Category: Uncategorized

After the failure to complete the Spectatorium for the 1893 World Fair in Chicago, Hardesty G. Maratta was released from his contract with Steele MacKaye. He traveled with Frank C. Peyraud (1858-1948) to Peoria, Illinois, where they completed two public painting projects and several private commissions. They were contracted to paint murals and decorate the interiors of both the pubic library and City Hall. One of the library murals was titled “View from Prospect Heights.” The 20-foot by 11-foot mural painted for Peoria’s library presently is stored in the vault of the Lakeview Museum.

The landscape depicts a meandering river and Peoria Lake with marshlands and a few islands. The composition shows the landscape before the construction of levees, a lock, and a dam in 1939. One of the Peoria City Hall murals was titled “Peoria, August 29, 1831” to commemorate the founding of the town. They also created fine art works for the library, some that still hang in the current boardroom. Here is a link to two paintings: http://old.library.eiu.edu/artarch/displayall.asp?LibraryID=749

Peoria newspapers hailed Peyraud as “Illinois’ foremost landscape painter” who had produced artworks for the Union League Club, the Flanagan House, and the Peoria Women’s Club. Unlike Maratta, Peyraud stayed in Peoria for three years and offered art lessons for young aspiring artists. He stayed until his wife (also a fellow immigrant from Switzerland) passed away in 1899. Peyraud he found love again in 1906 with fellow artist Elizabeth Krysher. Kyysher was a children’s portrait painter and illustrator. Early on in their marriage, the couple traveled from California to the East Coast. In Old Lyme, Connecticut, they even stayed with a colony of impressionist landscape painters. The couple eventually settled in north-suburban Ravinia, Illinois (a section of Highland Park) in 1919. In 1921, Peyraud traveled back to Switzerland for three years.

I have previously touched on Maratta’s partnership with Peyraud in Peoria in the February 2, 2017 www.dry pigment.net post. In light of Maratta’s and Peyraud’s scenic art connection with Thomas G. Moses’ it is worth recapping a little information about this fascinating Swiss immigrant. Peyraud was a notable Impressionist landscape artist who would also work as a scenic artist with Thomas G. Moses during the 1890s.

François “Frank” Charles Peynaud was born in Bulle, Switzerland and received some early artistic training at the l’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He traveled to the United States in 1881 and soon decided to stay, settling in the Chicago area. He would remain in this region for the majority of his life. Peyraud first applied for work as a draftsman at the architectural firm of William Le Baron Jenney. Historians have suggested that he did not receive any work due to his poor English. However, he started working as both a scenic artist, on cycloramas and panoramas. Very little is known of his early years in Chicago, but in 1891, Peyraud touched up Paul Philippoteaux’s panoramic painting depicting the Battle of Gettysburg.

It was Peyraud, Maratta, A. J. Rupert, Harry Vincent, Thomas G. Moses, and a number of others artists painted who William Hawoth’s “Flag of Truce” in 1892. By the way, the original script is still available at the University of Chicago (in the Charles Morton Agency Collection of American Popular Drama 1842-1950, Box 35, folder 2). Peyraud worked with Moses in the theatre during 1892 and 1893.

By the mid-1890s Peyraud was noted for his impressionist style, often depicting dramatic skies at dawn, sunset, or moonlight.

His fine art was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy of Design (NY), the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Philadelphia), the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), the Pan-Pacific Exposition (San Francisco) and many other exhibits too numerous to mention. His paintings remain in a variety of collections worldwide, including the Art Institute and Union League Club of Chicago, the Municipal Collection of Phoenix and the Art Museum of Bulle, Switzerland. In 1935 the conservative Association of Chicago Painters and Sculptors awarded Peyraud a gold medal and he was widely regarded as the dean of Chicago landscape painters.

Peyraud won the Young Fortnightly Prize for the best painting in the Chicago Art Institute’s 1899 annual show. It was the first of many awards he would receive over the course of his career. Other awards included a Municipal Art League p prize in 1912 and the Art Institute’s Martin B. Cahn Prize in 1921. In 1948, Peyraud exhibited for a final time at the Chicago Galleries Association. He died later that year, on the eve of his ninetieth birthday.

It is Moses’ mention of Peyraud, Maratta and other notable artists that causes me to ponder the significance of Moses writings, scenery, and fine art. His typed manuscript, handwritten diaries and scrapbook are much more significant than the interesting details that provide a glimpse into theatre history. Moses provides eyewitness accounts and context for his contemporaries in an ever-shifting art world.

These artists from a variety of backgrounds worked, traveled, dreamed, and planned together. They were working towards a much bigger picture in the world of arts and sciences. One gets a sense of their personalities, the industries that they worked for, and how fluid their talents were during this golden age of scenic art. Their friendships, social exchanges, moral support, and partnerships went far beyond the realms of mere work or artistic study for the stage. They played and brainstormed together about future possibilities for not only themselves, but also later generations.

To look at Moses’ creation of the Fort Scott scenery collection as simply a small moment in Masonic or theatre history is shortsighted! It was the culmination of decades of training after interacting with international visionaries. He was part of a patchwork quilt that transcended our own country’s borders.

To be continued…

Hardesty C. Maratta and Frank C. Peyraud were actively involved with Steele MacKaye (1842–1894) and his Spectatorium project for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Maratta had committed to a fifteen-year contract with MacKaye during the planning stage of the Spectatorium. He was hired to head MacKaye’s scenic department.

The Spectatorium was to be the largest auditorium in the world and part of the 1893 Chicago World Fair. On September 25, 1892, the “Chicago Herald” described the much-anticipated venture: “After months of preliminary work, the initiatory steps for the construction of the biggest auditorium of the world were taken yesterday. A building permit was issued to the Columbus Celebration Company to erect a “Spectatorium” at numbers 1 to 27 on Fifty-sixth Street. The structure is to be six stories in height, 480 by 240 feet in dimensions and of frame and staff construction.” William LeBaron Jenney and W. B. Mundie were the architects of this endeavor, costing over $350,000 for the structure alone. This price did not include furniture, scenery or machinery. In the article, MacKaye was quoted that the undertaking was “the realization of full twenty years of fond dreams and much study in the realm of the spectacular.”

The Spanish Renaissance style building more ground than any other building planned for the fairgrounds. The front extended over 480 feet with a depth averaging 311 feet. The height was 100 feet and included a large dome in the center will be surmounted by a statue of Fame. The theatre would seat 9,200, with ample exits that could empty the house in about half the time of an ordinary theater. The stage proscenium was 150 feet wide with a proportionate depth. The stage was arranged so it could accommodate its flooding with real water at a depth of four feet. The scenery was planned run with wheels on railroad irons, placed under the water. Each piece would be separately controlled from the prompter’s desk. The prompter will only have to push a button and the electric motor would do the work of 250 men. The overall intent was to prevent any mistakes in the shifting of scenes.

Investors included George M. Pullman. E. L Browster, Edson Keith, John Cuday, F. W. Peck, H. E. Bucklene Lyman J. Gage, Murry Nelson, Benjamin Butterworth, C. H. Deere, Arthur Dixon, J. J. Mitchell, Andrew McNally, Franklin H. Head, Ferdinand W. Peck, E. H. Phelps, F. G. Logan, N. B. Ream David Henderson, A. C. McClurg, Andrew McNally, Ben Butterworth, F. E. Studebaker, and other well-known citizens. Newspaper articles published that the gentlemen claimed, “It will be a more pleasing and more talked of novelty than the Eiffel Tower.”

The anticipated production and scenic effects were described in the “Chicago Herald” (September 25, 1892):

“The character of the performances to be given are promised to equal Wagner’s most extraordinary dreams of all that a great dramatic-musical performance should be. The greatest orchestral music, especially written by the best composers, solos and choruses by eminent artists, all Illustrated by brilliant spectacular and. realistic pantomimes, will be presented. The story of the piece to be given will be the life of Columbus and the discovery of America. Ships of the actual size and appearance used by Columbus will be fully manned by sailors in exact reproduction of the characters of those times. The capture of Granada and the procession of Columbus and Isabella to the Alhambra as well as the surrender of Boabdil, last of the Moorish kings, will be especially grand and on an immense scale. The scenery costumes and music will be elaborate and picturesque, and the promoters claim that it will be the greatest of the kind ever attempted.”

MacKaye was and actor, director, playwright and inventor. He was well known for his stage technology, especially his improvements to New York’s Madison Square Theatre where he engineered the “double stage.” This included an elevator the size of a full stage that was raised and lowered by counterweights and reduced scene changes to one or two minutes. By 1885, MacKaye had established three theaters in New York City: the St. James, Madison Square, and the Lyceum Theatre.

Unfortunately, his “super theatre” destined for Chicago was deprived of funds during the panic of 1893. On February 27, 1894, the “San Francisco Call” reported, “The MacKaye Spectatorium has failed and will go into the hands, of a receiver. It has not paid expenses; and with the death of its originator it passes out of existence.”

The dismantling of the Spectatorium was covered in the Chicago Tribune on October 7, 1893. “The Spectatorium, the large pile of steel and wood at the north end of the World’s Fair grounds, which was to have housed the grandest theatrical representations in the world, is being torn down to be sold as scrap iron. The Spectatorium, as yet incomplete, cost $550,000. It was sold for $2,250. The project was that of Steele Mackaye. He broached it first last year to leading capitalists of Chicago and it met with favor. The plan was to build a structure sufficiently large to give a representation of the discovery of America on a scale larger than was ever attempted. MacKaye invented new methods of lighting which promised to revolutionize the methods of stage illumination. The life of the production was to have been a great chorus arranged on the principle of the old Greek chorus. The organization of the company proceeded well. Work was begun, hundreds of men employed, and actors and actresses contracted with and put on rehearsal. The Spectatorium failed and went into the hands of a receiver June 1.”

It was reported that MacKaye blamed the failure on “bad weather, labor troubles, a tight money market, and an article declaring the project a failure, which prevented the disposition of the company’s bonds.” Then Building Commissioner declared that the Spectatorium must be torn down as it was dangerous. It took two hundred men, thirty days, and $15,000 to clear the site and remove the 1,200 tons of iron. The lumber was repurposed for sidewalks and the building of small cottages for working people.

To be continued…

One of the best internet sites that I have encountered for information pertaining to Chicago events, structures and people is “Chicagology.” Here is the link: https://chicagology.com/ The site provided some lovely images from the planning and initial construction of Steele MacKaye’s Spectatorium.

Today I look at Hardesty Gilmore Maratta (August 22, 1864-October 1924).  His birthday was yesterday, August 22 – 153 years ago. He also enters the Thomas G. Moses’ story at this point.

Thomas G. Moses and John H. Young continued to study art and go on sketching trips throughout 1883. Traveling companions and other fellow artists included Edward A. Morange and Hardesty G. Maratta (August 22, 1864-October 1924). Moses wrote “we certainly had some good trips.” He elaborated in one entry writing, “We were all working in watercolor. Most of our trips were along the river where we found good material and a lot of adventures – too numerous to mention. One Sunday we were sketching a grain schooner that was ready to leave at the Rock Island Elevator. A tug arrived to tow it from the lake. We objected as we had some work to finish on the sketch. The tug Captain was good-natured and invited us aboard the tug. We finished the sketch and rode out in the lake beyond the water crib some three miles. The Captain brought us back to Washington Street. We were profuse in our thanks and we were also satisfied. It gave the crew something to talk about.”

Maratta was born in Chicago, Illinois. A life-long resident, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago where he exhibited from 1888 to 1906. He was well known as a watercolorist, scenic artist, newspaper illustrator, color theoretician, and designer of TECO pottery at Gates Potteries in Chicago.

Maratta was one of the artists commissioned by Juan Lorenzo Hubbell, owner of the Hubbell Trading Post at Ganado, Arizona, to copy Navajo rugs, especially the classic designs, in watercolor and oil.  These designs were hung on his walls to encourage the rug weavers working during the duplication of the designs. Maratta studied the coloring of the plains of the Southwest after returning from his time abroad.

Maratta painted in California during the late 1890s. Some of his artworks remain in the Santa Fe Railroad Collection, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; Fogg Museum, Harvard University; and the Hubbell Trading Post Museum, Ganado, Arizona.

Maratta also made a name for himself with the color scale. While he was while cleaning several paintings by Guido Reni, he first became convinced that color harmony was a well-known science from long ago; he just happened to rediscover these ancient Greek rhythms.

In an article titled “Color Scale,” published in Railway Master Mechanic Vol. 31, 1907 (pg. 301), Maratta was interviewed. He was quoted, “I began studying this subject when I discovered the analogy that exists between color, music, architecture, and chemistry. Music is a division of sound into harmonic ratios; architecture a division of space into harmonic ratios, and chemistry the division of elements in the same manner.” The “Color Scale” article continues, “The blending and harmonizing of shades and colors were so exact in each of these that he does not believe it could have been accidental. Examination of pictures by other old masters confirmed his belief…Harmony of color, heretofore depending solely upon the training and taste of the individual handling of pigments, has been reduced to an exact science as the harmony of music. This assertion of a great principle, forming the foundation for all art in which colors are used, is made by Hardesty G. Maratta, a Chicago artist, who has devoted the last twelve years to its solution.”

The basis of his approach was also explained in the 1920 publication, “Arts & Decoration, Vol. XIV, No. 1. The author explained the color system of Maratta, writing that any system of beauty, whether it is created or follows a system, is built upon rhythm (Nov. 1920, pg. 1).

When Maratta finally decided to devote all of his time to the study of color, he first experimented with fire-resistant colors, making many burnt clay pictures. Then he went into the factories where paints where made and studied them there. The article notes, “for a year, to demonstrate his theory, he painted stage scenery, using only three primary colors – yellow, red, and blue.” He then applied for a color system patent.

From a theatrical context, Hardesty C. Maratta and Frank Peyraud were actively involved with Steele MacKaye’s Spectatorium project. Maratta had a fifteen-year contract with MacKaye, which “the failure of the scheme and MacKaye’s sudden death left null and void” (The Critic, June 27, 1896, pg. 427). I’ll explore this topic tomorrow.

To be continued…

In 1883 Thomas G. Moses wrote that he attended the Chicago Art Institute and “painted from life at Rupert’s Studio every Sunday.”

Adam John Rupert was born in Ft. Plain, New York, during 1854. At the age of eighteen he moved to Chicago, Illinois. Two years later, he was working for P. M. Almini as a fresco painter and met Moses for the first time. Rupert studied at fine art studios and traveled abroad from 1876 to 1880. He was a student at the Royal Academy in Munich and also the Academy of Design in Chicago.

Moses initially reconnected with his old friend on his return in 1880. By 1882 Rupert was hired to teach for the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago every afternoon during winter term. He established a fine art studio that Moses visited every Sunday. Moses greatly revered Rupert and even named his second son after him.

He bought one of Rupert’s paintings in 1885 titled “My Studio.” It measured 34” x 54.” That same year, Rupert exhibited artworks at the inaugural reception and exhibition for the Western Art Association. They held their show at the Chicago Art Institute on the corner of Michigan Ave and Van Buren Street where a lot of collectors participated in the event. For this show, Rupert had exhibited three pieces “The Violinist,” “The Tramp” and “Discouraged Vestal” (Chicago’s “Inter Ocean” on Jan. 23 1885, page 5). Rupert also participated in the 1888 Chicago Art League Exhibition at Art Institute of Chicago. By 1889 he opened a studio at No. 59 Honore Block in Chicago and soon exhibited at the Chicago Society of Artists. In 1891 his artwork was featured next to those of Walter Burridge, Herbert E, Butler, L.S.G. Parker, Frederick Freer, and Joseph Jefferson (the actor). Other exhibitions for Rupert at the Art Institute Chicago were held in 1898, 1900, 1906, 1915, 1917 and 1919.

In 1892, Rupert, Moses, Harry Vincent and Frank Peyraud worked together to create the settings for William Haworth’s (1860-1920) production called the “A Flag of Truce.” William was Joe Haworth’s younger brother. From the very beginning Joe shared his success as an actor with his family, sending a generous portion of his pay back to them in Cleveland. This money enabled William Haworth to stay in school and attend Annapolis as a naval cadet. However the theatre also called to William. In 1882, it was John McCullough (Virginius lead mentioned in installment 181) that gave him his first professional opportunity.

By 1886, William was acting at the Union Square theatre in support of Helene Modjeska. He eventually left New York and after two years of touring, returned with a completed play, “Ferncliff.” The play was set in Providence, Rhode Island, during the Civil War with ten characters. It opened at the Union Square Theatre in 1889, the same time as Bronson Howard’s “Shenandoah.” It was unlike “Shenandoah,” however, as it lacked the spectacular reenactments of battles and was much more of a domestic drama with comic elements. Here is a great link for further information about the “Ferncliff” production: http://www.josephhaworth.com/union_square_theatre.htm

Haworth reworked “Ferncliff” to become a companion piece to “The Ensign,” a plot set in Havana and involved the ploy of two British officers provoking Capt. Charles Wilkes into a quarrel to delay his interception of the “Trent.” Based partially on factual events from1861, Capt. Wilkes seized two Confederate emissaries to the British government on the vessel “Trent” while on the sea. The incident nearly caused Britain to declare was on the North. In the play, Wilkes eventually escapes the firing squad by the personal intervention of President Lincoln. The production was reported to be an exceptional spectacle.

The “Flag of Truth” opened in New York at the Fourteenth Street Theatre during 1893, the show toured to Plainfield, New Jersey, and then played in Trenton. It now included a thrilling rescue in a quarry that involved a real derrick onstage. Throughout the next decade, Haworth’s Civil War plays were almost constantly performed, often in repertory. For more information about William Haworth and his brother Joseph, here is a good link: http://www.josephhaworth.com/his_brother_William.htm
By 1904 Rupert was part of another spectacle. He worked on an amusement for the St. Louis World’s Fair by Henry Roltair called “Creation.” Rupert and George Schreiber were the assistants to Frank Peyraud for this project. Advertised in the Chicago Sunday Tribune (May 29, page 20) it commented, “the scheme is a deep secret. A great dome covers transformation scenes representing the creation of the world with dioramas showing what man has created in the world.” Taking two hours, a boat trip travelled around the big blue dome that illustrated the works of God during the six days of creation. Other side trips in boats included the scenic vistas of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Alaska that allowed visitors to travel back into prehistoric time to primitive man. Another boat ride entered a labyrinth that depicted ancient countries and cities, including Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome, China, Japan, Spain, France, and England. The cost for this adventure was $0.50 for adults and $0.25 for children. I could not help but think of Spaceship Earth in Walt Disney World’s Epcot. But the twentieth century ride paled in comparison to what was offered to 1904 visitors at Roltair’s “Creation.”

On the fraternal front, Rupert was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Maccabees.

To be continued…

Thomas G. Moses worked in Racine, Wisconsin, at the Belle City Opera House until in March of 1883. During March, he also worked for another opera house. The Journal Times (Racine, Wisconsin) reported that “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” (14 March 1883, page 2). He then headed to Marengo, Illinois for another painting project. Initially named Pleasant Grove, Marengo was a city in McHenry County. The present name originated from the Battle of Marengo fought on June 14, 1800 between the French and Austrians.

Thomas G. Moses’ family was able to join him during his final weeks in Marengo. Although his typed manuscript does not specify his project in Marengo, it was for the opening of the town’s first opera house. In April of 1883, the Marengo Opera House was completed at the expense of $30,000. Julius Cahn’s Official Theatre Guide listed “Thos. Moses” as the scenic artist responsible for the painted settings. The theatre was located on the second floor with a proscenium opening that measured 20’ high by 25’ wide. There were three sets of grooves that measured 16’ high. There was one portable bridge and the grooves could be taken up flush with the fly gallery. The depth under the stage was 5’ with two traps, located back of center stage.

On August 3, 1883, “The Marengo Republican” published, “Few people are aware that Marengo has one of the finest opera houses to be found in the country. Not so large as Rockford, yet it has six hundred and sixty opera chairs, besides two handsome opera boxes (not mere shelves) and space for one hundred and fifty camp chairs in the spacious aisles. It is in all its appointments a model of neatness, convenience and comfort; is easy to access; well lighted; the private boxes elegantly finished; the acoustic properties excellent, and arrangements for heating and ventilation first class.”

After a lecture by Mr. Henry Ward Beecher in the Marengo Opera House, the newspaper published, “Wednesday evening, the house was crowded with as select an audience as we ever saw anywhere, at least 800 persons being present, and the scenery, the beautiful frescoing on the wall and ceiling, the variety of color and figures, all brought out with startling boldness under the brilliant glow of seventy-five gas jets, presented a scene highly pleasing and attractive, and one at which even the most prominent preacher in America felt gratified and honored.”

Beecher expressed “his delight and surprise at finding so elegantly appointed an opera house in a town the size of Marengo, and agreed with what must be a universal verdict of all who visit it, that the Marengo opera house, erected by the unaided private liberality of one citizen – R. M. Patrick – is a monument to his good taste and public spirit, of which every citizen of Marengo should be proud.”

After Marengo, Moses and Graham traveled to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, here they were going after a contract.

This would have been for the Grand Opera House located at the corner of High Avenue and Market Street. It first opened its doors on August 9, 1883 and the first production here was called “The Bohemian.” Perry Landis of Sosman & Landis in Chicago was also providing an estimate for the job. Moses and Landis rode back together on a train bound for Chicago. Sosman met them upon their arrival. The studio wanted Moses and Graham in the Sosman & Landis studio and each were offered $45.00 a week.

Moses wired Graham their proposal as he was in Burlington. Graham was not so eager to accept, however and countered “$50.00 and extras.” The studio agreed and May 1, Moses. Graham and John H, Young were painting in the Sosman & Landis studios. Ed Loitz also joined their team and the studio continued to expand. Unfortunately, the boys were given a lot of “road work” to paint, and were not thrilled with this particular type of project, but the money was steady. Moses was able to rapidly increase his salary as he started to accept after-hour projects, averaging $70.00 per week.

Moses wrote that he accepted a lot of night work, although it was mostly piecework. He soon was sent on the road to complete a job in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

That would have been the Grand Opera House (1883-1930). In 1883, an opera house was planned for this bustling city of 15,000 serviced by telephone, gas and electric. Streets were lit with both gas and incandescent lamps and four railways serviced the city. Eau Claire was the major stop between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Wayne R. Wolfert wrote “Theatre in Eau Claire, Wisconsin: A History of the Grand Opera House (1883-1930)” published by the University of Wisconsin-Madison 1972.

Moses’ family visited him in Eau Clair and they all ventured north for a family trip to Minneapolis.

To be continued…

Part 183: Will the Circle Be Unbroken

“I was standing by my window,
On one cold and cloudy day
When I saw that hearse come rolling
For to carry my mother away

Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
In the sky, lord, in the sky”

(1935 Folk song by A. P. Carter)

On December 15, 1925, Thomas G. Moses wrote a letter to his daughter-in-law Stella after learning that her mother had passed away. Understanding Moses’ great regret for having lost his own mother at such a young age, the following letter is especially poignant. Here is his letter in its entirety:

“My Dear Stella,

I just received the sad news, please accept our heartfelt sympathies in your days of sorrow. One of the greatest burdens that God asks us to bear is the loss of our Mothers. There is nothing that touches our heart in our every day life like the sorrow brought upon our mothers by some inconsiderate child, and the admiration we have for a mother in her love for the child is something that draws us to all mothers.

Your mother’s life will always stand out like a beacon light: a wonderful inspiration to all those seeking the light. A most consistent Christian woman that sought to do for others, in spite of her affliction, accomplished many worthy acts that will ever live in the hearts of all that knew her. The work is richer having had her with us. Her life will remain in the minds of your girls as one of pure love and sacrifice: a guide for Eleanor in her chosen work and one of sweet memory to all who had the pleasure of calling her friend.

From your sympathetic Father Moses.”

Moses’ eldest son Pitt married Stella Martin of Trenton, New Jersey on March 18, 1903. In 1906, they had their first child, Eleanor. The couple would have two more daughters over the years. Pitted worked for Moses’ brother Frank in the gas industry and business was booming.

Children and then grandchildren initially came back to the Moses home in Oak Park, Illinois, to celebrate Christmas and other family events. As the years flew by, it became more and more difficult to gather all the children home. In 1914, Moses wrote, “Would like to have the children and grandchildren every Christmas. We have a big house to entertain them, and I feel sure they all like to come to the old house, at least once a year.”

Looking back to 1888, Moses wrote, “I was tired of travelling and wanted to remain at home with my little family.” Almost thirty years later in 1917, Moses would write, “Pitt came out for a short visit and for the first time in twenty years, we had only the four children at home for a dinner. They were not allowed to mention their families. We sat each in their accustomed place. We all enjoyed it immensely. It carried us back many years when we were all much younger. I wish we could do it every year.”

Moses missed many family events while he was traveling across the country for work and sketching trips. As he grew older, every interaction with family became a precious memory.

“There are loved ones in the glory, whose dear forms you often miss. When you close your earthly story, will you join them in their bliss? Will the circle be unbroken, by and by, by and by? Is a better home awaiting in the sky, in the sky?” (Original lyrics for 1907 hymn by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel)

 

 

To be continued…

Thomas G. Moses mentioned very little about his health, beyond a few vague statements that sporadically appeared throughout his typed manuscript. In 1919, at the age of 63, Moses wrote that he and Ella were very fortunate, having managed to stay in good health over the years. In 1923, Moses wrote, “The Madam and I had our 67th birthdays during July, and I am free to say neither of us feel the age, as we have had wonderful health and we look forward to several years of good health.” In 1924, Moses’ health began to fail and gradually worsened throughout the late 1920s.

Several letters written between Moses and his eldest son William “Pitt” Moses addressed his declining condition between 1931 and 1933. They are in the John R. Rothgeb papers at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin.

Moses’ poor health necessitated that he plan for Ella’s future. In one letter to Pitt, he explained the state of their financial affairs and included a list of significant investments over the years. He wrote, “I want you to know where we stand regarding finances.” Moses outlined the funds given toward business ventures and family emergencies, especially to help his children. At the end of this letter, he wrote, “I want you to know all this, because, should I pass away suddenly I want Mother to feel that you would look out for her interests in disposing of the property. While I hope to enjoy a few more years in painting, the sudden death of Illie [sister], Frank [brother] and Lucia [sister] has forced me to realize that I have only a few more years at the most, and when I do pass out, I want to feel that my life has not been wasted; and my work will live for many years after I am gone.”

It was his writing “and my work will live for many years after I am gone” that struck a chord in me. It was not the first time that Moses voiced this desire to leave a legacy. It was one of the primary reasons that I fought so hard to secure the Fort Scott collection for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center. As a scenic artist and scholar, I was driven to carefully handle and conserve this scenery collection, especially since it was solely produced by Moses at the age of sixty-eight. I was devastated to see the destruction of his paintings in the Fort Scott collection by individuals who did not understand what they were handling or the appropriate conservation techniques. The use of hot melt glue for netting and other destructive methods was, and remains, incomprehensible to me. When I examined the butchered scenes during a concert last February, I felt absolutely helpless. It was as if I had personally let down a close friend. I could not save this particular portion of his legacy.

The Fort Scott collection was created when Moses was at the peak of his skill and just prior experiencing the initial signs of severe health concerns. Just a few years prior to Fort Scott, Moses began to notice respiratory and heart issues, forcing him to seek medical care. He would paint up until the year of his death, but he would never work at the same pace as when the Fort Scott scenery was created in 1924.

In 1932, Moses wrote a letter to Pitt on June 23. In it, he mentioned that his “awful bronchial cough” had continued for ten years. He had previously written, “my years will not admit of too much hill climbing with my forty pounds of sketching equipment.” That same year in his typed manuscript, he wrote, “I do not feel as good in health as I would like to be, but I hope that Dr. Klumph will pull me through. I sincerely hope that the New Year will lift a heavy load of my shoulders and give me one good year to make up for this past bad year.”

In a 1933 letter he admitted his failing health to Pitt, writing, “Mother and I keep going. It is still hard for me to walk any distance if there is at least a hint of dampness in the air. I have terrible spasms of the chest. Dr. Klumph is treating me and I hope to be well again.” That fall, he expanded on his inability to work due to poor health. Moses then bore a little of his soul to his son. On November 7, 1933, Moses wrote, “I jumped into the church job as soon as I arrived and I find it was too much after a trip of 2700 miles and I am now at home getting myself in shape. I see no work in sight, and the heavy expenses of keeping the house going without any help is bearing down on me. Especially with my condition and age against me. It is so hard for me to go up stairs and walk more than three blocks that I fully realize that I can’t last much longer with the added uncertainty of making a living. It is too much. I have been fortunate in making a good living for the past fifty years to accept this present state of affairs. I dislike to write you a blue letter, but it is uppermost in my mind this morning being a gloomy one. I know without asking that when I pass on, that you will do all you can to see that your mother will be taken care of in settlement of property. I will say no more.”

He would continue to take care of Ella even after his passing. They had been together since school and survived all of life’s ups and downs. How could death stop his providing for her now? I could not help but think of one of my favorite songs, “Girl of My Dreams” by Gene Austin (1928).

“And after all’s said and done, there’s only one,
Girl of my dreams, it’s you.”

Here’s a link for the song:

http://www.musictory.com/music/Gene+Austin/Girl+of+My+Dreams

To be continued…

Thomas G. Moses wrote, “1882 found me just as restless to do something big, and I drifted along with the regular work, until about May.” When the theatre season closed, he left Sosman & Landis and partnered with Lemuel L. Graham (1845-1914). That year, Graham was also listed as the scenic artist at the Standard Theatre in Chicago. Two years later, Graham would found his own scenic studio in Kansas City. He later moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1899, and then Brooklyn, New York by 1904. He would remain there for the final decade of his life. In Brooklyn he partnered with P. Dodd Ackerman, of Studio Building 1576 to 1580 Bushwick Ave, New York.

Moses and Graham’s first contract was in Kalamazoo, Michigan for the Academy of Music, a 1250-seat opera house. Located on South Rose Street across from Bronson Park, it was built and run as a legitimate theatre from May 8, 1882 to June 4, 1919. After that it was run as a film house named the Regent Theatre until fire destroyed it in 1929. The proscenium opening measured 32’ x 32’ with 31 sets of scenery. Moses wrote, “I did all the foliage and I was astonished on seeing my stuff set, to see how I improved.” The theatre was on the second floor with two stores on ground level.

John McCullough, the celebrated tragedian, was to open the new theatre and the owners wanted to make it a big affair. They paid Graham and Moses a good price for special scenery to accompany the production of “Virginius.” Moses noted that they were all Roman scenes, writing, “We spread ourselves and it was very pleasant work.”

Ella and the children joined Moses for part of the summer, traveling next to Grand Rapids, where Moses and Graham completed their second job at Redmond’s Opera House (later known as the Grand Opera House), built in 1882. There, Moses recalled that Graham boarded at a hotel and fell in love with the head waitress and they eventually married. Moses wrote, “she proved to be a good wife and good mother.” The Moses family boarded at a private house, “met a number of pleasant people,” and “thoroughly enjoying the Summer.” By this time, Pitt was old enough to run away and Moses remembered that “he kept us in hot water most of the time.”

Moses’ share of the profits with Graham amounted in approximately $40.00 per week, minus the expenses to keep his family with him. At this time, John H. Young also joined their team. Moses recorded, “He was then working a candy concern, but was delighted to join us.” After completing their project in Grand Rapids, Moses found work in Elgin and his family returned to Chicago. While working in Elgin, Moses made his first water color sketch from nature. He and Young went out as often as we could.

Next on their journey was Racine, Wisconsin. Even with the onset of cold weather, they still continued to sketch and enjoyed it.   In Racine, they painted scenery for the Black Opera House. There, Moses boarded with the widow of Dan Castello, the famous circus clown.

The Castello and Van Vleck Mammoth Show’s began over two decades earlier on May 2, 1863. The story of the Castello and Van Vleck Circus is told in the book “Ins and Outs of Circus Life or Forty-Two Years Travel of John H. Glenroy “and compiled by Stephen Stanley in 1885. The company included: Dan Castello, clown; Frances Castello, rider; Joseph Tinkham; hurdle rider; George M. Kelly and Charles Burroughs, acrobats; Thomas Poland, ringmaster; William Smith, horse rider; Thomas Burgess, clown; Natt McCollom, banjoist and minstrel; Richard Hammon, acrobat; and John Burns, acrobat.

While in Racine, Moses also had the opportunity to do a lot of outside work for traveling companies, including an “H. M S. Pinafore” set. Graham and he were doing much better as they had two good jobs at the same time and money was pouring in. Moses wrote that Graham “was a regular Shylock, a good fellow and a hard worker, but altogether too close to please me.” Graham and Young later departed for Hannibal, Missouri, leaving Moses alone to finish the work. He hired an assistant to complete the project. A lot of time was spent away from his home in Chicago. Moses recalled, “These were lonesome days for Ella and the children. From Racine I would go home each Sunday.”

To be continued…

The telling of this tale is not complete without providing a preliminary look at Thomas G. Moses’ family, his primary network of support. They are the ones who witnessed first hand his talent, love, work ethic and sense of humor. Moses’ typed manuscript records his artwork from 1873-1931, but he actively worked until the age of 78 in 1934. Today’s installment provides a familial context for the future events that I will describe, as well as the significance of his design and painting of the Fort Scott Scottish Rite scenery collection in 1924.

Thomas G. Moses and Ella Robbins celebrated fifty-five years together of “happy married companionship” in 1933. Their sons and daughters, with the respective wives, husbands and families all returned home to Oak Park. The celebration occurred on October 31. The couple was married in 1878 and they had four children, one of who would follow his footsteps into the theatre business and another who would work in the gas industry with his brother Frank.

Very little personal interaction with his children or grandchildren appears in Moses’ typed manuscripts or his few remaining handwritten diaries. It is in his letters and postcards that a love of family and fears of age are revealed.

On July 26, 1931, Moses wrote a letter to his eldest son, Pitt. In it he expressed his love for his wife, writing: “The domestic side of my life has been a very happy one in choosing a wonderful mate, and who has not only been a good mother to our four healthy children, but a very good help in sifting out many financial difficulties that are bound to come into our lives.” His love for Ella was unquestionable. I will never forget transcribing the single sentence in his 1931 diary that documented her return to his side after a long absence. He simply wrote, “Living again.”

Moses lost many precious moments with his family over the years when he was traveling. He missed his wife, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and wanted them to know he disliked the extended separations. He sent a Halloween card to his granddaughter Doris in 1930. It provides a little insight into Moses’ acknowledgement of his continued absence from loved ones.

In the card, Moses he wrote, “My Dear Doris, Here is wishing you all the luck in the world for a good time during Halloween. I believe you will have frosty weather as we are getting it. Many thanks for your most welcome letter. I am not staying away from home because I like to. I would like to take a train tonight for Chicago. It will be a month more before I can get home. I can’t even get a decent movie for an evening, so my hotel room is all I get. Love from Grandfather Moses.” He was seventy-four years old and still missing out. Three years later he would write, “Tears come to my eyes whenever I think of ‘Peggy Louise’ that I have lived to be a great-grandfather, and not have the pleasure of her companionship in the years that the love of children is so essential.”

Moses’ manuscript does not always include personal family matters, as it was to be a book, “Sixty Years Behind the Curtain Line.” Information from his small handwritten diaries was compiled into a typed manuscript. It was simply titled “My Diary,” as it was left unfinished. His story continued, however, as he kept recording daily activities. The technical information pertaining to work, business relationships and various artistic projects make his story a fascinating one, but it is the overall tone and his perspective that engages the reader.

I previously addressed Moses’ desire to leave something for his relatives and fellow scenic artists. Moses repeated this request at various points in his writings. Although the current version of his typed manuscript ended in 1931, his final two years are preserved in handwritten diaries. Although badly damaged, I am in the process of transcribing them to catch glimpses of his final thoughts. He has the wisdom of age, but there is desperation to tie up loose ends, both personally and professionally.

But why compile a typed manuscript at the age of 75? 1931 was a turning point for Moses as he was forced to face his rapidly deteriorating health. As I read the pages, I think of someone grasping at straws. There is the desire to stay just a little bit longer, to take care of everything, and to leave this life without burdening anyone. It makes me think about pregnant women who go into “nesting mode” just before the birth of a child. My nesting involved finishing cleaning our house after my water broke. I wanted everything in order prior to my departure to the hospital, to prepare a place for another.

Many prepare for a final departure from the world as well. These are the same ones who hate to leave any loose ends behind. They understand that others will soon take over their responsibilities. In a sense, they too are “nesting,” but no longer for their own use. They are preparing a place for those who will remain, their family members who are left behind. Tomorrow I will look at some of his final preparations as they provide a context for his journey.

To be continued…

Moses traveled to Richmond, Indiana, during 1881. There, he and William P. Davis worked on a scenery project. Moses’ assistant, “Will” Davis, was later listed as the scenic artist for the Grand Opera House in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, by 1899. Davis was also listed that year in Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide as the scenic artist for the Metropolitan Opera House in St. Paul, Minnesota. Later, in the employ of Twin City Scenic Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was just one of many artists to arrive in the Twin Cities seeking employment as the studio’s business dramatically increased.

“The Evening Item” noted Moses’ scenic art in Richmond, Indiana, at the newly refurbished Grand Opera House (Sept. 19, 1881, Vol. 5, No. 211), describing the refurbished venue.

Miss Marie Prescott was the opening production in the space. An 1881 newspaper article title “Among the Shows” published, “the house is really a beauty, all the old dressing rooms, partitions and scenery have been removed, and new opera chairs will be put in as soon as they are finished. The old entrances to the gallery have all been taken out, and the stage brought forward several feet. At each end of the stage is a private box, with brass posts and rails in front, and curtains of rich crimson velvet and lace. They project fully three feet, and have on each a chandelier which lights the stage.” The newly added scenery included one fancy set chamber, four wings; one set plain chamber, four wings; one kitchen, and one prison, each four wings; one wood, six wings; one landscape, one perspective street, one rocky pass, one horizon, one ocean, one garden, one grand drapery border, one set tormentor wings and doors, three drapery borders, two kitchen borders, three foliage borders, one set cottage, one set bridge, four set rocks, one tree, two set waters, one foreground, one garden wall, one balustrade, two statues. The article published that “the scenic work was completed by Sosman & Landis of Chicago with Thomas G. Moses painting the drop curtain. The newspaper article specified that is was “the finest piece in the entire work and really a work of art.” The auditorium decoration work was done by John M. Wood, of Chicago, who also represented Spoor Mackey, who was a leading theatrical decorator of the West.

It was later known as the Bradley Opera House (located at North Eighth and A Streets), the building was later remodeled by George J. Bradley in 1896 and then noted, “one of the prettiest ground-floor theatres in Indiana” (Logansport Pharos-Tribune, 2 Sept, 1898, page 18). Sadly, the building was destroyed by fire two years later; the cause believed to be from the “electric light wires, which entered the theatre building from the rear.”

This same year that Moses and Davis worked in Richmond, a new daughter was born. Mary Titcomb Moses arrived on September 7^th, 1881. This was the second of four children for the couple. The remaining two would be Lillian Ella Moses in 1886 and Thomas Rupert Moses in 1889. Ella remained in Sterling with her Mother, who was now living in town instead of on Robbins Range. He noted that the arrival of a baby girl necessitated increasing his income. He wrote that Sosman & Landis increased his salary from $21.00 to $26.00 per week upon the arrival of his daughter. This increase was really overdue, as Moses had quickly become a valuable asset to the studio.

Moses explained the reason for the increase was his willingness to do “a great deal of extra work, all on the day rate, I never received more than straight time. I could never see why anyone ever earns any more.”

I want to take a moment to address his statement above, “I could never see why anyone ever earns anymore.” This belief would make Moses an extremely valuable employee, but not necessary a popular one, or a positive spokesman for any labor union. I previous research, Joseph Sands Sosman was curiously absent from any union records, especially during the formation and early years of any union activities. I find this interesting, as many of his contemporaries were the movers and shakers of early union activities. Moses certainly was not isolated in his work, friendships, or projects.

Moses returned to Sosman & Landis in studio for good 1904 to supervise the paint studios. This was a time when Sosman was forced to pay attention to more administrative duties after Abraham “Perry” Landis’ departure due to his failing health. The internal workings and attitudes of the Sosman & Landis Studio primarily originate with the memoirs of John Hanny (1890-1984) who worked at the studio from 1906-1920. It is his memoirs that describe the dynamics of the studio and will be presented after the tale of Thomas Moses.

The American Society of Scene Painters emerged in 1892 (see installment #138) and included some thirty members of the most prominent men in the profession. The objects of the society were “to promote the artistic and practical efficiency of the profession, and consolidate as a whole the dignity of the profession hitherto maintained by the individual artist.” Organized in Albany, New York, the executive staff included Richard Marston (Palmer’s Theatre), Henry E, Hoyt (Metropolitan Opera House), Homer F. Emens (Fourteenth Street Theatre), Sydney Chidley (Union Square Theatre), Harley Merry (Brooklyn Studio) Brooklyn and Ernest Albert (Albert, Grover & Burridge). Their chief grievance claimed that the stage manager was their worst enemy. They complained that scenes were set in accordance with the off-hand wishes of the managers and not with painters direct. Doing so caused many of the most artistic effects of each scene to be lost as they were not properly displayed.

This would make the appearance of a new fraternal client a dream come true. Scottish Rite theatres would not follow the standard hierarchy or the rule of the stage manager.

To be continued…