and Lighting Co. was incorporated on April 5, 1893. The company’s objective was to “manufacture, purchase, sell and deal in all kinds of fixtures, machinery and appliances to be used for the purpose of lighting, heating and cooking and other purposes.” The timing could not have been better for the firm, as the Columbian Exposition opened on May 1, 1893. The fair ran until October 31 of that year.
The starting capital stock for the American Reflector and Lighting Co. was $100,000, with the amount of each share being $1,000. A meeting of the stock subscribers was held on April 4, 1893. Minutes from the meeting showed the following distribution of shares to subscribers: Perry Landis subscribed for 200 shares of stock.
Joseph S. Sosman subscribed for 250 shares of stock.
Joseph Landis subscribed for 300 shares of stock.
Charles Landis subscribed for 200 shares of stock.
William A. Toles subscribed for 50 shares of stock.
Directors of the American Reflector and Lighting Co. were listed as Perry Landis, Joseph Sosman & Charles Landis. The four officers for the firm elected by the Board of Directors (President, Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer), rotated between Perry Landis, Joseph Sosman, Charles Landis and Joseph Landis until 1904. These four were frequently listed as the co-founders of the corporation. The first address for factory for the American Reflector & Lighting Company was 215-217-219 South Clinton Street, with offices and salesroom at 80 Jackson Street. Keep in mind that Sosman & Landis’ main studio and offices were located at 236-238 South Clinton Street, just up the block. In 1894, “The Chicago Blue Book” lists the homes of Joseph Sosman, Perry Landis, Frank Landis and Henry Landis on West Congress Street. Perry was at 446, Sosman was at 570, and Frank was at 580. By this time, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Landis were also living in Chicago on West Congress St (at Frank’s home). Frank had expanded his business interests to real estate.
In 1894, the Sosman & Landis studio catalogue carried a full page of advertisements for the American Reflector & Lighting Co. The advertisement asked, “How are You Going to Light Your Audience Room and Stage? The question of Proper Lighting is a most important one.” Profits continued to dramatically increase at the American Reflector and Lighting Co. throughout the 1890s. Money poured into the firm, with stockholders greatly benefitting from increased profits.
Between 1898 and 1901, Joseph Landis was listed in the Oak Park Directory as working at the American Reflector and Lighting Co, located at 273 Franklin in Chicago. At this time, the Landis family lived at 244 Home St. in Cicero. Cicero was only three miles southwest of Oak Park. Many Sosman & Landis employees settled in the western suburbs of Oak Park, Cicero, Austin and Berwyn in the late-nineteenth century and early-twentieth-century. It was a short train ride from downtown Chicago. In 1900, the Landis household included his wife Prudence, 15-yrs.-old daughter Kathryn E. and a servant named Ida Neilson. The 1900 US Federal Census listed Joseph Landis as a “manager” in the “lighting factory” industry.
Joseph Landis did quite well for himself during the first decade of the twentieth century. He was able to purchase a summer home and travel in his leisure time. His travels made Oak Park news, and on Aug. 20, 1904, the “Oak Park Reported,” announced “Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Landis and Mrs. John Sargent are spending a few weeks at Winona Lake, Ind.” There was a summer home in Winona Lake.
Joseph and Frank Landis eventually purchased homes on the same street in Oak Park – 215 and 221 South Oak Park. Their homes were only two blocks away from the home of Thomas G. Moses at 233 S. Euclid Ave: a short four-minute walk. The three remained extremely close over the years, especially after Moses was elected President of Sosman & Landis. On August 28, 1915, the “Oak Park Leaves” reported, “President of “Scenery” Company. Thomas G. Moses has become president of the firm Sosman & Landis of Chicago, for many years one of the leading houses in the country engaged in the making and painting of scenery and the making of ‘properties’ for theatrical productions. Mr. Landis dies several years ago, and Mr. Sosman died early this month. Mr. Moses has been identified with the form for thirty-five years, and is recognized as one of the leading artists in this line in the country. The business has grown from the employment of a single artist, when Mr. Moses first took up the work, until now it requires thirty-five artists and fifteen stage mechanics. Mr. Moses first became a stockholder and vice president of the company ten years ago and now succeeds to the active control. Mr. Moses is a well-known citizen of Oak Park and has made his home at 233 South Euclid for twenty-two years” (page 40).
Life was going extremely well for the Landis families. It appeared as if all of the hard work over the years was paying off. Their daughter Katie grew up and married to Raymond Fritz Harris (1872-1942) on September 7, 1912. A granddaughter, Viola Landis Harris, was born the next year on Dec. 10, 1913. Raymond Harris worked as an accountant in the painting industry in 1917, and the small Harris family lived at the Landis home (221 S. Oak Park). On Dec. 22, 1917, the “Oak Park Leaves” announced, “Mrs. Joseph Landis, Mrs. Raymond Harris and daughter Viola of 221 South Oak Park avenue left Tuesday for Miami, Fla., to spend the winter, Mr. Landis and Mr. Harris are to follow later.” (page 4).
Gravestone of Katie Landis Harris, daughter of Joseph and Prudence Landis.
Tragedy struck the Landis family only two years, and lasted until 1923. On 2 Jan 1919, Kathryn Landis Harris passed away. She was only 44 years old at the time, and the mother of a young child. Her body was brought back to Liberty, Indiana, where she was buried at West Point Cemetery. Her daughter and husband continued to live at Joseph Landis’ house as the extended family grieved the loss of Katie. In 1919 the Landis household included not only Joseph, Prudence, 5-yrs.-old granddaughter Viola, and son-in-law, Raymond Fritz Harris, but also several others. The 1919 Oak Park Directory listed the following individuals residing at 221 South Oak Park avenue: J. Landis, R. F. Harris, L. E. Burr, F. Creek, and J. H. Pallister.
Joseph and Prudence continued to raise their young granddaughter until she graduated from high school and was married. At some point, however, Viola’s father moved out of the home. There is little information about the remainder of Raymond Harris’ personal or business activities over the next few decades, but he remained in the field of accounting. Meanwhile, Joseph, Prudence and Viola continued on with either Katie or RaymondThe three continued to vacation at Winona Lake, Indiana, and managed as best they could without Katie. On Aug. 21, 1920 (page 71), the “Oak Park Leaves” announced, “Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Landis and Miss Viola of 221 South Oak Park avenue have returned from a month’s outing at Winona Lake, Ind.”
By 1921, brothers Joseph, Frank and Charles Landis were all listed in the Oak Park Telephone Directory: Charles W. Landis 463 N. Evergreen Ave. Elmhurst; Franklin Landis 215 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park; and Jos Landis 221 S Oak Pk Ave, Oak Park. They were only 10 miles apart. The following year in 1922, Charles Landis relocated to N. Ashland Ave. in LaGrange, still only 8 miles away from his brothers. The close family togetherness was not meant to last. In 1923, both Charles and Frank passed away.
Frank’s obituary remembered his younger brother’s passing the month before:
““Franklin Landis. Funeral services for the late Franklin Landis were conducted last Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock at his residence, 215 South Oak Park avenue, Rev. R. E. Vale officiating. Burial was at Rushville, Ind. Mr. Landis suffered a stroke of paralyses in March, 1918, while he partially recovered and sought relief in warm climates, he never fully regained his health. About two weeks ago he was subjected to a complication which his weak heart was unable to withstand. His condition was aggravated by grief over the death of his youngest brother a month previous. Mr. Landis was born in Fairfield, Iowa, in 1856 and came to Chicago in 1888, He was a land broker, his judgement being taken as authoritative and sound. As recently as last April he made a trip to inspect some large holdings and it was on that trip that he suffered a complete breakdown. Mr. and Mrs. Landis moved to Oak Park in 1903. Mr. Landis was fond of nature and especially flowers. Besides Mrs. Landis, one brother, Joseph Landis, 221 south Pak Park avenue, survives.”
1923 was also the year that Sosman & Landis closed its doors. Assets were liquidated, the space leased to a new studio, and the firm’s name sold to Thomas G. Moses and Fred R. Megan. Regardless of the economic turmoil, Joseph Landis continued to work as an electrical engineer, raising his granddaughter in Oak Park. Life simply went on for those who survived the trying times. The Landis family only occasionally made news in the 1920s. In 1924, the “Oak Park Leaves” announced a few family vacations to Winona Lake, but little else. I have yet to locate any more information pertaining to Landis’ business endeavors in the 1920s. After all, in 1920 Joseph Landis was already 76 yrs. old. He would remain in Oak Park for another twelve years, waiting for his granddaughter to reach adulthood. Until the age of 88 yrs. old, he, Prudence and Viola lived in Oak Park. In 1932, however, they all returned to Liberty, Indiana. Viola’s own father remained in Illinois and continued to work as a bookkeeper until his own passing in 1942.
When Joseph Landis returned to Liberty, he was welcomed home by both friends and family. Although it had been more than four decades since he worked as a jeweler there, live fell back into a comfortable rhythm. One of the reasons for their return to family in Liberty was Prudence’s failing health. Fortunately, they were able to enjoy two more years together. Prudence passed away on July 5, 1932.
On July 6, 1934, “The Richmond Item” reported, “Mrs. P. H. Landis, Liberty Resident, Dies at Age of 84.” The article continued, “Liberty, Ind., July 5 – Following a week’s illness Mrs. Prudence Hughes Landis, 84 years old, wife of Joseph Landis, died Thursday afternoon at her residence on East South street. Mrs. Landis was one of the best known residents of the community, She had been in failing health for several years. After they had operated a jewelry store in Liberty for a number of years Mr. and Mrs. Landis disposed of the business and removed to Chicago several years ago but after a time they returned to Liberty for permanent residence. Mrs. Landis, who was a member of the local Presbyterian Church, is survived by her husband and a granddaughter, Miss Viola Harris, at home. Funeral services will be held at 10 A.M. Saturday at the residence, Dr. Walter H. Reynolds, pastor of the Presbyterian Church officiating. Burial will be in West Point Cemetery” (page 9). Other obituary announcements reported, “She is survived by her husband; granddaughter, Miss Viola Harris; and two nephews, Herbert Hughes of Connersville, and Harold S. Hughes. Mrs. Landis was a sister of the late C.E Hughes. Mr. Landis operated a jewelry store in Liberty for several years. He and Mrs. Landis moved to Chicago years ago, returning to Liberty two years ago for permanent residence. Mrs. Landis had been in failing health for the past few years. She was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church and was an active worker in the church until her health failed her.”
Joseph Landis passed away two years later. At the time of his passing his death certificate still listed him as an electrical engineer. On March 17, 1936, “The Richmond Item” of Richmond, Indiana, announced, “Aged Liberty Businessman Dies At Home. Joseph Landis, 92 Years Old, Former Jeweler in Liberty, Chicago Well Known” (page 1). The article went onto report:
“LIBERTY, Ind., Mar. 16.- Joseph Landis, 92 years old on Mar. 8, died at his home on South Street, Monday. He had been confined to his bed only about three weeks. Mr. Landis was one of the early citizens of Liberty, having been engaged for several years in the jeweler’s business here. Later he and his family moved to Chicago where he engaged in the business for some years, later connecting himself with the Sosman & Landis Lighting Engineers Company.
Mr. and Mrs. Landis, with their only granddaughter, Miss Viola Harris, returned to Liberty about five years ago, he having retired from business some ten years before that time. Mrs. Landis’s death occurred after their return to Liberty. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church. In addition to the granddaughter, at home, he is survived by a number of cousins, including Mrs. Belle Stevens of Liberty., Mrs. Prudence Wallace and other cousins of Brookville, and Harold Hughes, a nephew, of Liberty. Funeral Services will take place at the residence, Wednesday forenoon at 10:30 o’clock with Dr. Walter H. Reynolds. Pastor of the Liberty Presbyterian Church, officiating. Burial will be in West Point Cemetery.”
Gravestone of Joseph Landis.
Viola Landis Harris was 22 yrs. old at the time of her grandfather’s death. That summer, she married Earl Forest Kitchel (1910-1988). Newspapers announced their wedding on August 1, 1936. Viola and Earl began their married life on a farm, just south of Richmond, Indiana. Her portrait was published with their wedding announcement “The Richmond Item” on Sept. 6, 1936 (page 7).
Viola Landis Harris Kitchel, granddaughter of Joseph and Prudence Landis.
Charles Landis worked at Sosman & Landis from approximately 1883 to 1893. He was Perry Landis’ youngest brother.
Charles Landis gravestone in Rushville, Indiana. George Gregg was Charles’ father-in-law.
For context, Joseph Sosman partnered with Perry Landis in approximately 1875. By 1879 the two leased a studio in Chicago. Sosman & Landis increased their staff, hiring a variety of professionals, friends and family members. In 1879, Perry’s 23-yrs.-old brother Frank Landis, representing the firm as a traveling salesman. Here is the link to Frank Landis, Sosman & Landis employee No. 1 – Frank Landis: https://drypigment.net2021/03/28/sosman-landis-shaping-the-landscape-of-american-theatre-employee-no-1-frank-landis-salesman/ Frank’s time with the company was short-lived, and he soon returned to Rushville, Indiana, to work for their father in the jewelry business. Frank would again return to Chicago in 1888, this time establishing himself as a land broker.
Charles Landis, became associated with Sosman & Landis by the mid-1880s. He worked in a variety of capacities for the firm, including foreman, clerk and manager. Three Landis brothers were linked to the business investments of Sosman & Landis: Charles, Frank and Joseph.
Charles was the youngest of twelve children born to Henry H. Landis (1809-1893) and Catherine Johnston Landis (1817-1902). You can trace the Landis family’s travels from 1833 to 1958 by the birth of each child:
Mary (1833-1860, born in Indiana)
John A. (1835-1915, born in Xenia, Ohio)
David J. (1839-1863, born in Ohio)
Jacob H. (1841-1911, born in Ohio)
Joseph (1844-1936, born in Fairfield, Iowa)
Infant daughter (1846-1846, no information beyond the dates)
Julia Ann (1847-1847, no information beyond the dates)
Perry (1848-1905, born in Indiana)
James Henry (1851-1860, born in Indiana)
Edgar (1852-1914, born in Indiana)
Franklin (1856-1923, born in Fairfield, Iowa)
Charles (1858-1923, born in Fairfield, Iowa).
In1856, the Landis family was living in Fairfield, Iowa, where both Frank and Charles were born. For geographical context, Fairfield is located half-way between Mount Pleasant and Ottumwa, Iowa.
Vintage postcard from Fairfield, Iowa.Contemporary postcard from Fairfield, Iowa.
In 1875, when Charles had just turned 17 yrs. old, Perry met Joseph S. Sosman. Sosman was painting scenery for Semon’s Opera House in Fairfield. At the time, he was assisted by another gentleman by the name of Blain. Previously he had partnered with another scenic artist named T. B. Harrison. In Fairfield, Sosman and Blain not only painted theatre scenery, but also advertising boards for local businesses. After all of their Fairfield projects were completed, Sosman and Blain headed to Washington, Iowa, where they painted scenery for Everson’s Hall. In Washington they advertised their painting services for sign work, fine signs, and window curtains (“Washington County Gazette,” Nov. 24, 1875).
While Sosman was working with Blain, his permanent residence was listed Macomb, Illinois. Macomb is located approximately 100 miles southwest of Fairfield; so, not a quick hop, skip, and jump away. Between the fall of 1875 and the spring of 1876, Sosman and Landis began working together. At the time, they were both listed as scenic artist.
By the spring of 1876, the travels of Sosman and Landis were announced in the “Fairfield Ledger.” On May 11, 1876 and announcement in the newspaper’s “Local Miscellany” section reported, “Perry Landis and J. S. Sosman spent a few days in the city last week” (page 3). The same announcement was made the following month, on June 11, 1876. They were fast friends and loyal companions. Even in death they share the same family grave plot.
As with many small businesses, Sosman & Landis relied heavily upon the support of family. In turn, their financial success was shared with family, friends and their respective hometowns. Charles Landis worked with his brother Perry and Joe Sosman until the end of their lives in 1904 and 1915 respectively.
Here is what I have located about the life and career of Charles Landis…
On July 12, 1858, Charles Landis was born in Fairfield, Iowa. By the time Charles was 2 yrs. old, the Landis family moved to Steady Run, Iowa. Steady Run is in Keokuk County, approximately twenty miles northwest of Fairfield (as the crow flies). The 1860 census listed the Landis household as including eight children: David (21), Jacob (19), Joseph (16), Perry (12), James H. (8) , Edgar (6), Franklin (3) and Charles (2). Keep in mind that the four brothers who would continue to work together over the years were Joseph, Perry, Franklin and Charles.
By 1870, the Landis family relocated to Indiana. The 1870 Census listed the Landis household as including Henry (63), Catharine (52), Jacob (28), Perry (21), Edward (17), Francis (14, Iowa), Charles (11), and Hetta Morrison (13). The family was living on a farm near Connersville, Indiana. It was about this time that Henry H. Landis began operating a jewelry store in Rushville. This was not an unusual move as Henry’s son, Jacob “Jake” Landis, had been involved in a similar endeavor while living in Fairfield. In 1867, Jake Landis advertised as a “Dealer in & repair of watches, clocks, jewelry, &c. in Fairfield, Iowa (“Fairfield Ledger,” 20 June 1867, page 2). In Rushville, Henry Landis established the firm of H. H. Landis & Son, another jewelry and watch establishment. Joseph continued this trade, eventually leaving Rushville to continue this line of work in other cities, ending up in California by 1880. Over the years, both Henry and Joseph employed several family members. Yet they would both end up in Chicago by the 1890s when a new opportunity presented itself to the Landis family.
When Perry set his sights on Chicago, three of his brothers soon followed. When Sosman & Landis opened their studio in Chicago, Frank hit the road as a traveling salesman for the firm. That being said, he did not last for long, and soon returned to his father’s line of work for a while. He would eventually return to Chicago and invest in real estate.
Business listing for Sosman & Landis in Chicago Directory, 1880.
Going back to the beginning of Sosman & Landis, however, it is easy to see that the opened in the right place at the right time. In 1880, the firm of Sosman & Landis was the only scenic artists listed in the Chicago City Directory. They created a unique category for themselves, which meant their services were set apart from all of the other Chicago artists. What a brilliant marketing move, especially as “Artists (Scenic)” was the first to be listed in the artists category.
On August 15, 1883, the Connersville Examiner of Connersville, Indiana reported, “Charley Landis, of Rushville, was in the city one day last week mingling with his many friends. He has retired from the jewelry business at Rushville and will travel in the interest of the Landis & Sosman Senic and Art Studio of Chicago. He goes to Texas this week” (page 3).
In 1884, the Chicago Directory listed Charles Landis as a “foreman” at 279 Clark Street, living at 104 Centre Avenue with his brother Perry. From 1885-1886, Charles continued in the same capacity with the firm, but was not boarding at the Farewell House. 279 Clark was the address for Sosman & Landis.
Charles and Perry Landis’ listings in the 1885 Chicago Directory.
In 1885, Farwell House made newspapers for its new fire escape. On March 19, 1884, the “Inter Ocean” included an article about C. Baker’s fire escape (page 9). This was Chauncy D. Baker, another Sosman & Landis employee. The article reported, “A sensible fire escape was exhibited from the Farewell Block yesterday which is in many ways meritorious, and must soon come into use by owners of large public buildings where many persons are employed, and in hotels and colleges throughout the country. The invention is the result of Chicago ingenuity, and is secured to Mr. C. Baker by letters patent…The cost is but $200, and one escape is sufficient for one building, unless it is unusually large…The escape may be seen in operation any day at the Farewell Block, on Adams street, and any time, and information had of H. Burgheim, at No. 279 South Clark street.”
In 1885, Sosman & Landis prepared to build a new shop, with the “Inter Ocean” announcing, “A permit was issued to Messrs. Sosman & Landis, the theatrical scenic artists, to build a two-story scenic studio, 44×150, at Nos. 236 and 238 South Clinton street, to cost $12,000” (page 8). They would spend another $38,000 to fully equip the building. By 1889, company catalogues stated, “We have, at a cost of $50,000, built and equipped the largest and most complete painting studio in the world. Our main paint room, 50×150 feet, with 40 feet height of ceiling, fully equipped with every modern appliance, is the wonder of all managers who visit it. Below this are our carpenter shops, sewing and canvas rooms, occupying 50×150 feet, with 20 ft. ceiling.”
Sosman & Landis main studio on South Clinton St.
Charles Landis remained with the firm after they moved from 279 S. Clark Street to 236-238 South Clinton in 1886. The 1888 Chicago Directory listed Charles Landis as a manager at the firm, still working at 236 S. Clinton. The 1889 Chicago Directory listed Charles Landis as a clerk, again working at 236 S. Clinton. As the company expanded, Charles was shifted from one position to another as needed. While saving up his pennies, Charles frequently returned to Rushville where he began and courting a young lady. On June 10, 1890, Charles married Ella Gregg (1860-1897) in Rushville, Indiana. Ella also went by her middle name, May. She was the daughter of George W. Gregg and Sarah J. Mitchell. She was one of several children born to the couple. The Gregg children included Nancy A. (b. 1844), Lucian Bailey Gregg (b. 1849), George T. (b. 1853), Amanda (b. 1857), Ella M. (b. 1860), Charles (1866), and Ruby (b. 1868). The 1880 US Federal Census listed the Gregg household as including her 12-yrs.-old sister Ruby. The family resided on a farm near Rushville. On June 11, 1891, the “Rushville Republican” reported, “Mr. Charles Landis and Miss May Gregg were married Wednesday, forenoon, at the residence of Mrs. Nannie Helm [Nancy A. Gregg], on Elizabeth street, by Elder J. H. MacNeill, in the presence of a number of intimate friends. After the marriage they left for Chicago, on the 10:17 train, where they will make their future home. Mr. Landis was formerly one of our best citizens, but is now a successful businessman of Chicago. The bride is one of Rushville’s best young ladies and Mr. Landis is to be congratulated in securing her for a life’s partner.”
The couple began their life together in Chicago, with Charles continuing to work at Sosman & Landis until 1893, when the Landis brothers embarked on a new adventure. Now keep in mind that by the 1880s, Sosman and Landis did much more than manufacture painted stage settings. Sosman and Landis catalogues featured a variety of stage hardware and lighting equipment for the stage. In regard to lighting equipment, the firm offered a range of oil and gas fixtures.
Products they carried in 1889 included:
Improved Gas Cock, with adjustable by-pass.
Complete Gas Stands
Bunch Lights.
Border Lights.
Footlight pipes and burners.
Products continued to be added each year, and by the 1890s Sosman & Landis lighting equipment also included electrical products.
Their 1894 catalogue featured:
Improved Border Lights for Gas and Electric.
Footlights and Ground Row Lights, for Gas.
Foot and Border Lights, for Oil.
As the demand for lighting instruments increased, Sosman and Landis took the next step to establish a lighting company. The timing of their decision coincided with the opening of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.
It is important to remember that electric lighting was a feature, with many of the buildings outlined in lights to form the White City.
Midway One of the features at the exposition was an electric scenic theater. On June 29, 1893, “The Inter Ocean” advertised:
“ELECTRIC SCENIC THEATER,
Midway Plaisance.
A DAY IN THE ALPS.
From early dawn to sunrise, brilliant daylight, thunder storm, twilight. Alpine glowing, rise of the moon, to night with sparkling stars. Wonderful lighting effects unknown in other lands. The most intellectual spectacle on the Midway Plaisance. Admission 25c. Performances every half hour” (page 5).
Advertisement for the Electric Scenic Theater. 1893.
After the fair closed, Sosman & Landis leased the Masonic Temple Rooftop Garden. The installed two electric scenic theaters and opened a theatrical management firm, known as Sosman, Landis & Hunt. For the 1893 exposition, Sosman & Landis had completed dozens of projects that ranged from Midway attractions to industrial exhibits on the fairgrounds. They also designed and manufactured many painted settings for public spectacles, parades, and other productions marketed to world fair visitors. All the while, they continued to manufacture stock scenery settings for theaters across the country, including stages in Bozeman, Montana; Pocatello, Idaho; Fox Lake, Wisconsin; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; and Meriden, Connecticut, to name a few.
Sosman & Landis not only specialized in paintings scenery, but also stage machinery and lighting systems. The American Reflector and Lighting Co. was incorporated on April 5, 1893. Established by Perry Landis, William A. Toles. And Robert L. Tatham, the company’s objective was to “manufacture, purchase, sell and deal in all kinds of fixtures, machinery and appliances to be used for the purpose of lighting, heating and cooking and other purposes.” The timing could not have been better for the firm, as the Columbian Exposition opened on May 1, 1893. The fair ran until October 31 of that year.
The starting capital stock for the American Reflector and Lighting Co. was $100,000, with the amount of each share being $1,000. A meeting of the stock subscribers was held on April 4, 1893. Minutes from the meeting showed the following distribution of shares to subscribers: Perry Landis subscribed for 200 shares of stock.
Joseph S. Sosman subscribed for 250 shares of stock.
Joseph Landis subscribed for 300 shares of stock.
Charles Landis subscribed for 200 shares of stock.
William A. Toles subscribed for 50 shares of stock.
Directors of the American Reflector and Lighting Co. were listed as Perry Landis, Joseph Sosman & Charles Landis. The four officers for the firm elected by the Board of Directors (President, Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer), rotated between Perry Landis, Joseph Sosman, Charles Landis and Joseph Landis until 1904. These four were frequently listed as the co-founders of the corporation.
Charles Landis’ signature as Secretary of the American Reflector and Lighting Co.
By summer 1893, Charles Landis not only served as Secretary and Treasurer for the American Reflector & Lighting Company, but also as General Manager for the firm. The first address for factory for the American Reflector & Lighting Company was 215-217-219 South Clinton Street, with offices and salesroom at 80 Jackson Street. Keep in mind that Sosman & Landis’ main studio and offices were located at 236-238 South Clinton Street, just up the block. Very convenient for all involved.
They not only worked together, but lived near one another. In 1894, “The Chicago Blue Book” lists the homes of Joseph Sosman, Perry Landis, Frank Landis and Henry Landis on West Congress Street. Perry was at 446, Sosman was at 570, and Frank was at 580. By this time, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Landis were also living in Chicago on West Congress St (at Frank’s home). Charles Landis was not listed in any Chicago Directory at this time. I have yet to locate where he was living while working in Chicago. He may have been living with one of his brothers on West Congress St.
1894 Chicago Blue Book with Sosman and Landis addresses.
By Feb. 5, 1894, the firm signed a lease to rent the second floor of the Knapp Electrical Works at 271-273 S. Franklin St. for $2000 per annum. This was the address that would remain the firm’s main offices until 1919 when fire swept through the building.
In 1894, the Sosman & Landis studio catalogue carried a full page of advertisements for the American Reflector & Lighting Co.
American Reflector and Lighting Co. advertisement in 1894 Sosman & Landis catalog.
The advertisement asked, “How are You Going to Light Your Audience Room and Stage? The question of Proper Lighting is a most important one.” The manufacturing company offered, “a full line of improved Lighting Fixtures for Electricity, Gas or Oil, specially adapted for the lighting of Theatres, Halls, Assembly Rooms and Churches.” The advertisement continued:
“Their Line Comprises:
Inverted Double Cone Corrugates Silvered and Opal Glass Reflectors.
Peerless Sun Burners, which area especially adapted for lighting and ventilating large auditoriums.
Improved Border Lights for Gas.
Improved Border Lights for Combination Gas and Electricity.
Improved Electric Border Lights.
Gas Stands or Tables fitted with polished Brass By-Pass Cocks.
Gas Bunch Lights with Reflectors and Wire Guards.
Improved Electric Bench Lights.
Combination Gas and Electric Border Lights, with Reflectors and Wire Guards.
Patent Eclipse Foot and Border Lights for Oil, that turn up and down same as Gas.
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On March 17, 1894, the “Victoria Advocate” in Victoria, Texas, listed both Sosman & Landis and The American Reflector and Lighting Co. in the same article about Hauschild’s Opera House. The article reported, “The scenery is from Sosman & Landis’ great scene painting studio of Chicago and must be seen to be fully appreciated, As scenic artists that firm stands in the front ranks, and their work for the new opera house will be accepted as an evidence that the high reputation of the house is deserved.
The lights, including a handsome large chandelier for the center, were supplied by the American Reflector and Lighting Company, or Chicago, and are in keeping with the general high characteristic of the furnishings throughout the entire building.”
No one would ever have guessed the intimate link between Sosman & Landis and the American Reflector and Lighting Co.
Profits continued to dramatically increase at the American Reflector and Lighting Co. throughout the 1890s. Money poured into the firm, with stockholders greatly benefitting from increased profits. Although Charles Landis continued to succeed in business, his personal life fell apart in 1897. His wife, Ella May Gregg Landis, passed away on April 16 of that year. On April 20, 1897, the “Rushville Republican” reported, “Mrs. May Landis, wife of Charles Landis, of Chicago, died at Phoenix, Arizona, last Friday afternoon, of Bright’s disease. Mrs. Landis is well-remembered in this city as Miss May Gregg, being a daughter of the late George T. Gregg, She was married in this city to Mr. Landis, on June 10, 1891, who survives her. the remains will arrive in this city tomorrow morning, and will be taken to the home of her sister, Mrs. Nannie Helm on Third Street. The burial will be at East Hill Cemetery. Her many friends in this city are sorry to hear of her death and sympathize deeply with the family in their bereavement” (page 3).
Charles continued to live in Chicago, and by 1898 was listed in the City Directory as Secretary for the American Reflector & Lighting Co. at 271 Franklin, living at 2075 W Adams. That same year, his older brother Joseph Landis was listed as manager of the firm, living in Oak Park. Many Sosman & Landis employees, including Thomas G. Moses, also lived in Oak Park at the time. The town was a short hop, skip and jump from downtown Chicago, easily accessible by public transit.
Charles remarried in 1899. After more than two years of grieving, he married Ruby Gregg (1868-1937) on Sept. 7, 1899. Ruby was Ella “May” Gregg’s younger sister. I have yet to locate any marriage records for the two, but the couple was listed in the 1900US Federal Census. The census report listed Charles’ employment industry as “gas fixture.” Although living in Chicago, the couple continually returned to Rushville, visiting extended family. On April 23, 1901, the “Rushville Republican” reported, “Charles Landis and wife, of Chicago, are visiting Mrs. Nannie Helm and daughter, Miss Bertha.”
By August 3, 1903, the American Reflector & Lighting Co. Board of Directors noted that the continued illness of Perry Landis and his consequent inability to act as a director of the company. At Sosman & Landis, Thomas G. Moses returned to the firm at the firm’s vice-president. At the American Reflector and Lighting Co., Perry’s ill health necessitated that his older brother, Joseph Landis, take Perry’s place as Director for the remainder of his term. Records from the same meeting also listed that Joseph Landis was also nominated for the office of president of the company. By now, the offices of the American Reflector and Lighting company were temporarily listed as 52 Jackson in Chicago.
Tragedy struck the American Reflector and Lighting company in 1906 when fire destroyed one of the firm’s buildings at 199-201 Van Buren. On July 4, fire destroyed a four-story structure that was occupied by the American Reflector & Lighting Co.; A. Meisser & Son, hats and caps; and the Ozark Garment Co. This was not the firm’s main headquarters, however, and business was able to continue. Regardless, Perry’s passing caused an upset in both firms, and non a personal front with Sosman. Despite a booming business, Sosman began to gradually withdraw from the daily running of the business. It was as if his heart was no longer in the chase.
By 1908, the American Reflector & Lighting Company decreased its stock value from $100,000 to $10,000. Charles remained with the firm, and the 1910 US Federal Census listed Charles Landis as the manager and treasurer of the Electric Reflector and Light Co. He was living with his wife Ruby at North Ashland Ave, in Lyons, Cook County, Illinois. Interestingly, he was the next door neighbor of a manager for the Otis Elevator Co., Job Fish.
After the passing of Sosman in 1915, two meetings were held in December. The first was a special meeting of the American Reflector and Lighting Co. Directors, held at 517 W. Jackson Boulevard. Joseph Landis, acting as Secretary, recorded that Charles Landis was nominated President, Perry Lester Landis [Perry’s son] was nominated vice-president, and Mrs. Joseph H. Sosman was nominated secretary and treasurer. The second meeting was held for the stockholders. Present were Mrs. Joseph S. Sosman, Mrs. Nora Landis, Perry Lester Landis [Perry’s son] and Joseph Landis. The following was recorded: “On motion, duly seconded, the Secretary states that owning to the fact that the former Secretary Charles Landis had disposed of his stock in the company in order to keep up equal payments to the various stockholders a special dividend of $2,000 to be divided among the stockholders as per stock held would be made.”
By Nov. 14, 1916, the following officers were elected to the American Reflector & Lighting Co. Board of Directors: Mr. Joseph Landis (president and treasurer), Mr. Charles Landis (vice-president), and Mr. Perry L. Landis (secretary).
On Tuesday, Dec. 12, 1916, a special meeting of the stockholders was held in the firm’s offices at 517 W. Jackson Boulevard. Present were Joseph Landis (50 shares), A. J. Lawson (25 shares), representing three-fourths of the capital stock. The Director of the American Reflector & Lighting Co. were now A. J. Lawson (president), P. L. Landis (vice-president), and Joseph Landis (secretary and treasurer). On July 16, 1917, a special meeting of the Board of Directors recorded, “Meeting was called to order by A. J. Lawson who advised that as the stock in the corporation formerly held by Mrs. Nora Landis and Perry Lester Landis had been disposed of, it would be advisable to make a record at to the present distribution of the entire stock in the corporation, and on investigation for the records the following were found to hold the entire stock in the corporation consisting of 100 shares:
Joseph Landis (57 ½ shares)
A. J. Lawson (40 shares)
Charles Landis 2 ½ shares”
Then a motion was made to elect Charles Landis to the office of Vice-President, formerly held by Perry L. Landis [Perry’s son]. A. J. Lawson was the president and Joseph Landis secretary and treasurer.
By May 13, 1919, the business offices for the American Reflector & Lighting Co. were cited as 100 S. Jefferson St. in Chicago. This was after the destruction of company offices at their former place of business at 517 W. Jackson Blvd.
So, how did I get the minutes from these meetings? Last year, I received a package from A. J. Lawson’s grandson, Paul Martin. Martin stumbled across my blog and commented. Martin is also researching his grandfather’s involvement with the firm. Arthur J. Lawson (1883-1940) eventually owned the American Reflector and Lighting Co. The family continued to manage the firm until 1988 when all operations ceased. We are still trying to track down how Lawson, a young and relatively unknown individual became a major stockholder in American Reflector and Lighting Co. and sole owner over the course of a few years. I suspect that he started out on staff at either American Reflector and Lighting Co., Sosman & Landis, or a competitor. However, I have yet to directly link Lawson with Sosman & Landis prior to his involvement with the American Reflector and Lighting Co. in 1916. It may have been that he was simply in the right place at the right time too.
And yet…Lawson intimately understood lighting systems for the stage. During the summer of 1918, A. J. Lawson applied for two Border Light patents. His inventions related to improvements in border lights “especially adapted for use along the border of a stage in a theater or as footlights therefor, the object of the invention being to provide a simple and efficient construction of this character adapted to readily supply different colored lights for the stage.” The two patents were granted on Nov. 12 and Nov. 30, 1918, respectively.
Illustrations that accompanied Lawson’s two patents for border lights. See links below for full patents.
What is also fascinating (to me) is current interest in the history of this company. At the Made-in-Chicago Museum, Andrew Clayman is writing about the firm. One of their acquisitions was produced by the American Reflector and Lighting Co. Here is the link: https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/american-reflector-lighting-co/ So far, the website only says, “Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.” I look forward to seeing what he writes about!
To briefly recap stock shares for the American Reflector and Lighting Co. in 1915 before getting back to the life and career of Charles Landis…At the time of Sosman’s passing in 1915, the Joseph S. Sosman estate listed 25 shares American Reflector and Lighting Co. shares, valued at $2500. An additional note nearby states that this was a doubtful face value. Presumably, these 25 shares were purchased by Arthur J. Lawson when the estate was liquidated, likely for less than the estimated $2500. Between 1915 and 1917, Lawson increased these 25 shares to 40 shares. Meanwhile, Charles’ Landis stock holdings with the American Reflector and Lighting Co. were reduced from 200 shares in 1893 to 2 ½ shares in 1917. By 1921, both the Sosman family and Landis family extracted themselves from the American Reflector and Lighting Co. Remember that between 1923 and 1924 Sosman & Landis was also liquidated.
Between 1910 and 1920, I have uncovered very little information about the personal or business dealings of Charles Landis. He remained with the American Reflector and Lighting Co. until at least 1920, working alongside his brother Joseph Landis and Arthur Lawson.
Charles battled cancer, likely prompting a withdrawal from the firm by 1921. Like his older brother Perry, death did not come swiftly nor was it unexpected. Perry had died at the relatively young age of 56 yrs. old in 1904. Charles passed away on Nov. 23 1923, at his home, 27 North Ashland Ave. La Grange Ill. I don’t know when Charles moved from Lyons to LaGrange, but the two cities are only 2.6 miles apart from one another.
On Nov. 24, 1923, the “Rushville Republican” reported:
“Charles Landis Succumbs. Former Rushville Business Man to be Buried Here Sunday” (page 1). His death announcement reported, “Charles Landis, age about 65 years, formerly a Rushville business man, died at his home in LaGrange, Illinois, and the body will arrived here Sunday afternoon at 3:26 o’clock over the C.I.&W. railroad and be taken directly to East Hill for short funeral services in the chapel, in charge of the Rev. Gibson Wilson. The funeral will not be private. Mr. Landis had been ill for many months with cancer of the stomach and his death was not unexpected. He was in the jewelry business here with his father at one time, but left Rushville a number of years ago. The deceased is survived by the widow who was a sister of the late Nannie Helm [Nancy A. Landis]. He was an uncle by marriage of George Helm and Miss Bertha Helm of this city and uncle of Mrs. Jannetta Carr.” Charles was actually 63 yrs. old when he died.
Charles’ brother, Frank, died a month later that same year. Frank was 67 yrs. old. On Dec. 27, 1923, “The Daily Republican” of Rushville reported:
“Franklin Landis Succumbs. Former Rushville Jewelry Dealer Expires in Oak Park, Chicago” (page 1).
The announcement continued, “Franklin Landis, of Oak Park, Chicago, uncle of Mrs. Jeanette Carr and Mrs. Frank S. Reynolds, of this city, died at six o’clock this morning following a short illness. He was a former resident of this city, having been engaged in the jewelry business with his father, Henry H. Landis, at the place where the Abercrombie Jewelry store is now located.
The deceased was a brother of Charles Landis, who died Nov. 23, at his home in LaGrange, Ill. He is also survived by his wife, who was formerly Miss Mathilda Winship. No definite word has been received here of the funeral arrangements, but it is believed that the body will be brought here for burial.” Other articles about Frank elaborated that he suffered a stroke of paralyses in March 1918, then sought warmer climates, hoping to recover.
Only their older brother, Joseph Landis, lived a long life, not passing away until 1936 at the age of 92 yrs. old.
In 1919, Moses wrote, “We have lost John Hanny and Otto Schroader [sic.], our two best men. They do not want to stay with Hunt. He is such an awful fault finder.” At the time, all three men were working for David Hunt’s New York Studios. New York Studios was the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis, but managed a branch office in Chicago. The Chicago offices for New York Studios was located at 1022 Consumers Building; their home office was 328-332 West 39th St. in New York City.
After leaving New York Studios, Hanny briefly returned to Sosman & Landis before breaking out on his own to found Service Studios. In 1920, Hanny and four other Sosman & Landis employees established Services Studios, converting the old Jewel Tea Company barn building. Their firm was short-lived, and eventually purchased by another former Sosman & Landis employee Art Oberbeck.
Otto remained in Chicago for the next two decades, continuing to work as a scenic artist and living just down the street from Moses in Oak Park.
Like many surnames in Moses’ memoirs, Schroader was misspelled; it’s Schroeter. In fact, Otto’s last name was actually Schröter before the family entered the United States through Ellis Island. Otto Schroeter is not to be confused with Otto Schroeder, the Philadelphia scenic artist who died from injuries after falling off scaffolding in 1901.
Here is a little refresher about the Sosman & Landis-New York Studios relationship before I dig into the life of Schroeter. Keep in mind, this was a difficult time for many scenic studios due to the war, pandemic, and new theatre industry expectations. Between the fall of 1918 and the fall of 1920, Moses was not part of the permanent Sosman & Landis staff. In 1918, he wrote, “September 1st, I resigned as President of the Sosman and Landis Company which severs my connection with the firm after thirty-eight years of service. I joined the New York Studios and expect to get a studio and an office to do business.” Both Sosman & Landis have passed away at this point.
Moses may have left a staff position at Sosman & Landis, but he still worked on Sosman & Landis projects; projects subcontracted to New York Studios. Since the founding of New York Studios in 1910, two firms frequently exchanged scenic artists and designs. Therefore, it was impossible for Moses to truly sever any ties with Sosman & Landis, despite his no longer being on payroll. David Hunt, who founded New York Studios, was intimately involved with both firms. Hunt was also integral in founding Chicago Studios, a firm that eventually used the Sosman & Landis main studio address by 1923. So, you have three firms that look very separate on paper, but are intimately linked together by Hunt.
Otto Schroeter was part of a tangled web of American scenic artists who rapidly passed from one project to another, painting for a variety of studios. Schroeter was part of a large labor pool shared by many competitors. As a young scenic artist in the early twentieth century, Schroeter worked for New York Studios, Sosman & Landis, and Toomey & Volland. Later in his life he would work for film and television companies in California.
Here is how Otto Schroeter fits into the American scenic art puzzle…
Schroeter came from a long line of artists. His own father was a painter, trained as a decorative artist in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. After emigrating to the United States, Otto’s father worked throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. Three of his four sons followed in his footsteps, working on a variety of projects as ornamental painters, scenic artists and easel artists. All of them worked in St. Louis just prior to WWI, with Otto working for the well-known scenic studio of Toomey & Volland.
Richard Schroeter. Image posted at www.ancestry.com
Remember that the top-ranking American scenic artists were a very close-knit group, with many remaining intimate friends throughout the duration of their careers. In the big picture, Thomas G. Moses (Sosman & Landis) and Patrick “P. J.” Toomey (Toomey & Volland) were extremely close friends. They also shared the skills of their work crews with each other. Whenever Moses was in the St. Louis area, he visited Toomey, or stopped by the Toomey & Volland shop. This was also a way to check in see the new talent.
In the spring of 1919, Moses wrote, “The Madam and I started for a river trip down into Alabama by way of St. Louis…We had a nice time in St. Louis as Kirke Moses’ home, and at P. J. Toomey’s new home. We arrived July 1st, rested until the 4th.” Two years earlier, Schroeter was listed as a scenic artist at Toomey & Volland on his WWI draft registration card. So Schroeter was shifting from one shop to the next, painting for Toomey & Volland, New York Studios and Sosman & Landis. It was not until after Toomey’s passing in 1922 that the dynamic between the Toomey & Volland and Sosman & Landis shifted. After Volland’s passing in fall 1921 and Toomey’s passing in Spring 1922, the relationship between the two firms radically changed; the old guard was gone. Volland’s sons did not run the studio like their father and competition became cutthroat with Sosman & Landis in the 1920s. Previous affiliations and alliances were abandoned as studios struggled to secure work.
The Toomeys. Picture postcard sent from P. J. Toomey to Thomas G. Moses in 1908.Part of the John Rothgeb Papers at the Harry Ransom Center.
Otto Felix Schroeter is recognized for his easel art, especially from his time spent in California during the 1950s and 1960s. Many of the online sites post the same information. Here is what is currently published at askART.com: “Otto Felix Schroeter was born around 1880 in Germany. He moved to Illinois when he was approximately 14. He worked for a calendar company out of Illinois. He worked for a major motion picture studio which brought him to California. He died in Los Angeles, California around 1965” (https://www.askart.com/artist/Otto_Felix_Schroeter/11298783/Otto_Felix_Schroeter.aspx).
Painting by Otto Felix Schroeter recently listed on Trocaderoart.com
There is so much more to Schroeter’s story.
Schroeter emigrated with his family to the United States when he was only twelve years old. His father, Richard Schroeter was listed as a painter on the ship’s manifest. He was recorded as the head of a large family emigrating from Germany to Kansas. The Schroeters were relocating from Dresden to Kansas, planning to live with cousins named “Koslan,” although I am a little unsure of the spelling as the handwriting is almost illegible.
Otto Schröter’s paternal grandparents also lived in Dresden. They were Eduard Leberecht Schröter and Maxine Seidler. Richard Schröter, was one of many children born to the couple, arriving on March 17, 1846. In Dresden, Richard Schröter (1846-1937) met his future wife, Christiane Sophie Marie Mildner (1850-1940). The couple was married in Dresden on July 30, 1871, welcoming their first child a year later. Otto was the ninth of eleven children born to the couple in Dresden before the family emigrated to the United States in 1901. Otto’s nine siblings were Fanny Ida Schröter (1872), Max Hugo Schröter (1874), Annie Schröter (1875), Paul Kurt Schröter (1879), George Reinholt Schröter (1881), Frieda C. Schröter (1885), and Louisa W. Schröter (1887), Alfred Schröter (1890) and Tuda Schröter (1892) . Otto was born on Mary 17, 1888. Ida, Annie, Paul and George, were not listed on the ship’s manifest in 1901 when the family sailed to America. It is possible that they were already living in the United States at the time, or later followed them. All four were later listed in their mother’s obituary: Ida Marsh, Annie Kaiser, Paul Schroeter and George Schroeter.
Schröter family traveling to the United States in 1901.
It must have been both a terrifying and exciting experience for Otto when he left home in 1901. I can only imagine what his travel was like to the United States, boarding a ship to cross the Atlantic, leaving childhood friends and saying goodbye to everything familiar to him.
In 1901, the Schröter family boarded the passenger ship Amsterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and sailed to New York, arriving in Ellis Island on May 21. At the time, the Schröter children ranged in age from 9 yrs. old to 27 yrs. old.
The Amsterdam
The family initially settled in Kansas, but soon moved to Illinois. Art historians purport that at the age of 14 yrs. old, Otto began working for a calendar company in the state. It is possible that Otto began his artistic career in the printing industry, working with lithographers. However, he most likely began his artistic career as an assistant to his father. Regardless, Otto quickly transitioned to the painting trade, likely around the age of 16 yrs. in 1904. old. It remains unclear if Schroeter’s scenic art career began in either Chicago or St. Louis. In 1908, Otto was listed a painter in the St. Louis City Directory. In fact, that year Richard Schroeter, Max Schroeter, Paul Schroeter and Otto Schroeter were all painting in St. Louis. The 1908 St. Louis Directory listed the Schroeter family as living at 1748 Dolman. Max was not part of the household at this time, but lived just up the street at 1809A Dolman.
Richard and his two sons (Otto and Paul) were listed as painters, with Max as an artist. The Schroeter family briefly located the following year. In 1909, the only Schroeter family member listed in the St. Louis Directory was Max, still living at 1809A Dolman.
Something happened between 1908 and 1910 that caused Richard and Marie Schroeter to separate and live in different homes. I have yet to locate any divorce records though. The children remained with Marie Schroeter, who was listed as head of the household in the 1910 US Federal Census. That year, Marie was living with five of her eight children: Frieda (24 yrs., no employment), Louisa (23 yrs., hairdresser), Paul (30 yrs., fresco painter), George (28 yrs., show cutter) and Otto (21 yrs., scenic painter). Otto’s oldest brother Max was living in Chicago by 1909, possibly working with his father there.
Otto continued to work as a scenic artist throughout the region, continuing to cast his net wider and wider for projects. In 1913, he was residing in Onondaga, New York. There he met and married Miriam Stewart Huband (1891-1979). Miriam was born in Mobile, Alabama on August 23, 1891, the daughter of Ernest Huband (b. 1863) and Martha Hawes (b. abt. 1869). Her parents married in 1890. The couple celebrated the birth of a second daughter, Edith, in 1898.
In 1910 Miriam and Edith were still living with their parents in Mobile. I have yet to locate any record that explain why Miriam moved from Mobile, to Syracuse, new York by 1913. In 1913, Miriam’s father and sister were still residing in Alabama. Her father was listed as the proprietor of Mobile’s Panama Hotel & Café. He was living at the Panama hotel with Edith.
On June 12, 1913, Rozelle James Phillips was the officiating minister who married Otto and Miriam at All Saint’s Church. The marriage certificate listed both the bride and groom’s residence as 170 W. Brighton Ave. in Syracuse. Two of Otto’s siblings (Frieda and Paul Schroeter) were listed as witnesses. This also suggests that some of the Schroeters had relocated east.
By 1914, Otto and Miriam Schroeter were living in Gary, Indiana, where they celebrated the birth of their first child, Edythe (Edith) Marie Schroeter. Their daughter was named after Miriam’s sister (Edith Huband) and Otto’s mother (Marie Schroeter). That same year brother Max was living in St. Louis, listed as an artist at 3531A S. Grand Ave. Interestingly, there were no other Schroeters in the 1913 St. Louis Directory. Two years later, however, all of the Schroeters returned to St. Louis, again congregated near one another.
The 1916 St. Louis City Directory listed Otto Schroeter as an artist, living in his mother’s home at 4660 Tyrolean Ave. His parents were still separated, and his father was listed as was a decorator, living at 1511 Menard. He would remain at this address for the next few years, living with a man named Julius Keiling. In 1917, Keiling was listed in the directory as a “helper.” I have yet to be successful in tracking down any other information about Keiling.
The 1917 St. Louis City Directory listed Otto and Paul as painters. Otto was still listed as living in his mother’s home at 4660A Tyrolean Ave. His older sister, Frieda, was also listed as part of the household. Meanwhile, brother Paul lived next door at 4658 A Tyrolean Ave. As before, brother Max was still on his own, listed as an artist, and living at 3444A Tennessee Ave. However, this same year, Max registered for the draft in Chicago.
WWI Draft Registration cards provide additional information for the Schroeter sons. Otto was working as a scenic artist at Toomey & Volland Co., located at 2312 Market St. His physical appearance was described as tall and slender, with black hair and brown eyes. Paul Schroeter was working as a decorator at Marx & Junes in St. Louis. Max Schroeter was working as a painter and decorator in Chicago. Max’s residence in Chicago meant that Otto had a place to stay if he ever traveled north for work. His father-in-law Ernest Huband was also living in Chicago at this time.
The 1918 St. Louis Directory still listed Otto and Paul Schroeter living at the family house on Tyrolean Avenue, between Salzburger Ave. and Gravois Ave. Between 1918 and 1919, Otto permanently relocated to Chicago. The 1920 Census listed Otto as an artist in Chicago, living with his wife and daughter at his father-in-law’s home (Ernest Huband). Miriam’s aunt, Mary Huband, was also listed as part of the household.
This is the same year that Moses returned to work at Sosman & Landis. By the end of September, Moses wrote, “It took me a few days before I was I the harness again, and working just the same as I did before I left two years ago. Landis and I got out after business within a few days after my arrival and succeeded in landing a few good ones. I started to do some painting, but it did not last long, as I had too much other business to do. I found the conditions altogether different from what I supposed them to be – too much overhead. It will be awfully hard to keep up the output to balance it all…I am pretty well satisfied with the result of this year’s work and I feel that changing back to Clinton Street was the best thing for me to do, as I really belong there, as my money will always be there unless the business is sold.”
In 1921, Otto and Miriam Schroeter celebrated the birth of a son, Ernest Schroeter. The small family soon relocated to the western suburb of Oak Park. The western suburb was not only home to not only Moses, but also several other former Sosman & Landis employees. In fact, the Schroeter family home was due south of the Moses family home, only a short walk away. The Schroeter’s remained in the area for the next two decades, watching both of their children go through the public school system. 1930 Census listed Otto F. Schroeter as an artist in theater industry, living in Oak Park with his wife Miriam, and children Edith M. (15 yrs.), and Ernest (9 yrs.). They were all living at 1174 S. Clarence.
Ernest followed in his father’s footsteps, and was recognized for his artistic abilities at a young age. By high school was receiving awards for his artwork, making a name for himself in local newspapers, He was described as a talented youth with an abundance of artistic potential. On October 22, 1936, “The Oak Park Leaves” published an article about Ernest Schroeter entitled “Young Villager’s Hobby – Automobile Designing.” It was the first in a series of articles on hobbies of Oak Park and River Forest boys and girls of high school age and under. Ernest’s creative talents had been featured in the paper before, but this time his automobile drawings took center stage. A picture of Ernest was included with the article, stoically holding two sketches.
Otto Schroeter’s son. Ernest Shroeter picture in the 1936 article.
Ernest’s sketches of original automobiles were featured during “automobile week” in the windows at 11 South LaSalle St. “The Oak Leaves” article detailed that his artworks were also featured in the Illinois Automobile club local office and that he had recently won second prize in the American Legion Poppy Day poster contest. At the time the article was published, Ernest was competing in the New York World’s Fair Poster contest and a scholarship contest at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Of his future plans, Ernest’s stated that he wanted “to study at the Art Institute.”
Both Otto and Max Schroeter were also mentioned in the article about Ernest:
“His father, a scenic artist by profession, has painted much scenery and many backdrops for stage productions. His uncle Max Schroeter of Ravenswood, who is now doing portrait and figure work, has created scenery for the Chicago Civic Grand Opera productions.” So, both Otto and Max were well-known as scenic artists in Chicago during the early twentieth century.
Ernest graduated from Oak Park High School in 1938 (“Oak Park Leaves,” June 30, 1938, page 13). Two year later, he was working as a commercial artist for an advertising agency in Chicago. The 1940 Census listed that he was still living with his father and mother in the family home on South Clarence Avenue. His father was still listed as a “scenic artist” in the “theatrical studios” industry.
In 1942, Otto’s WWII Draft Registration card listed him as a mural artist, still living at the same address in Oak Park. At some point between 1942 and 1952, Ernest moved out and Otto and moved to California. The California Register of Voters for 1952 listed Otto Felix Schroeter’s address as 2330 Greenfield Av., Los Angeles, California.
Fine art sites with biographies for Otto Felix Schroeter purport that he was employed by a motion picture studio in California. This isn’t surprising, as many of the veteran scenic artists in Chicago felt the warm pull of California scenery and temperate weather. In 1955 and 1956, Otto F. Schroeter was listed in the Westwood, California, City Directory as a scenic artist at NBC TV, living at 2330 Greenfield Ave.
What I find interesting is that both Hanny and Schroeter were working for NBC at the same time. In Hanny’s 1979 letter to Dr. Rothgeb at the University of Texas, he wrote:
“I answered some 15 of these calls between 1934 and 1965. In between, filling in at the T.V. studios – ABC – NBC – CBS and Mutual part time until 1957 when I was employed steady at CBS for three years, Due to company policy regarding age at 65 retirement and pension considerations, I was taken off permanent payroll and retired- (fired) in 1960 at the age of 70.”
Schroeter passed away in 1965, a full five years before Hanny’s forced retirement from NBC. His obituary was published in “The Los Angeles Times” on Feb. 24, 1965 (page 28). It was very brief, giving no indication of his extensive artistic career. It simply announced, “Otto Felix Schroeter, Beloved Husband of Miriam Schroeter, father of Mrs. Edith Schroeter and Ernest Schroeter. Memorial services 2 p.m. Thursday at Westwood Memorial Park. Westwood Village Mortuary, directors.”
Robert McBride was associated with a Sosman & Landis project in 1928. He was mentioned in a local newspaper article when the firm was working on a project at the Junior College Auditorium in Edinburg, Texas.
The Edinburg Junior College Auditorium project was contracted by the second iteration of Sosman & Landis studio. The first iteration of the company, Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio, liquidated all of its assets during 1923. In 1924, Thomas G. Moses and Fred R. Megan purchased the name and “good will” of the firm, opening a second iteration known as the Sosman & Landis Co.
I am going to briefly recap the history of the Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Co. as part of this post, as I have uncovered next to nothing about McBride. The Chicago-based scene painting studio started with a chance meeting between Joseph Sosman & Perry Landis in 1875. They likely met in the opera house in Fairfield, Iowa, where a young Sosman was painting new scenery for the stage. Landis had previously lived in Fairfield and was visiting friends in town at the same time that Sosman was painting scenery. Sosman and Landis formed a fast friendship, soon partnering and completing a variety of painting projects throughout the region. They took whatever work they could find, pooling their resources to open a brick-and-mortar studio. By 1879, the two accumulated enough funds to lease a space in Chicago. They placed ads for mail order scenery across the county, as well as completing projects in Chicago and on site throughout the region. As their project load increased, so did their staff.
One of the first Sosman & Landis employees was Thomas G. Moses. Moses began working for the firm in 1880 and remained associated with the Sosman & Landis for almost five decades. Beginning in the early 1880s, Sosman & Landis continued to expand, dramatically increasing their staff, and opening regional offices all across the country. By the mid-1880s, the managed branches in several cities, including Kansas City, Detroit, and New York. They also had dozens of affiliate studios to support a variety of regional projects.
By 1902, Sosman & Landis advertisements reported that they had delivered scenery to 6000 stages in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, and South Africa. Despite Landis’ illness and passing in 1904, the company continued to grow under Sosman’s management. The firm’s period of greatest productivity was from 1908 to 1912.
Unfortunately, the passing of Sosman in 1915 was instrumental in the firm’s eventual demise. When Sosman died, stockholders elected Moses as the new president. However, this shift in leadership meant that there was no one in line to replace Moses at the studio; he just added more administrative tasks to his plate. Moses’ lack of a second-hand man was detrimental to the successful running of the shops. Both quality and productivity began to falter. In the end, Moses was expected to cover his previous responsibilities as well as those once handled by Sosman. It was too much, and he burned out by 1918. He did return to the firm, but not in the same capacity.
In addition to personnel changes at Sosman & Landis, both the entertainment industry and the world were rapidly changing. The onset of WWI crippled many scene painting studios, as other projects took precedence over popular entertainment at home. Many employees enlisted to fight overseas, were drafted, or began working in the government sector. Not all returned to the theatre industry after the war. Sosman & Landis, like many scenic studios in the post-WWI years, never quite recovered or regained their pre-war momentum. The demand for painted scenery continued to decrease. There were new expectations in the world of scenic design and art. Additionally, there was also the emergence of new competitors. Some competing studios were established by former employees, individuals who could underbid Sosman & Landis based on their intimate knowledge of the firm’s process and overhead. What was once a torrent of work soon dwindled to a trickle.
By 1923 the company implemented a plan to close its doors, intending to liquidate all assets and lease out its main studio. Thomas Moses and Fred Megan made plans to purchase the company name and rent the space, but were only successful in securing the name of the firm. Although they opened the Sosman & Landis Co. in 1924, they never recaptured the previous momentum or staff. No more were their legions of arts employed by the firm. Instead, second iteration of the firm relied upon a handful of short-term independent contractors, renting studio spaces, and completing many projects on site. Such was the case in 1928, when Sosman & Landis worked in Edinburg, Texas.
Robert McBride’s participation in the project would have remained unknown, if it weren’t for a mysterious shooting on March 5, 1928. On March 5, 1928, “The Brownsville Herald” reported, “Mysterious Shooting. EDINBURG, March 5.- Police here Monday continued an investigation begun Sunday night into reports of a mysterious shot fired near the junior college auditorium Sunday night. Robert M. McBride and F. R. Megan, workmen, narrowly escaped being hit by the hail of shot.”
The Edinburg Junior College auditorium was built in 1926 to serve the newly founded Edinburg Junior College. This building is still standing, and a Texas historical marker now graces the south-side entrance of the Auditorium. It was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1989. Giesecke & Harris designed the Gothic revival-style building. The architectural firm was from Austin, Texas. The theater is now known as the Edinburg Municipal Auditorium. Here is a link for more information about the space and its availability for performances and special events:
Edinburg Junior College Auditorium.Edinburg Junior College Auditorium is now known as the Edinburg Municipal Auditorium.
The auditorium in Edinburg was just one of many projects completed in southern Texas by Sosman & Landis in 1928. That year they also worked in nearby Harlingen, Texas. On Feb 22, 1928, the “Brownsville Herald” reported, “To Get Scenery. HARLINGEN, Feb. 22. – Installation of theatrical scenery in the high school auditorium here is to begin within the near future, according to F. R. Megan, representative of the Sosman & Landis Scenic company of Chicago, who has been awarded the contract for the work” (page 16).
While in the area, the firm also worked on an upcoming Valley display for the national democratic convention scheduled for Houston, Texas. On Feb 25, 1928, the “Brownsville Herald” reported, “Among the exhibits already arranged for a Valley booth at the convention will be three large oil paintings, gifts of the Sosman & Landis Scenic company, of Chicago.” These were likely oil paintings painting by Moses for the exhibit. Moses was known for gifting his easel art to theatre clients upon the completion of many projects.
There are a few obstacles in trying to track down McBride. In the newspaper article, he was just listed as a “workman,” the same as Megan. They could have been working on the same project, or independently, representing separate interests. I cast my research net wide as I began to look for THE Robert McBride. Sometimes using a middle initial (Robert M. McBride) backfires on you, as it unintentionally limits you search. I did ever online research trick that I knew of, sifting through hundreds of historic records.
I tracked entire family histories with individuals named Robert McBride, initially looking in Edinburg and throughout the region. I expanded my search to other areas of the country with Sosman & Landis projects – Pennsylvania, New York, and Illinois. In the end, I located dozens of men named Robert McBride – theatrical managers, color mixers for wallpaper companies, contractors, traveling salesmen for machine shops, publishers, and brick masons. All were plausible candidates, but there remained no certainty that any on particular individual was the correct one.
It becomes almost impossible to identify an individual when I have no idea of his actual profession, affiliation with Sosman & Landis or his permanent residence. So far, I have been very lucky. I watched my dedication transition into a slight fixation, and then full-blown obsession. It is difficult to recognize when your quest or it becomes an obstacle all other research. I had to stop looking.
This is the first time in writing about a Sosman & Landis employee that I am going to give up the chase. There are too many variables, and I cannot even say for certain that he was an employee. McBride may have simply been working on a common project with Sosman & Landis.
Fred R. Megan (1873-1946) was associated with the Sosman & Landis Co. from approximately 1924 until 1930. He was involved with the second iteration of the company, after the original firm, Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Co., was liquidated. In 1923, Megan and Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934) negotiated the purchase of the firm’s name. By 1924, Moses was listed as president of Sosman & Landis, with Megan listed as the secretary and treasurer. From a practical standpoint, Moses handled production, while Megan handled marketing and sales.
In 1926, Thomas G. Moses and Fred R. Megan, representing Sosman & Landis, were recognized for their contribution to the new Varsity Theatre in Evanston, Illinois (Wilmette). Of Moses and Megan, the “Wilmette Life” reported, “Noted Scenic Artist Create Variety Setting.
In keeping with the character of the work demanded by the builders of the Varsity Theatre, much stress was laid upon proper stage settings and scenic work. With this in mind, contract for the work was awarded to the Sosman & Landis Co. This company has been doing business since 1878 and many of its artists and mechanics have practically spent their lives in developing their art. Among the notables connected with this organization are Thomas G. Moses, president, and Fred R. Megan, secretary and treasurer” (Dec., 24, 1926, page 33).
1926 advertisement placed by Thomas G. Moses and Fred R. Megan of Sosman & Landis.Drop curtain by Sosman & Landis when the Varsity Theatre opened in 1926.
Additional information about Megan was included at the end of the article: “Fred R. Megan, secretary and treasurer of the Sosman & Landis Co., spent 30 years as director of art with the Kansas City Scenic Co. He severed this connection at the outbreak of the war and had charge of the building and equipment of the Liberty theaters in all cantonments, in this country.”
Moses and Megan first met during the 1890s, although the exact date and place remain a mystery. Their first meeting possibly occurred when Megan was touring with Barret & Barrett in 1897. By 1900, Megan was working for the Kansas City Scenic Co., a western affiliate of the Chicago-based Sosman & Landis. Since the 1880s, Sosman & Landis had operated several regional offices, as well as maintaining close ties with other strategically-located studios across the country. Affiliate studios subcontracted portions of larger projects to one another, or occasionally entire projects, during especially busy period in the year. For example, in 1902 the Kansas City Scenic Co. subcontracted a portion of a scenery collection destined for Colorado. This was a contract secured by Megan with the Elks Opera House in Leadville Colorado. Keep in mind that the founder of Kansas City Scenic was a former Sosman & Landis employee.
Megan’s early life and career have been incredibly difficult to track down. Much has to do with the separation of Megan’s parents, second marriages, and name changes.
Overall, Megan represents the many men who left midwestern farming communities and a tough living situation to make a name for themselves in the theatre industry. It has been fascinating to follow his journey from Knox County, Illinois, to Kansas City, Chicago and even Washington, D C.
Frederick “Fred” Rishell Megan was born on May 5, 1873 in Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois. For geographical context, Galesburg is about 190 miles southwest of Chicago and 50 miles due south of Moline, Illinois. Fred was the child of Rev. Dr. John W. Megan and Cornelia Wookey. Dr. Wookey was an Irish immigrant who settled in Knox County and married the daughter of a local farmer. It would be Cornelia’s mother and step-father who would raise Fred Megan on the farm in Truro Township. Truro is due east of Galesburg, also in Knox County, Illinois.
As an 8-yrs.-old, Cornelia Wookey emigrated from England and moved to Illinois, growing up in Truro Township. She married John Megan on June 18, 1871, in Knox County, but their marriage did not last long, and soon their son was left at his maternal grandmother’s farm. Both John and Cornelia moved away (in separate directions) and remarried, starting new lives elsewhere. The 1880 US Federal Census listed Fred Megan as the grandson of Hannah (Wookey) Reed and Andrew Reed (Hannah’s second husband). Hannah’s first husband, Stephen Wookey, passed away in 1860. Hannah and Stephen Wookey had celebrated the birth of six children. Although she would have another six children with Reed, all would die in infancy. So by the time Fred was living with his grandparents, Hanna and Rev. Andrew J. Reed, the couple was well-passed child-bearing age.
By 1880 Fred’s father relocated east and remarried. His second wife was Susan Parnally. The two were married in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sept. 1, 1879. At the time, Megan was listed as living in Fennville, Michigan, and Susan in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After the two married, they settled in Clyde, Michigan, and celebrated the birth of a daughter, Anna M. Megan, in 1883.
Fred’s mother also remarried by 1881. Just prior to her second marriage, she was going by her maiden name, Cornelia Wookey, and working as a school teacher in North Henderson, Mercer County, Illinois. North Henderson was approximately 20 miles northeast of Truro Township.
On June 1, 1881, Cornelia Wookey married Everett Eugene Markley in West Jersey Township, Stark County, Illinois. The couple would never celebrate the birth of their own biological children, but adopted a son almost two decades after they were wed. The 1910 US Federal Census listed Cornelia and Everett Markley raising their 2-yrs.-old adopted son, David E. Markley, in St. Louis, Missouri. Cornelia spent the remainder of her life in St. Louis, passing away in 1914. Everett Markley remarried and moved and west to Chickasaw, Oklahoma.
Fred’s biological father also moved west, eventually settling in Kansas where he continued to work as a physician. Interestingly, he also spread the gospel, later becoming the Rev. Dr. J. W. Megan. The travels of Dr. Megan, are quite easy to follow over the years. It does not appear that Fred reunited with his father out west until he was an adult.
Like many nineteenth-century physicians, Dr. Megan traveled for work, going from one town to the next, eventually On Feb. 28, 1889, the “Barton County Democrat” of Great Bend, Kansas, reported, “Dr. Megan of Lawton, Michigan, is in town and thinks of locating here” (page 4). Dr. Megan did relocate and was appointed a county physician. On April 18, 1889, the “Barton County Democrat” reported, that Dr J. W. Megan was appointed the physician for the 3rd district at $76” (page 4). He did not last there long. On Sept. 5, 1889, the “Barton County Democrat” reported, “Dr. Megan moved to Little River, Kansas, this week, where he expects to follow his profession” (page 1). By October, 1889, Dr. Megan had left Great Bend. Over the next few years, Megan moved from one town to the next, living in Little River, Pawnee and Olsburg.
1894 became a turning point for Dr. Megan when he moved from Olsburg to Leonardville, Kansas. On October 18, 1894, the “Olsburg News-Letter” reported, “Dr. J. W. Megan expects to move to Leonardville after election and will practice medicine there as well as look after editorial duties of the Monitor.” By 1894, Dr. Megan and his son Frederick were living in Leonardville and running the newly established newspaper. In March 1894, Preston S. Loofbourrow moved his newspaper, “The Monitor” from Clay Center to Leonardville; he had started “The Monitor” in Clay Center Kansas. In March 1884 he shipped all of the newspaper equipment to Leonardville, 15 miles east. Here is a link to Loofbourrow: https://sites.google.com/site/leonardville66449/Home/leonardville—-yesterday/4-newspaper
Lovely article about Loofbourrow and the Leonardville Monitor.Leonardville along the Kansas Central RR.
Loofbourrow published the first edition of the “Leonardville Monitor” on April 3, 1884. I am including an excerpt from an article written by Loofbourrow on Aug. 28, 1884, as gives a glimpse into the Megan’s life in Leonardville:
“Leonardville is situated on the Kansas Central railroad, a little north and west of the center of Riley County. It is nineteen miles east of Clay Center and one hundred and twenty-eight miles west from Leavenworth. There is no town of importance nearer than Clay Center on the west, and Garrison on the east is not likely to interfere in the least with the future growth and development of Leonardville. South, there are no trade centers nearer than Junction City and Manhattan, and north none nearer than Waterville and Blue Rapids. Hence it will be seen that there is a large scope of Country tributary to Leonardville, in which no rival town can successfully compete. The town is beautifully located on the high-rolling prairie, which recedes in graceful undulations as far as the eye can reach in all directions. This grand stretch of magnificent prairie is dotted here and there with artificial groves, with now and then a small stream of water meandering through a belt of timber, giving variety to the landscape as well as furnishing water and shelter for the LARGE HERDS OF STOCK that graze on the prairies, and also furnishing timber in limited quantities for fuel and the various purposes for which timber is indispensable.
“This whole region is under an advanced state of cultivation, and thickly dotted with well improved and highly productive farms that are from year to year yielding abundant crops of rye, wheat, oats and corn, under the tillage of the hardy, energetic farmers who came here twelve or fifteen years ago empty handed, and took possession of the wild domain, and with untiring energy and persistent toil subdued the soil, built up beautiful homes, and surrounded themselves with an abundance of the comforts and luxuries of life. All over these prairies, speckled in all directions, thousands of cattle feed, and thousands of hogs consume thousands upon thousands of bushels of the almost FABULOUS CORN CROP produced from year to year. Large herds of sheep also graze in various localities, and horses of the finest stock in the world, among them several imported stallions, are owned by the enterprising farmers of the surrounding country. The farmers who have subdued this fine region of country and brought it under such a high state of cultivation came here from all parts of the Union, and a large proportion from the other side of the Atlantic – Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, Wales and Ireland. They are all men of grit and courage or they never would have braved the dangers, privations and toil of pioneer life, nor could they ever have gained so signal a victory over the wild waste they have transformed into such a paradise of beauty, grandeur and plenty.
“This being the character of the men who have FOUGHT THEIR WAY UP, from nothing to opulence and plenty, what may we not expect from them in the future? May we not safely assume that the pluck, energy and tact that have brought about such grand results in so short a time from the wild prairies of the frontier, will in the future, from the fertile farms of northern Riley, with railroad facilities and home markets bring about a state of prosperity almost beyond the power of the mind at the present time to grasp. We feel assured that there is scarcely a limit to the possibilities of the future development and prosperity of this fertile and productive region, whose fame has hitherto been permitted to remain unheralded and unknown. Immense crops of rye, wheat, oats and corn will be produced from year to year, thousands and thousands of hogs and cattle will be raised, fatted and sold, and Leonardville will be the COMMERCIAL CENTER where all these vast products will be put upon the market. These products will increase from year to year as the country continues to improve, and the facilities for handling and storing them much increase in a like ratio. Not only will the products of the country increase, but as the facilities for handling them are increased and improved, the radius of tributary territory will be extended, so that in a few years, if the business men of the town are WIDE AWAKE and provide facilities adequate to conveniently receive, store and handle the products of the country, which will without doubt be the case, this live town will have grown to a busy, booming metropolis, with mills, elevators, ware-houses, manufactories, and all the various routine of trades and industries that go into the make-up of a live, progressive western city. This, to some, may seem an overdrawn picture; but it is not. It is all practical, possible and probably; in fact, with ordinary sagacity and business tact in the management of the business interests of the town, it is inevitable.
“LEONARDVILLE TOWNSITE was surveyed and platted in September, 1881. The site comprising a portion of the farms of Lucien Kilbourne, John Ford and Erpelding Bros. Erpelding Bros. and Mr. Kilbourne, donated the right of way through their farms, and each alternate lot; and Mr. Ford gave each alternate lot, to the Railroad company as a consideration for locating the town and surveying and platting the same, and recording the town plat, which they did in September, 1881, as above.”
Leonardville Depot.
The Leonardville Monitor was continuously published from April 1884 until March 1953, when it combined with the “Riley Regent” to become the “Monitor-Regent.” The “Monitor-Regent” later merged with “The Blue Valley News” (formerly the “Randolph Enterprise”), becoming “The Riley Countian,” and is still publishing under that name.
By the fall of 1894, the “Leonardville Monitor” had a new editing team – Dr. Megan and his son Fred R. Megan. On October 18, 1894, “The Leonardville Monitor” reported,
“Greeting.’
We appear for the first time upon the pages of the MONITOR, having taken charge of the paper Oct. 1st. We come among you as strangers, but the warm reception in which we have been received by the good people of this city and country assures us that your hearts are with us, and we will try to make the MONITOR a power for good to the city and surrounding country, Having been in different parts of the state we have seen no place which present so many first class businessmen as Leonardville. And as to the farms and farmers in this part of Piley Co. they have no piers. The MONITOR will always be with you in everything that is to the building up of home industry and enterprise. Our motto is ‘To Honor God, Protect home and defend our country.’ F. R. Megan, Editor.”
On October 25, 1894, the “Clay County Star” reported, “’The Leonardville Monitor’ has changed hands, assuming editorial charge, F. R. Megan, and Dr. Megan & Son appear as publisher. From appearances they start in with an excellent patronage and will no doubt keep the paper up to its former high local standing.” By November 8, 1894, their newspaper was advertised as “a spicy 5-column quarto, neatly printed and is Republican in politics.” Father and son did not run the paper together for long. On Feb 28, 1895, “The Leonardville Monitor” reported, “Dissolution of Partnership. Notice is hereby given that the firm of Megan & Son has, by mutual consent, dissolved partnership. All accounts due the MONITOR, to receive proper credit, must be paid to Dr. J. W. Megan” (page 8).
Frederick R. Megan, once editor of the Leonadrville Monitor.
Fred left Leonardville and settled in Peoria, Illinois. The 1895 Peoria Directory listed Frederick R. Megan as an editor, living at McClure av. nr Knoxville rd.”
Back in Leonardville, by the Spring of 1895, Dr. J. W. Megan was listed as the sole Editor and Publisher of “The Monitor” in Leonardville (25 April 1895, page 4). He only lasted another six months though, and on October 3, 1895, “The Leonardville Monitor” reported, “Dr. Megan’s Lease of the Monitor having expired, he retires from the management with best wishes of the proprietors. The Doctor expects to remain in Leonardville in the practice of his profession” (page 8). Dr. Megan turned his sights on preaching. On Nov. 28, 1895, “The Leonardville Monitor” reported, “Dr. Megan preached a very interesting sermon, last Saturday evening, at the Swedish Baptist church” (page 4). His religious interests repeatedly made the local news.
On Feb. 5, 1896, “The Leonardville Monitor” reported, “Dr. Henry Morton moved his household goods to Leonardville Monday, having purchased the practice and good will of Dr. Megan, whom we under-stand has accepted the pastorate of a Baptist church, he being a preacher as well as a doctor. – Correspondent from Green in Clay Center Dispatch. It is true, Dr. H. B. Morton has located and moved his family to our city, but he did not purchase the practice of Dr. Megan, neither had Dr. Megan accepted the pastorate of the Baptist Church” (page 4). On Jan 9, 1896, “The Leonardville Monitor” reported, “Dr. Megan has been chosen as examiner for the K. L. S. to be instituted here soon” (page 6). He also began dabbling in the marketing industry for medicinal products and it is hard not to think of the proverbial “snake oil salesman.”
Dr. J. W. Megan was repeatedly quoted from 1895 -1909 for promoting the Pyramid Drug Co. of Albion, Michigan. On Aug. 22, 1895, (and July 25, 1895) his testimonial was published in “The Leonardville Monitor” – “If you are suffering with the Piles and want a sure relief, send to the Pyramid Drug Co., Albion, Michigan, for a box of Pyramid Pile curs, price 50 cents and $1 a box. I have used a box and can truly say that I have received more benefit than all the medicine I ever used in the past 23 years. Dr. Megan, Editor of the Monitor” (page 1). “Dr. J. W. Megan, Leonardville, KS, I have used a box of Pyramid Pile Curs and received more benefit and relief that from any remedy I have used in the past twenty-two years.(article entitled the Surgeon’s Knife. Once believed to be the only cure for Piles and Rectal Diseases. Fort Wayne Sentinel 11 Jan 1896 p 2). This was also published in 1895 (in Fort Wayne, IN, and Xenia Daily Gazette, of Xenia, Ohio). In 1899 it was still published (Indianapolis Sun 18 Nov 1899). Ads all over the country, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Penn., Wisconsin, Mass., Minn, California, Washington, D. C. It looks like he became a Rev. Dr. J. W. Megan, as he was still promoting this remedy in 1908 (Word and Way, Kansas City, MO, 4 Nov 1909, page 11). He was noted as “Now Pastor Baptiste Church, Neodesha, KS” and that spring of 1909 “Pastor Baptist Church, Unionville, MO.”
By 1896, Fred Megan set out on his own and relocated to Kansas City (“The Topeka Daily Capital,” 9 April 1896, page 8). It is unclear what prompted the move and resulted in his career in theatre. The 1896 Kansas City Directory listed “Frederick R. Megan trav rms 1021 McGee”
The 1896 Kansas City Directory listed Megan as a traveling salesman, rooming at 1021 McGee. He was mentioned in local newspapers the following year, and associated with the opera house. On March 10, 1897, “The Kansas City Journal” reported “A Theatre Usher in Trouble. F. R. Megan, an usher at the Ninth Street opera house, was arraigned before Justice Walls yesterday, charged with obtaining money under false pretenses. He was at one time collector for the Travelers’ Accident and Sick Benefit Society, but was discharged. The company charges him with collecting weekly dues from persons who are insured with it and representing himself to be still in the employ of the company. He was arrested Monday night at the theater” (page 6). On March 12, 1897, “The Kansas City Times” reported, “Fred R. Megan Not Guilty. Justice Walls yesterday released Fred R. Megan, charged with fraudulently collecting money due an insurance company. The cashier of the company testified that Megan was authorized to make collections, though it was on complaint of the company’s superintendent that he had been arrested. Megan states he will bring suit for malicious prosecution. Megan is not, as was reported at the time of his arrest, ticket taker at the Ninth Street theater” (page 3).
Megan continued to be associated with the theater. On December 2, 1897, the “Leonardville Monitor” reported, “F. R. Megan who is well known here dropped in on the evening train on Thanksgiving. He is now traveling for the Barrett & Barrett Co., with headquarters in Kansas City. He informs us he will make this territory every sixty days” (page 8).
The 1898 Kansas City Directory listed “Frederick R. Megan trav b 1101 Wyandotte.” His permanent address was listed as Kansas City, but he continued to journey from one town to the next. On Feb 12, 1898, “The St. Joseph Herald” of St. Joseph, MO, reported, “Mrs. E. E. Markley of Peoria, Illinois writes to Mayor Vories for information regarding he son, Fred R. Megan, to whom she claims to have sent $5 by telegraph to St. Joseph, at his request. Megan is not known here” (page 5). This was Cornelia Jones Wookey Markley, Fred’s mom. To date, this is the only connection between Megan and his mother after he entered adulthood.
Megan married Thenia F. Jones (1874-1967), in Jackson, Missouri, on April 14, 1898, likely while Megan was touring. Their marriage license listed that they were united in wedlock by Pastor John W. Hancher at the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Their marriage license was announced on April 15, 1898, in “The Kansas City Star” with their ages listed as 24 and 23 (page 8). Here is a little information about Megan’s wife and family.
Thenia was born on April 16, 1874 in Carrollton, Carroll County, Arkansas. She was the daughter of Milford H. Jones (b. 1839-1913) and Sarah H. Britton (b. 1844-1917); Thenia’s parents were married on Sept. 18, 1959 in Sparta, Monroe, WI. On July 3, 1913, the “Kansas City Star” reported, “Mayflower Descendent Dies Here. Milford Henry Jones, 74 years old, died at 6:10 o’clock last night at his home, 1514 Anderson Ave. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Sarah Jones, and these daughters”: Mrs. Frederick Megan and Mrs. Alice Johnson, both of this city; Mrs. Jefferson Collins of Independence and Mrs. H. R. Stannard and Mrs. William Raymond, both of Springfield, Mo…Mr. Jones was born in Stockton, Chautauqua County, NY. He was a representative of old colonial families, being related to the Ames, Mallorys, Paynes and Putnams, and is a descendant of Thomas Rogers, who came over in the Mayflower.” Thenia Jones Megan is listed in the North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, Daughters of the American Revolution. Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 068 (#67204). She is listed as a descendant of Gideon Richmond, Stephen Scovel and Ebenezer Britton.
The couple remained in Kansas City. The 1899 Kansas City Directory listed “Frederick R. Megan sales r 807 Main.” In 1900, the Megans celebrated the birth of their only daughter, Anabel Thenia Megan. She was born on July 19, 1900, in Kansas City. The census that year, listed the small family of three renting a house on Cypress, with Fred continuing to travel the region as a salesman.
By 1901, Megan became actively associated with the Kansas City Scenic Co., and was listed in a series of articles about the firm. By now, he was listed in the Kansas City Directory as “Fred R Megan trav r 728 Cypress.
On Jun 13, 1901, the “Atchison Daily Globe” reported “Fred R. Megan [sic.] of the Kansas City Scenic company, was in town yesterday, with a view of getting the job of retouching the old scenery for the Atchison theatre.” On June 27, 1901, the “Downs Times” reported, “F. R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., was in town Monday and Mr. John Wolfert contracted with him for a complete scenic outfit for the opera house. The room will be refitted and put in fine condition, the whole, costing in the neighborhood of $500.”
On June 27, 1901, the “Rooks County Journal” of Stockton, Kansas, reported, “F. R. Megan, of Kansas City, spent Saturday in the city soliciting advertising to place on the new drop curtain which he will place in the opera house. We were told he sold Mr. Bigge about $300 worth of theatre supplies of various kinds.”
By August of that year, Megan supervised the scenic installation at the new opera house in Waxahachie, Texas. On August 24, 1901, the Waxahachie Daily Light reported, “Putting up the Scenery. The new opera house will be equipped with the most elegant line of stage scenery to be seen in this part of the state. The scenery was painted by the Kansas City Scenic Company, and every piece shows the artistic touch of a master’s brush. This part of the stage equipment will include nearly every set of scenery used in the production of any attraction coming to this section. There are twelve sets, including parlor, prison, kitchen, forest and palace scenes. Mr. F. R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Company, is here this week putting the scenery together and setting it up.”
Still representing the Kansas City Scenic Co. in 1902, Megan sold scenery to theaters in Fort Scott, Everest, and Columbus, Kansas. On March 13, 1902, the “Everest Enterprise” reported, “Fred R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., was in the city the first of the week and perfected arrangements for the placing of the scenery in the new opera house.” Megan was also in charge of the scenery installation at the Davidson Theatre in Fort Scott, Kansas. On October 2, 1902, the “Fort Scott Weekly Tribune” reported, “F. R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., was here and superintended the putting in of the scenery last night. His company installed the new equipment. There are fifteen different settings, eight interior and seven exterior settings…Of the different settings the Gothic interior and the exterior rocky pass and the woods and garden are considered the prettiest and present the most perfect effect. The trees stand out well and there is much about the scenery that is to be admired.”
He travelled across the country with an electrified model theatre. He brought the studio display room to potential clients; clients who were unable to make the journey to a large metropolitan studio. For those who could afford the journey, studios offered display rooms with miniature theaters and cabinets filled with scenic designs.
On June 4, 1902, Megan transported his miniature stage to clients in Fort Scott, Kansas. The Fort Daily Tribune reported, “Mr. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., was in the city last week displaying his samples of scenery to Harry C. Ernich of the Davidson, with a view of getting the contract to refit the theatre. He carried a nice line in miniature form and from it he built a small stage, showing the comparative size of the various settings.”
On June 5, 1902, “The Fort Scott Republican” described the model in detail in an article entitled “New Scenery for the Davidson:”
“F. R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co, was in the city on Tuesday evening and was in consultation with Manager Harry C. Enrich of the Davidson theater, Mr. Megan had with him and for the benefit of Mr. Enrich, exhibited a miniature theater brilliantly lighted with electric lights, furnished by wires in the opera house. The little theater represented an entire opera house, including stage, wings and a full set of scenery and the balcony, the dress circle and gallery. It was one of the neatest models of a big thing ever exhibited in Fort Scott, and was highly appreciated by Mr. Enrich. Mr. Enrich will go to Kansas City next week for the purpose of
engaging a full set of scenery for the Davidson, and the samples which he saw the other evening give him a full idea of just what he wants.”
A few days after exhibiting his miniature stage in Fort Scott, Megan journeyed to Columbus, Kansas. In Columbus, he again set up the electrified model for opera house representatives. In regard to his visit, the Columbus Courier reported, “Fred R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., is in the city today with a full line of sample scenery. He sold a good-sized order to the LaRue Investment Co., for the opera house.”
On July 18, 1902, “The Herald Democrat” of Leadville, Colorado, announced “Contracts for Theatre. Elks Opera House to be rebuilt and refurnished at Once.” The article reported, “The first sixty feet extending from the front towards the rear will be rearranged for store rooms on the first floor and an elegant new plate glass front will be put on. Over this, the second floor will be the new club rooms to be occupied by the Elks and which are to be finished and improved in the very latest style and thoroughly modern. On the next floor, third, will be an immense lodge room which will be built expressly for lodge purposes and consequently will be right up to date, introducing many innovations which will be the most acceptable to lodge members. The furnishings of both the lodge and club rooms will be taken up at a later date and will mean an additional expense to that already named and the board announces that they will be fixed in a style that will credit not only to the Elks but to the city of Leadville. But it is the theatre part of the building where interest will center among the general public and here the plans show an improvement that seems like jumping from the dark into fairyland. A spacious theatre with stage large enough to hold the most massive scenery carried by any of the traveling companies. Starting from the wall crossing the center at sixty feet the theatre will be extended back to the alley a further distance of thirty-two feet, giving the theatre a depth of all told about 100 feet with a width of sixty feet. The stage will be built entirely new and will be thirty-four feet deep, sixty feet wide and fifty feet high. The curtain opening will be thirty-two feet wide and twenty-four feet high. The present height of the old stage is only twenty-four feet all told. The parquet and dress circle will be on the ground floor and above will be the balcony which will be divided so that the rear portion will be used as the gallery portion. The theatre will comfortably seat a thousand people. It will be entirely refurnished throughout. Just as great care has been exercised by the directors in securing the new scenery and new curtain for the theatre. Mr. F. R. Megan of the Kansas City Scenic company, spent the past two days in showing the board the newest effects in scenery and last evening he was given an order for $2,000 worth of new scenery including a very handsome drop curtain, an India scene that is most charming to the eye. The new drop scenes include a parlor, horizon, woods, garden, rocky pass, street, bed chamber, kitchen and prison scenes. The floor to be used for the stage will be one that can be used for dancing purposes and when the stage is cleared it will be large enough to hold hundreds of dancers. The news that the Elks are going ahead with their opera house goes to show that their faith in the stability of Leadville has never wavered and is certainly a most creditable stroke of enterprise by this well known organization” (page 8).
His visit to Colorado that year was fortuitous, as the studio completed multiple contracts in the western region over the next decade, including West’s Theatre in Trinidad, Colorado. Megan’s association with the Kansas City Scenic Co. was listed in the “Kansas City Directory” in 1903, two full years after he became associated with the firm. Other contracts secured by Megan for the Kansas City Scenic Co., included the Walters Hall in Robinson, Kansas; the Opera House in Perry, Iowa; and the Baker Grand in Natchez, Mississippi.
On August 26, 1903, the “Perry Daily Chief” of Perry, Iowa, reported, “Opera House will have fine drop curtain. Mr. F. R. Megan, of Kansas City was in Perry this week representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., which concern will paint the scenery for the new opera house. The directors selected the richest design of drop curtain that he had to offer, and it is indeed a beauty. They also selected about eleven hundred dollars’ worth of scenery all told, including interiors, wood, garden, landscape, street scenes, etc. When the choice of the scenery was made it was found that there was a deficit of four hundred dollars in the appropriation that had been set apart for the item of scenery and in order to procure the full amount that had been chosen, it was decided to put on an ad curtain and sell a limited number of ads. The main house curtain will be raised when the orchestra begins its overture and display this curtain in seven hours time $375 worth of space on the ad curtain was sold by Monday. $25 worth have been sold since and there are yet three spaces which can be taken by any parties who have not been sold to. It is probable that there will be no spaces for sale in a day or two. There are eighteen men at work now on the building and the work is progressing rapidly. The front rooms on the main floor are plastered and the plasters are now at work in the front rooms upstairs. It looks now as though the building will be complete even before the contract time, Oct. 15th” (page 3).
Megan continued to travel with his model, and successfully land scenery contracts. On April 1, 1904, “Greensburg Daily News” of Greensburg, Indiana, reported, “First Exhibition of Grover Theatre. A Miniature Theatre with drop curtains, scenery and all stage paraphernalia, was on exhibition in Grover & Bonner’s store today. It showed in inches what a theatre should show in feet, but in every respect was perfect. The display was in charge of F. R. Megan, agent for the Kansas City Scenic Company and had all stage setting, drop curtains and plans of working as in a real theatre. It was a unique and splendid way of showing their wares. This same company has made a map of the U.S. for exhibition at St. Louis fair, that is forty by sixty feet in size” (page 2).
1906 projects attributed to Megan and the Kansas City Scenic Co., included opera houses in Mankato, Kansas and Lead, South Dakota. On October 8, 1906, the “Lead Daily Call” reported “Fred R. Megan, who has the work of painting the scenery and the decorations was an arrival on the Burlington last evening. He comes from Kansas City, and is an artist in his line, one of the best in the country. He will begin just so soon as the carpenters give him room, which will be in a day or so, to erect his staging and make other preparations for doing the work of adornment.”
On June 20, 1907, “The Weekly Herald” of Amarillo, Texas, mentioned Megan in an article entitled, “New Opera House Scenery.” The article continued, “Deal Completed for Stage Equipment and Curtain. Through the representative, F. R. Megan, Manager Henry Elliott, of the Amarillo Opera House company yesterday completed a contract with the Kansas City Scenic company for the curtains and stage equipment for Amarillo’s new opera house. According to Mr. Megan, the equipment ordered for the new opera house will be better than that of many houses in larger cities of the Southwest and will compare favorably with the equipment in any theater in the state. A big asbestos safety curtain will be swung on automatic rollers so as to completely cover the stage opening. This curtain will be arranged to be dropped in an instant at any time so as to effectually stop the progress of fire from either side. The asbestos curtain will. Be finished in high class scenic work and will be free from advertising of any kind. The drop curtain for use during the performance will be immediately behind the asbestos curtain. Of the scenery there are a number of complete sets all arranged to be operated from the fly loft above the stage. Settings and properties accompanying the scenes will be operated from the wings. The contract for the company calls for fall delivery and the equipment will be ready for installation as soon as the builders leave the stage part of the building” (page 7).
In 1908, Megan represented the Kansas City Scenic Company in Gasden, Alabama. He secured the scenery contract for the Hayden-Pake Theatre. On March 31, 1908, “The Gasden Times” reported, “W. H. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co, will arrive in Gasden tomorrow at noon and tomorrow night at the library auditorium he will place on exhibit models of scenery for the opera house. Mr. Megan comes here at the instance of the Hayden-Park Theatre company, who are building the new opera house. They desire that he public have some say in the matter of selecting the scenery to be used in Gasden and will appreciate any suggestions made. A miniature stage with drawings and models will be on display and all the people of Gasden are invited” (page 1). On April 2, 1908, “The Gasden Times” reported, “Exquisite scenery for Opera House. A small but thoroughly representative number of men and women gathered at the library auditorium last night and selected the principal scenery to be used n the new opera house. E. R. Meegan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., conducted an exhibit of scenes by using a miniature theater which was completely equipped with stage appliances. Numerous models and designs were shown, and selection was made by an expression of approval from the majority. There was never a wide difference of opinion and as a result the new theatre will have some of the most exquisite scenery to be found in any playhouse in the south. The drop, the advertising and the asbestos curtains were shown. Street scenes, gardens, parlors and woodlands were selected from a large number of models shown and it was really a treat to see the beautiful specimens of scenic art which Mr. Meegan had on exhibition. One thing certain, the patrons of Gasden’s opera house will not have to look at any hideous or inappropriate scenery. Indeed, every bit of the interior will be restful and pleasing to the eye. The color scheme is red, but there are harmonious decorations which make the whole an exquisite bit of art.”
Although the articles mentioned W. H. Megan and E. R. Meegan, it was really F. R. Megan whom they were referring to at the time. On Sept. 26, 1908, the “Gasden Times” reported, “F. R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., arrived this morning to hang scenery at the Hayden Park theatre. Mr. Megan thinks he will complete the work by midnights tonight.”
Megan was also responsible for scenery delivered to the Busby Theatre in McAlester, Oklahoma, during the first part of 1908. On Feb. 10, 1908, the “McAlester Daily News” reported, “Putting in Theatre Scenery. F. R. Megan of the Kansas City Scenic company arrived Sunday and has a force of eight men at work putting in the scenery at the Busby theatre. The scenery is rich and high class in every respect and the interior of the theatre will be a thing of beauty.” On Feb. 12, 1908, the “McAlester Daily News” reported, “The theater has the very finest and most complete set of scenery made by the Kansas City Scenic Co. The large asbestos curtain, which runs in steel frames, contains as a center piece a beautiful farm scene. This curtain, with counterweights, weighs 1,600 pounds. The drop curtain is a very fine piece of work, Roy Busby, seated upon Colonel William Busby’s thoroughbred Kentucky saddle horse, both natural as life, are shown in the center of the curtain. Among the drop curtains are street scene, olio, full palace setting, wood scene, garden, horizon, parlor setting, fancy interior, plain chamber, kitchen, prison and numerous set pieces, such as trees, balustrades, mantels, houses, rocks and borders. All of the pieces are quickly and easily moved by accurately balanced counterweights.” (page 1).
Megan continued to represent the Kansas City Scenic Co., with his name popping up in newspapers across the country. On July 6, 1909, the “Washington Citizen” of Washington, Missouri, reported, “Fred Megan of Kansas City was in Washington and secured he contract to paint the scenery on the Calving Theatre curtain for $250.” On Nov. 16, 1911, the “Hutchinson News” of Hutchinson, Kansas, reported, “May Buy Stage Fittings. Representative Conferring with Purchasing Committee. F. R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic furnishings company, is at the high school this afternoon with the purchasing committee of the board of education and it is more than likely some action will be taken by the committee in regard to buying stage fittings for the high school auditorium stage before the afternoon is over. The committee was given power to act at the last meeting of the board.”
In 1915, Megan was still listed in the “Kansas City Directory” as a salesman at the “K C Scenic Co,” living at 306 Gladstone Blvd. On July 15, 1915, the “Kansas City Times” reported, “Mrs. Frederick Megan and daughter, Miss Anabel Megan, 306 Gladstone Boulevard, are in St. Louis, guests of Mrs. James Francis Murphy, 5339 Maple Ave. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy were formerly of Kansas City” (page 18). This was one year after Megan’s mother passed away in that same city.
Interestingly, the 1916 Kansas City Directory listed “Frederick R. Megan (Interstate Chemical Co) 2709 E 15th r 4136 Warwick boul.” Megan was branching out and dabbling in other industry products. However, he was still working with the Kansas City Scenic Co.
On May 23, 1916, the “Galveston Daily News” reported, “Scenery for Auditorium will soon be installed. F. R. Megan low bidder, is here to close contract. Will include interior and exterior, woods and castle scene and an asbestos curtain. F. R. Megan of the Kansas City Scenic Company, Kansas City, the successful bidder for the scenery for Galveston’s new city auditorium arrived yesterday and is at the Galvez. Mr. Megan’s firm was the low bidder for the work, submitting an estimate of approximately $4,000. The bids are in the hands of the committee for tabulation and report, and city commissioner H. O. Sappington said the contract with Mr. Megan’s firm probably will be signed within a day or so. ‘Our bid is for a full set of modern scenery,’ said Mr. Megan last night. ‘It will include an interior and exterior, a wood scene and a palace, both fully fitted. The asbestos curtain we propose to place measures 39×55 feet, covering the entire width of the 36×52 stage. It is the third largest curtain in the United States, the largest being the Hippodrome, New York. The curtain is the one that has been approved by the national boards of underwriters and is composed of 98 per cent pure asbestos. It will be hung on a ball-bearing shaft, known as the Sheaves patent, a ball-bearing cable track that will allow the lowering of the curtain with the slightest pressure. It can be handled easily with a thumb and finger. According to the present plans, the curtain will form the background for the picture that will be very characteristic of Galveston, a picture of the pirate, LaFetie, with one of the prizes that be brought to Treasure Island in the early days. Mr. Megan said that the scenery would just about fill a good-sized freight car, and that he hopes to get started on the installation within a short time. ‘The scenery should be installed by July 3,’ said City Commissioner Sappington last night, ‘and I am much in favor of holding some kind of formal opening during the Cotton Carnival and Exposition to show the people of the state what we have here in the way of a municipal building.’ Mr. Megan said he is much impressed with the new city auditorium. ‘I have inspected municipal buildings in all parts of the country,’ he said last night, ‘and I would not know where to turn to find a finer building than the Galveston Auditorium” (page 10).
The 1917 Kansas City Directory again listed Frederick R. Megan as “salesman K C Scenic Co r 4136 Warwick boul.” That same year, the Kansas City Scenic Co. offices moved from Grand Avenue to Harrison Avenue in Kansas City. On April 19, 1917, the Olathe Mirror reported, “Ben Dunn of Kansas City was here Thursday visiting old timers. Ben is not so old himself but was born and raised in this county and knows all the old timers. He and John Bronaugh, formerly of the county are the proprietors of the Kansas City Scenic Company. They recently sold their 76 feet at Twenty-fourth and Grand for $76,000 – $1,000 per foot. The property cost them $5,000 several years ago. They have moved their plant to Twenty-fourth and Harrison. Other Johnson County people employed with them are Geo. Bronaugh and Fred Hunt – both are in the cabinet department. Until Fred’s eyesight failed, he was one of their best painters. Leo Miloan studied with them but is now working elsewhere. It is said he has great talent.”
Megan continued to work for the Kansas City Scenic Co. in the capacity of scenic artist, installation supervisor and salesman, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co. until 1918. That year, the Kansas City Directory listed “Fredk R. Megan” as sales for K C Scenic Co., living at 4136 Warwick Blvd. The last record of his involvement with the firm is listed in his WWI draft registration card. The card still listed Megan’s occupation as a traveling salesman for the Kansas City Scenic Co., located at 24th and Harrison Streets in Kansas City, Missouri. His physical appearance was listed as tall with medium build, blue eyes and grey hair; he was 45 yrs. old.
By the end of 1918, Megan began working for the United States Government in their Liberty Theater Division. He was appointed to the Liberty Theatre office in Washington as Supervisor of Maintenance and Construction. On Dec. 22, 1918, the “Oakland Tribune” reported, “Mr. Allen Minnix, who has been in charge of the construction and maintenance work of the Liberty Theater Division has resigned, effective December 1. Minnix is a construction engineer and is building large numbers of residences and apartment properties in Washington. F. R. Megan takes over Mr. Minnix’ work in the Liberty Theater Division” (page 43). Keep in mind that many scenic artists began working for the government on painting projects during WWI, especially at Liberty Theaters and in the newly established camouflage trade. Many theatre technicians, artists and salesmen continued their government service in the post-war years, finding greater job security that in the private sector. The 1920 US Federal Census listed Megan as Government Supervisor in Washington D. C. Megan, his wife, and daughter were living at 3321 16th street in Washington, D.C. This was their second residence, as they still kept a second home in Kansas City, Missouri.
Between 1921 and 1922, Megan relocated to Baltimore Maryland. In 1922, Megan was listed in the Baltimore, MD, City Directory as the president of the Liberty Amusement Co, residing at 1800 N. Charles in Baltimore, MD. With his wife, Thenia F. Megan. It was at this time that Megan and Thomas G. Moses began negotiating the purchase of the Sosman & Landis name. Megan moved to Chicago. By the end of 1923, Moses wrote: “On December 26th, Megan and I met Sosman and Landis Company at Richard’s office and paid our first installment for the name and good will of Sosman and Landis Company, which we now own and will operate, but for a while we will have to use our names of Moses and Megan, until the old company can liquidate. We will then get a new charter.”
Megan drummed up business in 1923 while he and Moses waited to officially claim the name of Sosman & Landis. Although Moses made a name for himself over the decades, his designs and painting were integrally linked to the Sosman & Landis brand. It is not surprising that Moses believed that he needed the Sosman & Landis name to continue.
While Megan was on the road, Moses made models for new projects and painted scenery. This is how Sosman & Landis started and had successfully operated from 1877 until Landis’ passing in 1905; Landis was on the road and Sosman in the studio. This is also how Kansas City Scenic Co. functioned, with J. V. Bronaugh on the road and B. F. Dunn painting scenery.
Moses & Megan initially leased the old Fabric Studio in Chicago then moved their offices to 6715 Sheridan Road. By 1924, Megan continued work as a traveling salesman, representing Sosman & Landis, while being listed as vice-president and treasurer for the company. Moses and Megan continued to work together on projects for the next few years, including the Scottish Rite Temple theatre in Oakland, California. As project loads increased for each studio, additional staff members were added, with more salesmen on the road and more scenic artists painting projects. Moses and Megan continued working together throughout the 1920s. However, the large staff of artists associated with the earlier iteration of Sosman & Moses never returned. Moses and a few assistants completed contracts secured by Megan. In a pinch, Megan would don his overalls and pick up a brush to complete the project. By 1924, Moses wrote, “Megan on the road most of the time makes the studio work so much harder for me, especially when I want to paint more.”
When Megan relocated to Chicago in 1923, his daughter stayed behind in Baltimore for a year. The 1923 Baltimore Directory only listed Anabel Megan. At the time, she was a student, living in the Walbert apartments. On August 19, 1923, “The Kansas Star” reported, “Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Rishell Megan announce the marriage of their daughter, Anabel, to Mr. Edmund Rivers Harris, jr., Saturday, August 4, at Christ Episcopal church in Baltimore. Mr. and Mrs. Harris will be at home after September 15 at 716 East North Avenue, Baltimore. The wedding never took place. On October 1, 1925, “The Kansas City Times” announced, Miss Anabel Megan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Megan of Chicago, formerly of Kansas City, is visiting her aunt, Mrs. Alice M. Johnson” (page 3). Anabel later married John F. Randolph, a gasoline station owner in Chicago, Illinois. On Feb. 25, 1926, the “”Chicago Tribune” included a picture of Anabel with the caption “Mrs. John Francis Randolph, noting “Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Rischell Megan, formerly Kansas City, Mo., and Washington, D. C., announce the marriage of their daughter Anabel Thenia, to John Francis Randolph, of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Randolph are at home at 7301 Sheridan Rd.” This was the same year that Moses and Megan delivered scenery to the Varsity Theatre.
Fred R. Megan’s daughter, Anabel.
Megan continued to work for Sosman & Landis. However, his name appeared less frequently in headlines. On Feb 22, 1928, the “Brownsville Herald” of Brownsville, Texas, reported, “To Get Scenery. HARLINGEN. Feb. 22. – Installation of theatrical scenery in the high school auditorium here is to begin within the near future, according to F. R. Megan, representative of the Sosman & Landis Scenic company of Chicago, who has been awarded the contract for the work” (page 16). On March 5, 1928, “The Brownsville Herald” reported, “Mysterious Shooting. EDINBURG, March 5.- Police here Monday continued an investigation begun Sunday night into reports of a mysterious shot fired near the junior college auditorium Sunday night. Robert McBridge and F. R. Megan, workmen, narrowly escaped being hit by the hail of shot.”
Fred R. Megan listed as Secretary and Treasure of Sosman & Landis Co., 1927.
Even after Moses sold his shares of Sosman & Landis, effectively ending his relationship with the firm, Megan plugged continued as a salesman and artist. However, he also became associated with other firm’s too. On September 25, 1930, the “Altoona Mirror” described the interesting features of Jaffa temple’s beautiful new mosque for the Shriners in Altoona. It was a 1500-seat hall. The article reported, “The Gable Company supplied the equipment for the big stage of the auditorium, and it was installed under the direction of the firm’s special artist, Frederick Meagan [sic.]. One of the features of the equipment is the big asbestos drop curtain, weighing 900 pounds. It bears a painting that is in keeping with the organization and entitled “The City of Jaffa” and is very artistically done. It and the other furnishings were supplied through the Sosman & Landis company of Chicago and include stage sets, drops, lights and everything necessary to the modern stage. Mr. Meagan [sic.] directed the furnishing of the stages in the Shriner’s mosques in Cleveland, Chicago and other cities” (page 348).
In 1933, Megan was still listed as the Sosman & Landis branch manager (in Chicago), residing at 819 Dobson in the Evanston, Illinois, Directory. Moses passed away the following year at the age of seventy-eight years old. At the time Megan was only sixty-one years old. This did not stop Megan, but his projects continued to dwindle in the 1930s.
Megan eventually relocated to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he continued to secure a variety of painting projects. Megan was still associated with the last iteration of Sosman & Landis in 1943. On May 6, 1943, the “Connellsville Daily Courier” reported the winning bid for maintenance work on the school buildings during the summer (page 3). The article reported, “Bids were received for maintenance work, including roof repair, caulking on windows, plastering and painting. The contract for all went to the Sosman & Landis Company, F. R. Megan owner, Johnstown.” On June 16, 1943, the “Connellsville Daily Courier” of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, reported, “A contract for painting the fire escape of Second Ward School was awarded to F. R. Megan” (page 3). The last mention that I have located about Megan was his presence at the Bellwood Lion’s Club in Altoona on Feb. 22, 1945 (Altoona Mirror, 24 Feb 1945, p 10).
Megan passed away only three years later, on April 16, 1946. At the time, his occupation was listed as that of “paint contractor.” The immediate cause of death was listed as coronary artery heart due to disease.
